The Obamazation of Pope Francis V

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A week before Christmas, Pope Francis announced his reorganization of several Vatican dicasteries and did not re-appoint Cardinal Raymond Burke to either the Congregation for Bishops or the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.  This leaves His Eminence with membership on only one Vatican Congregation, that of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.  He remains, of course, head of the Apostolic Signatura which is a post which is mostly honorary and has little real power.  While on the Congregation for Bishops, however, Burke had immense influence over the appointment of new bishops and thus the leadership of the Church in the United States.  The replacement of Cardinal Burke by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington DC caused an outcry by wing-nuts of the Catholic right because Cardinals Burke and Wuerl have taken very different stances on the issue of administering Holy Communion to public figures whose political stances do not reinforce the Church’s teaching on abortion, contraception, and same-sex relationships.  While Cardinal Wuerl supports the Church’s traditional teaching he has been very outspoken in maintaining that the Eucharist should not be “used as a weapon” politically.  Cardinal Burke, on the other hand, has advocated a policy of withholding Holy Communion to politicians who do not support Church doctrine.  The wrath of the right came down on Pope Francis in the weeks after dropping Burke from the post where he could advance the cause of prelates who think as he does.  Here are some of the comments that appeared on various Catholic websites and blogs.

What in God's Holy Name are Catholics supposed to think about this pope????? 

This could be the worst news we have heard since the election of Pope Francis. Cardinal Burke is the one giant in the American group of Cardinals, head and shoulders above the others in truly living the Word. His recent interview with Raymond Arroyo could not help but leave one in awe with regard to his grasp of Christ's teaching and the Church's mission today. I shall be on my knees in prayer shortly to ask the Holy Spirit's protection and graces for him. .

Well, as a faithful Catholic who has fought the culture of death and modernity WITHIN the Church I can tell you that this papacy has demoralized and confused me for months. I am glad that you are blessed by it, I truly am. But seeing more and more questionable appointments and confusing documents has worn me down. That is just where I am right now

Francis cannot change Church teaching but he can make them look meaningless.

Well, I'm not up on Catholic politics but it seems that a courageous conservative just got squashed and ignored. And here I was saying that the Church should clean house of the Marxists and whatnot. What happens? The just the opposite! This is not a good sign. The Church needs a fighter against the culture of Death. I heard Rush Limbaugh describe the Pope Francis as a Marxist. I'm scared to research it -- there might be something to it.

Why are we so dead-certain that Francis is pro-life?

When the pope is being embraced by a secular humanist mainstream media, that pope may want to reconsider what he's doing and what he's saying.

the “smoke of satan" has invaded the Church........especially in the Vatican

He's  (Thomas Peters)  authored a piece that conveys a few things to me.

1. Urban legends about what inspires faithful Catholics to speak the truth - even when our Holy Father is the recipient of the message - live on.

2. There is still a death grip on clericalism.

The Holy Father informed us of his trajectory through his apostolic exhortation, followed by the actions of replacing Cardinal Burke with Cardinal Wuerl to advise him on what priests in the United States have the spiritual substance and attributes to be a bishop.

Now, numerous faithful Catholics who in charity had been giving Pope Francis' imprudent statements the benefit of the doubt, have publicly calibrated what Cdl. Wuerl's appointment will mean on the ground relative to the catechesis of tools for salvation.

Because it doesn't paint a pretty picture, evangelists who take their role seriously need and want to be most cautious about how to proceed in the public square.

Some of the comments and reactions to my post earlier this week on Pope Francis’s decision not to renew Cardinal Burke’s membership on the Congregation for Bishops revealed a disturbing trend to me, namely, the extent to which many Catholics have adopted an apprehensive attitude about the current pontiff.

First of all, I think we're beyond the apprehension stage. We were apprehensive during the eight months of commentary undermining and insulting the 2000 years of the Deposit of Faith and those who love and evangelize It.

Though Pope Francis has issued numerous clarifications, he then went ahead and contradicted said clarifications with an apostolic exhortation which ratified the trajectory of his original statements.

Pope Francis selected a spineless bishop who operates a chancery that persecutes faithful priests and teaches Church laws can or should be ignored and disobeyed at our own will.

Whether he intended to or he didn't, Pope Francis has repeatedly conveyed that the laws and teachings of the Church are small-minded rules of sourpusses and under his watch the the road to salvation will be the abandonment of teaching right judgment and distinctions between sin and virtue for the new church of social service and being giddy.

 Each one of us who have suffered the ill effects of this counterfeit church knows what this means for the abilities of priests to teach the substance in the Catechism, and teach obedience to the Catechism and Church law in our schools, parishes and in our own homes. And, we know what it means for the salvation of the masses of uncatechized.

 We are acutely aware that many of Christ's elect who have suffered through this undisciplined and counterfeit church have lost touch with that immutable oath.

We have painfully watched the Pope undermine our teachings and sacred traditions which offer the highest unblemished gifts, surrender and respect to Christ and have prayerfully and thoughtfully navigated these waters so as not to scandalize those suffering from despair.

 The more I read about Pope Francis, the more I am convinced that the soul of this papacy is up for grabs.

I am also firmly convicted that it is a duty of our Baptism to inform our loving and beloved Holy Father that we will not subject ourselves or our children to the false church within for a nanosecond longer. Most of us have fled and already found refuge and he is making those refuges fodder for the apostates who have control of power within our Chanceries because of weak bishops like Cardinal Wuerl.

Then again, in a document of this length one would also expect to find a good deal of what has made this Pope so beloved by the worldwide mass media: radical-sounding bombshells about how wrong the Church is and how much Francis must do to make it right, in all humility. That too is there—in spades...

Francis’s “dream Church” involves nothing less than a deconstruction of the papacy in favor of a synodal model governed—God help us!—by the national bishops’ conferences:

These are interesting comments because they show that for the right wing, as for the left, the Pope is no longer the ultimate arbiter of the Catholic Faith.  No Catholic would have dared uttered this level of criticism—or dissent—in the days of Pius XII.  But the world has changed and no authority is above questioning.  That is a positive thing.  Just because the Pope is infallible doesn’t mean that he can’t be wrong.  What is dangerous about it is that it shows for the right wing, as for the left, the individual holds the “right” to determine what is authentic to our Catholic faith.  The true faith is what I believe and this attitude undermines the very nature of the Church, or at least the Catholic Church, where orthodoxy is determined by the harmonious alignment of magisterial teaching, theological scholarship, and the consensus fidelium.  Pope Francis eats in the cafeteria at the Casa Santa Marta—a good protection for his safety.  Hard to tamper with the food when you don’t know what pork chop he will pick.  But it seems that these days all Catholics dine in the cafeteria and the day of a menu fixe is on the ash heap of maniples and mantellones.  To bad, I always wanted to be a prelate di mantellone.  

Words of Peace from the Pope of Peace

Pope Francis Greets Immigrants at Mass at
Lampedusa

Sorry for the hiatus.  I had company visiting from Africa and have been playing the tour guide and then, as if life was not complicated enough, in the move of my offices to another building on our campus I had lost my internet connection for several days.  But now we are back in business and we will return to the saga of Anglican history and pick up with the marriage of Henry VIII to his brother’s widow, Katherine of Aragon but first I have some contemporary items that I want to bring up for comment.  And the very first is the greeting of  Pope Francis to the Muslim community when he visited Lampedusa last week.  As I mentioned in a previous entry, the Holy Father had gone to Lampedusa to comment on the plight of “illegal” immigrants worldwide.  Lampedusa, an Island in the Mediterranean much closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland but belonging to Italy, is the landing point for many African immigrants finding their way into Europe illegally.  The Pope made it very clear in his homily at Lampedusa that these immigrants were to be welcomed and Europeans were to look after their welfare regardless of their legal status.  That obviously has huge impact for us Americans as well as the Holy Father’s words should not  be confined to the situation in Europe but seen as a broader statement of the rights of migrant peoples.
Wat I want to focus on today is not the homily at Mass and the stance on the rights of migrants and the responsibility of citizens towards migrants, but the Holy Father’s words to the Muslim population as the majority of these immigrants are Muslims.  The Pope’s exact words are:

"To the dear, Muslim immigrants who today, this evening, are beginning the fast of Ramadan, with wishes for abundant spiritual fruit," Francis said.   "The Church is close to you in the search for a more dignified life for you and your families".

Francis’ “wishes for abundant spiritual fruit” as the Muslims begin the great fast of Ramadan is an affirmation that Islam, while lacking the fullness of Truth held in the Christian Gospel, is an authentic spiritual path.  He also said that we, the Church, support their search for a “more dignified life” for themselves and their families. 

Several months ago I saw and took issue with a particularly noxious blog called “The Tenth Crusade” maintained by a Boston crazy whose ignorance of Church doctrine is only surpassed by the arrogance with which the proclaims her own particular brand of Katholicism.  No one, even the Pope, is above her critique and she took very acerbic issue with the idea that Muslims and Christians (and Jews) worship the same God.  Confronted with papal statements to the contrary she stood her ground with the homicidal passion of a dogmatic George Zimmerman. But then why be surprised.  Cafeteria Catholics come in both the liberal and conservative stripe—those who choose their doctrines to suit their prejudices.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says

841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

The portrayal of Islam as a demonic cult by certain Katholic wing-nuts is in contradiction to the teaching of the Church.  Catholics, Muslims, and Jews worship the same God, albeit with a very different understanding because of our Christian belief in the Incarnation and the Trinity.  Muslims, like Jews, reject the Incarnation and the Trinity.  Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet—indeed one of the greatest prophets—and accept the Virgin Birth of Jesus.  They also have a special place in their teachings for Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  Despite these similarities, there ultimately cannot be a reconciliation of doctrine with Muslims—or with Jews—because of our essential differences in this matter but we need to acknowledge our common belief in the God Who revealed Himself to Abraham and we must learn to live with one another in respect and harmony.  Pope Francis has set a much more open tone towards Islam than did his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, returning to the cordiality expressed by Saints-to-be John Paul II and John XXIII. 

Paul Ryan and the Catholic Cafeteria



Thomas Aquinas

 Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan is a cradle Catholic.  He attended public schools in Janesville WI and Miami University in Oxford Ohio where he became interested in the writings of liberal Austrian economists Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises, and the American, Milton Friedman.  Now one of the tricky things is to understand that when you talk about “liberal” and economics, you are not talking about “liberal” in the ordinary sense we use it today—a political liberal.  To the contrary—usually those who espouse economic liberalism (which is unrestricted free-market capitalism) are politically conservative.  Economic liberalism is the foundation for “Big Business” and is geared to the issues of corporate good rather than the interests of the working and consuming classes.  Congressman Ryan is also a devotee of the late philosopher/novelists Ayn Rand.  In a 2005 speech he said

"I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are and what my beliefs are. It's inspired me so much that it's required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff.  . . .the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism."

Congressman Ryan claims that his social and economic philosophy is rooted in the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas though it does not appear that he has ever studied Thomas in any depth.  Indeed nothing could be further from Thomas’ vision than the radical individualism of the atheist Ayn Rand for whom the individual was the only focus of “the good” whereas Catholic social theory has held for the “common good,” an idea that Congressman Ryan labels “collectivism.” 

While Congressman Ryan is with the Church on specific issues of the right-to-life of the unborn (he is not consistently pro-life but anti-abortion) and same-sex marriage, he differs from Catholic teaching in other areas such as the rights of immigrants and rights of workers to organize for collective bargaining.  More the point, however, is that he lacks a Catholic understanding of the nature of society and the primacy of the common good over the interests of individuals.  Some of his other stands are troubling as well. 

It is unrealistic to expect a politician today to form his political philosophy totally in accord with his religious faith.  No one else does.  That is unfortunate.  But Paul Ryan shows us that cafeteria Catholicism is the norm. It seems that no one but a bishop eats a full meal these days, and most of those gentlemen could afford to lose some weight.