Pope Francis denounces clericalism, but his new motu proprio enables it
What “Vos estis lux mundi” neglects to draw to our attention—for obvious reasons—is that there is nothing requiring episcopal governance in its current monopolistic form.
Pope Francis poses with clerics during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 15, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Just over a year ago, in looking at a minor liturgical change announced by Pope Francis, I drew on the work of D.W. Winnicott to help better understand some of the papal language about the Church as mother. Winnicott was a celebrated pediatrician and psychoanalyst who did so much, during and after World War II, to more deeply comprehend the mother-child bond. Most famously, he gave us the idea of the “good enough mother,” which was not only helpful in understanding what children do and do not need from their mothers, but also released many mothers from neurotic guilt at their imperfections. As he put it in a 1953 International Journal of Psycho-Analysis article titled “Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena”, the “good enough “mother”… is one who makes active adaptation to the infant’s needs, an active adaptation that gradually lessens according to the infant’s growing ability to . . . tolerate the results of frustration.”
I was writing about Winnicott in the early spring of last year. Much has changed in just one short year. Shortly after publishing that essay, the dams burst all over the country and indeed the world. Now we divide Church history into the “before-McCarrick” and “after-McCarrick” periods.
Looking back at myself a year ago, I now say: “No! On the issue of sexual abuse, the Church whose efforts at reform are ‘good enough’ is a Church that has become so demented in her thinking, so disordered in her life, as to be demonic. Good enough is never enough when dealing with the soul-murder of sex abuse victims!”
And yet it is clear to me now that many bishops, including the bishop of Rome, are hoping that we will be fobbed off with “good enough” measures, which is all they want to see happen. They give no indication of realizing the need for far-reaching changes today. How else to explain their falling over themselves to praise the provisions in “Vos estis lux mundi”, the new motu proprio of Pope Francis on procedures for reporting abuse? As Christopher Altieri has recognized and argued, those procedures are far from adequate, and in this instance it is nowise acceptable for the Church to offer “good enough” measures while implying that, like infants at their mother’s mercy, we must simply “tolerate the results of frustration” (if Winnicott were a Catholic he would have said “offer it up”) over these inadequate procedures.
What is the central flaw with these provisions?
It is more than a little astonishing to me that these procedures are offered, apparently without irony, while reeking of that great bugaboo in papal eyes: clericalism. This is their fatal flaw. As the document’s third paragraph says, “this responsibility falls, above all, on the successors of the Apostles,” because, it claims, bishops are apparently the only ones to “govern the particular churches entrusted to them by their counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power.” Given this dodgy claim, the provisions unfolded in the rest of the text rely on the local “ordinary” (a bishop) to receive and transmit reports, usually to the relevant metropolitan (a bishop) or patriarch (a bishop); some reports can be sent to the papal nuncio (a bishop), or to Roman dicasteries headed by (you guessed it) a bishop—who operates on the authority of, and reports to, the bishop of Rome.
Blind men living in caves on the dark side of the moon can see the problem here. But it apparently occasions no questions or concerns among the bishops, whose monopoly remains intact all down the line. Perhaps many bishops are, even at this late hour, still blinded by the light of their own virtue and thus unable to see that they are, as a body, no longer men in which trust or credibility reposes. Since every step of this process in fact relies on them, I believe this entire proposal must be regarded as dead in the water.
What, then, is to be done? Before getting into the weeds on mechanisms and processes, we must backtrack to see the sleight of hand attempted in the document’s opening justificatory claim that bishops “govern the particular churches…by their authority and sacred power.” This is a quote from Lumen Gentium (par 27), Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Like virtually all conciliar decrees, this one must be read as much for what it does not say—for what it conveniently leaves out—as for what it does say.
What it says is plain enough. What it neglects to draw to our attention—for obvious reasons—is that there is nothing requiring episcopal governance in its current monopolistic form. My new book Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power (Angelico Press) is guided by one overarching principle: nobody, in any organization, above all the Church, should be entrusted with a monopoly on power in any context for any reason.
The Church practically owns a trademark on the concept of “original sin” but that has not prevented her from assuming that bishops (including the ordinary of Rome) are somehow immune to its effects and thus can be trusted to enjoy a monopoly on the “sacred power” of governance, which of course they would never, ever abuse. In this after-McCarrick era of the Church, we now realize what utter folly this was. Catholics, who should have known better than anybody in the world the temptations of libido dominandi occasioned by original sin, which temptations ordination per se does nothing to restrain, have in fact allowed the Church in the modern period to be structured along monopolistic lines, giving unchecked power of governance to men who have abused it both to perpetrate sexual crimes and to cover them up. Until and unless this monopolistic cartel is broken up, nothing will change in the Church.
As I lay out in detail in my book, there is no theology in Vatican II—or Vatican I, or Trent, or any council going back to Jerusalem—that says the apostolic-episcopal structure of the Church requires or permits a monopoly on governing power in the hands of bishops. There is, moreover, very little historical support for that, either. And there is certainly no ecumenical appeal in it, never mind common sense.
How, then, are we to proceed? For reasons historical, ecumenical, and above all theological, all of which I detail in the book, governance in the Church must be tripartite, involving the laics (to use Afanasiev’s term, which I explained on CWR last August), the clerics, and the bishops. None can have a monopoly; all must work together. This begins in the parish, which must have a council sharing with the priest the burdens of authority; it continues at the diocesan level, via the revived institute of a mandatory yearly synod; proceeds to the national level, and beyond. At every step all major matters—from passing legislation, agreeing on a budget, electing clergy and bishops, and disciplining malefactors—must involve three “orders”—laics, clerics, bishops. This model has ample history and theology to justify it, and is still to be found in its fullest form in the Armenian Apostolic Church, whose structures I have carefully studied in both my books.
If we were to revise the motu proprio in this vein, then it would have to be structured in such a way that wherever the document says (e.g., art. 3 s.1) a “person is obliged to report promptly the fact to the local Ordinary,” we would have to require that a copy of the report simultaneously goes also to the council of presbyters of that ordinary’s diocese, and also a (newly convoked) council of laics. But rather than have three separate bodies, it makes sense—and has, as my book shows, ample historical precedent and real theological justification—for one report to come to the diocesan synod or, between its sessions, the governing body (“diocesan council”) bearing its authority.
For the synod, as I outline it by drawing on Catholic and Orthodox models past and present, is the one body which unites all three in governance, holding each accountable to the others. It is chaired by the bishop, but contains proportionate numbers of clerics and laics, all of whom must agree on a course of action.
If, in the case of a report of abuse, the council of synod were empowered as it should be, then they would ensure no bishop could ever again sweep reports of abuse under the carpet or buy off victims with a cheque and confidentiality clause. If the council receives a report concerning a crime by a bishop or member of the council, then they are of course excluded from any deliberations and immediately suspended pending the final outcome, the chair being taken over (in case of a bishop) by (as the motu proprio suggests) the metropolitan, or bishop having seniority in the province.
Other ways of establishing mechanisms of reporting and accounting are of course possible, but however they are set up, they cannot perpetuate the monopoly as this new papal document does.
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Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille is associate professor at the University of Saint Francis in Ft. Wayne, IN., where he also maintains a part-time private practice in psychotherapy. He is the author and editor of several books, including Orthodoxy and the Roman Papacy (University of Notre Dame, 2011).
Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2016. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
March 13 marks the anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:
2013
March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”
March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.
July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.
Pope Francis gives the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Elise Harris/CNA.
July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.
July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.
Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.
2014
Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.
March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his general audience on Nov. 29, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.
Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”
2015
Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.
March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.
May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.
Pope Francis at a Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. Bohumil Petrik.
Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.
Pope Francis speaks to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.
Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.
Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.
2016
March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.
April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.
Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Feb. 24, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.
Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.
2017
May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.
July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.
Pope Francis greets a participant in the World Day of the Poor in Rome, Nov. 16, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano.
Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.
2018
Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.
Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”
Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.
Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”
Pope Francis at the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Ireland. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.
2019
Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.
Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, signed a joint declaration on human fraternity during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 4, 2019. Vatican Media.
Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.
Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.
2020
March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.
March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter’s Square during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Vatican Media.
2021
March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.
July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.
July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.
July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.
Pope Francis greets His Beatitude Ieronymos II in Athens, Greece on Dec. 5, 2021. Vatican Media
2022
Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.
March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.
May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.
Pope Francis greeted the crowd in a wheelchair at the end of his general audience on Aug. 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.
2023
Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.
April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.
April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.
Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.
Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. Vatican Media.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
Pope Francis meets with local priests and religious of Mongolia, which includes only 25 priests (19 religious and six diocesan), 33 women religious, and one bishop — Cardinal Giorgio Marengo — in Ulaanbaatar’s Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.
Pope Francis asks for a moment of silence at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. A Camargue cross, which comes from the Camargue area of France, represents the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three tridents represent faith, the anchor represents hope, and the heart represents charity. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.
Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.
2024
Jan. 4 — Amid widespread backlash to Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publishes a five-page press release that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.
Pope Francis meets with Argentina President Javier Milei in a private audience on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Feb. 28 — After canceling audiences the previous Saturday and having an aide read his prepared remarks at his Wednesday audience due to a “mild flu,” Pope Francis visits the hospital for diagnostic tests but returns to the Vatican afterward.
March 2 — Despite having an aide read his speech “because of bronchitis,” the pope presides over the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State and maintains a full schedule.
March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Francis gives his weekly Angelus address on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Aug 21, 2022 / 04:15 am (CNA).
Pope Francis called for “peaceful coexistence” between people and institutions in Nicaragua Sunday, at the end o… […]
Combating the real problem is made exponentially more difficult as long as we accept Francis’ ridiculous obscuring premise of clericalism as having anything at all to do with personal sin, rather than personal sin being the cause of personal sin.
Please consider the sad, fragmented condition to which the Anglican communion has come after setting off down the path of governance (entirely) by votes-in-synod involving laity and clerics in all orders. Please consider whether such a synodal arrangement in the Catholic Church, even if initially applied to sexual abuse only, might not be the thin end of a wedge. The ultimate effect of such a wedge might be dislocation, possibly leading to total schism, as for our sad Anglican sisters and brothers, simply as a direct result of decisions made by a democratic synodal mechanism.
For the Body of Christ, under its Divine Head, to be ruled by human democratic mechanisms would be a denial of its ontological nature and Divine origins and its eternal destiny in Christ. If this ‘synod’ scheme were to be adopted to remedy the current crisis (which is in fact more than one crisis) it would have to be very strictly circumscribed, but how long might that circumscription survive the inevitable pressure which would come from all quarters for an extension of the synodal system to a wider and wider range of ecclesiastical business? I ask again, consider the recent history of what remains of the Anglican communion.
Jill, you are spot on. Synodal governance, far from ‘everybody working together’, is a formula for death by a thousand lobby groups.
The experience of the Anglicans makes this all too clear. Spare us, Lord.
No doubt Anglicanism and its current hyper-fragmentation is a considerable argument against synodality [¿ = “collegiality” ?]
But the ultra-montaigne implications of the post above, as I read it, to the effect that the Pope cannot err tout court is equally unpalatable. Indeed one need look no further than Pope Francis to see quite how unpalatable is that view; notwithstanding its clear rejection at Vatican I.
In this context, the issue of Pope Francis’s still secret deal with the Chinese regime is a fascinating case in point, since he has chosen personally, as far as I can see, to ignore the explicit teachings of that Ecumenical Council of Vatican II to the effect that episcopal appointments are an exclusively church matter, that no more deals giving nation states a say in such appointments are to be struck and that countries already having such powers are to be respectfully requested to surrender this privilege.
On what basis I ask has Pope Francis decided to ignore the explicit teachings of vatican II on this matter? “I think we should be told.”
Though sadly given his ever so manifest disdain for questions which he does not like, I am not holding my breath.
The Vatican is clericalism. That is what we Protestants fight against. Anglicans prefer to fragment rather than surrender to democratic autocracy. Roman Catholics have been taught that monarchical authority in the Church brings unity. Since when. From the time the Patriarch of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other when has the Vatican been a focal point of unity and fruit of the Holy Spirit? Its because you can have unity and holiness OR conformity and abuse. Leave us alone. We like our ability to circumvent immoral power structures. In Anglicanism every bishop is a Patriarch or Pope. That means to have a heresy spread is near impossible. That is how we have checkmated the illegalities propagated by the TEC and CoE. We have standards contrary to what the Liberal Anglicans will say and faithful bishops even if it is left with one of them can always enforce them.
Pope Francis is part of the problem, not the solution, to the sexual abuse crisis does not learn from his errors and his advisors are either cowards or are themselves entrenched in the corrupt homoclericalist cabal that is stifling the life out of the Church.
Any reform and cleaning up of the Church will have to come from the laity and law enforcement.
I agree Johann. In December 1862 a few months after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he said in a speech “the dogmas of the quite past are inadequate to the stormy present. As our case is new so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, then we will say our country.” This I think is the attitude the good Catholic laity must now take to save our Church. Francis says one thing and does another. As Fr Peter Morello has said, “Silence is not an option when truth is compromised.” But what are we to do? I would like to see something on a national level but something that asks, respectively, what are good Catholics to think? We would need the support of a group of like-minded Bishops and Priests to pull it off. Any ideas on this subject. I am eager to hear from anyone!
The USCCB is run by the McCarrick Establishment, McCarrick and his clones Mahony, Wuerl, Cupich, Night-night Tobin, etc etc etc being the frauds who either engineered and elected Jorge Bergoglio (the first 3 named), and/or remain in power (the last 3) to ensure the election of the next fraudulent pontiff, who they hope will be a clone of Jorge Bergoglio.
Mr. DeVille’s recommendation is superb, and an example of serious, adult, transparent governance.
The “Pope Francis motu proprio” is fraudulent, secretive, clericalist and indicates Jorge Bergoglio’s total commitment to maintaining an infantalized laity “trusting” the secret episcopal cabal.
Pope Francis, and all of the men named above, and all of the bishops like them who support this fraudulent motu proprio, will die in office with ZERO trust or credibility.
Since Jesus commanded us to pray for our enemies, I must pray for them, as I pray the Church is delivered from this living death that these men have confected.
The epitome of “clericalism” itself, the invincible egoism of Bergoglian individualism which seeks to supplant the perennial Magisterium — our understanding of the revelation made in Jesus Christ — with the notions of a clique of disgruntled connivers.
They never cease to exhibit the exact behaviors they pretend to abhor.
It is nothing less than bizarre. The fact that it is not the topic of discussion and concern brings me to the conclusion that our entire Church is in a state of pathological denial.
The depth of discord and disorientation is in extremis.
While it’s not the gravest of sins such as cold blooded murder, etc., there’s no sin more lustfully greedy for power and control, and more fertile and more powerfully enabling of other sins than homosexuality is and has always been. Pope Francis, with his numerous acts of ambiguity and quiet advocacy and his placement of gay advocates in key positions is obviously a great advocate of sodomy, therefore not a legitimate Bishop of Rome. The plan proposed in this article will work, regardless of what results that very plan has had with Anglicans and other Protestants, if and only if, those lay people in church and diocesan councils have a minority or no C.I.N.O’s (Catholics In Name Only) at all.
As clearly stated in the book: “The Book of Gomorrah and St. Damian’s Struggle Against Ecclesiastical Corruption” (2015) by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, the path to sodomy does not begin in the actual unnatural union of bodily organs but long before that in our self-deceiving hearts (Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more devious than any other thing, and is depraved; who can pierce its secrets?”). That statement we’ve been bombarded with since the 60’s: “Follow your heart”, is a hard-core, reality escaping, sodomite statement. Therefore, the most efficient way to reject all faith in the True God is to emotionally and mentally reject and lose all faith in your true, real, authentic, God-given, born identity which in turn fractures the mind, heart and soul and fills them with hatred and murder against everything real and good. We have more spiritual sodomites in our Church than just the physical homosexuals. That’s God’s harsh warning and calling for change through the shocking scandal of Pope Francis, the Priest scandal and those infiltrators behind it.
When you deny your own core truth, you hate all Truth and feel entitled to murder all Good, Beauty and Truth. Pope Francis is a golden false idol with feet of clay. We True Catholics are to bring all he represents down by starting at those feet, at the local Church level, starting with the C.I.N.O’s through our own outspoken, uncompromising personal holiness, sacrifice and prayer. Now that’s Real Mercy not 60’s slogans! All for the Glory of the One who died to save us! If Alabama can make such a very brave stand against the “invincible” abortion monster (human imperfections notwithstanding)) so much more can we with God’s Grace against the homosexual one and all others. Our holy victories need be not instantly perfect as only God is.
This POPE is a CONFUSED MAN, he needs to go to Confession! Confusion comes from not having a Clean SOUL! When the SOUL is in the Light, It has no Darkness within, the person could easily sees what is Good and what is Evil with Clarity! “God is LIGHT!” 1 John 1:5 “You are the light of the world.” Matt. 5:14. When we, the LITTLE LIGHT, look at the The Big Light of God, that is His Truth. If our LITTLE Light is with HIS Big light, we can only see TRUTH, could never be Confused! This POPE brings Confusion, that means, he needs to stop making PUBLIC STATMENTS without first, asks his THEOLOGY and Scripture advisors and go through what he wrote and make that needed correction(s)!
Wouldn’t the easiest solution be for victims to report the crime to the police? I still don’t understand why so many victims stopped at the bishop’s office. Why did they not report the crime? The solution to all sexual crime is to stop acting as if the victim has something of which to be ashamed. Adding laity to the mix would change nothing; what would stop lay people from colluding with the clerics and bishops? Strong secular laws and victim support groups would at least make sure the abusers could no longer hide their sins.
I wonder that, too. The Church isn’t trained in detective work; if you’re reporting a crime and you want someone to be held legally accountable, you go to the police.
I don’t think this is orthodox.
The children of a natural family established by a real marriage do not share authority with their parents.
The pope has supreme jurisdiction, that is, there is no on earth above, including all the bishops. The pope’s authority is “truly Episcopal”.
So, the diocesan Bishop’s authority is like the pope’s.
The shepherd has authority over the sheep, and not the other way around.
Let the pope and the bishops meditate on the fires of He’ll, and the special ” exclusive” and “supreme” tortures inflicted by the demons if they fail to do their duty.
It is much later than we think.
Combating clericalism is a mighty task. But sages say the all powerful Holy Spirit will blow away clericalism.
Combating the real problem is made exponentially more difficult as long as we accept Francis’ ridiculous obscuring premise of clericalism as having anything at all to do with personal sin, rather than personal sin being the cause of personal sin.
Please consider the sad, fragmented condition to which the Anglican communion has come after setting off down the path of governance (entirely) by votes-in-synod involving laity and clerics in all orders. Please consider whether such a synodal arrangement in the Catholic Church, even if initially applied to sexual abuse only, might not be the thin end of a wedge. The ultimate effect of such a wedge might be dislocation, possibly leading to total schism, as for our sad Anglican sisters and brothers, simply as a direct result of decisions made by a democratic synodal mechanism.
For the Body of Christ, under its Divine Head, to be ruled by human democratic mechanisms would be a denial of its ontological nature and Divine origins and its eternal destiny in Christ. If this ‘synod’ scheme were to be adopted to remedy the current crisis (which is in fact more than one crisis) it would have to be very strictly circumscribed, but how long might that circumscription survive the inevitable pressure which would come from all quarters for an extension of the synodal system to a wider and wider range of ecclesiastical business? I ask again, consider the recent history of what remains of the Anglican communion.
Jill, you are spot on. Synodal governance, far from ‘everybody working together’, is a formula for death by a thousand lobby groups.
The experience of the Anglicans makes this all too clear. Spare us, Lord.
No doubt Anglicanism and its current hyper-fragmentation is a considerable argument against synodality [¿ = “collegiality” ?]
But the ultra-montaigne implications of the post above, as I read it, to the effect that the Pope cannot err tout court is equally unpalatable. Indeed one need look no further than Pope Francis to see quite how unpalatable is that view; notwithstanding its clear rejection at Vatican I.
In this context, the issue of Pope Francis’s still secret deal with the Chinese regime is a fascinating case in point, since he has chosen personally, as far as I can see, to ignore the explicit teachings of that Ecumenical Council of Vatican II to the effect that episcopal appointments are an exclusively church matter, that no more deals giving nation states a say in such appointments are to be struck and that countries already having such powers are to be respectfully requested to surrender this privilege.
On what basis I ask has Pope Francis decided to ignore the explicit teachings of vatican II on this matter? “I think we should be told.”
Though sadly given his ever so manifest disdain for questions which he does not like, I am not holding my breath.
The Vatican is clericalism. That is what we Protestants fight against. Anglicans prefer to fragment rather than surrender to democratic autocracy. Roman Catholics have been taught that monarchical authority in the Church brings unity. Since when. From the time the Patriarch of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other when has the Vatican been a focal point of unity and fruit of the Holy Spirit? Its because you can have unity and holiness OR conformity and abuse. Leave us alone. We like our ability to circumvent immoral power structures. In Anglicanism every bishop is a Patriarch or Pope. That means to have a heresy spread is near impossible. That is how we have checkmated the illegalities propagated by the TEC and CoE. We have standards contrary to what the Liberal Anglicans will say and faithful bishops even if it is left with one of them can always enforce them.
Pope Francis is part of the problem, not the solution, to the sexual abuse crisis does not learn from his errors and his advisors are either cowards or are themselves entrenched in the corrupt homoclericalist cabal that is stifling the life out of the Church.
Any reform and cleaning up of the Church will have to come from the laity and law enforcement.
I agree Johann. In December 1862 a few months after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he said in a speech “the dogmas of the quite past are inadequate to the stormy present. As our case is new so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, then we will say our country.” This I think is the attitude the good Catholic laity must now take to save our Church. Francis says one thing and does another. As Fr Peter Morello has said, “Silence is not an option when truth is compromised.” But what are we to do? I would like to see something on a national level but something that asks, respectively, what are good Catholics to think? We would need the support of a group of like-minded Bishops and Priests to pull it off. Any ideas on this subject. I am eager to hear from anyone!
The USCCB is run by the McCarrick Establishment, McCarrick and his clones Mahony, Wuerl, Cupich, Night-night Tobin, etc etc etc being the frauds who either engineered and elected Jorge Bergoglio (the first 3 named), and/or remain in power (the last 3) to ensure the election of the next fraudulent pontiff, who they hope will be a clone of Jorge Bergoglio.
Mr. DeVille’s recommendation is superb, and an example of serious, adult, transparent governance.
The “Pope Francis motu proprio” is fraudulent, secretive, clericalist and indicates Jorge Bergoglio’s total commitment to maintaining an infantalized laity “trusting” the secret episcopal cabal.
Pope Francis, and all of the men named above, and all of the bishops like them who support this fraudulent motu proprio, will die in office with ZERO trust or credibility.
Since Jesus commanded us to pray for our enemies, I must pray for them, as I pray the Church is delivered from this living death that these men have confected.
Amen.
The epitome of “clericalism” itself, the invincible egoism of Bergoglian individualism which seeks to supplant the perennial Magisterium — our understanding of the revelation made in Jesus Christ — with the notions of a clique of disgruntled connivers.
They never cease to exhibit the exact behaviors they pretend to abhor.
It is nothing less than bizarre. The fact that it is not the topic of discussion and concern brings me to the conclusion that our entire Church is in a state of pathological denial.
The depth of discord and disorientation is in extremis.
James –
I agree 100%.
Chris
While it’s not the gravest of sins such as cold blooded murder, etc., there’s no sin more lustfully greedy for power and control, and more fertile and more powerfully enabling of other sins than homosexuality is and has always been. Pope Francis, with his numerous acts of ambiguity and quiet advocacy and his placement of gay advocates in key positions is obviously a great advocate of sodomy, therefore not a legitimate Bishop of Rome. The plan proposed in this article will work, regardless of what results that very plan has had with Anglicans and other Protestants, if and only if, those lay people in church and diocesan councils have a minority or no C.I.N.O’s (Catholics In Name Only) at all.
As clearly stated in the book: “The Book of Gomorrah and St. Damian’s Struggle Against Ecclesiastical Corruption” (2015) by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, the path to sodomy does not begin in the actual unnatural union of bodily organs but long before that in our self-deceiving hearts (Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more devious than any other thing, and is depraved; who can pierce its secrets?”). That statement we’ve been bombarded with since the 60’s: “Follow your heart”, is a hard-core, reality escaping, sodomite statement. Therefore, the most efficient way to reject all faith in the True God is to emotionally and mentally reject and lose all faith in your true, real, authentic, God-given, born identity which in turn fractures the mind, heart and soul and fills them with hatred and murder against everything real and good. We have more spiritual sodomites in our Church than just the physical homosexuals. That’s God’s harsh warning and calling for change through the shocking scandal of Pope Francis, the Priest scandal and those infiltrators behind it.
When you deny your own core truth, you hate all Truth and feel entitled to murder all Good, Beauty and Truth. Pope Francis is a golden false idol with feet of clay. We True Catholics are to bring all he represents down by starting at those feet, at the local Church level, starting with the C.I.N.O’s through our own outspoken, uncompromising personal holiness, sacrifice and prayer. Now that’s Real Mercy not 60’s slogans! All for the Glory of the One who died to save us! If Alabama can make such a very brave stand against the “invincible” abortion monster (human imperfections notwithstanding)) so much more can we with God’s Grace against the homosexual one and all others. Our holy victories need be not instantly perfect as only God is.
This POPE is a CONFUSED MAN, he needs to go to Confession! Confusion comes from not having a Clean SOUL! When the SOUL is in the Light, It has no Darkness within, the person could easily sees what is Good and what is Evil with Clarity! “God is LIGHT!” 1 John 1:5 “You are the light of the world.” Matt. 5:14. When we, the LITTLE LIGHT, look at the The Big Light of God, that is His Truth. If our LITTLE Light is with HIS Big light, we can only see TRUTH, could never be Confused! This POPE brings Confusion, that means, he needs to stop making PUBLIC STATMENTS without first, asks his THEOLOGY and Scripture advisors and go through what he wrote and make that needed correction(s)!
Were it that the Pope is only confused. That is a massive understatement. I think it is much more frightening than that.
Wouldn’t the easiest solution be for victims to report the crime to the police? I still don’t understand why so many victims stopped at the bishop’s office. Why did they not report the crime? The solution to all sexual crime is to stop acting as if the victim has something of which to be ashamed. Adding laity to the mix would change nothing; what would stop lay people from colluding with the clerics and bishops? Strong secular laws and victim support groups would at least make sure the abusers could no longer hide their sins.
I wonder that, too. The Church isn’t trained in detective work; if you’re reporting a crime and you want someone to be held legally accountable, you go to the police.
This sounds mighty like Anglicanism with its Houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity. And we all know where that got them.
I don’t think this is orthodox.
The children of a natural family established by a real marriage do not share authority with their parents.
The pope has supreme jurisdiction, that is, there is no on earth above, including all the bishops. The pope’s authority is “truly Episcopal”.
So, the diocesan Bishop’s authority is like the pope’s.
The shepherd has authority over the sheep, and not the other way around.
Let the pope and the bishops meditate on the fires of He’ll, and the special ” exclusive” and “supreme” tortures inflicted by the demons if they fail to do their duty.