Vatican City, Sep 18, 2017 / 01:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Nearly four years after the Pope established his Council of Cardinal advisers to help him in the task of reforming the Roman Curia, one member of the group said their work is wrapping up, and that it could take only a few more meetings to finish what they set out to do.
The ongoing process of reform “is being done at various stages of development, and I hope we’ll come to an end in all of these matters soon,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay told CNA Sept. 14.
“It will take two or three more meetings more,” he said, adding that “by June perhaps we’ll be seeing the end of the tunnel.”
Cardinal Gracias is also President of the Asian Bishops Conference and in 2013 was chosen by the Pope along with eight other prelates from around the world to advise him in matters of Church governance and reform.
He spoke to CNA in a lengthy, sit-down interview after the council – also called the “C9” – concluded their latest round of meetings last week.
As far as the reform goes, Cardinal Gracias said “there won’t be very major changes; it’s the governance of the Church, we can’t just turn everything upside down.” Rather, it will be “a gradual change, a change of mentality, a change of approach, restructuring a bit of the departments so that they are more logically suited to the needs of today.”
He said a key goal of the C9 is to implement the vision of the Second Vatican Council, specifically when it comes to the importance of the role of the laity and women, and incorporating greater synodality and collegiality into the Church’s structures.
From the beginning Pope Francis “had very clear what he wanted this group to do,” the cardinal said. “He had no hesitation, he’s a good leader. He had a clear vision.”
Cardinal Gracias admitted that in the beginning he had doubts as to whether or not they were going in the right direction, and had started to worry what people on the outside might say, since many fruits of the meetings weren’t and likely won’t be immediately visible. He said he also struggled with doubts about the pace at which they were moving, and believed that things were going “too slow.”
“I will confess that once at the beginning I was wondering, ‘are we going in the right direction?’ I asked myself. But now I can see it is,” he said, explaining that Pope Francis’ Christmas speech to the Roman Curia last year was a “tipping point” for him.
More than anything, there is a change in mentality that’s needed, which will take longer than simply reforming the Vatican’s structures, he said, but said the group is “rather confident that it will happen because the Pope is giving very effective leadership.”
In addition to the ongoing curial reform, Cardinal Gracias also spoke about the recent release of Indian priest Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil 18 months after he was abducted in Yemen. He also spoke about the Pope’s upcoming trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, and when a possible papal trip to India might take place.
Below are excerpts from CNA’s interview with Cardinal Gracias:
You’ve seen Fr. Tom and you were at his meeting with Pope Francis. How is he doing?
I was pleasantly surprised with calmness with which he came out, because he did not know, to my knowledge, that he was being released. But he said I know people have prayed for me, I’m grateful for the people who were praying for me, but he kept on saying ‘Jesus is great, Jesus is great.’ And then he told the Holy Father. It was a very moving moment. As soon as the Holy Father came he prostrated in front of the Holy Father and kissed his feet, and he said, ‘thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you Holy Father, but just one message I want to give you: Jesus Christ is great. Jesus was with me right through, I could sense the presence of God with me’…And once I thought the Holy Father had tears in his eyes. When Tom kept on speaking about Jesus, this is what he told the Holy Father: please tell the people that Jesus is great! I would say that he’s come out of it with an experience of the presence of the Lord, and I think at that moment the Holy Father had tears in his eyes…I met the Holy Father later that afternoon, and he was telling me how impressed he was. He was also surprised with the calmness of the man, with Tom…He was a man who is perhaps strengthened in the faith after this experience, and not bitter about anything. Particularly about his captors, he was very understanding. It was a special experience, very edifying. He needs rest, certainly, he’ll have a medical exam and he’ll be with his superiors, but eventually he’ll go back (to India). So thank God really. It was an anxious moment for the whole Church in India. We didn’t know what was happening, but we understood that putting more pressure, in the perspective of the government, could make things more difficult for him. (But) he’s not really stressed in any way you can make out. Physically weak, but spiritually strong. When he met the Holy Father, he was weeping right through it. And the Holy Father was very touched, he kissed his hand and blessed him…He felt the comfort and strength of the entire Church. As he said, there was never a moment when he felt abandoned, either by the Church or by God. He kept saying, ‘Jesus is great.’ So he came out spiritually strengthened in that sense. It was a big relief, a big blessing, and the Holy Father was overjoyed. I think the government of Oman did a very splendid job of helping out…they even brought a Salesian to accompany him on the last plane. It was very human of them, so had the comfort of a spiritual companion.
What role did the Holy See play in working out his release?
They only offered help, they kept the issue open and kept sharing. The Holy See was told he was alive, and the Holy See communicated with the Indian government. In Yemen, the political situation is very fragile, and one doesn’t know who is in charge. There are bombardments and all sorts of groups are taking over, so there was always a risk I suppose, that if you tried to liberate him you could have harmed him. But they were always interested, they kept it alive. Every time I came to Rome somebody from the Secretariat of State updated me. The Vatican made sure there was interest. Any information the Holy See had, they shared it with the Indian government, the Omani government, so that was good.
It’s interesting that there is still no word on who is responsible…
It’s not a terrorist attack, it’s a kidnapping. They wouldn’t glory in taking him. That has not come out. I spent about half an hour with him before the Holy Father, and he was speaking continuously. I did not at any point attempt to ask him questions, because I think that would be a stress for him. He has got to share…he wants to share it and then I imagine you feel lighter. He’s probably just got to rest, and rest and rest, physically and then mentally too, he’s got to get it out of his mind. He’s not come out of it a broken man at all. I was afraid of that, that he would come out a broken man, but no…It’s a moment of grace, a moment of faith, a special experience. The high point was when he told the Holy Father, ‘just tell everybody that Jesus is great, Jesus is great.’ Just three simple words. That was like the sum of his whole experience, what he meant and why he meant it…he felt not abandoned, I suppose. I hope recovers. I imagine he needs a couple of months really, or maybe more than a couple of months, to really rest. He needs time with the family also, natural circumstances…I’m not sure about this, but I have a feeling that the Omani government decided to bring him to Rome, because they (wanted) to hand him over to the Vatican. I think it was better for him, because I think if he had gone to India he would have been mobbed by everybody. He just needs space to recover, and for doctors to examine him. Physically to see if he’s alright, and psychologically also, to be investigated. I think it was a wise decision, but I think it was a decision more of the Omani government.
I don’t want to exploit your time, but I wanted to ask a few questions about the process of reform and the C9. You just finished your latest round of meetings…
Yes, we just finished the latest round, the 21st meeting. I can’t imagine we’ve had 21. I didn’t realize it’s 21 already. I think we are working hard. What’s nice is that we’re a cohesive group now. In the beginning we were all (gestures). Now we know each other so well and we work together, and of course trying to implement the Holy Father’s vision of the Church. Also, one of the things we always say, and it’s very clear, before the conclave the cardinals had spoken a lot of their vision of the Church, and we have the texts of what all of the cardinals said, and all the cardinals gave their vision. We picked up from that, the Holy Father picked up from that, his own vision. We’ve focused so far … it’s for a dual purpose that the group was formed: one is to help him help him in the governance of the universal Church, and the second is to revise Pastor bonus, the papal document of St. John Paul II for establishing the Curia and giving the job descriptions and the vision of each dicastery. It’s to revitalize, I suppose that’s what Pope Francis wants us to do, and to have a new mentality which is applying Vatican II also; how to make the Roman Curia at the service of the Holy Father more effectively, but the Churches at the local level, the Churches in the dioceses, how to make the Roman Curia assist the local Churches to be more effective pastorally, so they can be more vibrant in that sense. So I think the holy Father is satisfied with what’s happening. I’m satisfied too with the way we are going ahead. We come for three days and work intensely, we work from 9:00 on the first day to 7:00 (pm) on the last day trying to wrap things up, but lots of work has been done. But it’s coming to the end. I think it will take maybe two or three more meetings until we wrap up our conclusions about the dicasteries. Then of course the Holy Father will study the thing and decide. So we’re going well. The feedback we receive is the Holy Father is happy, he is satisfied, and he has been using the Christmas messages sometimes to give an indication, a little progress report, so this year’s Christmas message (2016). I didn’t realize it, but when I read it I realized it’s practically giving a progress report of what this group has been doing. I hope that it will make an impact. There won’t be very major changes; it’s the governance of the Church, we can’t just turn everything upside down. But a gradual change, a change of mentality, a change of approach, restructuring a bit of the departments so that they are more logically suited to the needs of today, and also of answering the vision of the Second Vatican Council: the importance of lay people, synodality, collegiality, then concern about women, getting more women involved, then giving importance to the local Churches. Then reflecting on the role of episcopal conferences in all this, because that’s another big issue. So all of this is being done at various stages of development, and I hope we’ll come to an end in all of these matters soon. It will take two or three more meetings more, I foresee at least February, June…by June perhaps we’ll be seeing the end of the tunnel.
It’s been a long process…
It’s been a really long process, really, but it’s good. I’ve been in other committees of this sort, in which at the beginning we don’t what we’re doing, where to begin, and they you find your way and you find your vision. But here it was very clear, the Holy Father had very clear what he wanted this group to do…we were not clear in why we were called and what he wanted to do, but gradually we understood his mind. He had no hesitation, he’s a good leader. He had a clear vision and he had his people with him. He’s there with us, he genuinely doesn’t take any other appointments. He’s there except the general audience. There are emergencies of course, this time there were lots of things happening, but he participates and he listens to discussion, and every now and then he raises his hand when he wants to speak. It’s very odd, but now we’re accustomed to it, the Pope raising his hand (laughs) … it’s very valuable, he’s part of the discussion all the way through, completely inserted right in the thick of it. Certainly he doesn’t speak that much, because I think we would feel inhibited and want to go in his direction. So it’s just the right amount and at the right time.
Well he’s very much about the process, isn’t he? He doesn’t want to interrupt the process that’s happening…
Yes, absolutely. And he’s happy. And everybody speaks their mind. We know each other so well, and we know that the Holy Father wants us to speak our minds, so no one is at any stage (overly) conscious that the Pope is there with us, no…but it’s going well, I think it’s going well. I will confess that once at the beginning I was wondering, ‘are we going in the right direction?’ I asked myself. But now I can see it is. He’s a man of deep faith, the Pope. I remember having spoken to him once about the synod, I was sharing him my anxieties on whether the synods were going well, and he told me, ‘Cardinal, I am not worried.’ He told me that. I told him I was worried, I don’t know what direction we’re taking, whether we’ll be able in two synods to give your vision. (He said) ‘I’m not worried. It’ll work out.’ He knows what he wants, he’s a good Jesuit, and the Jesuits know exactly what they want.
At what point were you convinced that things were going in the right direction?
After about seven or eight or nine meetings, I was beginning to wonder. My worry was what will the world say? Everybody knows we’re meeting over here, but we are very limited in what we say are the fruits. What are these eight men – nine, we became nine after the Secretary (of State) joined – the nine cardinals are coming and discussing here, what’s happening? They’re not just coming here for debate. I was worried about the fruits not being seen, and the process being too slow. But then, especially after I heard the Holy Father’s speech (at Christmas 2016), for me that was it. I was like, wow, there has been a lot done. That was absolutely…this past Christmas, it was like a progress report of this group. I’m in the group, right, but I never realized the number of things we had really discussed. Besides modifying the document, the protection of minors, the economy, updates on these things, general principles of collegiality, synodality, we’re thinking about these things. Care of the Curia personnel. It’s everything that the Holy Father…he isn’t like us, who when we go back home we’re fully in the diocese, he has this in mind and he keeps working on this fully afterwards. We go back to our dioceses and are concerned about the local Church, but he certainly follows up with what we say. I’ve seen it several times. He takes the group very seriously. Every now and then he would ask us to take up some point on the agenda to discuss it a bit, which he wants advice on. I think it’s a new system he has started in which he gets feedback from all over the world, and he gets it from the grassroots. I think, anyway, I hope. We come from different continents and we bring in our own experiences. But it is going well. In fact I really, really think there has been a contribution to the Holy Father, and then the Holy Father takes decisions. I have a feeling this is shared by all now. I have no doubt, this would be the general feeling of all about it. The tipping point was really his speech, but already before that, say about six or seven months before that, we began to see really when we reflected that…perhaps the Holy Father knew that that was in our minds. It was in my mind, and maybe I expressed it indirectly. And the Holy Father once commented also, he said ‘we have done this much, so don’t get discouraged.’ So at one stage he sort of answered that doubt in my mind.
You mentioned that there’s also a change of mentality needed. Other than the structural shifts, it seems that the change of mentality will be the more challenging task…
That will take longer. But we hope it will percolate down, because once you have a certain mentality you generally don’t change unless the circumstances change, the ambiance changes. And in a certain sense not changing dramatically. That will I think take longer. But I’m positive that it will happen. We’re very, very hopeful. We’re rather confident that it will happen because the Pope is giving very effective leadership, and every now and then there is a clear message from him. But it will come about and suddenly we’ll realize, oh there has been a change! That’s how it will happen. It won’t come overnight, but at a certain point we’ll realize things have changed. He knows what he wants. And he’s happy. Certainly the indication I can see is this way; the relationship he has with the group and the joy he has in being with the group. He says he feels that it has helped him. Thank God. We do what we can. I don’t know how or why he chose us, but he’s happy. I was very surprised when I got a call from him. I said ‘why me? What have I done?’ I suppose he knows. I don’t know why. I did not know the Holy Father before, we’ve never been in any other committee before. Only at the conclave. I don’t even remember having chatted with him at the conclave, or before the conclave. After the conclave it was true that I was with him. It’s true that after I was with the Pope at Santa Marta for a few days. Then we were having meals together – breakfast, lunch and dinner for four or five days. That’s the time we came to know each other. So we were thrown together for about a week. It struck me that after his election I was at Santa Marta, because there were five or six cardinals. All the American cardinals were there, the European cardinals, all the ones from close by left and came back (for the installation). I stayed for the installation and then went back to India. And then you share, when you speak. He was very comfortable with us, very comfortable with me. But still, he had to make a choice.
Has he mentioned anything about when a visit to India might take place?
He’s very interested. We’re working it out, and I’m very hopeful. He would like to come and we would like to have him, and the government would like to have him. But now we must see his program, the government’s program, but I’m certain he will come. There are no details at all for the moment. I’m rather certainly positive that we will be able to get the Holy Father, he’s interested and I think he’s getting more interested. And the people will be excited…we are looking forward. In the beginning, as soon as he was elected, I asked him, ‘when are you coming to India?’ And he was sort of (disinterested), but gradually he began to like the idea. He’s never been to India before. As a Jesuit I think he was supposed to go to Japan, that’s what he was telling me. He’s going now to Bangladesh and Myanmar. It will be very sensitive. Bangladesh has it’s own problems, I believe they have elections next year, and Myanmar has problems to solve, also the refugee problem at the moment. Of late it is continuously on, I believe yesterday or this morning I saw it on CNN, and BBC is reporting on it. It’s an issue for the world. I’ve been there (Bangladesh) a few times. It’s a nice Church, concentrated mostly in Dhaka, a living faith. I’ve been to Myanmar also, I went as a papal legate there some years back, and I found the Church very vibrant. A simple faith, but I’m happy. I think it will mean a lot to the people. It will also strengthen the people. I think the Church is also very vibrant, it’s not have any specific difficulty, in my impression as a papal legate about two or three years back, but I was very impressed by the faith and the organization. It was vibrant. The Church was small, but strong and alive. It will make a difference for the Churches, and for the governments I expect.
Will you be there?
I plan to go to both places yes. In all of these trips in Asian I’ve come along: Sri Lanka, Korea, the Philippines. At the moment I’m president of the Asian Bishops Conference, so I suppose in that capacity I’ll have to go.
[…]
Exiles en route to paradise. My favorable opinion of two men who served Christ and Church faithfully. Cardinal Burke, candid, faithful to the Church, the Chair of Peter too candid for His Holiness. Archbishop Gänswein, caught in the middle of Benedict’s controversial co authorship to Cardinal Sarah’s recalcitrant book From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church – a sure source of irritation to Pope Francis sealed his eviction notice.
So they’re off to relatively greener, more welcoming pastures. Nevertheless, they remain needed voices in witness to the truth. As Card Burke continues to speak, hopefully so will Archbishop Gänswein.
Hopefully everyone. Something needs to puncture the stubborn pride of Francis. Just last night I tuned to a Catholic channel and watched the midpoint of what appeared to be the Angeles address read by an aide, with Francis sitting beside him, televised to the ever decreasing assemblies at St. Peters. Near the last paragraph Fracis, energetic and agitated, prodded his aide to allow him to now read what was apparently a big laugh and applause line at the finish for the crowd. His ego is always on the line, and this is the real theme of his pontificate, not the service of Our Lord and certainly not the Deposit of Faith. Whatever it takes to make him seem like the greatest pope in history no matter how many reversals in the process are necessary to keep the flames of attention focused on him.
An exceedingly thin-skinned Pope. Its fortunate that the Pope cannot stamp his feet at regular parishioners and make them go away as he does the Cardinal. My guess will be more than a few Catholics have left the church already and more will go, taking their money with them.The Cardinal will head to a more welcoming place, I am sure. Its no secret the Pope dislikes Americans. Except of course those who are breaking church law. What he may NOT know is that Americans have never cared WHO likes us around the world, and that includes the Pope. We have not cared for over 200 years. Shaking in our boots is just not an American “thing”.
And many more are happy and very content in The Church. And as you say and think, people around the world do not care for Americans…but, maybe it is time you do.
Some do not care a whit what men think about us. We do care what God thinks. Which do you think is more important?
Many are happy and content? In what fantasy? Everyone I see at church looks to be over 60 years old, and nobody lives forever. Our church seats 700, and USED to be filled. Now we are lucky to get 120 people at Sunday Mass. What happens when those faithful folks dies? The younger people have defected. Sexually abusive incidents and a Pope who dabbles in radical changes to Catholic theology by making coy remarks ( like, who am I to judge?) absolutely does NOT help build up the church. Neither does attacking those who favor the Latin Mass ( I am not one of them by the way)where attendance is booming.But he sees fit to suppress that. Brilliant.
AS for caring what the rest of the world thinks of us, dont hold your breath honey. We know the rest of the planet are hypocritical enough to want our tourist dollars and our soldiers when needed.But otherwise they have no desire to understand the country or it’s culture. Nor do many of them have enough respect to immigrate here legally, as recent years have shown loud and clear. They too, come for a free hand-out. They are users. So why, exactly, are we supposed to care what ANY of them think?? Newsflash: we don’t. Americans are known to be pragmatic. That holds in this situation as well. I notice that people will risk DEATH to come here, while leaving behind these so-called great countries elsewhere where we are hated. Maybe you should open your eyes a little more to reality.
LJ,
Catholicism is in fact doing well in the Global South even in the face of terrible persecution.
Church memberships are falling in the West for almost every denomination, excepting the Anabaptists. There are pockets of devout Catholics in the US and we’re blessed to live in one of those regions.
Our overall population is ageing so I suppose we should expect to see many more folks over 60 at Mass.Latin Masses may differ.
How much more petty can this Pope get? I would think he fears death and his particular judgment but I guess he believes his vision of the church as an NGO is the way to go.
This Pope is a bully – a street thug sporting a pectoral cross. Christ told us that how you treat others will determine the standard by which He’ll judge you.
Perhaps indeed, the First shall be last.
I am reminded of the statement by that great American, David Horowitz:
“Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out.”
It’s certainly true of Bergoglio, one of the less Christlike figures ever to occupy the papacy.
Yes, threatening & so closed to dialogue. So reproachful.
Great point./….I coincide with you 100%
Cardinal Burke is a humble man and a wonderful shepherd. It takes a petty, spiteful, little man to make a public pronouncement of this sort about another prelate and then to follow through with this action. It underscores the division Bergoglio has willfully created within the Church. Really pathetic. His action was very likely a violation of Canon 196 and related canons and Fr.Gerald Murray provided an excellent analysis of this. Of course, thugs don’t care about the rules. This action makes it appear Traditionis custodes was likely nothing more than a revenge shot against Cardinal Burke, et. al. Leo XIII: “Most cunning enemies have filled with bitterness and drenched with gall the Church, the Spouse of the Lamb without spot, and have lifted impious hands against all that is most sacred in it. Even in the holy place where the See of Blessed Peter and the chair of truth was set up to enlighten the world, they have raised the abominable throne of their impiety…”
Hey Randy! I got that about Francis being “spiteful,” but “little” confused me a bit. Then I realized you were talking about his character and his ‘virtue.’ In factual, manifest, visible reality, the man is morbidly obese. IOW, Big. I have read that he likes pasta.
excellent commentary!!
Nothing will suppress the Tridentine Mass; the love its adherents have for it is so strong, that it will be celebrated in rented halls, people’s homes and elsewhere if totally outlawed by Pope Francis. I can’t imagine a Novus Ordo equivalent to Archbishop Lefevbre if the new rite were suppressed.
“The Successor of Peter is the rock which guarantees a rigorous fidelity to the Word of God against arbitrariness and conformism.”
This is the clear teaching declared by the then-CDF headed by then-Cardinal Ratzinger in 1998.
“I can only express my respect for him and my gratitude for his courageous witness to the faith.”
This is the confession of support by Cardinal Burke in the drama intended to smear Pope Francis now revealed to have been staged and financed by Taylor Marshall in the stealing of that indigenous statue from a Roman church and its throwing into the Tiber river.
This is Cardinal Burke who presents himself and enabled by the hard rightist Catholic media like the anti-Pope Francis EWTN media empire (of which CNA is a part of) as the voice of orthodoxy in contrast to a heterodox pope.
Compare and contrast the CDF teaching and Cardinal Burke’s position.
It is just and proper that he be stripped of his Vatican housing and salary. He should instead be paid by the likes of EWTN, or perhaps by CWR.
Gosh, those two cherry-picked quotes taken entirely out of context sure changes my mind! And Taylor Marshall is such a bogeyman, isn’t he? Thank you so much, “Deacon Dom”!
“..financed by Taylor Marshall in the stealing of that indigenous statue from a Roman church and its throwing into the Tiber river.”
I think I would have contributed a few dollars towards pitching that idol in the Tiber if I’d been asked to.
🙂
I’d like to have been the one to not only have thrown the pachamama into the drink but some inhabitants living near where they threw it into the Tiber with it.
That tree in the back garden of the Vatican in the name of pochamma also needs to be thrown in the Tiber. My concern is the silence coming from fellow cardinals , bishops and clergy.
Deacon Dom, all due respect, but your pinball machine got all its circuits crossed and is going wowzers cancelling its points! Some new kind of binary!
Indigenous statue … smear campaign … should be paid … by EWTN … arbitrariness … conformism … guarantee … heterodox Pope … DNA drama!
Take your pick here.
THE WHO!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHc7bR6y06M
LONNIE IRVING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAD_0Cd7MS0
Clever, Elias. I like it!
Yours sounds like a “hard leftist Catholic” screed. It’s tough when the Pope needs apologists to help get this papacy out of the gutter.
In reply to Dom:
Unfortunately for the Church, in light of the history of an ample number of previously recognized bad pontiffs, being “the successor of Peter” doesn’t necessarily mean much.
No one likes cherry-pickers, Dom. Nevertheless, I’ll take my cue from you, teacher that you pretend to be: Here’s a cherry I picked just for your edification. “The term DOM is slang that refers to an older man who engages in inappropriate behavior, particularly towards younger women. It is commonly used in the workplace to describe a man who makes unwelcome advances towards younger female colleagues. The term carries a negative connotation and is not something one would want to be associated with.” (FluentSlang.com)
Having said that, here is the fuller context and more complete textual tree from which you chose your cherries:
“The Roman Pontiff – like all the faithful – is subject to the Word of God, to the Catholic faith, and is the guarantor of the Church’s obedience; in this sense he is servus servorum Dei. He does not make arbitrary decisions, but is spokesman for the will of the Lord, who speaks to man in the Scriptures lived and interpreted by Tradition; in other words, the episkope of the primacy has limits set by divine law and by the Church’s divine, inviolable constitution found in Revelation.”
Have you swallowed that yet? There is more:
“The Successor of Peter is the rock which guarantees a rigorous fidelity to the Word of God against arbitrariness and conformism: hence the martyrological nature of his primacy.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church, October 31, 1998, n. 7).
Spot on!!!
So how do you reconcile the indisputable rigorous hatred of many tenents of the Catholic faith and those who give it faithful witness by Francis with his responsibility to not hate the Catholic faith and those who give it faithful witness?
Jesus had “enemies” too but he loved them; he did not condemn them
Amen….. it is just so sad that we don’t have a wonderful Pope like St. John Paul!!!!!My daily prayers for the wonderful Cardinal Raymond Burke.
The Pontiff Francis act is vindictive and contemptuous, revealing himself, once again, as having no spiritual or moral authority, having reduced himself to nothing but a petty tyrant.
The contemptuous acts of the Pontiff Francis against abuse victims, faithful laity, priests, bishops and Cardinals, is no surprise whatsoever, as the same Pontiff Francis signaled his contempt for anyone who opposes him, and his contempt for any authority except himself, when he orchestrated the Pachamama idolatry event.
The Pontiff Francis has shown that he is disoriented from Christ the Head of the Church, and disoriented from the Holy Spirit.
Holy Mary Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, St. Michael the Archangel, and all saints and martyrs: Pray for us, for the Church.
As to what Chris writes above, ditto for me.
Amen to that! Is there any chance our next Pope could be more in line with the God’s Word and the Catholic Church? Or is the fix in to have a like successor?
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary and Joe was born in a stable with shepherds, and companion species for company. Guys out there need to ponder, meditate, reflect, and contemplate the life and times of Jesus the Savior.
+Burke won’t lack for money and lodgings given his popularity. There will likely be a helpful backlash against Bergoglio and his malcontents that will last through the next conclave. So consider this petty, mean-spirited move a likely productive blessing.
I am a senior citizen who attended Catholic schools in the 1950s. We were always taught the importance of charity, love of neighbor, seeing Christ in people.
From what I see, this pope isn’t interested in any of these things – witness, Bishop Strickland, Archbishop Ganswein, those who worship at the Latin Mass. And now we have Cardinal Burke.
How can people who have said so many Masses and prayers act this way? Hardly a great testimony for evangelization. Who would be inspired to join a church like this?
You certainly speak for me as well Francy. Well said.
Frankly, the Pontiff Francis is an utterly appalling priest, bishop and pontiff.
Last week a priest reminded his congregation that Judas was a disciple. God has his reasons for allowing evil to prowl about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. We faithful should take note, take courage, and take The Word for ours.
It is not Cardinal Burke who undermines the Chair of St. Peter, but its current occupant.
When I see Francis, and the dwindling crowds at the Vatican, I also see the closing scene from The Godfather III, with an elderly Michael Corleone, sitting by himself, alone, having vanquished his enemies, yet with no true friends by his side. He knows no loyalty or honor, only resentment and unquenchable urge for control. He is, in the final analysis, an object of pity.
The reality is that the Pope’s broadcasts affirm people in their bad ways and their determination to stand by error; and then, now, in the name of the Pope. This is happening with people who have no care for sideline issues like Pachamama but make it useful reference for their schemes.
False corroboration is a witness in the sense that it proves that wrong can only ever be wrong. Indigenous people and the like who have had true conversion would have keen insights on this in faith and in common sense. The Pachamama affair in Rome would be the more acute for them.
Pachamama is a deity/false god. It is not a child’s doll you take for a blessing at Christmas. Would you bless an effigy of the Greek’s pan or the Chinese pangu? Of course not.
In Trinidad and Tobago they have fused the Hindu goddess kali into the celebration of La Divina Pastora and they freely use the Hindu designation for the resulting persona, “suparee mai”. Catholic priests proclaim with complete assurance it “simply” means “she is mother”. Well you should research what kind of mother kali represents to know the absurdity of it! More than 100 years already and counting.
In addition, what “suparee mai” actually translates to, from Hindi, by active sense, is, as any honest Hindu will admit, “kali’s true devotee”. At the celebration on the parish grounds Hindu men were performing the kali rituals and placing their “offerings” to the statue. Called local tradition.