Denver Newsroom, Aug 11, 2020 / 01:47 pm (CNA).-
A Sacramento priest excommunicated last week says he stands by his claim that Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is the true pope. In addition to charges of schism, the priest is suspected of misconduct and improper relationships with at least two adult women; he confessed his love to one of them in a video message circulating online.
“I continue to regard Benedict as retaining the Office of Peter, as mysterious as that might be. Therefore, I do not regard Bergoglio as the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church,” Fr. Jeremy Leatherby wrote this week in an open letter to the Sacramento diocese.
Leatherby added that although he was already prohibited from public ministry, he had been celebrating Masses in recent months in private homes, offered “in union with Pope Benedict, not with Pope Francis. Many who have joined me hold, like I do, that Benedict remains the one true Pope.”
On Aug. 7, Sacramento’s Bishop Jaime Soto announced that “by his words and actions” Leatherby was “in a state of schism with the Roman Catholic Church.”
Sote declared that the priest had incurred a latae sententiae excommunication. “This means that by his own volition he has separated himself from communion with the Roman Pontiff, Pope Francis, and other members of the Catholic Church,” the bishop said. He called on Leatherby to “repent of the harm he has inflicted on the Church.”
In a private Aug. 3 letter to Leatherby obtained by CNA, Soto urged the priest to change his ways.
“I have received a number of testimonies reporting that you have offered Mass publicly in violation of my withdrawal of your faculties…In the exercise of these illicit rites…you have preached against the Holy Father and omitted the inclusion of his name and mine from the Eucharistic prayer.”
Soto added that he had heard recordings of the priest’s sermons, and both spoken telephonically and corresponded with the priest about those matters.
“Do not heed the voices or sentiments that have driven you to do this. These are not the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You are wounding the Church you have previously promised to serve. Your actions have placed you and others in grave moral danger. Listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, in whose name I speak with fraternal solicitude.”
After the excommunication was announced, Leatherby, 41, said that he accepts the bishop’s judgment.
“Bishop Soto’s sentence of excommunication against me is consistent with my relationship with Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis), with whom I cannot morally, spiritually or intellectually, in good conscience, align myself,” he wrote.
“I deservedly incur excommunication if Bergoglio is indeed the valid Successor of Peter, and I am guilty of causing great division within the Mystical Body of Christ. However, I could not in good conscience do otherwise….When all is revealed, if I am mistaken, I will humbly repent of my sin and error, for I love the Holy Roman Catholic Church.”
Leatherby has been without an assignment in the diocese since March 2016. At that time, he was removed from ministry at a Sacramento parish, amid allegations that he had engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a woman at the parish. He was prohibited from public ministry and his sacramental faculties were withdrawn.
Leatherby’s supporters claim those allegations were trumped up, as retaliation against his family, because the priest’s father, a deacon in the diocese, reported to Church authorities that some priests in the diocese were involved in a homosexual affair.
The Diocese of Sacramento told CNA that claim is “not true.”
“The original matter regarding Fr. Leatherby was triggered by an allegation of a ministerial boundary violation with an adult woman. We have no comment on rumors, theories, or complex, alternate explanations of this matter,” a diocesan spokesman told CNA Aug. 11.
The diocese did not say why the canonical case against Leatherby has taken years to adjudicate.
In August 2018, Sacramento’s vicar general sent a memo to diocesan priests, to address ”speculation” and “the length of time it has taken to resolve this case.”
According to the memo, Bishop Soto formally initiated a formal canonical process — presumably a canonical trial or an administrative penal process — against Leatherby, shortly after he was removed from parish ministry.
That canonical process stalled, the memo said, because “it took longer than we would have liked to assemble a panel of canonical experts independent of the diocese to address this case.”
But the process began moving forward in January 2018, according to the memo. The case “is still continuing, and is in the hands of other ecclesiastical authorities,” Soto said this week.
The diocese has declined requests from CNA for details regarding the status of the case, or the exact canonical crimes of which the priest is accused.
While the diocese has not commented on the allegations against Leatherby, parishioners say the charges have divided the Sacramento parish community, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that Leatherby led as pastor until he was removed in 2016.
Leatherby had garnered a large following at the parish, especially attracting devoutly Catholic families as he worked to renew the parish school. But some parishioners say the priest’s leadership was marked with problems from the beginning.
Becky Jennings was a volunteer and parent at Presentation’s school during Leatherby’s tenure there. She said her family, like a lot of families, was attracted to the school because of the priest’s orthodoxy, dynamism, and pastoral attention to parish and school.
The Jennings trusted Fr. Leatherby, at first. They thought he was a faithful priest, and they were impressed by his courage and his kindness.
“In retrospect, there were a lot of things that should have been red flags. There were cult-like elements with Fr. Leatherby and his family,” Jennings told CNA.
She said that because Jennings was pastorally available and engaged in parish and family lives, a “huge cult of personality formed around him.”
“We would have followed him off the end of the earth and trusted him.”
The priest “used to promote himself as an expert in women’s spirituality and women’s spiritual direction,” Jennings said, and the women he directed were fiercely loyal to him.
In her judgment, Leatherby “formed a ‘harem’ of spiritual directees around him, and used the idea that someone has to be loyal to their spiritual director to abuse and manipulate them,” Jennings said.
The diocese has not identified the woman who alleged misconduct in 2016. But parishioners, talking to one another on social media, have said she was a part of the parish community, a daily communicant, and a former employee of the parish.
When allegations regarding Leatherby emerged in 2016, Jennings said, many people had a hard time believing them, including her family.
It was “devastating,” she said. “We felt like he was the heart and soul of the community.”
But eventually Jennings started hearing stories from parishioners about inappropriate behavior from Leatherby, and those gave her pause. She said she began to believe that “Fr. Leatherby had us all taken in.”
Jennings added that even in his parish leadership, the priest had tried to sow suspicion of outsiders. In early 2016, she said, “there seemed to be growing paranoia that the diocese was out to get our school.” Leatherby, she said, was especially paranoid about losing control of decisions at the school.
Division in the parish is now stark, Jennings said, with some describing Leatherby as “narcissistic” and controlling, while others maintain the priest was persecuted by the Sacramento diocese.
She said she doesn’t believe that Leatherby was removed as an act of retribution. “I think that was invented out of whole cloth,” Jennings told CNA, “or exaggerated.”
She emphasized that in her view, Leatherby’s family members, many of whom have been connected to the parish, are a “pr machine,” trying to promote the idea that the priest is the victim of persecution, “like a mafia,” Jennings added. Leatherby’s defenders, Jennings said, have smeared the reputation of the priest’s alleged victim within the parish community.
Jennings and her family eventually moved away from the parish, she told CNA.
Soto’s letter this week said the excommunication of Leatherby was not related to the 2016 canonical case. That case is not the only instance of suspected misconduct.
Earlier this year, a video circulated online in which Leatherby, who appeared to be driving a car at night, recorded a video message for an unidentified woman, who, according to Leatherby, is not the subject of the 2016 allegation.
“Hey, Baby Doll,” Leatherby says, as he begins the video.
“I love that without mascara that you are still strikingly beautiful. I love that. I love it, like, a lot. A lot a lot. I loved it earlier when I saw you, and you didn’t have it on, and I loved it all night long. ‘Til the present time, and you still don’t have it on, and you’re still gorgeous.”
After discussing an event he had attended that evening, Leatherby says in the video, “I love you, I love you, I love you, you’re my girl. I imagine I’ll still say a ‘good night’ before I really, really, really go to bed, but I love you, even now, before then. Ok, goodnight, I love you.”
Leatherby said this week that he accidentally sent that message to an unintended recipient, and acknowledged the video “appears to some as a confirmation that I must be guilty of every sensational detail that has been alleged about me,” the priest said.
The priest said his behavior in the video was inappropriate, but denied it is evidence of a sexual relationship with the woman.
According to Leatherby’s open letter, the video was intended for “a woman who is a friend and who has assisted me significantly to, literally, survive and persevere these last few years and to fight for my priesthood,” and was recorded “after too much to drink.”
“I spoke in inappropriate ways, unbecoming of my priestly state, even if on leave. Thus, it can be taken totally out of context. I do not have a sexual relationship with that woman,” he said, claiming that those circulating the video “are spreading one side of a story that you don’t know the truth about.”
His letter said that a “handful of detractors who are out to destroy me,” and are using the video irresponsibly. He also claimed that if he were inclined towards sexual immorality, “those pathologies would have been detected at the Saint John Vianney Treatment Center in Downingtown, PA, which I was required to attend for five months after being placed on leave. They dissected every aspect of my life and person.”
In 2018, Leatherby wrote to his former parishioners, whom he reportedly had been instructed by the diocese not to contact.
“At this time I feel called to exercise my spiritual fatherhood to a number of individuals like yourselves, for whom I have been a Pastor, spiritual father, or priest friend/acquaintance at one time or another. I believe that the times that our Lord, through our Blessed Mother, has been preparing the Church and the world for over the course of many years are hastening upon us. She has said that it would be a time of great confusion and darkness, which we have all experienced in ways,” the priest wrote.
“My sense is that the times are going to get progressively darker. There will be a cacophany (sic) of voices pulling us in one way or another. We will be seeking to hear the voice of Christ in the midst of the clamor. Stay close to sources that will offer authentic Catholic teaching,” he added.
This week, Leatherby said he plans to petition for laicization, because he is no longer “in union with the church over which Bergoglio reigns.” The priest said that he will “live out
my priestly promises independently.”
If the priest is laicized, the canonical cases against him would likely conclude without formal resolution. The Sacramento diocese told CNA it will support Leatherby’s petition for laicization.
Through his canon lawyer, Leatherby declined CNA’s interview requests.
[…]
I knew Francis II would say something dumb.
Ever satisfied?
Satisfaction is an evil thing to desire. So, no.
Leo’s comments were disheartening. As I hold to the Church’s traditional teaching on the death penalty, I suppose that means I can no longer consider myself pro-life.
Correct. Synodaling has freed you from your backwardist, reactionary, dogma loving, inadmissible ideologies. And it’s about time, since we are in year 12 of the Franciscus Church paradigm shift. Glad you are on board, but how did you miss the drone show?
Anyway, let’s summarize what we have learned from this latest Synodaling:
The death penalty is inadmissible and not pro-life.
The major award to Durbin is admissible and pro-life(ish;)💋
Mr. Cupich said this: ““The tragedy of our current situation in the United States is that Catholics find themselves politically homeless.”
It’s thinking like this that makes this man a particularly unworthy bishop. He simply is not thinking like a successor to the Apostles. It’s as if the first Apostles were in a quandary about which Roman senator ought to be the next Caesar. This is a bishop who does not think as Christ thinks. He thinks as Mammon.
I would suggest that cupich retire very quickly, repair to some Carthusian monastery and spend the remainder of his days in contemplation and repentance for what ill-effect his episcopacy has had on the faithful whom he was charged with shepherding.
You either support abortion or you don’t.
He did, he does and he will continue to do so – therefore he should NOT receive an award of any kind from The Cardinal – End of discussion.
Smart move by Durbin.
Agreed. As a professional politician, Durbin no longer needs the headache from this silly award or episcopal allies like Cupich. From today’s Gospel: Luke 9:60
Sadness equating illegal immigration into a bankrupt nation with the murder of Holy Innocents in the womb – largely financed by our government. The seamless garment has a big hole i its posterior portion.
Still praying for a Catholic Pope. No wonder Cdl Cupich was smirking on the loggia.
“We can move forward if we Keep Hope Alive.” Untrue in this life if you have been aborted.
Pope Leo said that “it’s important to look at many issues [OTHER THAN THE MASS MURDER OF CHILDREN] that are related to the teachings of the Church.” Leo is a miserable Franciscus II. Attempting to gaslight pro-life from a country palace after a dip in the pool just won’t do.
Well, at least Senator Durbin is a professional politician and knows when he is defeated. Praying for him to return to Holy Communion.
Well, at least we finally have a working definition of Synodaling:
Gatherings to change attitudes so that we can eventually change dogmas, like the Sixth Commandment. “We can move forward if we Keep Hope Alive.” Untrue in this life if you have been aborted.
Pope Leo said that “it’s important to look at many issues [OTHER THAN THE MASS MURDER OF CHILDREN] that are related to the teachings of the Church.” Leo is a miserable Franciscus II. Attempting to gaslight pro-life from a country palace after a dip in the pool just won’t do.
Well, at least Senator Durbin is a professional politician and knows when he is defeated. Praying for him to return to Holy Communion.
On a positive note, we finally have a working definition of Synodaling:
Gatherings to change attitudes so that we can eventually change dogmas, like the Sixth Commandment.
Well apart from the fact that the position Durbin espouses deserves “total condemnation,” not giving him an award is a completely neutral position, not condemnation. As for His Holiness, his statement was disappointing mush. I can certainly be read as allowing for the exact selective dissection of Durbin’s record to find justification for honoring him that Cupich was purporting.
Cupich, Leo & Company should surmise what sane Catholics think they can do with their “seamless garment.”
The murder of one million innocent unborn children is not in any way equivalent to the death penalty, properly administered, which is not a sin, as the Church taught for over 1900 years. Murder (abortion) however, is first on the Catechism’s list of sins that cry to heaven. If the pope, and bishops, all with years of Theology, Philosophy, and most with advanced degrees, cannot see that, then a lot has been wasted on their education.
As to inhumane treatment of illegals, I would refer the pope to last December when the Vatican instituted new penalties for illegal entry into the Vatican, of up to a $25,000 fine and up to Four years in jail. I ask, which is more humane, Four years in jail or deportation to a person’s country of origin?
In 2004 Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, said that unlike abortion and euthanasia, disagreeing with the Vatican on the death penalty was not a reason to refrain from receiving the Eucharist.
We all know what to expect from Cardinal Cupich, but how to react to the pope’s comments? Pathetic, outrageous, an embarrassment? After Pope Leo’s election I saw a lot of commenters ask the question as to whether we were getting a second Pope Leo XIII or Pope Francis 2.0. As time goes on I suppose the answer will be clear.
Deportment to country of a person’s origin? Not always so, not always a good idea if so!
It’s always a good idea to deport raping, murdering, and sex trafficking criminals convicted in their own country, to that country. Those simply deported back to their point of entry are a policing matter for that country, Mexico, espeically since their government aided and abetted the criminal entry into the U.S.
What’s next for the good bishop? Awarding Satan for keeping Jesus company in the desert?
Leo XIV expressed awareness of the difficulty and tensions, alluding to conflict of interests. Then added:
1 It’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done. 2 It’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church.
As discussed elsewhere he responds to a conflict of interests between the sacred and the secular with a double bind. Was Pope Leo in favor or not?
If the one person with supreme authority leaves an important affirmation of Catholic doctrine hanging it is clear he is not affirming that doctrine as possessing priority over a secular interest.
Virtually all clergy from deacon, presbyter, bishop, cardinal, pope are afflicted with mealymouth disease. It can be cured. A painful chastisement from the heavens can do it. Or something like Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point for Catholic clergy would be more pleasant.
The men who were capable of a turning point moment among the cardinals: Muller, Eijk, Burke, Sarah, Zen, Woelki et Al were in an apparently smaller division but significant minority reason why an initial consensus could not be reached. The affable quiet man Cdl Prevost became the compromise choice.
At this stage the quiet man is turning out to be an affable conduit for the majority who favor Pope Francis’ ‘new paradigm’. Certainly Leo’s response was more amenable to soothing Cdl Cupich than true blue Catholic prelates like Paprocki. Durbin in the meantime bites the bullet and become a gaypride infantslayer folk hero.
Perfect analysis. Thank you, Father.
“Catholics find themselves politically homeless”??? Really?? I beg to differ.
I am 71 and have been voting Republican since I was 18. I NEVER miss an election. No one political party will reflect Catholic belief perfectly. These are secular groups, not religious ones, and will reflect a tolerant width of belief we may not always agree with 100%. HOWEVER there is an absolutely HUGE difference between the Democrats and Republicans. A blind man could see it. The Republicans have fought to get ROE repealed. They support law and order, respect our police and oppose perversion of sexual roles in society. They oppose foisting perverted sexuality on children in our schools. They oppose men in womens sports and locker rooms and bathrooms. By contrast the democrats SUPPORT all of those noxious positions, in addition to supporting the availability of abortion until the day of birth. The DEMS also gladly supported the influx of an estimated 20 million illegals into the country, far too many of whom are violent criminals. The Republicans support the closed border we have had since Trump returned to office.
Now, many “old guard” democrats have endorsed a socialist/communist mayoral candidate in NYC who is looking poised to win the election. We do recall what has happened in nations where Communists came into power, dont we? Christians were suppressed, churches closed, clergy jailed or murdered. That is what you are supporting when you vote DEM. Disgusting.
You can’t see the difference between the two??? Or are you just so self righteous that Trump’s occasionally abrasive personality has made you blind to reality, or blind to good and evil?? For those Catholics who persist in voting in the favor of the morally twisted Democrats, I have one word for you. It begins with “stu” and ends with “pid”.
I beg to differ if you consider a Republican form of government important. Unless you are blind, it’s hard not to see the erosion of balance of power in our present government. The Executive branch is trying to run the whole show. Judges and members of congress are being badgered and bullied into compliance. The Executive privilege is being abused on every front. The military is being micromanaged to the point that Generals jobs are being threatened if they dare to disagree. The sports and entertainment industries are being coerced. Businesses are being punished. Foreign governments are being bullied and their leaders personalities and reputations maligned. Law firms are being prevented from representing clients. The Educational freedoms at the local level are being taken over by the federal government (something Republicans were formally against), the Press is being badgered into what they can report. People’s very citizenship are being revoked. Even local libraries are being told what they can and cannot do. The medical and pharmaceutical industries are also being run by government agencies. We are being told what shots we can and cannot have. In short every facet of our lives are becoming controlled by the whims of one man. What kind of government is this? Is this what we want? Is this man really pro life? Is the end “Christian Nationalism “? If so do you really think that the word Christian will remain once other objectives are achieved? How long can you feel at home considering the present trajectory toward despotism? The offerings of the Left are equally scary and in no way can be acceptable to the Christian. Don’t label me as a leftist as I abhor their lack of sexual morality and lack of respect for family values. Both parties seek complete control of our lives by the State. I think that there is still room in the Center for a party which would more truly represent Christian values and would seek to gain them through ethical means.
“Don’t label me a leftist…” even though I speak like one and think like one 🙄. You forgot to include the obligatory comparison between Trump and Hitler in your post.
Athanasius: neither party is all good and all bad. If you combine the good of both and eliminate the bad of both you just may arrive at balanced solution to our problems. No one is all wrong, no person entirely evil. We can’t assume that a person’s motives are bad just because we disagree with what they stand for. Take a look at the platform of the American Solidarity Party as an example of the kind of possibility that I am suggesting. It was built entirely on the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church. Thomas Aquinas taught that virtue is found in the middle of the extremes. Where on the political continuum does the present Republican Party stand? How far right do you need to go before you become wrong? Is it farther right than it was 20 years ago? Thirty? Fifty? If so why? Is being far right good and healthy? I’m addressing you as one on the right because that is where you seem to be coming from, but I can ask the same questions to the present Democrats. I’m not saying that everything that the Republican Party stands for is bad. It isn’t. But the end never justifies the means and I am Very concerned about many of the MEANS that are being employed to gain these “good” ends. Despotic governments can achieve great things much faster and better than democratic ones. Just look at the great empires of the past- Mesopotamia , Egypt, Rome and Modern China- to only name a few. Not all work out this way though. What I am trying to point out is that things are getting done fast now , but this is not necessarily good. IF corners are being cut and due process is being violated, a red flag should be thrown up and we should stop and evaluate what is going on. Time to step back and take inventory. It’s never a bad idea to stop and ask questions and analyze a situation and see if we are possibly rationalizing. I am concerned because I have a feeling that many Christians are beginning to compromise values in order to reach seemingly good ends.
Jim, Your liberal bias comes through loud and clear.
I dont see that executive privilege is being abused. Trump is almost the only one getting anything done, as democrats take him to court over the most insignificant action, creating a huge roadblock to doing anything for the people.
Were you OK with the killing in Washington DC until Trump sent in troops? Or in Chicago where 58 people were recently killed but their mayor says everything is fine? Is he crazy? Honey, if you cant do your job as an elected official, get out of the way and let someone else do it. If it has to be Trump, so be it. This isnt politics, peoples LIVES are at stake.
The military is a place where chain of command is everything. You dont get to decide if you like your orders or chose not to obey them. If thats what you want to do, you are in the wrong job. A “do my own thing” military is the path to chaos. After years of DEI promotions and women who cant do the work, yes, I am glad the object is to have the fittest and strongest and most qualified in the jobs.
You think the press is being badgered, after years of being a propaganda tool for the Dem left? Thats funny? Were you blocked from posting online during the Biden years, because I WAS. I am still finding my very mild but conservative posts blocked on liberal run sites like AOL. So, I guess you were ok when they lied through their teeth for the left and never gave the conservative point of view?
Thus far to my knowledge NO ONE’S citizenship has been revoked. Thats propaganda. Trump joked about doing that to Rosie but to anyone with a sense of humor, they got the joke. JOKE, get it? Since she hates the country so much its doubtful she would mind anyway if it happened.
As for drag queen shows for children at libraries being stopped, good. I dont want my tax dollars used for perversion and indoctrination of children. The dems made an art of suing any lawyer who took Trump on as a client or having them disbarred. How is that not control, suppression, violence?? Now it comes full circle and the left is howling. Too bad.
I dont see us heading toward Christian Nationalism. Neither do I think such a thing would be threatening. I have no idea what supposed “objectives ” frighten you,( or what objectives you see lurking in the dark??) but the fake threatening world you have conjured up for yourself is a waste of energy. As far as I can see, it has been the left, which I do not distinguish from the DEMs or communists , who have destroyed the quality of life for average people, dangerous unvetted illegals and with partisan judges (who always need to be overruled),ignoring violent crime against innocents . You dont really believe that those charges against Trump under Biden were legit, do you?? Russia-gate has long been proven a dangerous farce too. As was every charge that followed.
Recently a medical professional confided that he was trying to visit Washington DC to see the African American Museum “before Trump shuts it down”. WHAT????? NO PLACE EVER has there been talk of such a thing happening. That is more propaganda, or outright hysteria. I am left to conclude that DEMs are either a little short in the IQ department, or have been so thoroughly propagandized that they can no longer see reality. Sad. I would not vote for a DEM at this point for a million dollars.
One final question. Which side do you imagine would be more than happy to outlaw religion? That pretty much says everything that needs to be said. If you are ok with the complete chaos that Dem/leftist rule represents, you have my sympathy.
Isn’t the Church entrusted with the mission to transform the world—not to be conformed to it? When individuals, particularly those in positions of public leadership, persist in advancing pro-choice policies, they bear a grave responsibility. Even if such actions are brought to confession, true repentance must be evident in a change of heart and conduct. The continued public promotion of abortion, absent sincere contrition, reveals a disconnect between professed faith and lived witness. In such cases, it is not only appropriate but necessary for the Church and its faithful to speak with clarity and courage—calling out moral inconsistency where it undermines the sanctity of life and the integrity of Christian witness.
John 8:11: Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more”.
John 5:14: Jesus also told a man he healed, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you”.
Meaning of “Go and Sin No More”
Mercy and Forgiveness: The words are not a means of punishment but an expression of God’s love and grace, offering the woman a new life rather than condemnation.
Call to Repentance: It’s a command to abandon the sinful lifestyle and embrace a path of righteousness, purity, and holy living.
Transformation, Not Perfection: Jesus isn’t saying that the individual will never be tempted again or never stumble. Rather, through the power of the Holy Spirit, sin’s grip is broken, making sin no longer a lifestyle choice.
A New Beginning: Just as the woman’s life was saved, the phrase offers a chance for a new beginning, inviting the individual to be changed by God’s mercy.
Significance in Christian Theology
The phrase underscores that while God offers forgiveness for sin, this forgiveness is accompanied by the expectation of a changed life.
It highlights the transformative power of encountering Jesus, where true repentance and holiness become possible
No. Reform the individual. The World is given over to Satan.
Tickertape across the bottom of the screen this morning: Pope Backs Pro-Abortion Sen. Durbin for Award.
That’s all 99% of the public sees and hears.
Pope Leo is not talking to a crew of Augustinian Friars in the Chapter House. He is talking to lay people, non-Christian, non-Catholics, and an unsettling discouraging crew of Roman Catholics with either no catechesis or erroneous catechesis. The tickertape is totally accurate with them…no nuance, they got to get to work, to school, take care of the kids and pay the bills.
The dearth of vocations for the last sixty years has resulted in a dearth of men with leadership skills. The result of hard lessons not absorbed by the episcopate over that period are hitting the fan. It appears it is not going to get better until the episcopate have no sheep to shepherd and they are reaping the financial consequence that brings.
To compound matters we read at another source today that Pope Leo [along with Arnold Schwarzenegger] has no difficulty in saying it is time to swap words for “decisive and coordinated climate action” and does so without an iota of ambiguity.
It seems when he wishes Pope Leo can speak most clearly about a natural phenomenon which is outside of his expertise and which itself quite ambiguous. From whence the change in the weather? Its all quite theoretical at best. Every prediction of doom has not materialized, while it remains a crisis? I think not, nor do a sizeable portion of the world meteorologists who do not rely on leftist funding from dubious sources.
The Vatican had best stick to what is commonly assumed to be its field of expertise, theology, but these days even that is thrown to a consensus of synodal participants.
If Pope Leo is going to heal the divisions within the Church he had best start with himself.
Pope Leo should have a little fortitude.
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil,who change darkness to light, and light into darkness”.
Isaiah 5:20
A lifetime achievement award? “Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.”
The dark night of the soul continues as ‘men without chests’ seem to be our politically motivated shepherds.
The good Lord’s permissive will perhaps.
The Church awaits another Benedict of Nursia.