Once upon a time, Catholic News Agency (CNA), although never a truly “traditional” outlet, offered an orthodox alternative to the USCCB owned Catholic News Service (CNS). Those days are over.
In 2009, CNA began publishing my Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II columns. At first, my writing therein struck a neo-conservative chord (albeit with traditional overtones) born of a naïve belief that the Council documents are beyond reproach; we need only interpret and implement them by applying the so-called “hermeneutic of continuity.” This is, of course, the “company line” being sold by Rome, and back then, I was buying it.
The tenor of those columns gradually became more and more traditional, mirroring as they did my awakening to the tragedy of a non-binding council that all too often employed imprecise language and even includes propositions irreconcilable with the truths of the Faith.
Along the way, my editors at CNA gave me considerable leverage given their rather “main stream” Catholic status, and yet there were red flags too, of course.
For example, in July 2011, I sent a request for comment to the Knights of Columbus regarding New York State Senators Addabbo and Carlucci, both of whom cast decisive votes in favor of “gay marriage,” even as each proudly boasted of their good standing in the Knights of Columbus to support their Catholic credentials.
Within the hour of making that request, CNA made it clear to me that the Knights are untouchable, and no such story will be published.
This was perhaps the first concrete sign that CNA, like so many other Catholic entities, is driven first and foremost by a concern for self-preservation; so when push comes to shove, they’ll toe damn near any line that happens to be cast by those who occupy the halls of power.
Prior to Pope Benedict’s abdication, it was easier to miss, but now that Pope Francis is at the helm, it’s entirely obvious.
For instance, on February 25th, Cardinal Mueller hosted an event in Rome to present his book “Poor for poor: The mission of the Church,” which is a collection of his writings on Liberation Theology as learned at the knee of its founding father, Gustavo Gutiérrez.
Not only was Cardinal Mueller’s mentor present that day; he was honored at the event.
As reported by Catholic News Agency:
Called on the stage for a short speech during the presentation of the book, Fr. Gutierrez, departing from the original ideas from his book “A Theology of Liberation,” stressed that “the idea of service comes directly from the Second Vatican Council.” Christians, he said, are called “to serve and to search for the image of Christ in every man and go toward the ends of the earth and peripheries, as Pope Francis invites us to do.”
How do Fr. Gutierrez’s comments represent a departure from his “original ideas?”
As anyone interested enough to read “Notes for a Theology of Liberation” by Fr. Gutierrez can discover for themselves, they really don’t “depart” in any way whatsoever. That little qualifier was gratuitously added to give readers the impression that the liberation theologians themselves have been rehabilitated by a change in position, when in point of fact, the only thing that has actually taken place is that sympathetic characters, including the pope, have arisen to power.
Another glaring example of CNA’s tumble from credibility can be found in a column written by Deacon Keith Fournier wherein he canonized Pope Francis’ “brother bishop” Tony Palmer while gushing about how he labored so diligently for unity; a preposterous notion given the fact that he died a heretic.
Having called attention to this affront to the Faith, a senior contact at CNA simply replied, “I did not write the column, and I don’t think I need to reply;” a turn-a-blind-eye editorial approach that’s apparently applicable only to screed that dovetails nicely with the pope’s own assaults against the Faith.
Most recently, on September 19th, CNA ran an article denying rumors (initially published by the French journal La Croix) that Pope Francis is upset about a soon to be published book, entitled “Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church,” soon to be released by Ignatius Press.
In the book, five cardinals offer essays refuting Cardinal Walter Kasper’s suggestion, made at the Consistory of Cardinals in February, for a “pastoral approach” that would invite civilly divorced and “re-married” Catholics to Holy Communion apart from any real remedy of their adulterous situation.
Catholic News Agency offers:
Controversy over the subject arose when Cardinal Kasper delivered a prominent two-hour address to the February 2014 cardinals’ consistory, which focused on the topic of the family. He has advocated his positon in other interviews and speeches as well.
During the consistory speech, Cardinal Kasper asked “is it not perhaps an exploitation of the person” when a person who has been divorced and remarried is excluded from receiving Communion. He suggested that for “the smaller segment of the divorced and remarried,” perhaps they could be admitted to “the sacrament of penance, and then of Communion.”
…
The contributors to the Ignatius Press book write that the Bible and the Church Fathers do not support the practice advocated by Cardinal Kasper. The authors say that there is no contradiction between “genuine mercy and compassion” and Catholic doctrine and pastoral practice. Catholic teaching is “based on the teaching of Jesus himself,” they say, according to the Ignatius Press summary of the book.
The contributors also consider the Eastern Orthodox approach to divorce and remarriage and Catholic resistance to it. They find “serious theological and pastoral difficulties” in the practice.
As for Pope Francis’ role in all of this, CNA writes:
Coverage of the rumors surrounding the Ignatius Press book has been prominent among those who speculate or assume that Pope Francis intends to side with Cardinal Kasper’s position at the bishops’ synod.
Pope Francis himself has reaffirmed the indissolubility and lifelong nature of Christian marriage, such as his April 2014 remarks to the bishops of South Africa.
This is just pathetic, and frankly, disappointing given that I know some of the people involved.
So determined is CNA to keep up the illusion that Pope Francis is committed to safeguarding the sacred deposit of faith from distortion and corruption that they are shamelessly pretending that his thoughts on Kasper’s disastrous suggestions (which the Holy Father openly applauded as “profound and serene theology” before the entire consistory!) are somehow unknown.
As things stand today, CNA would be more honestly named BNA – the Bergoglio News Agency.
While many are praying for the Synod to clearly reaffirm the Faith, I’m not.
Don’t get me wrong, I would like nothing more than to have a pope who is serious about “watching over the purity of the Faith and the integrity of Catholic discipline,” (cf Notre Charge Apostolic – Pope St. Pius X) and surrounds himself with men of like mind, but that’s simply not the cast of characters who will be participating in the Synod.
My prayer, therefore, is more realistic; namely, that the devious designs of the wayward men running the show in Rome today will be so plainly stated that even the CNA’s of the world will be forced to acknowledge that there’s a choice to be made:
It’s either follow the regime or follow Christ.
This is only the beginning I fear. HH has stirred a fear in the heart of prelates, so most of them, even those who once had a backbone are beginning to cave in. The door that that the “smoke of Satan” once entered is wide open once again and the train of compromise is rolling full steam ahead. Those in the way will be decimated.
Dear Louie, Yet again, very nicely put! We should not forget the relationship with EWTN in all of this, either. From:
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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-news-agency-aci-group-merging-into-ewtn-32074/
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” “EWTN has been a partner with both Catholic News Agency and ACI Prensa for many years in creating and distributing Catholic news content, and I am very pleased and excited that these two highly respected news organizations will become a part of the EWTN family of services,” Michael Warsaw, EWTN’s chairman of the board, said June 19. ”
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More smoke-and-mirrors virtual news media so as to sustain the Virtual Church (and keep drugged esp. the more conservative pew donors). Just what the Revolutionaries ordered. Oremus!
Journalistic integrity requires a primary concern for truth, and the public has a right to expect it in reports -especially from Catholic news agencies- rare as it may be in today’s world.
– St. Augustine wrote: “As Truth is that which sets free from all error, and Falsehood that which entangles in all error, one never errs more safely..than when one errs by too much loving the truth, and too much rejecting of falsehood.”
-“He who utters a false thing for a true, which however he opines to be true, may be called erring and rash: but he is not rightly said to lie; because he has not a double heart when he utters it, neither does he wish to deceive, but is deceived. “But the fault of him who lies, is, the desire of deceiving in the uttering of his mind.” (“De mendcio”)
I have been a ‘trad’ Catholic for a long time so I usually feel quite accustomed to the happenings in Rome. That doesn’t mean I am patient with what goes on. I was told by a ‘conservative Catholic’ coworker today that his pastor yesterday talked about immigration and same-sex marriage, and said—SURPRISE—‘who am I to judge’? The damage has been done. He also told me the priests where I go to Mass (SSPX) are excommunicated. I did venture to quietly correct him on both counts. He was a little upset about his pastor’s homily. I wonder how much of this it will take for people (like him…) to realize ‘Catholic’ does not equal ‘robot’.
I, too, pray for the time when the average Catholic can see that a choice has to be made.
I should add that although my coworker was a bit upset by his pastor’s comments, he yet went on to explain them as being pretty much ‘gospel’, because ‘the Church is moving forward’, as if this was a new truth for him, but one that he was willing to accept at the word of his priest. 🙁
Excellent article! I have been a trad since childhood in the sixties, thanks to my parents. Looking back, there have been so many decades where a large part of the struggle was to try to explain to those who were caught up in following all the changes blindly, of how serious the situation in the Church was.
I think that with the Bishop of Rome and Kasper and their ilk showing their hands (it almost seems to be a bit desperate to me, in many ways like the changes Obama is shoving down our throats) that many people will start to wake up and will indeed make a choice. Surely, at a certain point, many people will realize that doctrinal lines have been crossed from the highest levels in the church, and they will say “Enough!”.
I hope and pray that they will chose Our Lord and tradition, rather than weakly caving in to the progressively evil status quo.
Unfortunately, about half of the folks who still attend mass regularly will agree with HH and Cdl Kasper. They tend to be “merciful” and “flexible” on matters of dogma and truth when both become inconvenient obstacles to the “My Way Syndrome”. IMO, It’s going to take a lot more than an in your face heresy by the Pope and his sycophants to get their attention….Vatican 2 and the last 50 years have proven that.
The only man made action that will get the shepherds of timidity’s attention is the complete withholding of financial support from the pews and then overwhelm the system with request for temporal assistance. It is a tactic right out of Alinsky and his Rules for Radicals and in a strange way most Bishops would probably recognize it.
Catholic quote of the week (gets my vote anyway) – “My prayer, therefore, is more realistic; namely, that the devious designs of the wayward men running the show in Rome today will be so plainly stated that even the CNA’s of the world will be forced to acknowledge that there’s a choice to be made: It’s either follow the regime or follow Christ.”
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I wish that at every Mass the priest would say (orat least whisper), ‘and we pray for the conversion of the wretched Apsotate Bergoglio, [and whichever Bishop is undoubteldly worthy of the same appellation], pretending to be your Vicar/Bishop, for the sake of your faithful servants…’ Might help.
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“Pope Francis himself has reaffirmed the indissolubility and lifelong nature of Christian marriage…” So if calls a woman in Argentina and tells her arsenic is good for her one day, then, speaks to some peeps in SA and says arsenic is bad for you tomorrow, shouldn’t we just say – you have no authority to say either? Especially when he is brushing the lint off the robes of theologians telling us arsenic is, in fact, good?
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‘Exploitation’, says the apostate Kasper, when speaking of people in mortal sin being guided to get out of that mortal sin – of course he has the authority of Christ to say so.
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The thing about the defence of the faith in the Ignatius Press publication: “Catholic teaching [being] “based on the teaching of Jesus himself…” It is an honest question to ask, which Jesus? The one preached by 1900 years of authentic Peters – or the one preached by the ‘new peters’?
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As for the ‘hermeneutic of continuity’ flag waved by Benedict, I tried for a long while to swallow the ‘continuity’ moonshine as well. But there came a time when I had to admit, that hermeneutic was off hiding with the Weapons of Mass Destruction, or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was a lie. Ratzinger himself during the council spoke of the council being a ‘counter-syllabus’: “If one is looking for a global diagnosis of the text [of Gaudium et spes], one could say that it (along with the texts on religious liberty and world religions) is a revision of the Syllabus of Pius IX, a kind of counter-Syllabus…”
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http://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/A_031_RatzingerCouterSyllabus.htm
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‘revision’ is hegelian beliacal speak for contradiction.
Speaking of following Christ,
Does anyone have any news about the Cardinal Muller-Bishop Fellay meeting that was scheduled for this past Sunday? Or is there normally a news-blackout following something like that?
So what is shaping up then? A 3 party schism? One part Francis followers, one part Pius XII followers and one part Benedict followers? Which will you choose Louie if the synod goes as you pray for?
In terms of ‘shaping’… nothing satanically unpreditcted is assualting the Faithful. If we know Christ, know His Doctrine and Liturgy and Discipline genuine – proper – there’s no question. We follow Christ, His Rock shone forth for hundreds of years (and within which we have been given ample warning of treachery), hold to the Church, be Militant in communion with Her un-admixtured Apostolic sons, and all her truly Heavenly Triumphant members.
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Pray for all for whom anyone individual is bound to pray. Pray in Truth (not comprimise) in Christ, His Bride.
Another victory for the home team 😉
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RC has the post ops: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/09/holy-see-comunique-on-meeting-with.html
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Money quote:
“During the meeting, some problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature were examined, and it was agreed to proceed in reasonable degrees and times towards overcoming the difficulties and the desired achievement of full reconciliation.”
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Sounds like they will keep talking until we convert the modernists. 😉
A big PS: Franciscans, you know where to knock. 😉
Or a scenario I just thought of:
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What if someone like Burke gets together 3 or 4 like-minded Cardinals and they denounce Francis as a heretic. Then what would they do? Would they go back to Benedict or would they try to elect one of their own? If they decide to elect one of their own we could have a 4 way schism. Followers of Francis, Followers of Pius XII, Followers of Benedict, Followers of the Pope chosen from the break-away cardinals. Fascinating stuff.
Thanks for the info, S. Armaticus ( @#11)
But isn’t it a bit early on to be celebrating?
Am I the only one sick to death of words like “wounded” and “healing?”
When one is wounded the wound usually comes from outside – you get shot, stabbed, hit, run over, or whatever. One is usually the victim of someone wounding.
All the other ‘wounds’ that we are said to be the recipients of ARE DIRECTLY GIVEN TO US BY OURSELVES!!! Any other language simply does not reflect reality.
A broken marriage is not broken – it has been abandoned by one or both of the parties. There can be no ‘healing’ just a recognition of the abandonment and a re-affirmation of the original VOW.
Stuff doesn’t just HAPPEN! We make it happen either through our actions, or our omissions. As someone who has been married, and “divorced” and “remarried outside the Church” I know what I’m talking about. (Due ONLY to the Good God’s Fatherly Mercy I came to my senses before it was too late.)
He who controls language controls thoughts. Can we here at least avoid using these nonsense words when we speak about the evils all around us?
Poor decon Fournier! He will have to eat his words one day. All this decon business is a crock too by the way. We need holy Priests not these wanna-be’s!
dear Barbara,
No. You are not the only one. The terms you mentioned , plus the word “pastoral” -as if being pastoral was divorced {pun intended} from being doctrinal-are totally causing me to continuously raise my nausea threshold.
Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, pray for us.
Barbara,
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Do you mean that you went back to your first(real) husband? If so, Kudos! as I almost never hear of that happening now a days.
Dear Indugnus:
Not celebrating yet, but I have a massive smile on my face as I am writing this.
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We got the “best” of all reasonably expected “outcomes” on this one.
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I am STUNNED with respect to “how weak of a hand” ++Muller played, to use a poker expression. This is a guy who was talking about schismatics and the “x” word less than 1 year earlier, and now he puts out a press release saying “some problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature were examined”. Spot the word “WHERE”? How much of a “climb down” for ++Muller does that entail?
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Let that sink in for a minute.
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Back of the envelope (since Roman trattoria’s use cloth napkins -thanks for catching that one Roman Watcher) take aways:
1) Minus for SSPX because it will continue the “internal festering” of some of the more intransigent elements (the resistance to the resistance crowd). However, it is a small price to pay.
2)HUGE Plus for SSPX because it proves ++Muller’s previous position was a bluff. He will speak to SSPX in a cordial manner and “examine ” some of the doctrinal and canonical problems with +Fellay.
3) HUGE Plus for Catholics because if ++Muller will discuss “doctrinal problems”, this can only mean he (CDF) will discuss VII or in other words, the “spirit of VII is open for debate. This is the BIG (and I can’t stress enough) takeaway. For 40 years the modernists pretended that there were no problems. And now we got the head of the CDF nonchalantly admitting that there are “doctrinal” problems.
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**** The Bergoglian reign of terror that we are witnessing against the FFI and dioceses of Ciudad del Este, among others, is not a sign of strength, but rather of modernists weakness. They are trying to terrorize the Faithful because they see the tide turning. They know that there NO church/liturgy is contradictory to the Catholic faith, and therefore the two cannot coexist. It either one or the other, but it can’t be both. And this is the reason behind the cruel and thuggish behavior that we are all a witness to.
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But back to the takeaways:
4) HUGE Plus II for Catholics since this means that attending mass at a SSPX chapel in not the “burn in hell” result (notwithstanding that the modernists don’t admit that there is a hell) that the modernists try to make it out to be.
5) HUGE Minus to His Humbleness, since ++Muller cordially meets the arch enemy of the Modernists. Not only does he not threaten them, but is willing to “examine some problems of a doctrinal nature”. And this is a couple of days after HH appoints a “church closing” radical leftist nut to the See of Chicago. A guy who is known for locking Catholics out of church during the Holy Week. Where is the mercy there, aye?
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Anyways, these are the takeaways that come to mind off the top of my head. Kind of like the inspiration for the Euchristic Prayer one late evening at the Roman trattoria after a couple bottles of Barolo. (Yea, I am still chuckling.)
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And while we are on the subject, what are the odds that the clerics discussed that scene during THE meeting. I can see it now. ++Muller asks +Fellay if he would consider “presiding” over the NO service using the EP II, and bishop Fellay retorts that they use proper prayers at the Society dinner tables. 😉
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A real knee slapper. 🙂
Not backing down: ++Burke UNLEASHES
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“It simply makes no sense to talk about mercy which doesn’t respect truth.”
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Link over at Fr. Z’s place:http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/09/card-burke-it-simply-makes-no-sense-to-talk-about-mercy-which-doesnt-respect-truth/
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Wouldn’t expect anything less of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
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And I mean it.
… and the responce from Menzingen.
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http://sspx.org/en/sspx-general-house-communique-9-23-2014
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“During this cordial meeting, doctrinal and canonical difficulties were discussed, and the current situation of the Church was mentioned. It was decided to continue the discussions in order to clarify the points of contention that remain.”
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Odds are getting better that the “EP II” affair was mentioned. 😉
More good news from the construction site: Special Report from the SP Pilgrimage.
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Link here:http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/1054-special-report-third-summorum-pontificum-pilgrimage-to-rome
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Money quote:
“Another motivation was my mother, who is ninety-four years old and who has asked me to do the traditional liturgy for her funeral.”
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What a good son won’t do for his mum. 😉
No, I’m afraid I was still ‘wounded’ and it took a long time to ‘heal.’ My present husband followed me into the Catholic Church and eventually we had our fake marriage made into a real marriage. I will pay for this abandonment of my first husband in the flames, but we are all blessed to know God’s real MERCY is available when we are SORRY, and when we ASK FOR IT – even when we can’t turn back the clock.
Dear Barbara,
We were somewhat confused by your explanation of the above.
-If your first marriage was not-annullable, i.e. still valid, (and that is the reason you are saying you will pay in the flames for abandoning it) then there is no way to make the “fake” second marriage (as you call it) into a “REAL” one, unless your true husband has died.
– If ‘he hasn’t, we’re hoping you misspoke or omitted the fact that the Church granted an annulment for that first marriage ceremony. If so, then why the talk of “burning” for abandonment–especially if it was an abusive situation that took place during what amounted to living together without the graces and bonds of matrimony. Our concern there is that abused women (and men) who need the courage to walk away from bad situations, are not in need of false residual guilt .
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If you’re speaking of some temporal punishments due to confessed sin, which we all strive to atone for while here on earth, it would be good to clarify that..
We’re not trying to pry into your personal life, and don’t need details. But what you just described above sounds wrong to us. And we’re concerned for others who may be mislead if it was just unclearly stated.
Dear S. Armaticus,
Interesting analysis, -lots to ponder there. Let’s hope all your glee is justified. 🙂
In the end it will be, of course. But how soon is something else.
It’s obvious the very things we are all decrying here on Louie’s blog, and being forced to endure these days because of this ” no-(modernist)-holds-barred” Pontificate –like everything else in this world, are part of God’s making all things “work unto good”. These atrocities were one gigantic leveraging factor the SSPX had to bring to that discussion “table”. How can a Cardinal with Muller’s authority and positions, who himself participated over the last year in writing a book refuting the errors of Kasperian “mercy” which errors were known to be praised as “serene theology”, by the reigning Pontiff, bring a “high road” attitude to a talk about the “good’ of the Church, with those who decry that and many other atrocities as well–especially as it is ongoing, getting worse by the second, and heading for a cliff in less than 2 weeks?
-We don’t pretend to have the political savvy of many who post here, so we’ll continue our watch and learn approach. One thing we find heartening is the idea of there being less (or even no?) condemnation for participants in the SSPX’s Sacramental programs, due to this ongoing discussion, and the facts you point up about there BEING Doctrinal issues to discuss–although a list of what Muller thinks those are might be a lot more helpful in determining how much to restrain our glee.
Dear S. Armaticus,
Another GREAT find–Thank you:
3 Crucial points make by Cardinl Burke about Marriage, annulment, and the October Synod..
–1. Mercy never ignores Truth:
“The Church’s teaching is merciful, “..it respects the truth that the person is indeed bound by a prior union which the person, for whatever reason, is no longer living.” “The Church holds the person to the truth of that marriage…being compassionate, .. trying to help them to lead as holy a life as they can, but without betraying the truth about their marriage.” This,is mercy. “It simply makes no sense to talk about mercy which doesn’t respect truth. How can that be merciful?”
–2. The dissent on this issue is inside the Church as well as outside:
“.. the culture is extremely confused and in great error,.. However, this extends also to the interior of the Church, where are those who question the application of Matthew 19. In the passage, Jesus says that a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; this is the basis for Catholic practice prohibiting the reception of the Eucharist in such circumstances ..“If we don’t get it correct about marriage, there’s very little else we’re going to be clear about.”
–3. Marriage validity matters gravely, and it’s the height of pride and foolishness to think the annulment process be disregarded nor “streamlined”, after centuries of development:
..”many couples today who are divorced, don’t care anymore about the question of nullity,” he said. “They simply make a decision to live with another person…”
“..it’s gravely wrong to live as if married to someone, when in fact you’re not free to marry.”
… “the Church has to have an apt process to arrive at the truth.. whether or not a marriage has been null. “But to simply have people come before what’s called an administrative process, or a so-called ‘pastoral process,’” one in which “people simply tell their story to a priest,” who then makes the decision with regard to their reception of the Sacraments – “how does that respect the truth of our Lord’s teaching about marriage?”
–“The marriage nullity process is the fruit of centuries of development, and by various expert canonists, one of the great ones being Pope Benedict XIV,” the cardinal said. “For us now simply to say we don’t need that anymore is the height of pride and therefore foolishness.”
The Synod..cannot simply be a kind of sentimental or personal approach that doesn’t respect the objective reality of marriage.”
Sep 23, 2014 / http://www.catholicworldreport.com/NewsBriefs/Default.aspx?rssGuid=cardinal-burke-media-hijacking-synod-on-the-family-79760/
p.s. Of course if the Church didn’t recognize the first “marriage” at all, and ruled no need for an annulment–that’s another situation entirely. You called it a marriage, so we were just going by that.
The lack of discernment is ubiquitous – among priests and bishops as well as lay persons. It’s a sign of a lack of grace, due to chronic state of mortal sin.
Yes, Barbara, me too – and all followers of objective truth. The terms they use are made to manipulate and impose their false ideology.
If the true meaning of marriage is to be subverted, this is tantamount to claiming there is no objective truth – therefore, no God, Creator and Saviour.
Dear Lynda,
Yes. That was also Cardinal Burke’s point, that our adherence to the teachings on marriage is so crucial, because of how deeply significant is our obedience to God’s laws, and what happens to those who disregard them—(as in the time of Noah perhaps)?
Well, I didn’t want to go into a great deal of detail here! I appreciate your distinctions, but rest assured all is well for me now.
Dear Barbara,
Good to hear that. God Bless
“The darkest places in Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
LOL
Hey guys, our oficial troll just inadverdently admitted that Francis may be a heretic after all! 😛
One can’t be neutral about the truth.