If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
The pope’s decision to remove Cardinal Raymond L. Burke from the Congregation for Bishops was taken by church experts to be a signal that Francis is willing to disrupt the Vatican establishment in order to be more inclusive.
Even so, many saw the move less as an effort to change doctrine on specific social issues than an attempt to bring a stylistic and pastoral consistency to the church’s leadership.
“He is saying that you don’t need to be a conservative to become a bishop,” said Alberto Melloni, the director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna, Italy, a liberal Catholic research institute. “He wants good bishops, regardless of how conservative or liberal they are.” [Note the Orwellian word-play]
Cardinal Burke, who came to the Vatican in 2008 after serving as archbishop of St. Louis, is a favorite of many conservative Catholics in the United States for his upholding of church rites and traditions favored by Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Burke’s preference for the long train of billowing red silk known as cappa magna, and other such vestments, has, however, made him seem out of step with Francis, who has made it clear through example that he prefers more humble attire.
Last week, Cardinal Burke also seemed to create more substantive daylight between himself and the pope, giving an interview in which he raised concerns about comments by Francis that the church should reduce the focus on abortion and same-sex marriage.
“One gets the impression, or it’s interpreted this way in the media, that he thinks we’re talking too much about abortion, too much about the integrity of marriage as between one man and one woman,” Cardinal Burke said of the pope in an interview with EWTN, a Catholic broadcaster. “But we can never talk enough about that.”..............
Cardinal Burke still serves as the prefect of the Vatican’s highest canonical court, but analysts say his removal from the Congregation for Bishops will sharply reduce his influence, especially over personnel changes in American churches.
“The Congregation for Bishops is the most important congregation in the Vatican,” said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and the author of “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church.”
“It decides who are going to be the bishops all over the world,” he added. “This is what has the most direct impact on the life of the local church.”
To replace Cardinal Burke, Francis chose Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, an ideological moderate[Read - he will allow the left to run wild, both against and within Church] with a deep knowledge of the Vatican but also with pastoral experience. Father Reese noted that Cardinal Burke had been a leader of American bishops arguing that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be barred from receiving communion, while Cardinal Wuerl had taken an opposite tack.
“That certainly is in line with the pope, who has said that communion is not a reward for being good,” Father Reese said. “It is a sacrament of healing to help people.” [More Orwellian word-play. The Eucharist is to be received by those who are not in a state of mortal sin; supporting murders of the unborn in order to protect your job is not an excuse.]...........
Asked whether all of the pope’s changes mattered if Cardinal Burke still had such influence in appointing bishops, Cardinal Wuerl smiled.
“Don’t we have to give this pope time?” he said.
[What Wuerl is trying to say is that things are going great for his types.]
The Catholic Church is facing far greater threats in Western nations than she has seen in many centuries.
The institution of marriage has been made to mean virtually nothing. So successful has been the war on our youth in this regard that even students of a Catholic school have taken to reducing Christ to the polar opposite of the teacher who directed the woman caught in adultery to "Go and sin no more":
Supporters of Mark Zmuda vowed to pull funds from Eastside Catholic High School, after the school sent out a letter announcing he had resigned and calling his marriage a violation of his contract, which requires a strict adherence to a Catholic code.
"Shame on you!" wrote a passionate alumnus on the Eastside Catholic High School Alumni Facebook page in response to the school's letter.
"Not only is this type of homophobic behavior completely antiquated, it sets a horrible example for all students present and past of tolerance and acceptance," Jessica Lesser from the class of 1994 wrote. "Our own pope has a very different message for our Church: 'If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?' - Pope Francis."
Florence Colburn, whose son -- who she called "politically astute" -- instigated the school-wide rally protesting Zmuda's dismissal, has retracted contributions to the school and says her daughter, a sophomore, is questioning whether she wants to enroll there next year.
"We have been at the school for seven years, and by far [Mark] is the best administrator that I've ever seen there," Colburn told ABC News. "As a mentor, and a coach, and a colleague, and a human being, there's not a better person. I think that's why uproar was so fast and furious. There's nothing anyone can reproach this man."........"
The actions of these individuals who have abandoned their adherence to Catholic teaching and thought are sickening. Note the (again Orwellian) use of "Shame on you" in protest of a move to remove someone who was clearly substantially devoid enough of shame to "marry" another of the same gender. If an individual in engaging in a lifestyle that includes homosexual acts, he, like an adulterer, can stop. When, however, that person takes the massive step of turning his practices into a publicly recognized "marriage", he has determined to continue on that path for a long time.
Catholics in Western nation, and particularly in the US, have dropped their faith - plain and simple. They have no problem with their children having sex out side of marriage, procuring abortions for those inconvenient pregnancies, and the routine use of artificial contraception. Having temporal blessings a-plenty, they cheefully ignore the parts of Christianity that do not suit their plans to enjoy life.
-and they call shame upon they who do protect the teachings and dignity of the Church.
While this is going on, the man who sits in The Chair of Peter assures us that all of this is really no big deal and implies that the only things that we need to do for God is to just keep giving away that for which we have labored:
".......The pope read aloud one of their banners: "The poor cannot wait." He urged everyone from charities to Italian authorities "to do everything possible so that every family can have a house" this holiday season......"
For the record, I have yet to read one concrete statement from Pope Francis about turning away from sin and towards the Gospel. The only time that the man mentions the Gospel is when he talks about material help for others. I could live with very little, but that will not work for my children who need some financial support as I chose to raise them in a nation in which you will likely be a dead-broke adult if you do not obtain an education after high school.
People will leave the Church and either become irreligious, or they will, sadly, join Evangelical or Fundamentalist church bodies if the Pope does not take a stand for the teachings that he has the obligation to protect.
-Previous posts on Pope Francis and his dealings:
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