Today, Saturday April 7th, a special conference is being convened at which Bishops and other Catholics will publicly reflect upon the state of the Church at this time in its history.
The conference has been dedicated to the memory of the late Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop emeritus of Bologna.
Of particular note, the subtitle of the conference entitled “Church, where do you go?” is “Only the blind would deny there is confustion in the Church”.
A number of significant topics that have arisen during Pope Francis’ pontificate will be discussed: the 50th anniversary of the Humanae Vitae; questions about the Church’s doctrine on matters of sexual morality; the issue of conscience, which was crucial during the 2015 Synod on the Family, and the concept of “discernment,” which is sometimes used in arguments justifying more open access to Holy Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.
The topics of discussion will also include the limits of the Papal authority and infallibility.
Among the speakers at this conference will be the old familiar faces of the neo-conservative reactionary wing within the Church: Cardinals Raymond Leo Burke, Walter Brandmueller and Joseph Zen Zekiun; Bishop Athanasius Schneider; philosopher Marcello Pera; professors Renzo Puccetti and Valerio Gigliotti; and journalist Francesca Romana Poleggi.
(As an aside, for those wondering why Philiadelphia Archbishop Chaput isn't part of this conservative lynch mob, he is too busy defending Humanae Vitae as an essential reflection of the Deposit of Faith. I will be posting an article about this tomorrow.)
The conference will likely explore the possibility of correcting the Pope, if his statements seem to contradict Catholic doctrine.
These spectacles continue to plague the Church and are the very source of the confusion within the Church that they lament.
Let’s be honest.
The neo-conservative reactionaries don’t want clarifications of what Pope Francis has stated and other Bishops clearly understand are invitations and initiatives intended to be an outreach of mercy and a call to reconciliation to those whose lives are not in perfect sync with Church teaching.
Cardinal Burke and his clique want the Holy Father to repudiate his own Pontificate which has been one marked by an enthusiastic call of welcoming to those who have been made to believe that they are without hope of redemption unless they surrender their consciences to those likes of His Eminence and like-minded Prelates.
Cardinal Burke and the individuals who join him in the conference this weekend are an embarrassment to the Church and the Office of Peter itself.
It is a hallmark of Pope Francis’ patience that he has not been more rigorous in silencing these voices of division and conflict.
My patience with them has been exhausted.
If wishes could come true simply by wishing, I wish they would simply be quiet and let the Holy Spirit do His work within the Body of Christ.
If the teachings and welcoming approach of Pope Francis are indeed the Will of God, then the Holy Spirit will guide and protect the Church in the process of accepting and developing this manner of evangelization.
No one, not even the self-proclaimed defenders of the Faith Cardinal Burke and others who agree with him will stand successful in resisting the Divine Will.
If Pope Francis' approach is contrary to the Holy Spirit’s Will for the Church, it cannot succeed and will fail in the end.
Cardinal Burke and his allies should get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit guide the Church and those who entrust their eternal salvation to His ministrations.
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