POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES "A SIGN": But of what, pray tell?

Pope Francis says he received a “sign from God”, via two Chinese bishops, in response to the controversial testimony of former Vatican ambassador Archbishop Carlo Vigano.

Despite calls from US bishops for an inquiry, the Vatican has not answered the 11-page testimony of its former Vatican ambassador to the US, Archbishop Carlo Vigano that claimed Francis discarded the sanctions imposed on disgrace McCarrick by Benedict XVI.

Francis told journalists on board the plane returning to Rome from Estonia on Tuesday that the “sign’’ he received came from two Chinese bishops — one from the traditional underground church and one from the Patriotic Association, appointed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Asked by a Spanish journalist to respond to Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen’s criticism that the Vatican had “sold out’’ to Beijing’s Communist government with its recent agreement allowing it a say in the appointment of Bishops, the transcript shows Francis said:

“A simple anecdote and a historical fact, two things before ending. When there was that famous statement by a former Apostolic Nuncio the Bishops of the world wrote to me saying that they felt close, that they were praying for me.

“The Chinese faithful wrote, and the signature on the letter was that of the Bishop — so to speak — of the traditional Catholic Church and the Bishop of the patriotic Church: together, both of them, and the faithful of both. For me, this was a sign from God.”

A sign of what, Your Holiness?

What is it you are implying?  

What are we, the faithful, to conclude from what you have said?

And why the curious qualification of the legitimately Ordained Bishop of the so-called “underground Church” which has suffered for decades for maintaining adherence and loyalty to the Bishop of Rome?  Why do you refer to him as “the Bishop -- so to speak” and offer no
such qualification with respect to the Bishop appointed by the Chinese Communists whose ordination -- so to speak has just recognized as the result of diplomatic exchanges and agreements?

Sometimes I feel that I have been transported to an alternate universe where nothing makes sense anymore.

You too?