Fr. Z: "The 13 Cardinals Letter is a distraction, a trap"

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, "The 13 Cardinals Letter is a distraction, a trap" (Fr. Z's Blog, October 13, 2015):

As intriguing as The 13 Cardinals Letter™ is we have to leave it be now.

The Letter is a tar baby.  Go for it and it entraps you, sticks you in one place.  The more you struggle with it, the more stuck you get.

The Letter the Cardinals wrote (or didn’t write or signed or didn’t sign) doesn’t matter.  One day, months from now, Edward Pentin will piece together the truth.  We can wait.

What does matter is the Danneels thing (the fact that he is at the Synod).

Isn’t it interesting that both Austin Ivereigh and the writers of the Danneels biography backed off from their stories about how Pope Francis was elected?   And what do you think would be the story in the press had Benedict XVI personally invited to the Synod a man beyond 80 who had protected pedophile priests?

If the Letter is the journalistic tar baby, the Danneels thing is the journalistic briar patch.

So, to Catholic journalists out there… forget the Letter.

The Letter is a distraction.

I am sure that that is what the progressivist liberals want the the focus to be on right now.

What does matter is the possibility of the devolution of some functions of the Holy See to regional bishops conferences (The Nightmare Scenario).  As Gagliarducci puts it, “every episcopal conference will adopt its own guidelines to meet doctrinal challenges.” HERE

That’s one that makes me lose sleep.  That’s another journalistic briar patch.