Nobody needs reminding that there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the statements and gestures of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, since his election to the See of Peter following the momentous resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. With the recent publication of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG) by Pope Francis, this controversy has not subsided but continued. The polarization is quite amazing between Catholic conservatives who are cautiously guarded in their endorsements of the document, and the liberal media, both secular and religious, which are delirious in their enthusiasm for it. As Christopher Ferrara states observes (see below):
"Like the liberal media, both modernists and their neo-Catholic enablers are over the moon about EG. Michael Sean Winters of National Catholic Reporter exults: “At times, the text is lyrical, like an aria. At other times, it has all the accessibility of a recitative. Either way, it is a song.” Say it loud and there’s music playing. Say it soft and it’s almost like praying. Comments like these are a sure indication that EG has little to do with concrete Catholic teaching and very much to do with a new papal personality cult."Christopher Ferrara, President and Chief Counsel of the American Catholic Lawyers Association, is a traditional Catholic in communion with Rome, who makes some pointed criticisms of EV, as well as of some of the other statements by Pope Francis in "Quo Vadis, Fanciscus" (The Remnant, December 16, 2013). His remarks are not altogether unlike those of the Italian traditionalist, Mario Palmaro, who, as you may recall, received a friendly approving phone call from the Pope, who stated that “he had understood that those criticisms had been made with love, and how important it had been for him to receive them.” Whether you agree with these criticisms or not, they clearly come from men writing out of deeply apparent love for the Church with a desire to make their concerns known to the Holy Father in keeping with the law of the Church (CIC 1983, Can. 212, §§ 2-3), and cannot be responsibly ignored.
Pray for Holy Mother Church, and remain always faithful to Her.
100% exactly correct. Depressingly so.
ReplyDelete"Who am I to judge?" will remain with us long after Francis is dead, and go on to become part of the culture's defining arsenal of rhetoric right alongside Hilary Clinton's "It takes a village." The Cardinals are getting just what they wanted.