Amid controversy, council of cardinals backs Pope Francis [CNA]

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Vatican City, Feb 13, 2017 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the wake of several contentious events surrounding the Vatican recently, Pope Francis’ advisory board in his ongoing reform of the Roman Curia affirmed their support of the Pope and his work.

On behalf of the group, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga greeted Pope Francis at the start of the councils of cardinal’s Feb. 13 meeting.

He thanked the Pope for his Christmas address to the Roman Curia Dec. 22, and acknowledging “his encouragement and direction for the work of the council,” a Vatican communique stated.

“In relation to recent events, the Council of Cardinals expresses its full support of the work of the Pope, while ensuring full adhesion and support to his person and his Magisterium,” it added.

The statement comes just over one week after posters criticizing the Pope were plastered on walls of the city center of Rome Feb. 4.

Depicting a dour looking Pope Francis, they read: “Ah Francis, you’ve taken over congregations, removed priests, decapitated the Order of Malta and the Franciscans of the Immaculate, ignored Cardinals…but where’s your mercy?”

After hearing about the posters, the Pope himself was reportedly unfazed. According to Italian news agency ANSA, Pope Francis received the news of the posters with “serenity and detachment.”

The brief phrase included on the posters was written in the Roman dialect, and indicates the culprit is someone who comes from more conservative sectors of the Church, many of whom have been in sharp disagreement with the Pope regarding his decisions and ongoing reform of the curia, which he is doing with the help of the Council of Cardinals.

Established by Pope Francis shortly after his pontificate began in 2013, the council, also called “the Council of Nine,” serves as an advisory body on Church governance and reform, with special emphasis on the reform of Pastor Bonus, the 1988 apostolic constitution of St. John Paul II that regulates the competencies and work of the Roman Curia.

The anti-Francis posters clearly referenced several contentious issues from his pontificate, such as the letter written to him by four cardinals in September asking for clarification on five points – called “dubia” – in Amoris Laetitia. The letter was subsequently published in November, after the Pope did not respond.

Full article…
 
CNA_News said:
Vatican City, Feb 13, 2017 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the wake of several contentious events surrounding the Vatican recently, Pope Francis’ advisory board in his ongoing reform of the Roman Curia affirmed their support of the Pope and his work.

On behalf of the group, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga greeted Pope Francis at the start of the councils of cardinal’s Feb. 13 meeting.

He thanked the Pope for his Christmas address to the Roman Curia Dec. 22, and acknowledging “his encouragement and direction for the work of the council,” a Vatican communique stated.

“In relation to recent events, the Council of Cardinals expresses its full support of the work of the Pope, while ensuring full adhesion and support to his person and his Magisterium,” it added.

The statement comes just over one week after posters criticizing the Pope were plastered on walls of the city center of Rome Feb. 4.

Depicting a dour looking Pope Francis, they read: “Ah Francis, you’ve taken over congregations, removed priests, decapitated the Order of Malta and the Franciscans of the Immaculate, ignored Cardinals…but where’s your mercy?”

After hearing about the posters, the Pope himself was reportedly unfazed. According to Italian news agency ANSA, Pope Francis received the news of the posters with “serenity and detachment.”

The brief phrase included on the posters was written in the Roman dialect, and indicates the culprit is someone who comes from more conservative sectors of the Church, many of whom have been in sharp disagreement with the Pope regarding his decisions and ongoing reform of the curia, which he is doing with the help of the Council of Cardinals.

Established by Pope Francis shortly after his pontificate began in 2013, the council, also called “the Council of Nine,” serves as an advisory body on Church governance and reform, with special emphasis on the reform of Pastor Bonus, the 1988 apostolic constitution of St. John Paul II that regulates the competencies and work of the Roman Curia.

The anti-Francis posters clearly referenced several contentious issues from his pontificate, such as the letter written to him by four cardinals in September asking for clarification on five points – called “dubia” – in Amoris Laetitia. The letter was subsequently published in November, after the Pope did not respond.

Full article…
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The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
 
Worth noting that the “Council” of Cardinals is not the “College” of Cardinals.

This statement, which makes no claim to support either the traditional or liberal interpretation of Amoris Laetitia, was written by 9 Cardinals handpicked by the Pope himself to advise him.

The College of Cardinals instead consists of 226 Cardinals chosen by several of the most recent Popes. Most of these Cardinals have not spoken up in defence of the “liberal” interpretation of Amoris Laetitia or intervened in the debate, but instead are choosing to remain silent on the issue.
 
Stat_Crux said:
Worth noting that the “Council” of Cardinals is not the “College” of Cardinals.

This statement, which makes no claim to support either the traditional or liberal interpretation of Amoris Laetitia, was written by 9 Cardinals handpicked by the Pope himself to advise him.

The College of Cardinals instead consists of 226 Cardinals chosen by several of the most recent Popes. Most of these Cardinals have not spoken up in defence of the “liberal” interpretation of Amoris Laetitia or intervened in the debate, but instead are choosing to remain silent on the issue.
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Indeed.

An infinite deal of nothing.
 
“Pope’s handpicked inner circle advisors support him.” Nice to see but not much of a news story.
 
Stat_Crux said:
Worth noting that the “Council” of Cardinals is not the “College” of Cardinals.

This statement, which makes no claim to support either the traditional or liberal interpretation of Amoris Laetitia, was written by 9 Cardinals handpicked by the Pope himself to advise him.

The College of Cardinals instead consists of 226 Cardinals chosen by several of the most recent Popes. Most of these Cardinals have not spoken up in defence of the “liberal” interpretation of Amoris Laetitia or intervened in the debate, but instead are choosing to remain silent on the issue.
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Stat_Crux… Well said, and insightful as always… Thank you… The tension is uncomfortably there, and it will not go away until a clarification is done–be it by Pope Francis himself or by future popes. I learned during my early adulthood that pretending my problem was not there did not make my problem go away.
 
-]/-]
openmind77 said:
87% of Catholics approve of the Pope’s direction: catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=30517 Is that enough of a news story then?
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The 87% approval rating is no doubt excellent in most applications in the world. But if it is used or suggested as a mean to justify and legitimize the ambiguity and confusion in AL, then it is misplaced and misguided. The application of personal conscience and pastoral accompaniment can never undermine and contradict the teachings of Christ and the doctrines of the Church. They have always been used correctly in the past to guide people to see and to change their lives so that they could be in one with Christ. The Church is one, holy, apostolic and catholic. Now, as it stands, couples in irregular situation can shop around with different priests until they receive a “yes” to receiving communion, and more importantly to legitimize their adulterous situation. This is just simply unacceptable. The teachings of Christ and the Magisterium are universal truths. How can personal conscience and pastoral accompaniment now suddenly overrule Christ and the Magisterium? How can the same irregular situation be acceptable in one place and at the same time not acceptable in another?

The doctrines of the Church are not up for debates, nor they are subjects for popular contests. There are eternal truths from Christ. St. Athanasius, St.Thomas More and St. Fisher are among the saints who testified to this fact. Faithful only the Christ, the mission of the Church is to bring Christ and His message of love and salvation to the world.
 
Randolph said:
-]/-]

The 87% approval rating is no doubt excellent in most applications in the world. But if it is used or suggested as a mean to justify and legitimize the ambiguity and confusion in AL, then it is misplaced and misguided. The application of personal conscience and pastoral accompaniment can never undermine and contradict the teachings of Christ and the doctrines of the Church. They have always been used correctly in the past to guide people to see and to change their lives so that they could be in one with Christ. The Church is one, holy, apostolic and catholic. Now, as it stands, couples in irregular situation can shop around with different priests until they receive a “yes” to receiving communion, and more importantly to legitimize their adulterous situation. This is just simply unacceptable. The teachings of Christ and the Magisterium are universal truths. How can personal conscience and pastoral accompaniment now suddenly overrule Christ and the Magisterium? How can the same irregular situation be acceptable in one place and at the same time not acceptable in another?

The doctrines of the Church are not up for debates, nor they are subjects for popular contests. There are eternal truths from Christ. St. Athanasius, St.Thomas More and St. Fisher are among the saints who testified to this fact. Faithful only the Christ, the mission of the Church is to bring Christ and His message of love and salvation to the world.
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It suggests that 87% of American Catholics (and perhaps even a higher % worldwide) trust Pope Francis in his ability to interpret the teachings of the Christ correctly and bring the Christ’s message of love, forgiveness, mercy and salvation to the world. I at least have no doubt at all.
 
openmind77 said:
It suggests that 87% of American Catholics (and perhaps even a higher % worldwide) trust Pope Francis in his ability to interpret the teachings of the Christ correctly and bring the Christ’s message of love, forgiveness, mercy and salvation to the world. I at least have no doubt at all.
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I don’t doubt the poll numbers. Since when the Church has ever been ruled or influenced by the polls? Does the legitimacy of the papacy come from Christ Himself or by the approval of the masses? Has any pope, including pope Francis, ever cited polls to justify papal existence and authority? On the flip side, it should be reminded that it was the overwhelming opinion of the masses that influenced Pontius Pilate to order the crucifixion of our Lord.

When Christ gave St. Peter the key of heaven, Christ did not command him to seek approval of the masses. Rather, He asked St. Peter to tend and feed His sheep.
 
Sometimes I wonder if the “errors of Russia” was to include the mis-application of democratic theology (which will eventually degrade into secular totalitarianism) towards every aspect of life.😦
 
openmind77 said:
It suggests that 87% of American Catholics (and perhaps even a higher % worldwide) trust Pope Francis in his ability to interpret the teachings of the Christ correctly and bring the Christ’s message of love, forgiveness, mercy and salvation to the world. I at least have no doubt at all.
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But it also shows that the number of Americans who answered “Unfavorable” went from 10% in June 2015 to 19%, nearly double, now.

A simplistic interpretation might suggest that Pope Francis hasn’t been doing his job as well lately … but is it possible that the problem lies with the “Unfavorable” crowd, rather than with the Pope’s actions?
 
Pulvis said:
Sometimes I wonder if the “errors of Russia” was to include the mis-application of democratic theology (which will eventually degrade into secular totalitarianism) towards every aspect of life.😦
Click to expand...
No, that would be the errors of the French Revolution if anything.

The Bolshevik Revolution strove to create a class-based dictatorship of the proletariat, not a liberal democracy - the Bolsheviks actually overthrew a liberal government under Kerensky, which had assumed power temporarily after the deposition of the Tsar.
 
Peter_J said:
But it also shows that the number of Americans who answered “Unfavorable” went from 10% in June 2015 to 19%, nearly double, now.
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It looks like the shift is largely driven by White Evangelicals who are the only group that had a decline in the overall favorable rating,
A simplistic interpretation might suggest that Pope Francis hasn’t been doing his job as well lately … but is it possible that the problem lies with the “Unfavorable” crowd, rather than with the Pope’s actions?
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One does wonder then about the 17-23% of US Catholics who viewed Pope Benedict XVI “Unfavorably” during his pontificate. I suspect many of them view the current pontificate favorably. So if the current “unfavorable” crowd are the issue now then how would one interpret the 10% shift in favorable papal rating between Feb and March 2013? Did the problematic crowd in the previous pontificate suddenly die off only to be replaced by a new group of non-problematic people a month later?

If you look at the “mostly favorable” numbers they are fairly consistent across the last 3 popes. So the primary driver is likely a shift of the “very favorable” to “unfavorable” and vice versa between the last two popes.I’ll leave it up to others on what might drive those shifts and why one might love Papa Francis but dislike Papa Benedict.
 
I finally got amoris laetitia over to my Kindle tablet and I’m reading it there.

Earlier, I went in to the critical paragraphs 302 to 305 which seem to those in ‘dubia.’ I will eventually get there again, and maybe the issues will be clearer.

But, in the meantime, the Church still allows for annulments of marriage and permitting both people to go back to receiving the Eucharist, I think. I need some help here. I think they also can be married again to others in the Church. (I’ve never been close enough to the situation to know the details.) Am I on the wrong path here?

(Divorce is wrong, it is a sin. Marriage is indissoluble. But, if people do get divorced and remarry civilly, why can’t that sin be absolved? Is this ANOTHER unforgivable sin? or is it a form of the original unforgivable sin? It seems to me so far, that the Pope is pushing the decision about ‘circumstances’ down to the level of the local diocese, and THAT is the clarification that the four cardinals want.)
 
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