Disagreement with Holy Mother Church

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catholic03

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Hello,

Forgive my many posts. In discovering this website, I now have much new information open to me.

Anyway, I take a great liking to His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. I think his views are great, However, would it be a sin to disagree with and criticise the Holy Father, and indeed many Church Doctrines (such as Novus Ordo), as he does. Is his level of disagreement acceptable. I only ask because I agree with a lot of what he says, but I do not want to be sinning.

God Bless
 
It’s okay to disagree with the Pope but not Church teaching. Novus Ordo is valid and it is the Mass of Christ.
 
The Novus Ordo is of course, not a doctrine, nor is the TLM. They are different ways of celebrating Mass. Disciplines, not doctrines.
 
Some of us can pull off being vocal. Far more of us cannot. Some of us are speaking with a peer. The rest of us seem to be murmuring. I rather tend toward simple obedience and prayer for all involved. I am weak, so I allow the Holy Spirit to do the heavy lifting.
 
Cardinals are appointed to help the Pope. Usually in some specific ministry but also in a broader sense, to enable the Pope to fulfill the mission given by God.

I assume you yourself are not a cardinal. Whether it is appropriate for a cardinal to say the things Burke has said is not the same as asking if it is right for you. You can agree with the positions Burke has taken, even if he should not have taken them. (Not that he has taken any position heshould not have. I am just trying to explain a nuance missing from some answers.)

If you feel Cardinal Burke has taken positions that do not help the Pope, you should consider what that means. He would not be living up to the responsibilities of his position. Would you want to listen to such a leader? It is more likely Burke is doing his job, and the positions he takes help the Church somehow. Perhaps by expanding our ideas of who is included in the Church?

Be confident that Burke is a loyal supporter of the Pope.
 
catholic03 said:
Cardinal Burke sees deficiencies in the Novus Ordo mass
Click to expand...
Without knowing specifically what you are talking about, seeing deficiencies in English translations resulted in a change in wording English masses a few years back. Noticing deficiency isn’t always bad.
 
It seems to me that you don’t disagree with Holy Mother Church; rather, you have a preference for the traditional liturgy and the spirituality, which goes along with it. Lots of Catholics prefer the traditional expressions of our Faith and remain in full communion with Rome. There is no need to leave the Church in order to live the Faith in the traditional manner. You are allowed to prefer the traditional catechisms, devotions, and customs. Remember, what was held to be sacred before Vatican II remains sacred today; the Council didn’t change anything - it was a pastoral council. Vatican II’s reforms were an attempt to update the way the Church deals with the world; it called for all Catholics take their baptismal vows seriously by engaging in evangelisation. Vatican II wasn’t a dogmatic Council; it was a reformulation, a new way of expressing the Faith. However, if this new way of expressing the Faith does not appeal to you, then Summorum Pontificum means that you are free to avail yourself of the traditional Sacraments and everything else that goes along with them.

When it comes to doctrinal debates and concerns about the prudence of the liturgical reforms, it is best for the laity to trust in the Holy Spirit’s guidance of the Church. If there are any serious problems, have no doubt that the Paraclete will solve them.
 
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I have another very important point to make. May so-called Traditionalists take it upon themselves to criticise everything that has happened in the Church since the death of Pope Pius XII. These ‘Traditionalists’ set themselves up as the judges of the Holy See. They criticise the reforms of Vatican II and the Popes who promulgated them. As a result, these ‘Rad Trads’ find themselves in the strange position of criticising canonised saints: St. John XXIII, St. Paul VI, and St. John Paul II. God has declared that these Popes were holy men; and by extension, that their pontificates were compatible with the will of God.
 
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I don’t always agree with Cardinal Burke and I don’t always agree with Pope Francis.
However, I believe both of them are doing their best, in their own particular ways, to uphold our Church (which in Cardinal Burke’s case means respecting Papal authority, and he does).

I also think there is a world of difference between a very learned and holy Cardinal expressing some polite disagreement with the Pope, and the average guy in the pew doing it. As someone said, it’s the Cardinal’s job to work with the Pope and discuss things with him, and they often have very good knowledge, reasons and arguments that you and I don’t have.

So no, I don’t think Cardinal Burke is doing anything wrong. But I also think most people who take issue with the Pope aren’t on the level of Cardinal Burke.
 
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