No, it is not finished. They can continue to petition. And while it is the prerogative of the pope (or the CDF) to not respond, that would not seem to reflect well considering that this is one of the chief responsibilities of the Vicar of Christ as universal pastor - to teach. And if he continues to refuse, they can petition his successor, so the matter is far from finished.
Whether something “reflects well” is meaningless. It is the Pope’s decision. The four Cardinals have submitted their dubia – but meanwhile the dioceses and the conferences execute what needs to be enacted and that is happening apace.
Indeed.
Amen
It is. Yet, I don’t think there will ever be a response. At least not the well-defined response requested.
I may not be drawn to this style of leadership. Yet, it is the style we should try and properly understand. I doubt it’s an attempt to muddy the waters. It seems more an attempt to influence people to communicate. (shrugs)
Then it is exactly the same style as his predecessor of happy memory Pope St. John XXIII:
Perhaps he has learned what I have learned here. Some questions are not really question, but arguments and an invitation to debate, and as we have learned from our history (Jesus and the Pharisees), a trap. Jesus teaches that when someone tries to corner us into a “yes or no”, you can legitimately refuse to answer.
That, too, is not exactly true. Papal successors have corrected and clarified their predecessors comments before. I suspect that this is what will happen again if the current pope refuses to respond. Pope Francis’ successor will have to then respond to the Dubia.
And Pope Francis invited this to occur, did he not?
The successor of Pope Francis will have the same choice: to respond, or not.
Given that no one is quite sure what needs to be enacted, and therefore what is enacted will differ from one diocese to another, this claim is more optimistic than the situation merits. Whether “do whatever you think best” is the direction given the bishops, it will surely be the direction taken by them. They have nothing else to guide them.
Hi, Father. But if the Pope declines to answer, should we (meaning the Church and it’s Bishops) at least assume until told otherwise that the answers to questions 2 through 5 are yes?
At the end of the day, I agree with Chesterton’s description of open-mindedness, that the point of open-mindedness is to shut it again on something solid, like eating. Whiffs of concern seem to be shut down as vitriolic attacks against Pope Francis himself. Yet, this is why I believe so-called conservatives have the right to keep voicing their concerns, because Pope Francis has very much invited this kind of communication. To imply otherwise, I think, is to overlook Pope Francis’ own models of communication.
If the questions are loaded, or are based on a faulty presumption, the Holy Father is free to point out how the question is loaded or why the presumption is faulty. He is free to respond with as many words as he sees fit and isn’t required to answer in a particular way.
This assumes that dioceses and conferences understand and comprehend what the Pope has taught and what needs to happen. This is not the case, as we have wildly divergent and mutually exclusive understandings of AL, even among Cardinals.
Well that’s the issue. There was no answer. So they questions will continue, and hopefully this Pope or a successor will answer them so that we have clarity.
For hypothetical sake, what should be the response from the faithful if we have a bad successor of St. Peter? The Church has had bad popes in the past, so what would be a proper response from the faithful if such were to happen again?
And some questions are really questions. I wouldn’t dream of second-guessing Pope Francis, God bless him, but I also wouldn’t like to impugn the motives of other prelates either. . .
I have no doubt that the motives of the four cardinals for asking these questions was sincere love of the Church. I also do not doubt they were following their conscience when they decided to publicize their request.