Major Conference Planned in Rome on Divisions in Church, Papal Infallibility

  • Thread starter Thread starter TigerLily-1
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TigerLily-1

Guest

Edward Pentin

One of the late Cardinal Carlo Caffarra’s last wishes — to have an international conference to examine ways to resolve the current crisis of division in the Church — will take place in Rome in early April, the Register has learned.

Details have yet to be officially released, but the conference is expected to explore the limits of papal infallibility as well as seek ways to overcome the division in the Church, exacerbated by what many see as pastoral and doctrinal confusion on key moral issues.

Sources who were close to Cardinal Caffarra up until his death last September said he had become deeply disillusioned by the crisis in the Church, especially the confusion and division caused by differing interpretations of Chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia on the issue of giving the Eucharist to Catholics engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, such as the divorced and civilly remarried and cohabiting couples.

The archbishop emeritus of Bologna was one of the four signatories of the dubia, five questions sent to the Pope in 2016 asking for clarification of the document to ascertain whether it was in continuity with the Church’s teaching and tradition, but to which the Pope has not responded.

Concerns have further increased lately after revelations that some Church scholars are using Amoris Laetitia to find ways to soften Humanae Vitae’s teaching that reaffirmed the Church’s proscription of contraception.Cardinal Caffarra, who helped found the then-Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family in 1982, was especially concerned by reports last year of possible attempts to re-read and revise Humanae Vitae. He once said the encyclical and the interest it provoked in the Church’s teaching on marriage and family had spurred him to devote all his energies to deepen and share the Church’s teaching on marriage, family and human procreation.

The upcoming conference is expected to also debate a related subject: the limits of papal power, amid concerns that Pope Francis is leading the Church in a direction that they consider to be a departure from the faith, continuity and tradition, and that he is doing so in an authoritarian fashion and without unanimous consent of bishops.

The news of the conference comes as the archdiocese of Braga in Portugal has become the latest to release guidelines on applying Amoris Laetitia. The norms stress the importance of six months of discernment leading to conversion, with a strong emphasis on conscience and “conjugal stability” of at least five years, before admittance to the sacraments. Critics, however, say it leaves the decision ultimately to the couple and is very similar to the Kasper proposal, which subsequently was rejected by the majority of bishops at the Synods on the Family.

(cont. in article)

Interesting . . . I don’t understand how the Vatican “works” and can’t determine from the article if this will be an official or unofficial conference.
 
Last edited:
TigerLily-1 said:
Interesting . . . I don’t understand how the Vatican “works” and can’t determine from the article if this will be an official or unofficial conference.
Click to expand...
The article doesn’t specify, so you’re not alone in not being able to ascertain whether it is official or unofficial. Rome is like any other city. I’m sure anyone can hold a conference there on any topic they like. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be put on by or endorsed by any Vatican office.

We will have to wait and see to know for sure. It seems unlikely to me that this is an official conference, but you never know.
 
It also seems to me that it won’t be an official conference but even so, depending on who attends and what they do and say, it could cause trouble of some sort. Nothing else to do but wait and see.
 
If bishops, or especially a cardinal, speaks at the conference, that gives it a kind of semi-official status, especially if the bishop currently holds some kind of office. Some people would not realize that a conference “in Rome” does not necessarily have much to do with the Vatican.
 
I am looking forward to seeing the results of this conference. There is a shift taking place. Numerous factions within the Church are stirring. This year is shaping up to be quite interesting.
 
TigerLily-1 said:
The upcoming conference is expected to also debate a related subject: the limits of papal power, amid concerns that Pope Francis is leading the Church in a direction that they consider to be a departure from the faith, continuity and tradition, and that he is doing so in an authoritarian fashion and without unanimous consent of bishops.
Click to expand...
Is this accusing the Pope of going ‘rogue’?
 
DustThouArt said:
I am looking forward to seeing the results of this conference. There is a shift taking place. Numerous factions within the Church are stirring. This year is shaping up to be quite interesting.
Click to expand...
The enemies of the Church love it when Catholic are opposing Catholic Church authority. They really don’t care much if it is Call to Action opposing St. Pope JP II, or Something Else opposing Pope Francis. The “factions” within the Church are not “stirring” spontaneously, there is a larger movement for several decades of anti-religious-authority.

The word “papalotry” was once used by Protestants, opposing the Catholic Church. During the papacy of St. JP II it was then used by liberals within the Church. Now conservatives picked up the word.

You might think these people are the opposite of Hans Kung, who wrote the breakthrough book attacking infallibility. He didn’t exactly deny it totally, but he said it has such rare application that effectively does not exist today for the current pope (Paul VI) and his successors. That is what the planners of this conference seem to be suggesting. The secular media will be happy to give them the same promotion they gave Kung.

Keep in mind every bit of “progress” the conference makes in turning the papacy into merely a ceremonial role, will still be there to restrict Francis’ successors.
 
With all due respect I find it curious that one immediately accuses the upcoming conference of being against Pope Francis. Could it be possible that this conference might be coming together to merely discuss the trajectory of the Church currently and to insure the continuity with the perinnial teaching of the Faith? That rather than seeking to diminish the Papacy they are looking to strengthen it and reaffirm the fullness of the Faith as it has stood since St. Peter?
I will await the results of the conference before attempting to frame it to fit any ideology.
 
DustThouArt said:
With all due respect I find it curious that one immediately accuses the upcoming conference of being against Pope Francis. Could it be possible that this conference might be coming together to merely discuss the trajectory of the Church currently and to insure the continuity with the perinnial teaching of the Faith? That rather than seeking to diminish the Papacy they are looking to strengthen it and reaffirm the fullness of the Faith as it has stood since St. Peter?
I will await the results of the conference before attempting to frame it to fit any ideology.
Click to expand...
“The upcoming conference is expected to also debate a related subject: the limits of papal power, amid concerns that Pope Francis is leading the Church in a direction that they consider to be a departure from the faith, continuity and tradition, and that he is doing so in an authoritarian fashion and without unanimous consent of bishops.”
If the NCR article is unfairly jumping to conclusions about the conference, it is fair to criticize NCR. If the NCR article is accurate - and this particular writer is considered credible - then the comments on this thread are prudent.
 
Last edited:
commenter said:
40.png
DustThouArt:
I am looking forward to seeing the results of this conference. There is a shift taking place. Numerous factions within the Church are stirring. This year is shaping up to be quite interesting.
Click to expand...
The enemies of the Church love it when Catholic are opposing Catholic Church authority. They really don’t care much if it is Call to Action opposing St. Pope JP II, or Something Else opposing Pope Francis. The “factions” within the Church are not “stirring” spontaneously, there is a larger movement for several decades of anti-religious-authority.

The word “papalotry” was once used by Protestants, opposing the Catholic Church. During the papacy of St. JP II it was then used by liberals within the Church. Now conservatives picked up the word.

You might think these people are the opposite of Hans Kung, who wrote the breakthrough book attacking infallibility. He didn’t exactly deny it totally, but he said it has such rare application that effectively does not exist today for the current pope (Paul VI) and his successors. That is what the planners of this conference seem to be suggesting. The secular media will be happy to give them the same promotion they gave Kung.

Keep in mind every bit of “progress” the conference makes in turning the papacy into merely a ceremonial role, will still be there to restrict Francis’ successors.
Click to expand...
I totally agree.

Papal Infallibility is an essential doctrine for maintaining the integrity of the Church in the post Constantine age, especially in light of developments in doctrine, which is like new wine from the same vine & press. The old wine in the old skins is still good wine, but if you try to pour the new wine into the old skins they will burst. This is what I see happening now among these bishops.

In the Bread of Life discourse in John, most of Jesus’s followers left him, because they saw his teaching as violating the literal meaning of Torah. Jesus didn’t correct them, he just let them go. Hopefully, these bishops will be flexible enough to see beyond the literal meanings that can be taken from Tradition and remain with his successor.
 
Last edited:
Cardinal Burke: […] "What frightens me a great deal about the present situation of the Church is what I would call a politicization of Church life and of Church doctrine. This is easily done by the secular media but it is also being aided and abetted in the present time by certain Church leaders and theologians and other commentators. This is not a question of being in favor of the “Francis Revolution”, as it is popularly called. It is not a question of being “pro-” Pope Francis or “contra-” Pope Francis. It is a question of defending the Catholic faith, and that means defending the Office of Peter to which the Pope has succeeded. And so, to defend what the Church has constantly taught and practiced can never be seen as some kind of political action against the “other” political movement, as it is called – the “Revolution” in the Church – and can never be seen as being contrary to the Papal office.

In fact, the greatest service that any one of us can give to the Holy Father is to speak the truth of the faith, and this then assists him in being what the Second Vatican Council rightly calls the principle of the unity of all the bishops and of the Church itself."


and

 
DustThouArt said:
Cardinal Burke: […] "What frightens me a great deal about the present situation of the Church is what I would call a politicization of Church life and of Church doctrine. This is easily done by the secular media but it is also being aided and abetted in the present time by certain Church leaders and theologians and other commentators. This is not a question of being in favor of the “Francis Revolution”, as it is popularly called. It is not a question of being “pro-” Pope Francis or “contra-” Pope Francis. It is a question of defending the Catholic faith, and that means defending the Office of Peter to which the Pope has succeeded. And so, to defend what the Church has constantly taught and practiced can never be seen as some kind of political action against the “other” political movement, as it is called – the “Revolution” in the Church – and can never be seen as being contrary to the Papal office.

In fact, the greatest service that any one of us can give to the Holy Father is to speak the truth of the faith, and this then assists him in being what the Second Vatican Council rightly calls the principle of the unity of all the bishops and of the Church itself."
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2018/01/card-burke-speaks-up/
and
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/...-hear-suggestions-that-i-would-lead-a-schism/
Click to expand...
I’m glad Cardinal Burke fears schism in the church. I hope this article will help rein in his followers who think that this is the direction he wants to take.
 
Sounds like just some guys getting together to gripe about the Pope.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top