At the time of writing, this sober assessment is already being made by Cardinals who seek His Holiness to clarify, in his person as Successor of St Peter and Vicar of Christ, key doctrines in the Church on matters pertaining to Faith and morals. As Cardinals, they expect a positive reply to five dubia submitted to the Pope so that confusing words and phrases which could mislead the faithful over who may receive Holy Communion, expressed in his own document, Amoris Laetitia, may receive the clarification they require to reassure the whole Church and an on-looking world, that Truth by its very essence and nature cannot change, that the white that is the hallmark of papal attire cannot become black, either by the Pope’s proclamation, or even by implication.
On June 20, it emerged that Pope Francis has been and continues, in a similarly unprecedented manner, to refuse to grant to these Cardinals a private audience so that he may declare, even in private, the very fundamentals of the Church in which he is called by virtue of his most esteemed Office, to confirm his brethren.
Naturally, many Catholics are praying that Francis will answer the dubia of the four Cardinals in an official manner, so that the entire Church can rest in tumultuous times at least in the knowledge that even if Francis goes down in history as a most enigmatic Pope with tendencies to alienate his natural supporters and most loyal sons and daughters, the teaching of the Church, whether bishops, priests and laity choose to ignore it and believe something else entirely, remains unchanged from its summit and focal point of unity, because the very continuation of the Catholic Church under the Pope in communion with his bishops requires it.
It is very clear that for the standoff to remain as it is and for those who can be demeaned publicly as ‘Conservative’ enemies who resist a programme of reform in the Church strengthens Francis’s position as long as critics or high-ranking prelates of what has become known as the ‘resistance’ can be held at arms length.
Yet it is also obvious to many Catholics and even non-Catholic observers that the longer the Pope refuses to answer or even to meet with these Cardinals, so they may vocalise their questions in his presence, and obtain an answer, the more his legitimacy as Pope is undermined, because in the end, if Pope Francis chooses to overlook his duty to teach his own religion which we understand is the Catholic religion and teaches something else instead, the refusal to answer the dubia can lead to only one of three conclusions which objective observers can draw:
Pope Francis deems that these questions are not important, therefore should not be answered.
These questions pertain to the faith and morals of the Church. If the doctrines of the Church are not important, one might ask the question, why on Earth do you remain the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church? Why, indeed, are you an ordained Catholic priest? Why, indeed, do you remain a Catholic, if to you, Catholic truth is not an important issue? Perhaps such a person might wish to consider joining another religion or none at all.
Pope Francis deems that these questions do not merit an answer because the answers are in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. To answer these questions is an insult to the Pope who is faithful to the Church’s teachings.
The role of the Pope is to guarantee the transmission of the Faith and to confirm the brethren in the Truth of Christ. The dubia is not a quiz but an opportunity to provide a simple profession of all that every Pope must believe in order to reign with legitimacy. A Pope who cannot provide an affirmation of unchangeable truth cannot function as head of the Church and even if he deems he can, the Church cannot function with such an individual as its head, for just as the head needs the body, so the body needs the head. If the Pope cannot proclaim faith in Jesus Christ as the Church perennially understands it, he is not simply useless to the Church, but an enemy of it. Can the head of the Church operate in good standing as an enemy of the Catholic Faith?
Pope Francis does not wish to answer the dubia for any other reason.
Whether out of fear of alienating progressive Cardinals, bishops, laity, or loyalty to some sect operating within the confines of the Church, or because he is ambivalent towards the truth, or fears the consequences for the Church’s unity, or should he find himself, in conscience, unable to give his private, personal assent to the truths of the Catholic Faith lest he be unmasked as an unbeliever or a heretic, the reasons may never and need never be known. All that will be known is that such a man cannot who will not answer cannot, is unable to hold the Office of the Papacy with legitimacy because he cannot even privately confess the Catholic faith in its entirety and its integrity. In order to be a Catholic Pope, it helps to first be a Catholic.
The impasse for the time being continues. Can it go on much longer?
The dubia has undoubtedly presented Francis with a considerable headache but on all sides it would appear that time, said to be ‘greater than space’, is of the essence. To those who may wish to prevent Francis from doing what they fear to be his worst, the dubia, even unanswered, must surely be hoped to be a restraining influence on the Pope. As long as question marks hover over whether we have a true or false Pope (terms which I will elaborate upon in a moment) perhaps as long as doubts persist, Francis’s ambitions can be curtailed by concerned Cardinals and their questions.
With any reasonable Pope, or reasonable man, this effort would surely succeed. Eventually, the dynamic introduced by the dubia may yet bring unforeseen success.
It is equally possible, however, that faithful Catholics have much to suffer before then for it would seem that they are not Pope Francis’s preferred audience anyway and that there exist so few who care enough to defend the Church’s teachings in these times to mount a resistance to the Pope’s program that, having weighed the Church in the balance and found Her faith wanting, Francis has chosen to go for broke in his ambition to do whatever strange things are in his mind to it.
On June 20, it emerged that Pope Francis has been and continues, in a similarly unprecedented manner, to refuse to grant to these Cardinals a private audience so that he may declare, even in private, the very fundamentals of the Church in which he is called by virtue of his most esteemed Office, to confirm his brethren.
Naturally, many Catholics are praying that Francis will answer the dubia of the four Cardinals in an official manner, so that the entire Church can rest in tumultuous times at least in the knowledge that even if Francis goes down in history as a most enigmatic Pope with tendencies to alienate his natural supporters and most loyal sons and daughters, the teaching of the Church, whether bishops, priests and laity choose to ignore it and believe something else entirely, remains unchanged from its summit and focal point of unity, because the very continuation of the Catholic Church under the Pope in communion with his bishops requires it.
It is very clear that for the standoff to remain as it is and for those who can be demeaned publicly as ‘Conservative’ enemies who resist a programme of reform in the Church strengthens Francis’s position as long as critics or high-ranking prelates of what has become known as the ‘resistance’ can be held at arms length.
Yet it is also obvious to many Catholics and even non-Catholic observers that the longer the Pope refuses to answer or even to meet with these Cardinals, so they may vocalise their questions in his presence, and obtain an answer, the more his legitimacy as Pope is undermined, because in the end, if Pope Francis chooses to overlook his duty to teach his own religion which we understand is the Catholic religion and teaches something else instead, the refusal to answer the dubia can lead to only one of three conclusions which objective observers can draw:
Pope Francis deems that these questions are not important, therefore should not be answered.
These questions pertain to the faith and morals of the Church. If the doctrines of the Church are not important, one might ask the question, why on Earth do you remain the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Catholic Church? Why, indeed, are you an ordained Catholic priest? Why, indeed, do you remain a Catholic, if to you, Catholic truth is not an important issue? Perhaps such a person might wish to consider joining another religion or none at all.
Pope Francis deems that these questions do not merit an answer because the answers are in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. To answer these questions is an insult to the Pope who is faithful to the Church’s teachings.
The role of the Pope is to guarantee the transmission of the Faith and to confirm the brethren in the Truth of Christ. The dubia is not a quiz but an opportunity to provide a simple profession of all that every Pope must believe in order to reign with legitimacy. A Pope who cannot provide an affirmation of unchangeable truth cannot function as head of the Church and even if he deems he can, the Church cannot function with such an individual as its head, for just as the head needs the body, so the body needs the head. If the Pope cannot proclaim faith in Jesus Christ as the Church perennially understands it, he is not simply useless to the Church, but an enemy of it. Can the head of the Church operate in good standing as an enemy of the Catholic Faith?
Pope Francis does not wish to answer the dubia for any other reason.
Whether out of fear of alienating progressive Cardinals, bishops, laity, or loyalty to some sect operating within the confines of the Church, or because he is ambivalent towards the truth, or fears the consequences for the Church’s unity, or should he find himself, in conscience, unable to give his private, personal assent to the truths of the Catholic Faith lest he be unmasked as an unbeliever or a heretic, the reasons may never and need never be known. All that will be known is that such a man cannot who will not answer cannot, is unable to hold the Office of the Papacy with legitimacy because he cannot even privately confess the Catholic faith in its entirety and its integrity. In order to be a Catholic Pope, it helps to first be a Catholic.
The impasse for the time being continues. Can it go on much longer?
The dubia has undoubtedly presented Francis with a considerable headache but on all sides it would appear that time, said to be ‘greater than space’, is of the essence. To those who may wish to prevent Francis from doing what they fear to be his worst, the dubia, even unanswered, must surely be hoped to be a restraining influence on the Pope. As long as question marks hover over whether we have a true or false Pope (terms which I will elaborate upon in a moment) perhaps as long as doubts persist, Francis’s ambitions can be curtailed by concerned Cardinals and their questions.
With any reasonable Pope, or reasonable man, this effort would surely succeed. Eventually, the dynamic introduced by the dubia may yet bring unforeseen success.
It is equally possible, however, that faithful Catholics have much to suffer before then for it would seem that they are not Pope Francis’s preferred audience anyway and that there exist so few who care enough to defend the Church’s teachings in these times to mount a resistance to the Pope’s program that, having weighed the Church in the balance and found Her faith wanting, Francis has chosen to go for broke in his ambition to do whatever strange things are in his mind to it.
Comments
Post a Comment