Papal Chaos – “The situation of the Catholic Church at present is one of grave disorder, due in large part to the willingness of Pope Francis to say, do, and tolerate things that no pope in history has ever said, done, or tolerated.” Pope Francis Must Stop the Madness (The Catholic Thing)
Worthy of Death – “The white supremacist Buffalo shooter who murdered ten people has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.” Pope Francis contra life imprisonment (Edward Feser)
No Longer Leader – “The Church of England voted in favour to offer blessings to same-sex couples Global Anglicans view the change as an act against ‘the historical biblical faith’.” Anglican church leaders around the world oust Archbishop of Canterbury as their head in historic blow for Church following decision to permit blessing of same-sex couples (Daily Mail)
J. F. Powers – “While critically heralded and appreciated for its wit and its insight into the gray-flannel-suited aspirations of midcentury American Catholicism, Powers’s work was never popular.” The Hidden Bookshelf of J. F. Powers (Church Life Journal)
Greek Catholic Life – “Many (Ukrainian refugees) have sought shelter in Ukraine’s westernmost city, Lviv, a historic center of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which has been providing essential services with the help of international Catholic charity networks.” Many Ukrainians are fleeing to the Greek Catholic Church in Lviv, which has a long and complex history in the Orthodox faith (Yahoo News)
The Special Relationship – “Americans know less and less about the world, even as a vapid but increasingly aggressive global humanitarianism becomes the default position of our intellectual and political classes.” England in Crisis (The American Mind)
Not Belonging Anywhere – “Adult immigrants often feel that they are homeless. Not homeless in the literal sense of the word, of course, but homeless in a cultural manner.” Identity Politics at the King’s Coronation (First Things)
Internal Strife – “O’Keefe, who led Project Veritas for 13 years, asks staff ‘why now’ did the board of directors remove him” James O’Keefe ousted from Project Veritas, accuses group of ‘lying’ about his removal (Fox News)
Politicization of Classical Music – “As the audience for classical music keeps shrinking, the music that contemporary composers are producing (typically with the support of grants from government or private foundations) is less and less listenable.” The Agony of Contemporary Classical Music (Amac)
Deus Caritas Est – “With the recent passing of Pope Benedict XVI, I would like to draw upon his work to help answer the question of what love is.” What Is Love? Pope Benedict XVI Reminds Us (Word on Fire)
Limited Protection – “The mandates he continued to promote when he knew the shots gave limited protection had disastrous effects.” Fauci Changes His Public Tune on Covid Vaccines (National Review)
Venezuelan Catholic hierarchy – “A clash between a bishop and a politician in Venezuela demonstrates the unusual situation of the Church and the Maduro regime.” A bishop and a kingpin — The unusual situation of the Church in Venezuela (The Pillar)
Literary Imagination – “I believe that everyone not only is able but should, read, understand, enjoy, and profit from great literature.” The Good Catastrophe: Why Everyone Should Read Great Literature (Intellectual Takeout)
(*The posting of any particular news item or essay is not an endorsement of the content and perspective of said news item or essay.)
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Papal chaos…
the synodal and disappearing Church: “‘Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,’ thought Alice ‘but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!'” (Alice in Wonderland).
I have to agree with Bishop Schneider and add my explanation. The death penalty is integral in the natural law and how justice is disposed within it. We have no business taking them apart, neither is it the Church’s commission.
Within the natural law are the restraints in clemency or mercy as well as leniency in sentencing; automaticity and immediacy of capital punishment are conditioned where both executioner and sentenced may meet in understanding.
In those senses, St. Dismas upheld his punishment and is witness to doctrine. Before the Lord and the world he declared himself Worthy of Death!
Neither does the sentence of death rule out the sacraments or render them facile; rather, our Lord Jesus Christ in His welcome of Dismas showed the way. And it is the sacraments that open up the creativity in applying natural law.
This approach to understanding and instructing in the natural law, is, I believe, inseparable from the sense of faith and Tradition. The Council of Jerusalem itself lays them down universally and requires witness to them.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/cdl-muller-says-pope-francis-has-the-ability-to-change-church-teaching-on-the-death-penalty/?utm_source=top_news&utm_campaign=usa
@ At Papal Chaos.
Addressed Fr Gerald Murray’s ‘Irish’ lament [and a good one too] over an errant papacy, here, after reading it in TCT. Royal runs a tight ship and tirades are unusual. Well, perhaps not a full blown off the handle tirade, rather for this reader a welcome symphony of righteous anger from a man long known for his temperance during hot subject debates.
Earlier, I deleted an email request for feedback on the interest quality of CWR articles. I can respond here there’s an overall good balance, needless to say we can’t always pick winners since much depends on the articles submitted. Although a good indicator is the high number of favorable comments on both quality of topics and discussions.
I decided to return to Fr Murray’s essay since it’s indicative of a radical turning point in what’s coming out of the Vatican and Pope Francis. That singular worldwide reported remark in Spain to seminarians on absolution, whether or not there’s repentance is deep and truly paradigmatic in importance and scope. Sin, and the forgiveness of sin won for us by Christ’s pouring out his blood from the Cross is a gift with eternal consequence for all. And that gift of forgiveness essential for salvation requires repentance for sin. There’s absolutely no twisting or turning, slipping under the barrier to avoid it. It’s plain and simple heresy, in itself, although to meet the canonical standard for heresy Francis must repeat this consistently and adamantly. That he most likely will not do, as in other instances he’ll dance around it.
For example, immediately following publication of Amoris Laetitia and the marriage controversy he issued a public statement broadcast to the world that most marriages are invalid. Then later, after the uproar, he danced around it. That doesn’t change the grave consequence of the aftereffect. The poison was already dripped into the water.
As will likely be the case with the absolution mistake. That, the Synod on Synodality contraption engineered [quite obviously with little subtlety] to effect change on key perennial doctrine on homosexuality, women’s ordination, communion for all comers and so on, and on has reached the point of perhaps no return. Which is why some of the more staid critics are voicing alarm.
Additionally, whatever the priest may or may not absolve if the penitent is actually repentant he’s forgiven. It’s Christ who forgives. Likewise, if there’s no repentance the penitent is not forgiven no matter what the priest says. It’s Christ who withholds absolution.
It is very shocking to hear pope francis say what he says tgen switch or say nothing as if it doesn’t matter. For a person of his calibre in the Pope seat, this is disgusting, embarrassing and i for one will be glad when this pontificate is finished.
@ Worthy of Death
A key comment on the death penalty by Card Gerhard Müller appeared in LifeSiteNews.
“Card Müller noted that Francis’ changes to the Catechism regarding the death penalty were presented as being ‘justified as a development of dogma’. He took issue with this designation of the death penalty as part of dogma, and thus subject to ‘development’ – since he said ‘the death penalty has nothing directly to do with dogma'” (LifeSite 2.22.23).
Müller’s theological thesis is that the death penalty was never a part of revelation. Rather, a position based on cultural exigency [example retention of order as argued by Aquinas] that is subject to change [on justification for change the cardinal cites numerous executions of the innocent]. For example, doctrine that prohibits homosexuality cannot change because it is given to us as revealed truth.
Consequently, the Cardinal defends Pope Francis on changing doctrine regarding the death penalty as unrevealed social policy, but significantly repudiates Francis’ assertion that it is dogmatic.
From this writer’s perspective the pontiff seems to have intended the death penalty prohibition as a rationale to change dogmatic doctrine such as that on homosexuality.
Worthy of death…
In an imperfect world the lives of the innocent public also, and foremost, involve the intrinsic dignity of the human person. Yes?
As a question, we notice that, in the new Catechism language on the death penalty, the legitimacy of “retribution”—as distinguished from vengeance—is not explicitly erased, while in another part of the Catechism (divine retribution, nn. 1021-22, 2016) it remains intact. Silence means consent? So, can we conclude that the nuanced and circumstantial term “inadmissible” (possibly supplied by a reflective CDF?) bends the earlier prudential judgment of St. John Paul II, but does not break it?
The rare and possible lack of clarity in Cardinal Muller’s remark might be that under the criminal law capital punishment may be absolutely prohibited as Muller explains—and yet at another level not really affect what critics see as the consistent Church doctrinal teaching. Both and, rather than either or?
The disconnect seems to be that Pope Francis does have a gift of considering concrete cases—”eye to eye” as he says—but seems not to see, eye-to-eyes (very plural!), the connected rest of the big picture such as victimized society. Another conundrum that the Church as a whole has to get right, including the role of penalties in crime prevention.
We can be thankful that DNA evidence now serves to minimize false convictions in non-tyrannical societies. We can also note that restraint of the death penalty in St. John Paul II’s Gospel of Life (n. 56) does not stand alone, but serves as a segue into the immediately following section (n. 57) addressing the abortion of “innocent” [italics] lives, where “the commandment ‘You shall not kill’ has absolute value…”.
The Pope purposely used ‘inadmissible’ because he could not use ‘intrinsically evil’. Catholic rulers can indeed support Capital Punishment, however limited. The Ordinary Magisterium cannot be ignored because a Pope is running his own narrative.
I think you repeat my main point. My parenthetical point is that the purposeful use of “inadmissible” might have come with some help, since Pope Francis himself has said that he is not a theologian (nor am I). The finer theological point is that the ordinary magisterium is not always infallible. A distinction between the ordinary magisterium and the ordinary universal magisterium is explored by lay-theologian Conte: http://www.catholicplanet.com/TSM/ordinary-magisterium.htm
The same distinctions were addressed earlier by the premier theologian Ratzinger in the Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio of Pope John Paul II in Ad Teudam Fidem (1998): https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_jp-ii_motu-proprio_30061998_ad-tuendam-fidem.html
It is noteworthy in these morally muddled times that St. Pope John Paul II explicitly and in detail clearly placed moral absolutes (the ordinary magisterium?)–the innate natural law–at the level of the Magisterium “for the first time,” in Veritatis Splendor, without confining himself to lesser terms like “inadmissible”:
“This is the first time, in fact, that the Magisterium of the Church [!] has set forth in detail the fundamental elements of this [‘moral’] teaching, and presented the principles for the pastoral discernment necessary in practical and cultural situations which are complex and even crucial” (n. 115). Then: “The Church is no way the author or the arbiter of this [‘moral’] norm” (n. 95).
Yes Beaulieu thanks again another crux reference. Salient. There is a shift from the correct teaching and pedagogy JPII was embarking us upon; and those who are ignorant along with those somewhat prepared but not ready, can/will get carried off by the insertions. The ones that never liked the pedagogy in the first place feel VINDICATED, validated, energized. I don’t have the source but in my recollection JPII had specifically warned the whole Church about this “time of trial”. By a turn of actions last night reading secular material I came upon 1 Cor. 15:33, St. Paul is actually warning against and rebuking the rebelliousness in community losing track of the meaning of their own faith in Christ, “Bad company corrupts good morals”. It’s a saying attributed to the ancient Greeks, taken up by Paul!
Satan’s purpose and method is to block you from God, to prevent one from going to or reaching Him, to distract and divert them along the way and to make them abjure their Saviour when they are with Him.