CNA Newsroom, Jul 14, 2023 / 10:35 am (CNA).
Cardinal Blase Cupich recently expressed confidence in the intentions behind the German Synodal Way while warning of divisions and praising the pontificate of Pope Francis as “historic” in a carefully-worded interview with German diocesan media.
Described by Cologne’s Domradio on June 27 “as a leading voice of the progressive Church in the U.S.A.,” the archbishop of Chicago also spoke about the blessing of same-sex unions as well as the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Asked about the controversial German Synodal Way, the 73-year-old cardinal acknowledged that he had no direct firsthand insight into the process but expressed his trust in the German bishops.
“I know that they have only the best intentions. They are good shepherds who do their best to listen to the voice of the faithful, to see their wishes and hopes,” he told Domradio.
At the same time, Cupich warned: If the German process is “indeed a kind of parliamentary process in which democratic votes are paramount, in which votes are counted and arguments are pitted against each other, then it would indeed be difficult to defend it from a Catholic perspective.“
Cupich also addressed the issue of blessings for same-sex couples, a topic that has caused controversy within the Church, particularly in Germany where blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples have been held in open defiance of Vatican directives.
The American prelate emphasized the need for respect and clarity, stating: “We do not want to spread the message that we exclude people or show them no respect. At the same time, we need to ask ourselves: What exactly does it mean to bless a union? Is it blessing a friendship, a nonsacramental union? We need to clearly define what we mean by that. I don’t see that clarity in the Church at this point.”
The cardinal also commented on overcoming wider division in the Church and the pontificate of Pope Francis. He expressed his support and admiration for the Roman pontiff’s leadership.
“The division has always been there. Now it is perhaps coming more to the surface. The Holy Father is courageous in tackling problems that have long been simmering under the surface,” he said.
Cupich added: “I have great confidence in the course the Holy Father has set. I know that there are critical voices, but they are few. They are loud, but they are not many.”
Cupich, who has been a cardinal since 2016 and is also a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, concluded with a call for attentiveness and openness.
“We will not have a future if we do not also place value on our present. Where does the Holy Spirit want to lead us at this moment? I have confidence in Pope Francis. He wants us to be attentive and to leave our own perspectives sometimes. It is precisely in these moments that we feel the grace of God and see the Holy Spirit at work.”
In the same interview, Cupich also addressed the role of women in the Church, particularly in relation to preaching.
He noted that women’s voices are already being heard in some contexts outside the celebration of the Eucharist. “So the reflections and thoughts of women play a great role for the Church,” he said.
However, Cupich emphasized the traditional link between the proclamation of the Gospel and the homily delivered by the priest. He suggested that there might be room for women or laypeople to offer reflections elsewhere in the Mass, perhaps after receiving Communion.
“We should look for ways to strengthen such approaches,” he said.
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.
Oy veh. “We will not have a future unless we also place value on our present.” Sounds just like St. Augustine. My tail is wagging so hard it hurts! And yet his talentless, vapid goo is so depressing. Good Lord, at least German heretics believe in something. “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” Rev 3:15-16
He’s not listening … many, many Catholics are discouraged, frustrated and fed up with our pope. He needs to get out more. Typical out-of-touch prince, who loves his status more than the flock.
Well, his status is entirely due to Pope Francis; he has no interest in listening to other voices.
Nor does the Pope.
I don’t want to sound harsh. I just want to laugh. And believe me, I’m no backwardist – I’m actually allergic to Latin and Greek. Meditating on Scripture and Tradition is hard work. But this road apple in a red hat can’t even go back far enough to quote Pope Benedict XVI in the vernacular.
“Cupich” – a name that will go down in the annals of Church history as…
The French celebrated another Historic Coupe d’état on this day, and undoubtedly had Cupich been alive he would have had absolute confidence in the good intentions of those freemasonic sympathisers too.
The French traitors in the 18th century – many of whom would, like Cupid, have been validly baptised and full of zeal for the Spirit of the Age as a new source of Lodge-invented Revelation – took hundreds of the 40.000 Catholic clergy who died rather than accept one Iota of untruth, and left them stripped naked with neither food nor water in cages on the prison ships mooored off the Atlantic coast to rot.
With 300 million baptised victims of freemasonic New World Order since 1789* the unswerving support accorded by Cardinal Cupich to the Great Apostasy is difficult to comprehend. And yet, having promised annual Pedophile Clean Up Reports at McCarrick-Con II – never delivered because there is no clean-up – we have to understand that Cardinal Cupich is by large the best candidate for the next Spirit of Francis Award Ceremony.
*Pierre Hillard, Catholic French historien
“Cupich, who has been a cardinal since 2016 and is also a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, concluded with a call for attentiveness and openness.”
And where is Cupich’s own attentiveness and openness? In my 75 years as a Catholic I have never encountered such a stone-cold clericalist sycophant and ideologue who, like his puppetmaster, delights in smashing and excluding anything authentically Catholic in his path.
Well the purpose of any religion, and certainly the message of Christ is to provide moral guidance. Some behaviors are destructive and thus considered sinful. Other behaviors are meritorious and are to be encouraged. If the message of your church becomes “anything goes” then you don’t have a religion.
Religions have arisen spontaneously throughout the history of the world when people have been willing to make a covenant with each other, and with a force they recognize as God to behave in constructive and salutary ways. In principle, people can be good to each other without a formal religion, but it is far more likely that such societies devolve into selfishness, chaos, violence and hate. But if the bishops and clergy no longer want to be the teachers of a consistent code of moral precepts, they should stop the pretense. Germans can eschew their government paycheck and become live-in boyfriends; Francis can make money selling buckets of his own urine.
Blaise Cupich says of the German bishops, “They are good shepherds who do their best to listen to the voice of the faithful, to see their wishes and hopes.” Good shepherds lead their flocks. They don’t bend to the wishes of the sheep.
Good shepherds lead their flocks as Christ would – in the way of Truth.
Good shepherds honor God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Good shepherds do not worship false gods. Good shepherds do all they can by the power of grace to assist the sheep in the salvation of their souls.
Good shepherds know that all the sheep are different in their individual needs but that no sheep should be cared for any less than the others.
Good shepherds feed their sheep in ways each of them needs to grow. A good shepherd doesn’t feed his sheep with food that might be good for some sheep and not good for others.
A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep and does all he can to protect all the sheep from going astray
and away from predators.
Now think of Cupich and his fellow homosexualist hierarchs.
If we don’t respect a “union” – civil or otherwise, then why would we rain down our blessings?
Per WIKI:
The eight Beatitudes in Matthew:[7][8][9]
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the Earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called the Sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you…
The four Beatitudes in Luke 6:20–22 are set within the Sermon on the Plain.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
“Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah for no man but the holy ghost has revealed these things to you. Therefore, you are Rock and upon this rock, I will build MY church (emphasis His) and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it”. We can’t build the church in our image. It can’t be a church where man is center-stage. It has to be a church that serves, adores and loves God, not man. Man’s abject and sinful behaviors can’t be divinized. Man’s brokenness can’t be accommodated. It has to be rebuked. If the church isn’t going to bring us to Christ, it has no real value, no true worth. It doesn’t exist to tickle man’s ears, to tickle his fancy. It exists to get him to Heaven from exile, from this Valley of Tears our it suffers an identity crisis.
“Cupich added: “I have great confidence in the course the Holy Father has set. I know that there are critical voices, but they are few. They are loud, but they are not many.”
St. Peter was at the, year 33 A.D., Church Council which decided to have Jesus put to death. The reason St. Peter did not speak up, is because he was fearful of the God authorized Church leaders who were bullying God’s Faithful. There are many devout Catholics today, who, similar to St. Peter at the Church Council of 33 A.D., are fearful of God authorized Church leaders bullying them.
Matthew 26:57 Jesus Before the Sanhedrin.
Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin* kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward who stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.’” The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so.* But I tell you:
From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power’
and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’”
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!” Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?”
I think God is letting Satan have his way with the Church and the world to sift out true believers. We have to focus on Jesus, not on the Vatican.
I think the big error in English speaking Synod coverage is that it only seems to focus on a Western European/American perspective. What about Asia, Africa and Eastern European bishops etc? I’m sure they must have some serious reservations about Germany and the agendas of liberal US laity and clergy. I’d love to hear what Bishops in other parts of the world are saying. Germany has money but few practicing members. They’re a fringe when compared to the universal Church. It’s good to remember how big the Church is.
I guess the wolves in sheep’s clothing aren’t even bothering to dress up as sheep anymore.
Same sex attraction people carry a great cross but if they act out sexually in their attraction it is a disorder and sinful. That is Church Teaching. How can you bless that. How can a Catholic Cardinal not know that? Come on get it and stop contributing to the liberal heresies out there in the name of progressiveness. That mindset is the cause of the division. May God have Mercy.
Is it too much to ask in these days of madness that Catholic priests, bishops, cardinals and, yes, popes actually *be* Catholic? That the principles they espouse be those of the actual Catholic Church?
Yes, it seems that it is too much to expect.
Because expecting Catholic principles to be espoused by our Church leaders means that we are rigid, hidebound, regressive and inflexible ideologues who have no concept of the radical love of the god of the left.
Cupich, for one, clearly has no intention of believing or acting as a Catholic prelate. The wisdom of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — the God who is Jesus — is far beneath him. He is an intellectual who sees the world through the way more advanced, more virtuous, more now-a-go-go lens of leftism.
Which is to say, his allegiance is to the ersatz mock Catholic-esque church of the evil ratfaced character. The unholy spirit.
And so sexual sins of all types are promoted as holy, pride is deemed a virtue, and all manner of violence against humanity is celebrated.
And the family is untenable, suicides skyrocket, and the children who actually live to be born are mutilated, sterilized and traumatized.
This is what the Synod on Homosexuality — in which the poor Holy Spirit is relegated to the role of a ventriloquist’s dummy, mouthing leftist bumper sticker slogans in the voice of Jesuitical James Martin — is supposed to bring about.
Come, Lord Jesus, come…
“He is an intellectual…”
Based on…?
LOL!
Progressives like Cardinal Cupich are all superior in intellect to those of us of inferior vision who dare to question them.
Don’t believe me?
Then ask ‘em!
Yea, verily, the interviewee doth maketh some good points. But, if yours truly were to publicly mouth my own myopic mumblings, I might be soundly judged and deservedly so.
As for “CLARITY” on what is meant by the blessing of same-sex “couples,” I might be faulted for splitting hairs while a larger clarity would notice the range fire of gender theory running wild across our culture and that has even torched much of the Church. I would be faulted for fiddling whist Rome burns.
With regard “LEADERSHIP,” yours truly might recall the recent butting aside and upstaging of Cardinal Di Nardo as president of the USCCB. If this golden-boy routine were my concept of “leadership,” I might even be excluded from ANY office position within the USCCB. In the past and in the future.
Were yours truly to suggest that those were “FEW IN NUMBER” who are concerned about the lack of clarity, and worse, over the past decade…I surely would be remiss to notice the departure of half a million Catholics from the Church in Germany in the past year alone. We now have three languages in the Church: the Vernacular, the Latin, and those who vote with their feet. The synodality of “walking together”, that!
As for the Germans, I too would point to “GOOD INTENTIONS,” yes surely! But “the road to hell is paved with good intentions…”
Which is to say, on these points, yours truly would be guilty of “selective blindness”, a universal human frailty–of which some clerics in high places seem curiously self-exempt.
Butt, yea verily, who am I to judge?