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Saturday, October 09, 2021

BOMBSHELL—New internal CDF information shows Pope Francis flagrantly lying about bishops’ TLM survey

The time for me to fully weigh in on Traditionis Custodes is nearly at hand. That said, the purpose of this posting is to address only the accusation made at the link above. I read the thread and it was more conspiratorial trad outrage porn. However, for the purpose of this posting, let us assume that the claim is true.

If Pope Francis did ignore a report favourable to the Tridentine liturgical form to publish Traditionis Custodes, it would be no different than Pope Benedict XVI ignoring the bishops of the world episcopate in issuing Summorum Pontificum back in 2007. Or Pope John Paul II twice ignoring the world episcopate in issuing Quattuor Abhinc Annos in 1984 and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta in 1988. 

Yet the same people getting their undies in a wedge about Pope Francis supposedly ignoring a favourable trad survey to rule against them were not similarly outraged by Pope John Paul II (twice)  and Pope Benedict XVI (once) ignoring unfavourable episcopal feedback to issue rulings trads liked. You cannot have it both ways without being a flaming hypocrite.

So even if Pope Francis went against episcopal consensus in issuing Traditionis Custodes, so did Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II with their indults of 1984, 1988, and 2007 respectively. And need I mention that Pope Paul VI ignored a nearly unanimous consensus on his Birth Control Commission to side with the 4 commission dissenters in issuing Humanae Vitae? I do not hear conservatives so outraged about that. Or that Pope Leo XIII's commission examining the validity of Anglican orders was split but mostly favouring validity but the Archbishop of Westminster persuaded the Pope to rule in Apostolicae Curae that they were invalid lest a favourable ruling undermine Catholic efforts amongst the Anglicans. I do not hear anyone on the right getting their knockers in a twist over that.

The bottom line is this: the Pope can consult with whomever he wants but he is not required to follow the advice given if he does not want to. Irrespective of what individuals may think about the issues involved, that is his prerogative as Supreme Pontiff.

Friday, October 08, 2021

Points to Ponder:

Sunrise lies beyond the setting sun. It cannot be reborn in the east unless it dies in the west. And once it dies, there's nothing to keep us here. Only darkness remains. Unbelievers rage against the dying light. But for the saints, our light must die below to then ascend to the zenith of meridian glory. Before we rise to light everlasting, our sun must set. [Steve Hays]

I cannot imagine going through life constantly pissing on people while claiming to be some high falutin defensor ecclesia. Unfortunately there are those who do this stuff on at least a weekly (if not seemingly daily) and in the process remind myself and others of "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal" (cf. 1 Cor xiii,1). And when such folks attack other people under the guise of being a true Christian, they do great harm to Catholic evangelization.

I thought of going against my usual policy of not "answering a fool according to his folly" (cf. Proverbs xxvi,4) but fortunately, Providence intervened and a couple of other folks more or less encapsulated at least to a macro extent what I would have said. Their responses can be read below.{1} As for the fool, they are not even worth acknowledging except in rebuke and the footnote below handles that adequately enough. 

Note:

{1} See these links for details:

I apologize

The substance of my criticism

Tuesday, October 05, 2021

Points to Ponder:

Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt. It is when we are not sure that we are doubly sure. [Reinhold Niebuhr]

Sunday, October 03, 2021

Points to Ponder:

Do you really believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what you believe? Do you really preach what you live? The witness of life has become more than ever an essential condition for real effectiveness in preaching. [Pope St. Paul VI: From Evangelii Nuntiandi (circa 1975)]