PopeWatch: Saint Thomas More

Steve Skojec at One Peter Five invokes Saint Thomas More in reference to the Four Cardinals who have the courage to ask the Pope for an explanation in regard to the doctrinally dubious Amoris Laetitia:

This is not the first time Francis has chosen to show his hand by refusing to offer clarity where the only alternative is heresy.

We saw this in his refusal to respond to the 19 theological censures against Amoris Laetitia authored by 45 theologians and Catholic scholars around the world.

We saw it when he chose to ignore the Filial Appeal signed by over 800,000 Catholics, asking him to uphold Church teaching on marriage and the family.

And if what has been reported to us is true, we know how angry such efforts make him. How he is alleged to have lashed out at the 13 cardinals who confronted him with yet another letter before the second synod — and how he scolded them in public when the synod was done.

It is of vital importance that these four cardinals, having released this document to the public, do not back down. Three of the four are already retired; Cardinal Burke is the lone exception, and he already lives in political exile for his efforts.

St. Thomas More allowed his life to be taken rather than accept a distortion of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the papal authority bound by God to uphold it. No consequence should deter these prelates — or any others — from standing their ground. The faithful are desperate for leadership from their shepherds. Career implications are a pittance in comparison to an executioner’s axe.

We have a pope who has given every indication that he welcomes and embraces material heresy; it is long past time that he be tested for the obduracy of his adherence to it.

The cardinal authors of the letter take pains to make their allegiance clear:

We hope that no one will judge us unjustly, as adversaries of the Holy Father and people devoid of mercy. What we have done and are doing derives from the deep collegial affection that unites us to the Pope, and from an impassioned concern for the good of the faithful.

Indeed. We are loyal papists all, and we ask the man currently occupying the throne of St. Peter to show similar docility to the majesty of his august office.

After all, we are the pope’s good servants, but God’s first.

Go here to read the rest.  Saint Thomas More reminds us that when the Faith is in jeopardy the laity have a duty, not a right but a duty, to stand and be heard in defense of Catholicism.