Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 2:14am

PopeWatch: Maradiaga

 

Carl Olsen at The Catholic World Report  demonstrates why Cardinal Maradiaga, who is very close to the Pope, is an insult to all sentient Catholics:

 

The three key remarks are as follows:
I think in the first place they [the four cardinals] have not read the Amoris Laetitia, because unfortunately this is the case! I know the four and I say they are already retired. How come they did not say anything in regard to those who manufacture weapons? Some are in countries that manufacture and sell weapons throughout the genocide that is happening in Syria, for example. Why? I would not want to put it – shall we say – too strongly; only God knows people’s consciences and inner motivations; but, from the outside it seems to me to be a new pharisaism. They are wrong; they should do something else. …

I think the car of the Church has no gear to go in reverse. It pulls itself forward because the Holy Spirit is not accustomed to go backwards. He always brings us forward. I am not afraid because I know it is not Francis, it is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church, and that, if He has allowed this Pontiff to come, it is for some reason, and we certainly ought to look to the future with hope because, more and more, the Church is God’s, it is not our own. We are only servants. …
Let us look above all at reality, because to see also if there aren’t many cases of those who are in a second union–we will not enter there because there are many reasons– but that they in a healthy conscience [feel] that their first marriage was not valid and that they have found a new family, they are living in conformity to the law of God, why throw stones? why? Instead of saying, “How are we doing with the new generation because they could prepare themselves better to have a good family. And this is Amoris Laetitia… It happens that so many times the methods that these four brothers [the four cardinals] only look at, who think that they are the bosses [or masters] of the doctrine of faith [pensano che sono i capi della dottrina della fede], they don’t look at the the very great majority of the faithful who are happy with Amoris Laetitia.” [translations courtesy of Andrew Guernsey]

 
Although relatively short, these remarks speak volumes. Some thoughts:
1) It is revealing, to put it mildly, how often those who criticize the four cardinals—Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, Walter Brandmüller and Joachim Meisner—do so in such a personal, rude manner. This is to be expected of course in the woolly thickets of blogs and personal sites, but this is often the case coming from high-ranking prelates and others who are close to Pope Francis. That said, they may simply be emulating the Holy Father himself, who has a, well, colorful way of addressing those he disagrees with or thinks need to be put in their place. To say, as Cardinal Maradiaga does, that Cardinals Burke, Caffarra, Brandmüller and Meisner, have not actually read the controversial Apostolic Exhortation is the sort of low, embarrassing pot shot best suited for teenagers. That he says with such obvious disdain is bothersome, even scandalous.

 
2) It is a further example of how some of those close to Francis, and even the Holy Father himself, refuse to seriously address pressing, thoughtful, cogent, and important questions regarding marriage, morality, the sacraments, and a number of related matters. Put bluntly, it reveals either a sad superficiality or a dismissive disdain. Neither possibility engenders much trust or peace of mind.

 
3) The sorry attempt to change the subject by referring to the manufacturing of weapons (a popular theme with Francis, who in June 2015 denounced those who manufacture weapons and then criticized the Allies for not bombing trains during World War II) and the use of the tired—and rather ludicrous—descriptive “pharisaism” not only reveals disdain, but a consistent strategy: to isolate, label, and destroy. The focus (shrewdly, from that perspective) is on the alleged, if vague, faults of critics, who are routinely dismissed as pharisaical, rigid, dogmatic, and so forth.

 
4) If the four Cardinals are wrong, as Cardinal Maradiaga states, then simply show it. It’s starting to remind me of the kid in junior high who claims to have a football signed by Terry Bradshaw but never shows it to anyone because it’s in storage, it got lost, and so forth. But he keeps bragging about it. At some point you realize the football doesn’t exist.

 
5) The appeal to the Holy Spirit—also used in equally vague and sloppy ways by Cardinal Farrell back in October 2016—is a red herring; it is meant to suggest that nearly everything the Holy Father says and does is directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Cardinal Farrell stated: “Do we believe that he didn’t inspire our Holy Father Pope Francis in writing this document?” In fact, speaking with some needed precision, papal and conciliar texts are not “inspired” by the Holy Spirit; rather, the Holy Spirit protects the Magisterium from formally teaching error in matters of faith and morals. The language of “inspiration”, strictly speaking, is almost always (if not always) confined to the deposit of faith; that is, divine revelation as transmitted through Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. Which is why the fathers at Vatican II noted, in Dei Verbum, that “we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (DV, 4). Insinuating that the Church can change teachings simply because Pope A or Pope B decides he wishes to is problematic, to say the least; this is especially the case when the matter at hand has to do with the very nature of the sacraments, the proper role of conscience, and the life of grace (as I’ve discussed elsewhere).

 

Go here to read the rest.  Maradiaga is a fitting example of the intellectual prowess of this Pontificate and of its maturity.

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Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 4:10am

Your thoughts on Maradiagas rant are sensible. Many centuries ago blood was spilt between clerics who sat across from each other debating dogmas and sound theological principals. It wasn’t all pleasantries and refined decorum. I’m​ recalling a lecture from years ago at Marytown and the presentation he gave spoke of the heated debates leading to brawls before the acceptance of the truths we now take for granted. Holy Spirit? Both sides claimed that they had authentic promptings from the Holy Spirit. In time and in bloodshed, the truth was and is that matters of doctrine must be accurate and supported by TRUTH regardless of “feelings.”

I’m not suggesting a cage fight between Cardinals. I am in favor of teams opposed to each other sit down and hammer this out for the sake of souls and their final destination.

Don L
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 4:46am

Philip, when both sides sincerely seek the truth, hammering things out sometimes works, when one side seeks to undermine the truth, their can be no compromise without capitulation to untruth. Some things are simply not negotiable.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 5:12am

“…when one side seeks to undermine the truth, there can be no compromise without capitulation to untruth.”

This is what liberals do all the time – undermine the truth. You cannot argue or debate with them. It’s like wrestling with a pig in the mud. You get all dirty yourself and the pig enjoys it.

I cannot wait for this Pontificate to be finished. That man who occupies the Seat of St Peter will NOT repent NOR recant. Will NOT.

ken
ken
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 6:52am

What a jerk.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 7:16am

Don L.

I understand.

The Barque of Peter is being beat up pretty good. The Ship will make it home but not before being pounded and and stressed. The owner of the Ship will make sure it’s precious cargo is intact.
Regardless of the helmsman’s abilities or negligence.

Be Calm…and the seas subsided.
I must remember that.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 7:17am

…and’s were on sale today…two for one.

Clinton
Clinton
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 9:19am

It’s very revealing that this Pope and his supporters rely not on clarity and
honesty to persuade others of the truth and wisdom of their positions.
Rather, there is the use of brute force, as seen in the demolition of the FFI
and the recent gutting and dismissal of the entire Pontifical Academy for
Life. There is a consistent use of ambiguity and confusion in pronouncements
and a refusal to clarify– most notably in the Pope’s refusal to answer the
dubia submitted by the four Cardinals. And there is the chicanery and
manipulation we saw at the Synod on the Family, used to force a predetermined
result while keeping up a fiction of collegiality. Letting proxies like Cardinal
Maradiaga malign fellow prelates in public is another form of coercion we keep
seeing from this Pope.

If a leader has to resort to such low methods to obtain his desired results,
it means that he knows that his agenda, when plainly stated, would never
persuade men of integrity. Like LQ Cinncinnatus said above, I too cannot
wait for this miserable pontificate to be finished.

Clinton
Clinton
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 9:19am

It’s very revealing that this Pope and his supporters rely not on clarity and
honesty to persuade others of the truth and wisdom of their positions.
Rather, there is the use of brute force, as seen in the demolition of the FFI
and the recent gutting and dismissal of the entire Pontifical Academy for
Life. There is a consistent use of ambiguity and confusion in pronouncements
and a refusal to clarify– most notably in the Pope’s refusal to answer the
dubia submitted by the four Cardinals. And there is the chicanery and
manipulation we saw at the Synod on the Family, used to force a predetermined
result while keeping up a fiction of collegiality. Letting proxies like Cardinal
Maradiaga malign fellow prelates in public is another form of coercion we keep
seeing from this Pope.

If a leader has to resort to such low methods to obtain his desired results,
it means that he knows that his agenda, when plainly stated, would never
persuade men of integrity. Like LQ Cinncinnatus said above, I too cannot
wait for this miserable pontificate to be finished.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 10:23am

Clinton.
Your words are good enough to be repeated! Bravo!

Michael Paterson-Seymour
Michael Paterson-Seymour
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 10:35am

As Joseph Butler, the Bishop of Bristol and a celebrated Anglican divine, philosopher and apologist, said to John Wesley, the noted ranter and enthusiast, “Any pretension to revelations or gifts of the Holy Spirit is a horrid thing, sir, a very horrid thing.”

Clinton
Clinton
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 12:37pm

Thanks, Philip.
Not quite sure how I double-posted…

Art Deco
Art Deco
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 2:50pm

Gamesmanship leavened on occasion with petty abuse. Sounds like a standard issue Anglican vicar, post 1930 vintage. You contemplate what the Church was in 1958 and where we are today. It all fell apart so quickly.

Anzlyne
Anzlyne
Tuesday, April 25, AD 2017 4:49pm

Maradiaga sounds a bit snide when he refers to them as “already retired”. once he said about them…”they don’t understand reality”
But the four cardinals exhibit spiritual maturity – strength and courage.

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Wednesday, April 26, AD 2017 3:45am

The words ‘mafia papacy’ spring to mind when reading Carl Olsen article on consiglierie Maradiaga and godfather Bergoglio whose racket is offering cheap grace in order to control people’s souls. These people are clearly in league with the devil who goes about the world for the ruin of souls.

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