Yep

Today’s Gospel reading reminds us how wide that unholy road is and it’s dead end is just that..a dead ending;
Gospel Mt 7:6, 12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

Well of course. A man like +Strickland is a threat to the things that are important to Certain People. And people like Rupnik are in line with the things that matter to those Certain People. And yes, that is deeply disturbing.

Trying to understand this pontificate by parsing what Francis says and the documents his staff extrude— well, that’s a fool’s errand because it’s all just word salad. A diversion. To get a real understanding of what this pontificate is aiming for, just look at who Francis promotes and keeps close, and who he chooses to crush and humiliate. Personnel is policy, and so is one’s choice of enemies.

Ezabelle, I wish I shared your confidence that the result of the next conclave will see a return to relative normality. I pray I am mistaken in my pessimism.

At this time, the number of Cardinals eligible to vote in a conclave stands at 123, of which 63% have been selected by Francis. By the end of this year, 9 more Cardinals will age out of voting eligibility and Francis will likely soon create more Cardinals to replace them.

Unlike his predecessors, Francis is quite obviously stacking the College of Cardinals in one ideological direction. For example, in this past consistory, Francis declined to give a red hat to the Archbishop of Los Angeles— who, as the Archbishop of a major metropolitan see would traditionally be made Cardinal— instead “red-hatting” Bishop McElroy of San Diego who had been singing Francis’ praises for years. There are numerous similar examples.

In short, the longer Francis reigns, the more electors he names— and his one criterion for a red hat seems to be ‘does this man seem to share my ideology?’. Not competence, not sanctity, not political acumen nor leadership. Just ideology.

I’d dearly love to be absolutely wrong, but it’s not the increasingly dissatisfied Curia, nor the scandalized faithful who elect a Pope— it’s Francis’ increasingly ideologically homogenous College of Cardinals who will.

These past ten years have produced a list of victims, Priests who have spoken for the ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’.
Bishop Strickland now.
All the waste and heartache to avoid the truth that catholic means universal now, and has through its history.