VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Francis apologized Wednesday (Oct 14) on behalf of the Catholic Church for a series of scandals which have recently shaken the city of Rome and the Vatican.
The Vatican has been the focus of several controversies including the coming out of a gay priest and the leak of a controversial letter, while the pontiff himself ended up in the headlines for a gaffe which helped oust Rome's mayor.
“I want, in the name of the Church, to ask forgiveness for the scandals which have recently hit Rome and the Vatican. I ask you for forgiveness,” Francis said at the start of his weekly general audience on Saint Peter’s Square.
“It is inevitable that scandals happen, but ‘woe to that man by whom
the offence cometh!’” he said, quoting a passage from the Bible.
From America Magazine:
Cardinal Dolan Reveals Background to the Letter of the Thirteen Cardinals
Gerard O'Connell | Oct 14 2015Cardinal Timothy Dolan has provided some important background information on the letter that he and 12 other cardinals sent to Pope Francis on Oct. 5, the opening day of the synod. He revealed that the idea of the letter came from Cardinal George Pell, in a conversation with other bishops as they shared “some worries” about the synod before it started. During that conversation, he said Pell summarized the concerns of the group in three points: the synod’s working document ("Instrumentum Laboris"), the process and the composition of the 10-person special commission set up by the pope to draft the synod’s final document. Dolan said the letter with these concerns was subsequently written in Italian, and he signed it.
The New York cardinal revealed all this information in a radio interview with Mary Shovlain, host of ‘The Vatican Report,’ on the Catholic Channel of Sirius XM News and Issues, Oct 13. (Link below)
He told her that when he arrived in Rome for the synod, “there were a number of bishops, one of whom was Cardinal George Pell, whom I respect very much, and we were chatting about a couple of concerns that we had.” And, he added, “George said...why don’t we get together – we love the Holy Father, we trust him, he’s urged us to be honest with him as possible – why don’t we write [to] him that we’re worried. We’re worried, first of all about the "Instrumentum Laboris" [Note: the synod’s working document] which has a lot of good things, but we’re kind of worried if that’s the only document that we’re going to be talking about at the synod. Secondly, we’re a little worried about the process: there seems to be some confusion. And, thirdly, we’re a little worried if we could have a say in the people who are going to be on the final drafting committee.”
Then, Dolan added, “Cardinal Pell, in his good shrewd way, said: 'Am I correct in summing up some of the concerns?’ And some of us, myself included, said ‘that seems good enough to me, if you have a letter to the pope count me in.' And sure enough I signed it.”
“The letter wasn’t in English, it was in Italian,” and it was written “even before the synod began,” Dolan stated. He made clear that on “the day after it went in, the Holy Father, very sensibly, at the beginning of the next day [Oct. 6], he didn’t refer to the letter but he said, hey everybody, I’ve heard from some of you that you’ve got some concerns.” And then “he (the Holy Father) listed the exact concerns that I’ve just mentioned... and he said, ‘let me try to respond to that.’”
Dolan confided to the interviewer that at this point, “I said, here you go, Holy Father, you told us to be honest and we were. You’ve answered right to these [concerns]. I’m grateful you paid attention. So let’s get on with the work.”
The cardinal told the interviewer: “I’d forgotten about it, and I didn’t think it was controversial at all,” but then he heard that “somebody’s leaked it, and there are various versions who signed it.” He confessed, “I don’t know all about that stuff!”
Link to the Cardinal Dolan interview can be accessed HERE!
7 comments:
At the risk of joining the curmudgeons, “I don’t know all about that stuff!” seems to me to just about sum up the present state of things in Our Lord's Holy Church.
When I go to Confession, three things are necessary. seeking forgiveness, penance and a firm purpose of amendment.
Sorry Pope Francis, sorry Father Lombardi, I only see one of those.
There will be no pardon from Vox Cantoris for the scandal which comes daily to those "disturbed by news" from Rome and the Synod, at least not from me.
No pardon until:
The Pope states that there is to be no discussion about, because there will be no change, that people who are in adulterous relationships -- remarried civilly without a properly obtained decree of nullity that the first marriage did not validly exist, will not be permitted to receive Holy Communion as this would be the sin of sacrilege and and a defaming of the Body of the Lord.
The Pope removes from the table any discussion on the blessing of same-sex relationships or any discussion on watering-down Catholic teaching on the sin of sodomy and lesbianism and that the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a magisterial document is correct in it use of "intrinsically disordered" to describe the desire to have sexual relations with the same sex.
The Pope send packing back to retirement in Belgium the pervert-protecting Cardinal Danneels.
The Pope renounce the heretical statements of Cardinal Kasper who he has previously praised and by doing so, opened this whole scandalous synod both last year and this.
The Pope ensure that all discussions and comments by bishops are made public to their flock and the comments of any other bishop and that voting take place in a full and open manner.
The Pope ensure that any heretical passages are stricken from the Instumentum Laboris that undermine Church teaching including "conscience" provisions that could allow for a complete unravelling of Humanae Vitae.
The Pope censure the Abbot Schröder directly for his disgraceful comments yesterday on the blessing of sodomitical relationships and the devolution of Church governance and thus, doctrine and discipline.
The Pope remove from the table any discussion of possibility of such devolution.
The Pope order removed from the Vatican website the statements from last year's mid-term relatio on what homosexuality.
The Pope invite Cardinal Raymond Burke to the Synod.
Then I might consider it.
Peter has no need of our lies or flattery. Those who blindly and indiscriminately defend every decision of the Supreme Pontiff are the very ones who do most to undermine the authority of the Holy See—they destroy instead of strengthening its foundations.
- Melchior Cano, an eminent theologian at the Council of Trent
I agree with Vox. As regards Cardinal Dolan - typical Dolan backpedalling I would say - and dropping Cardinal Pell in it at the same time. He says it was written in Italian so the inference is he [Dolan] wasn't entirely sure of its contents. But he makes sure he's got a pound each way - making sure he doesn't offend the conservatives too much - he responds to Pope Francis that the 13 signatories have done exactly what the Pope wanted them to do. But AT LEAST he put his signature to it, so he has redeemed himself a little in my eyes [with the emphasis on the little]. About the only amusing thing to come out of this Synod ...
Jan
Dolan is the Lindsey Graham of there Catholic Church.
Cardinal Dolan reminds me of all the bishops of the first millennium whose names are now forgotten to history. While their saintly confreres stood up to the heretics and remained steadfast in the faith, there must have been many bishops who stood for nothing and, as a result, are forgotten.
I suppose that, in order for there to be a great bishop like St. Nicholas, there must be a terrible heretic like the presbyter Arius.
I feel good!!! I just signed the petition calling on the Faithful Bishops to walk out of the synod.
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