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Friday, January 27, 2017

AND NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY TO INCLUDE POPE BENEDICT


From laCroix:
The Pope faces his adversaries 
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta with whom he had been in conflict for more than a month. This marks a new chapter in the opposition to the Argentine pontiff.
Nicolas Senèze, Rome
January 26, 2017
By obtaining the resignation on Wednesday of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Pope Francis has made an important point to those who call into question the deep reforms he is undertaking in the Vatican and the Church. Not that Brother Matthew Festing is a personal enemy of the pope, but the conflict between Francis and the Knights of Malta represents the sum of all the opposition he is encountering in his will to reform.
The chronology of events is perplexing. In early December, the Grand Master of the Order demanded the resignation of Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager, who is accused of being "a liberal Catholic, unfaithful to the teachings of the Church."
Present at this discussion, was Cardinal Raymond Burke, the pope's representative to the Order and one of his main opponents, who led a public attack against the exhortation Amoris laetitia, on possible access to the sacraments by divorcees who remarry. With three retired cardinals, he asked the pope to clarify certain points, to force him to return to the text - something that no pope had done for at least two centuries - and to lessen the magisterial scope of the Vatican.
Within the Order of Malta, the attacks against von Boeselager, who was accused of having allowed the distribution of condoms by the Order in Burma in 2005, was a moral issue. The German explained to the grand master that the matter had been settled and refused to resign. Supported, at least in silence, by Cardinal Burke, Matthew Festing insisted that it was "the will of the Holy See."
Ten days later, von Boeselager's own brother, Georg, was appointed to the superintendency of the Institute for Religious Works (known as the IOR), or the "Vatican bank". With two other bankers, he replaced officials of the IOR who, defending the idea of creating a Vatican investment fund in Luxembourg opposed by the Pope, had to resign in May. Seen against this backdrop, the attacks against von Boeselager appear more and more as a challenge to the reform of the Vatican’s finances and those who are implementing them.
Already, under Benedict XVI, it was on the issue of its finances that the Vatican was most violently attacked. The VatiLeaks affair, the leaking of documents from the Pope's office, began shortly after the German pope had begun a vast clean-up of the Vatican's finances, including the IOR where scandals were multiplying.
Even if the IOR has not been a questionable structure as such, shady businesses have clearly used personal ties with naive prelates to hide their shady dealings under the seal of Vatican banking secrecy. Warned of this, Benedict XVI had courageously tried to put an end to these practices but, as he progressed, the obstacles multiplied.
Still, more than the mafia-type dealings, it is the financial system itself that has obstructed the popes’ efforts. As early as 2009, in his encyclical Caritas in veritate, where he began to call into question the capitalist system, Benedict XVI was criticized by American conservatives. This discourse from the German pope was to be significantly developed and amplified by his successor. In his exhortation Evangelii gaudium, Francis directly opposed the "trickledown theory", one of the liberal dogmas in the United States. And in many of his speeches, he tackled the misdeeds of an unruly capitalism, the "silver god" that "corrupts", the economy that "kills".
In the United States, such talk which challenges the foundations of American free enterprise goes down badly. Francis has been described as a "Marxist" pope. His encyclical Laudato struck also against the discourse of climate change denial pushed by the petroleum giants.
Currently, the most severe attacks against the pope are coming from the United States. At the Order of Malta, the case of the Burmese condoms was put forward by the "Lepanto Institute for the restoration of all things in Christ". This ultraconservative organization specialized in the denunciation of "gays” entering the Church and in attacks on the major development associations that question unfettered economic liberalism.
One of its leaders is the president of the Republican Party in Virginia. Another, a well-known American conservative activist, also leads the “Alliance for the Common Good”, chaired by Keith Fournier, deacon of the diocese of Richmond and a member of the Catholic support group formed by Donald Trump during his campaign.
The US-based Breitbart website, founded by Steve Bannon, now Trump's strategic advisor, was also very influential in the presidential campaign and does not hide its hostility towards the pope. In an interview with the New York Times, its correspondent in Rome recently explained that his bosses strongly encouraged him to write about the pope’s opponents, notably Cardinal Burke, "a friend of Mr. Bannon" who himself "distrusts" Francis.
One of the issues in the upcoming media battle will be to convince middle-class Catholic Americans that Francis, already portrayed as an enemy of the foundations of American economic power, wants to attack its most sacred value, the family. (The pope gets 87% favorable opinions, according to a study published last week by the Pew American research center.)
Hence the virulent speech aimed at discrediting Amoris laetitia. This no doubt explains why Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the “Pontifical Academy for Life” and one of the favorite targets of the ultraconservatives, has just been sent by the pope to the United States on a long mission.
However, even if they have powerful support, the pope’s opponents are few in Rome. Those closest to him say that Francois is not worried about their actions. It must be added that he had other opponents when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. He also enjoys the effective support of his secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who discreetly and courageously has suffered many attacks in the pope’s place.
The mastery with which Francis has shown in handling the crisis with the Knights of Malta, which will now be managed by a pontifical delegate, thereby isolating Cardinal Burke a little more, shows the extent of his serenity in dealing with events.

7 comments:

Victor said...

"... shows the extent of his serenity in dealing with events." Sounds more like he is ruthless, reminiscent of leaders of former banana republics in South America.

Mark Thomas said...

I am certain that traditional Catholics support His Holiness Pope Francis as traditionalists wish to restore the crowning of Popes with the triple tiara.

That means that "traditional" Catholics believe the following associated with the ceremony in question:

"Receive the tiara adorned with the three crowns and know that you are the Father of princes and kings, the Sovereign of the world, and the Vicar on earth of our Savior Jesus Christ, to Whom is honor and glory, now and forever. Amen."

"...you are the Father of princes and kings, the Sovereign of the world..."

Pax.

Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas said...

In regard to the Knights of Malta and the Pope's authority, the Pope is, according to the Roman Pontifical, 1596 A.D:

"...the father of princes and kings, ruler of the world..."

Pax.

Mark Thomas

Anonymous said...

"The US-based Breitbart website, founded by Steve Bannon, now Trump's strategic advisor, was also very influential in the presidential campaign and does not hide its hostility towards the pope. In an interview with the New York Times, its correspondent in Rome recently explained that his bosses strongly encouraged him to write about the pope’s opponents, notably Cardinal Burke, "a friend of Mr. Bannon" who himself "distrusts" Francis."

Breitbart's man in Rome is a former priest, Thomas Williams, a Legionary of Christ (LC), who 1) defended his superior, Fr. Maciel, against child molestation, charges that were proven to be true, and 2) who fathered a child while he was a priest and was forced to resign.

Bannon and Breitbart don't like the pope.

It is probably through LC circles that the supporter of neo-Nazi and neo-fascists, Stephen Bannon, was invited to speak to a Vatican Human Dignity Institute (oh, the irony)in 2014.

TJM said...


President Trump is the most pro-life US president EVER. Vice President Pence Spoke to the Right to Life organization, a first. Many posting need to face facts. The Democratic Party is intrinsically evil and you, like Nancy Pelosi, are delusional. Nancy's latest is that the Dems are doing God's work and the Republican's are not. Engaging in projection, Nancy? Last i checked God and His Church are not promoting abortion and gay marriage. If her bishop had any guts he would excommunicate her.

John Nolan said...

Interestingly, the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of Malta is attached to the old Rite, which might account for Francis's antipathy towards them.

But so what? In a few years time he will no longer be around, and his sycophants (Fernandez, Spadaro et al.) will fade into obscurity. The Roman Rite will survive since an increasing number of bishops support it (both in the US and in England).

Yes, he was a disastrous choice, but he is by no means the first and will certainly not be the last. He can't change doctrine and his personal animadversions are of no consequence. A pity, since he is actually quite a good homilist.

Pox (on everyone who disagrees with me)

John Nolan

TJM said...

John Nolan,

Thanks for being a calming influence. I agree with everything you say.

However, I miss "Bellum!"