Just on the basis of what His Eminence recently said in a National Catholic Register interview, I would welcome him:
[Sociological
research confirms that] the more radically liberal the beliefs and
practices of the Christian community, the more quickly they lapse into
non-belief.
Religiously conservative movements are more durable. Our fundamental teachings are clear and are non-negotiable.
We
would be obliged to maintain them even if they damaged numbers and
practice. But contrary to expectations, it is the liberal Catholic
communities e.g. in Belgium, Quebec, as well as Protestant groups who
accommodate to the world who are losing more people.
The Church seems to be split on whether to maintain or relax Church discipline, specifically on reception of the Eucharist.
We’re
not just offering hospitality at Mass, with Holy Communion. If you come
to my place, I’ll offer you a biscuit and tea or coffee, it wouldn’t
matter who you were. But that’s not what we believe about the Eucharist.
We believe it really is the body and blood of Christ, the son of God.
You
have to be a monotheist. You have to believe in Jesus Christ, and in
the Real Presence. St. Paul wrote about the dispositions necessary to
make a good and fruitful reception of Communion.
I
have a wonderful story about a career criminal who was in jail. The
chaplain was asked whether the prisoner came regularly to the prison
Mass. He said yes. And then the chaplain was asked if the man went to
Communion, and he replied, “No, he is a man of faith. He understands
that he can’t go to Communion.”
4 comments:
We are not lucky enough to get a real man like Cardinal Pell who actually suffered prison unjustly because he was a conservative and defender of traditional values. If he had been a lefty loon undermining the Church this never would have happened to him.
Geopolitical considerations (absent until 1978) now apply. The next pope will be from Asia or Africa. If it's Ranjith or Sarah, well and good; if it's Tagle or Turckson, God help us.
Pell, like Burke, is white Anglo-Saxon and therefore out of the running.
Thank you for this post. I enjoyed reading the Cardinal's comments. If he were a regular diocesan priest how may bishops would sideline him or at least put him under surveillance for the few remarks that you posted here by him?
Gloria tv now has an article about Cardinal Turkson resigning.
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