In a commentary I post below by Damian Thompson, he makes this observation about a possible new pope in the near future:
At the moment, however, all eyes are on Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the rake-thin bicycling Archbishop of Bologna, 66, who is gay-friendly while unobtrusively sticking to the line that homosexual acts are sinful. That could be enough to satisfy the African cardinals. Zuppi’s political credentials are likely to help him: he’s associated with the centre-Left Sant’Egidio movement, which is obsessed with pulling strings — no bad thing during a conclave. He’s also nice to traditionalists: as a bishop he asked them to teach him how to celebrate the old Mass, and he hasn’t clamped down on it in his diocese.
I think Pope Francis made several terrible mistakes and from the very moment of his election and first step on the loggia of St. Peter’s. He made it clear that he was a humble pope, more humble than any pope before him, especially his still living predecessor.
He slammed traditionalists and this is on steroids now as his papacy is coming to a conclusion. I think much of what he wanted to do much earlier wasn’t done because of the Emeritus pope who is still living. But now that it appears that Francis might well succumb before Benedict, either through death or resignation, he is doing everything he wanted to do much earlier.
If Pope Francis had only asked the bishops of the world to work closely with traditionalists and follow the desire of Pope Benedict for both forms to exert influence on the other, how much better off would we be today?
And this:
Monday, March 31, 2014
15 comments:
We would be better off. Even uber liberal Catholic friends of mine are shocked and disappointed with TC. They actually believe in diversity of religious expression unlike the Roman tyrants who have lost the argument
We would be better off. Even uber liberal Catholic friends of mine are shocked and disappointed with TC. They actually believe in diversity of religious expression unlike the Roman tyrants who have lost the argument
I know I've railed against the naive, papolatrous notion that there is some sort of 'guarantee" that the Holy Spirit always chooses the pope. History has done far more to disprove that canard than anything I could possibly think of. However, as an exorcist priest I once knew told me: "Satan is working for God--he just doesn't know it." I think what he meant was that, in the economy of salvation and grace, even the machinations of the evil one are somehow used by God to ultimately do something good: Take Jesus' crucifixion. The Devil was CERTAIN He had finally defeated God by crucifying his Son, only to realize that his malevolent plot actually made our salvation possible.
OK, I know I'm droning on, but speculating about WHO will be elected pope strikes me as a rather pointless exercise in playing the "what if" game. All we CAN do is pray. Maybe the Holy Spirit doesn't always pick the pope. Maybe the Holy Spirit sometimes gets out of the way and gives us the pope we deserve to straighten us out. Perhaps, just maybe, Francis was allowed to be elected to open the eyes of Catholics who think protestantizing the Church will be a good thing (I am convinced God allowed Joe Biden to be inaugurated--I won't say elected--so that those in the middle can finally get a taste of the logical conclusions of runaway liberalism. Joe is the ultimate Republican fundraiser).
So let's pray, sacrifice, do penances and let God know we recognize that we have not been a militant enough Church. Let's use our bodies as weapons for good by actively practicing self-denial and imploring God to open the channels of His grace to give us a better pope than the kind we deserve. We need a pope who is holy. We need a pope who is a warrior. We need a pope who isn't committed to an agenda, but committed instead to Truth. We need a pope who will speak the timeless Truths of our faith without reservation.
We've already got what we deserve. Maybe if we pray hard enough and make enough sacrifices, we can get what we need.
The Holy Spirit acts through the One True Church, if we wander off the path and support weak clergy to pacify our carnal desires we end up with a pope who is a punishment. Taking the long view one or two bad popes is a good thing if it makes us long for the proper ways. My true fear is of the deep bench that gave us Pope Francis and the it is stronger now and has multiple choices to replace him when that time comes.
Rcg,
Actually it’s a shallow bench in terms of intellect and spirituality, McElroy, par example!
Damian Thompson said..."At the moment, however, all eyes are on Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the rake-thin bicycling Archbishop of Bologna, 66, who is gay-friendly while unobtrusively sticking to the line that homosexual acts are sinful."
Oh...therefore, in that regard, he is in line with Pope Francis...is in line with Holy Mother Church.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, time and again, has praised Pope Francis to the hilt.
Cardinal Zuppi has defended and promoted Pope Francis...and has made it clear that he is in line with Pope Francis' vision for the Church.
To return to Cardinal Zuppi and the issue of homosexuality:
Here is Cardinal Zuppi's (then-Archbishop) essay in praise of Father James Martin:
-- Italian archbishop endorses a ‘new pastoral attitude’ for L.G.B.T Catholics
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/05/21/italian-archbishop-endorses-new-pastoral-attitude-lgbt-catholics
Cardinal Zuppi, elevated by Pope Francis to the rank of Cardinal, is definitely a "FrancisCardinal."
Translation: As is the case with Pope Francis, Cardinal Zuppi is Holy Mother Church's loyal son.
I am certain that in keeping with Pope Francis, ""FrancisCardinal" Zuppi would serve as a holy and great Pope.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
I still think that Zuppi is a little too young to stand a chance of getting elected. At 66, he could be in post for 20 or 25 years, and I doubt any cardinals would be keen on that.
That being said, if Pope Francis were to resign this year, it would have the effect of normalizing 85 as the retirement age for a pope. It would be hard for any subsequent pope to linger on in office past that age; just as hard as for a pope after Francis to move back into the old papal apartments, or to holiday at Castel Gandolfo.
About two weeks ago, LifeSite News trashed Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi as a "liberal," pro-homosexual, favored-by-Freemasons, menace to the Church.
If anything, as LifeSite News despises the Cardinal, that tells me that Cardinal Zuppi would serve as a holy and great Pope.
The Catholic right-wing would spew venom at, and attack viciously, "Pope" Zuppi.
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LifeSite News, May 24, 2022 A.D:
-- Pope Francis appoints pro-LGBT cardinal praised by top Freemason as president of Italian bishops’ conference
-- Cardinal Zuppi ‘would be a very good pope’ said Masonic Grand Master Gioele Magaldi in 2020.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-appoints-pro-lgbt-cardinal-praised-by-top-freemason-as-president-of-italian-bishops-conference/
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has appointed a pro-LGBT cardinal to be the new president of the Italian Bishops Conference, two years after a Masonic Grand Master praised him as a potential Pope.
Zuppi is widely regarded as a liberal in ecclesiastical circles, being a public proponent of LGBT ideology.
In 2018 Zuppi penned an essay for the Italian translation of Father James Martin’s widely condemned pro-LGBT book, saying that the work was “useful for encouraging dialogue, as well as reciprocal knowledge and understanding, in view of a new pastoral attitude that we must seek together with our L.G.B.T. brothers and sisters.”
Zuppi also praised another pro-LGBT work, written by an employee of the CEI in 2020, which called for a change in the Church’s teaching on homosexuality.
News of his appointment as CEI president was subsequently welcomed by notorious pro-LGBT priest Father James Martin SJ and the pro-LGBT site “gay.it.”
Gay.it wrote how Zuppi has “often made statements in support of the LGBT community, frontally attacking homophobia and misogyny.”
Pax.
Mark Thomas
From Twitter:
Nick Donnelly
@ProtecttheFaith
- (pope) Bergoglio has appointed pro-James Martin Card. Matteo Maria Zuppi President of the Italian Episcopal Conference
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Father McDonald, right-wing Catholic sources have declared that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi is "liberal"...pro-homosexual...pro-Father James Martin...favored by Freemasons...
Do you continue to believe that you could live with Cardinal Zuppi as our Pope?
Do you continue to believe that "Pope" Zuppi would "heal" the Church?
It is clear that various right-wingers could not care less that Cardinal Zuppi is "TLM-friendly." Said forces despise Cardinal Zuppi.
That demonstrates that right-wing forces will attack, and spew venom, at Churchmen..."TLM-friendly" or otherwise.
Speaking generally, it is impossible to placate the Church's radical right-wing.
Said folks have even trashed former Pope Benedict XVI, as well as Summorum Pontificum.
It is mind-boggling to blame the right-wing's ill-will upon Pope Francis.
Nobody...nobody is able to satisfy the right-wing.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Father McDonald, please understand that the following is not a dig at you.
Father McDonald, prior to your post about Cardinal Zuppi...as to how you could "live with" him as Pope...as to the possibility that he could "reignite the inner healing of the Church wounded by Vatican II and its ideological interpretation in rupture with what came before."
Were you aware as to how despised he is among various right-wingers?
Do you believe that he could "heal" the Church? Could you "live with" him as Pope?
Father McDonald, thank you.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Below is another radical right-wing attack against Cardinal Zuppi.
Not surprisingly, New Catholic, at Rorate Caeli, spewed venom at TLM-friendly Cardinal Zuppi.
Roate Caeli/New Catholic said that now-Cardinal Zuppi is:
"a friend of the Traditional Mass."
"He has been mentioned here in Rorate for his visits to Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini, the Personal Parish of the Traditional Mass in Rome (run by the Fraternity of St. Peter)...and his discreet attempts to help the Franciscans of the Immaculate."
Nevertheless, Rorate Caeli denounced Cardinal Zuppi as an:
"unworthy man..he has become one of the greatest promoters of the homosexual lobby in the Church today. This became absolutely clear with his promotion of known heretic James Martin, a deviant Jesuit who promotes the most horrendous lifestyles as acceptable to Catholics."
Again, the right-wing's endless attacks against even TLM-friendly Churchmen has demonstrated that Pope Francis has not been the "problem" in regard to the TLM...in regard to "traditionalists."
There isn't anything that Pope Francis could have done to have satisfied the vicious right-wing.
The right-wing demands that our Churchmen - even TLM-friendly Churchmen - must march in 100 percent, total, complete lockstep with radical right-wing ideology...or be subjected to the right-wing's venom.
Even supposed right-wing, reactionary Popes Benedict XVI, and Venerable Pius II have been trashed by right-wingers.
Right-wingers have trashed Summorum Pontificum...as well have denounced Pope Venerable Pius XII's liturgical reforms (and additional initiatives).
Pope Francis is not the problem in regard to "traditionalists."
"Traditionalists" have been the problem...they are the problem (as well as liberal TLM-haters).
The bottom line is that nobody...nobody...not even TLM-friendly Churchmen... can satisfy "traditionalists."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Re: Zuppi...
Relying on descriptions arising from the media or popular culture -- i.e., "gay friendly" -- does no good. What, precisely, does this mean?
The James Martin connection bears further scrutiny. Father James is playing a very crafty game of undermining Catholic teaching -- and, note well, anthropology -- all while professing utter innocence and fidelity. But if you pay close attention, you will see these protestations are not credible. I note two examples in particular.
First, he has been all in on affirming so-called "transgender identity," which actually isn't so much an offense against Catholic teaching, as it is against objective reality. What strange times we are in that it falls to the Catholic Church to defend essentials of basic science, while the secular world around us prostrates itself to superstition!
Of course, Father Martin will protest that he just wants to soothe and affirm and accompany, and who is against these things? Really, name names or drop it. The issue is not whether we should be gracious to individuals experiencing gender dysphoria. The issue is whether, in pursuit of being "affirming," we must pretend someone is something he or she is not, and, further, punish others who don't join in the pretense.
Second example: Father James has stated explicitly that he wants the Catechism changed, wherein it uses the term "disordered" in regard to same-sex acts and, if memory serves, the desire for the same. He specifically recommended "differently ordered" instead.
Well, Father James, that's pretty clever, but the rest of us are clever, too. And that change isn't trifling; it directly overturns the teaching reflected in the term being replaced, which derives from Tradition, Scripture and Natural Law. Namely: that God has so ordered human beings to be "male and female," and those sexes are ordered toward each other. Period. No quibbles, no "on the other hands," no footnotes.
Now, it is true that "disordered" sounds harsh, and it is frequently inferred that the individuals, with said attractions, are themselves "disordered" (although that's not what the Catechism says). So perhaps there is another way to say the same thing. (I.e., "misdirected"?) But Father James' offering does not say the same thing, and anyone above 6th grade can see that.
Sophia here: Amen and thank you Mr. Merwick.
Since becoming a Cardinal, Zuppi has celebrated solemn vespers in the extraordinary form at the Institute of Christ the King Seminary near Florence (August 2020):
https://www.facebook.com/gricigliano.icrss/photos/a.125932458078959/588676485137885
Fr. Fox,
Thank you for your comments. If we had more priests like you, the Church would be in far better shape
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