Well, Cardinal Fernandez who loves attention and evidently loves pontificating on sexual matters in terms of techniques, not morals, may now be up to his neck in the ecstasy of attention-getting from a book he wrote in 1997.
You can read about it HERE.
That Cardinal Fernandez has been one of the closest advisors to Pope Francis and also his ghost writer for certain documents, Amoris Laetitia, in particular, helps us to understand why Pope Francis has been lenient toward sex abusers who are close to him.
Think Bishop Barros, Mr. McCarrick, Archbishop Zanchetta, Fr. Rupnik and others that seem to have been treated with gentle enablement.
The theology, or better yet, ideology that the young Fr. Fernandez articulates in his book about sexual matters in and outside of marriage is basically what the 1970’s theologians were trying to do, make sexual sin of whatever stripe into a virtue and eliminate puritanical and Jansenistic guilt.
I think a healthy view of sexuality is important but never divorced from the sexual morality of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We should not be prudes, puritanical and guilt ridden about every sexual thought or inclination.
But we can avoid being prudish about sexual sins by understanding what is necessary for a sin to be classified as a mortal sin and what makes serious sin a venial sin if the three things necessary for serious matter to rise to the level of mortal sin are not present. For a sin to be mortal, it must entail serious matter, knowledge that it is seriously wrong and full consent of the will which usually includes forethought and planning.
If any of these three are missing when committing the act, it remains a venial sin even though it is seriously wrong or sinful.
Bishops in the 1970’s and maybe before, informed by the kind of ideology that Fernandez taught as a young priest in the book cited in the link above, thought what these priests were doing was no big deal, forgive the priest, get him counseling, but him into therapy, give him anti compulsion drugs, and put him back into circulation. If he repeats his abusive sins, start the cycle over and over and over again.
Could you imagine a bishop of the Catholic Church teaching that Scrooge “in his objective immoral behavior against social justice and selfishness, could do things that are objectively sinful, without being guilty…?”
Given the moral chaos that has engulfed the Church for the past 11 years, maybe Fernandez head needs to roll, but that might be too little, too late.
But it does appear that the God of surprises, the Holy Spirit is bringing things to light which is necessary for the upcoming conclave of cardinals who will elect the next pope to know about those individuals who have informed the current pope’s attitudes and ideologies.
As a sign that further scandal associated with Cardinal Fernandez is the new bombshell, it isn’t just conservative sites reporting it, but even Crux:
8 comments:
Cardinal Sarah: Fiducia Supplicans is heresy.
Christmas message of Cardinal Sarah 1-8-24: "I must thank the Episcopal Conferences that have already done this work of truth, especially those of Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, etc., whose decisions I share and make my own firm opposition to the Declaration 'Fiducia supplicans.' Other national or regional Episcopal Conferences and individual bishops should be encouraged to do the same. In doing so, we are not opposing Pope Francis, but we are firmly and radically opposing a heresy that seriously undermines the Church, the Body of Christ, because it is contrary to the Catholic faith and Tradition.
God bless Cardinal Sarah to put a nice name and civil discussion on this BS. The Pope’s friends are making him look foolish.
Pope Frankie had to run through several heads of the CDF/DDF until he found one craven enough to do his bidding. "Prince of the Church" (yeah, right).Blessed Mary, free us from these perverts in pointy hats.
I think it's essential to point out, as our friend Mark would so helpfully explain, were he here:
> Nothing whatsoever could possibly be wrong if Pope Francis has not explained it, or pointed it out, or reacted to it. Since Pope Francis chose this prefect, and endorsed his instruction regarding blessings of something-or-another, then it's all entirely good and right.
> Nothing that ever actually goes wrong can possibly be attributed to Pope Francis in any way, because...reasons. Not to concede anything has -- or even can go wrong, but -- if somehow it did, it must be someone else's fault! Probably those pesky trads, who ruin everything.
> Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.
It is worth noting that different societies have different views of modesty and decency. I want to give Cardinal Fernandez the benefit of the doubt having experienced various cultures in the world and how they view very intimate subjects. But discernment should temper our sophistication as Catholics. As a young airman I was assigned to a Marine base and became friends with the Navy Chaplain and several of my teammates and I would assist at Mass. The team had gone on a long assignment and the chaplain had accompanied us. My wife had written us that she and the other wives had planned a welcome back scuba diving excursion. Naturally, I invited the entire team, to include the chaplain. Also. my wife was a swimsuit model for a large agency and her main client had been a well known brand of sunscreen. So naturally she knew how to find the latest beachwear from Europe, the Mediterranean, and Caribbean. She had outfitted each of the spouses with something that suited and flattered their body types very well. VERY well. When I showed up to the house with the chaplain in tow the ladies were all getting ‘dressed’ for the trip that afternoon. I was very embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. Fr. R. Took everything in stride and we all went scuba diving. Later, at the cookout, he told me about how happy he was to see our group enjoying life and how he had to council some other couples who had sordid affairs while separated and the marriages had many problems. It took me a while to understand the subtlety of that story and how it was aimed at us. My wife and I moved to another assignment and ran into him again. He counseled us, somewhat seriously, on what to name our soon to be born first child. So never once did he feel compelled to explain any sensual maneuver or technique although the opportunity had presented itself. He was more like an uncle who had good life experience, personally and through counseling and confession that had a much more profound effect on my wife and me. So while we don’t need to be prudes about intimacy we should be able to set clear limits for ourselves when discussing it.
El Tucho will be the next Pope of the Concillar Church.
If that happens, I will either eat or burn my beretta and livestream it and then go practice his books.
FrAJM, that mental image is disturbing. If we’re going to break with tradition, when you begin your McCarrack transformation, we will form an intervention group and pay you a visit. 😂
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