Pope Francis is clearly the Pope of rupture and polarization compared to Pope Benedict who so wanted inner healing in the Church so polarized by Vatican II.
Read Sandro Magister's report on the extremely peculiar and polarizing events concerning inter-Communion in Germany by pressing here.
If the liberals win, it seems to me that the Catholic Church will be in essence unified as a part of liberal and dying Protestantism. It all seems diabolical to me and will lead to another Great Schism.
If the conservatives win, another pope, one like Pope Benedict, may well reestablish the true Catholic identity of the Church.
Here is one excerpt from Magister's article that describes what is at stake:
"In Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s judgment, the openness to intercommunion desired by the majority of the German bishops would result in “an ecclesiological nihilism that opens an abyss that would ultimately swallow up the Church.”
...."Is it at all possible for a single national episcopal conference, in one particular linguistic region, to make an isolated decision concerning such a question about the faith and practice of the whole Church, without reference and integration into the universal Church?"
What is at stake here, as can be noted, is the actual scope of that process of differentiation which has been set in motion by Pope Francis among the national episcopal conferences, “as subjects of specific attributions, including genuine doctrinal authority” (Evangelii Gaudium 32).
As for the question of communion for Protestant spouses, it is well known that Francis would like to relax the rules. And this is given as certain by another German cardinal, Walter Kasper, who is also the pope’s theologian of reference.
What seems to emerge at the foundation of this conflict is precisely that process of “deconfessionalization” of the Catholic Church - in imitation of what has already happened in the Protestant camp..."
4 comments:
I think we are just going to muddle along like we are. Francis isn't going to change anything he's doing, and I expect the new Pope to be, if not polarizing like Francis, probably a middle-of-the-road go along to get along PC type. We live in an age where mediocrity and compromise are accepted as the norm and "quality" is judged based upon this mentality.
Gene,
Sad, but probably true. You can see that attitude from some who post here.
Gene is right. We aren't expecting a good next pope , just more of the same. The next Pope's job will be to manage the church's decline, and will be rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. The traditional parishes will continue to grow and the traditional seminaries will continue their long waiting lists. It will take 100-200 years to correct the insanity that has been the norm since Vatican II. Look at France, where already, fully 1/4th of all masses in the entire country are already traditional. A good sign indeed.
A third possibility would be the apostasy of a generation of Catholic bishops--as in the whole Church in the Arian heresy, as in England (with the exception of a single bishop) in the Reformation. Is that what's getting closer.
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