FOLKS, THIS IS HUGE! THIS IS A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION 💥! IT'S APOCALYPTIC!
This is a
bombshell according to a legitimate reporter for the NCR! This is a money quote excerpt:
Although the volume is yet to be seen in full, it appears to signify something as yet unexperienced in the two millennia history of the Catholic Church: a retired pope openly weighing in on something currently under consideration by his successor, the reigning pontiff.
One noted theologian reached shortly after the release of the excerpts called Benedict's decision to write on the issue a "serious breach."
Sarah speaks more directly to Francis, openly asking the pope not to allow for married priests.
"I humbly beg Pope Francis to … veto any weakening of the law of priestly celibacy, even limited to one or the other region," writes the cardinal.
Press title for full
NCR wringing of hands:
Retired Pope Benedict XVI has coauthored a new book defending the Catholic Church's practice of a celibate priesthood, in a shocking move that comes as Pope Francis is considering the possibility of allowing older, married men to be ordained as priests in the Amazon region.
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And this is a synopsis of the book from the publisher, Ignatius Press:
The Catholic Church faces a major crisis and the turmoil in priestly ministry is at the heart of it. “The priesthood is going through a dark time,” write Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah. “Wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy, many priests are tempted by the thought of giving up and abandoning everything.”
In this book, Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah give their brother priests and the whole Church a message of hope. They honestly address the spiritual challenges faced by priests today, including struggles of celibacy. They point to deeper conversion to Jesus Christ as the key to faithful and fruitful priestly ministry and church reform.
From the Depths of Our Hearts is an unprecedented work by the Pope Emeritus and a Cardinal serving in the Vatican. As bishops, they write “in a spirit of filial obedience” to Pope Francis, who has said, “I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church … I don’t agree with allowing optional celibacy, no.”
Responding to calls for refashioning the priesthood, including proposals from the Amazonian Synod, two wise, spiritually astute pastors explain the biblical and spiritual role of the priesthood, celibacy, and genuine priestly ministry. Drawing on Vatican II, they present priestly celibacy as more than “a mere precept of ecclesiastical law”. They insist that renewal of the Church is bound to a renewed understanding of priestly vocation as sharing in Jesus’ priestly identity as Bridegroom of the Church.
This is a book whose crucial message is for clergy and laity alike.
POINTS OF INTEREST
- An unprecedented book coauthored by a former Pope
- Looks seriously and unflinchingly at the crisis in the Catholic Church
- A forthright discussion of priestly celibacy and its role in the Catholic Church
- A book for clergy and laity alike concerned about the Catholic Church
7 comments:
I suspect Pope Benedict and Cardinal Sarah are trying to head off what they know is coming.....
We are in uncharted waters having an emeritus Pope and his successor who is trying to undo much of the Magisterium of Pope St. John Paul II and Benedict exacerbating the polarization that Vatican II and two different ways of interpreting it have caused. John Paul and Benedict were able to keep the Church somewhat united and peaceful. But Pope Francis' papacy and negativity towards those who should count on has caused an unprecedented polarization within the curia, the bishops, the priests and yes the laity. And this in the environment of instant communication in the new epoch of social media.
What commentators see and rightly so is the great potential of a schism in the formal sense with the Benedict faction and Francis faction. Can you imagine the schism there would be if Benedict revealed his abdication to be invalid due to pressure from the left?
I don't think Benedict should have resigned. If he hadn't resigned, he'd be dead by now. Imagine a liberal emeritus pope do what Benedict is doing but to a conservative successor trying to restore disciple and tradition/Tradition to the Church.
Ould that have been his ploy? To give them a stage to display their ideas and allow reality and solid thinking and criticism to deflate them?
Is the real “ bombshell” the fact that two bishops are defending the tradition of the Catholic Church ??
The Amazon Synod struck me as a bunch of German bishops jealous of the sex lives of the gay bishops attempting to legitimize their mistresses.
Isn’t it possible that Pope Benedict and Cardinal Sarah are providing covering support for Pope Francis’s ultimate decision denying the general possibility or perhaps the possibility even with regard to the Amazon region?
A2, I hope so. That gives me some hope.
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