George Weigel has an absolutely brilliant commentary on Pope Leo XIV, the upcoming Consistory and that godawful report of Synod Study Group #9 as it compares to St. John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor!
Weigel writes explicitly what people of orthodoxy and common sense knew and know. Under the Pope Francis’ pontificate there were those put in place by the pope who had axes to grind against both JPII and BXIV! Weigel rightfully describes it as “a continutation of the war against St. Pope John Paul II’s 1993 encylical, Veritatis Splendor.”
You can press the red title for the complete Weigel commentary, but below it, I highlight in penitential violet the important evaluation that Weigel makes.
But, that godawful Synod Study Group, God willing, will provoke the orthodox cardinals at the upcoming consistory to bitterly complain to Pope Leo XIV so that he might erased it from the synod as a matter of justice to St. JPII and His Holiness’ great encyclical, Veritatis Splendor!
Consequential Consistorial Connections
MONEY-BYTE:
Recently, an international controversy broke out over the report of Synod Study Group #9, which committed an act of calumny against Courage International, the American-founded ministry to those with same-sex attraction who wish to live chastely as the Catholic Church understands chastity. That breach of ecclesial solidarity was made possible in part by what the Synod General Secretary has described as the Study Group’s “valuable work”–a characterization of the report’s theology that deserves serious scrutiny, leading to serious challenge, even repudiation, at the upcoming consistory.
Shortly after the report of Synod Study Group #9 was released, a knowledgeable friend, fully aware of some of the good things that happened at the Synods of 2023 and 2024, nonetheless wrote me that the biblical text that kept coming back to me as he read Study Group #9’s report was, “The sheep will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers” (John 10.5). The voice in that report, he continued, “is simply not recognizably Christian. The content is bad, to be sure, but even prior to that, there is something alien about the way [the report] speak[s] of the faith.”
And the reason for that, I suggest, is that Synod Study Group #9’s report is a continuation of the war against Pope St. John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical, Veritatis Splendor. That war has been waged by aggressive parties within the Catholic theologians’ guild and certain bishops’ conferences (notably Germany and Belgium) since the encyclical was issued. The war intensified during the previous pontificate, and the assault on Veritatis Splendor has now been given what some will take as quasi-official sanction, given that Study Group #9’s report was issued by the General Secretariat of the Synod (the official stationery of which does not, it might be noted, refer to a Synod of Bishops.)
3 comments:
George Weigel has claimed that "Synod Study Group #9’s report is a continuation of the war against Pope St. John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical, Veritatis Splendor."
"That war has been waged by aggressive parties within the Catholic theologians’ guild and certain bishops’ conferences (notably Germany and Belgium) since the encyclical was issued.
"The war intensified during the previous pontificate, and the assault on Veritatis Splendor has now been given what some will take as quasi-official sanction, given that Study Group #9’s report was issued by the General Secretariat of the Synod (the official stationery of which does not, it might be noted, refer to a Synod of Bishops.)
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Did Pope Saint John Paul II believe that from 1993 A.D. to the end of his Pontificate, that various bishops and theologians had waged war against Veritatis Splendor?
If "yes," then in what fashion, if any, had Pope Saint
Father McDonald,
Rorate has a complimentary article on Pope Leo's recent visit to Spain.
Pope Leo XIV's apostolic journey to Spain has been a self-evident success. It drew large crowds of over a million people in a country that appeared to be secularizing, galvanized the young, and avoided any scandals. More important, however, was that he succeeded in preventing the visit from being hijacked by anti-Catholic progressives.
Under Francis, papal trips became increasingly politicized and seemed to be aimed at pushing progressive politics. They could also seem tone-deaf. The Spanish Socialist prime minister Sánchez seemed to be hoping — or even expecting — that Pope Leo's visit to Spain would be similar to Francis's visit to the USA in 2016. If he did, he was proven wrong.
If "yes," then in what fashion, if any, had Pope Saint John Paul II addressed bishops and theologians who had waged war against Veritatis Splendor?
Had Pope Saint John Paul II appointed, for example, bishops who had waged war against Veritatis Splendor? I would imagine that such had been the case unless said bishops had been appointed prior to the 1978 A.D. start of his Pontificate.
Anyway, in 2005 A.D., Pope Benedict XVI inherited bishops and theologians who, if George Weigel is correct, had long waged war against Veritatis Splendor.
Had Pope Benedict XVI attempted to correct/discipline said bishops and theologians? If "yes," then he had failed as bishops and theologians who had waged war against Veritatis Splendor had not been slowed.
Pope Francis then inherited the "war" in question that Pope Benedict XVI had been unable to end (that is, if Pope Benedict XVI had even addressed said war).
Pope Leo XIV has inherited the war that Pope Francis had been unable to end (that is, if Pope Francis had even addressed said war).
Therefore, as Father McDonald has noted, we await Pope Leo XIV's response, if any, to the report authored by Synod Study Group #9.
I would imagine that the SSPX will call attention to the manner, if any, that Pope Leo XIV moves against the supposed "war" that bishops and theologians have waged openly against Veritatis Splendor.
The supposed warmongers in question have not feared Pope Leo XIV in the least, should we accept George Weigel's claims in question.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
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