“First step in solving any problem, is recognizing there is one.”
Part II
—SELF INJURY—
The Roman Catholic Church is at war without and suffering self-injury within.
Below are some of the most pertinent issues which come to mind. We must acknowledge what is happening and seek the help of Our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ to heal these wounds.
The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church on Earth. He must direct the affairs of this multi-faceted organization, so he gets dumped with every serious problem eventually—a daunting proposition!
Pope Francis has a unique style. He often talks ‘off script’ but also his Apostolic Exhortations can present a novel approach to issues too.
As expected of a Pope, Pope Francis’ advice is based in kindness, inclusiveness, charity, peace, and a deep caring for humanity. He is less rigid about ‘rules’…but knows who is in charge!
Unless talking ex cathedra [a.k.a. with infallibility] any Pope can err—we are all human and can mis-speak at times. Saint Newman has good advice for us!
SEXUAL ABUSE SCANDAL
The litany of abuse cases has harmed far too many children and families while destroying the laity’s trust in the clergy. This is a calamity.
There are secondary problems: variable responses to allegations—including from Pope Francis; the lack of a final resolution for priests who have been dubbed as being “Credibly Accused”; and the over-reaction of new anti-abuse programs especially aimed at the laity, in a vain attempt to stop further abuse. (NB: There is no test which can identify a pervert.)
Some cases need specific comment:
Theodore Edgar McCarrick
McCarrick—a former cardinal—was laicized because he was found guilty of sexual crimes against adults and minors. He is the most senior church official in modern times to be laicized, having served as Archbishop of Washington, 2001-2006.
An investigation by the Secretariat of State in Rome noted that Pope John Paul II was aware of the allegations against McCarrick but did not believe them; in 2005 Benedict XVI moved to replace McCarrick because of new allegations and he was removed from ministry by Pope Francis, June 2018. (Wiki)
It is understandable that a Pope would be skeptical about accusations of sexual abuse against a Cardinal. In hindsight it looks dreadful that three Popes were involved in the McCarrick fiasco.
Marco Rupnik
Rupnik spans three categories in this article—Sexual Abuse Scandal, Non-Devotional Art and Divisive Movements. His mosaics adorn many important religious sites, including Lourdes and the tomb of St. Padre Pio. His art is still being put on new materials coming from the Vatican…
Pope Francis relieved Rupnik’s latae sententiae excommunication—an automatic excommunication for hearing the confession of a woman with whom he had consensual sex. Rupnik has yet to come to ecclesiastical trial for the allegation of raping nuns and other crimes. Thankfully, Pope Francis over-ruled the statute of limitations on his case—eventually.
Please read the article ‘WWJD about Rupnik’ below which has links for two articles by Hilary White on Rupnik mosaics in artistic & historical terms.
Rupnik is poison to the Church.
Click image to link to the CA article.
THE TRIDENTINE MASS
The Catholic Church is a communion of 24 distinct sui juris (self-governing) Churches in communion with one another and all under the primacy of the Pope. Each church comes under one of the seven Rites and the Roman Catholic Church follows the Latin Rite!
Pope Francis stomped on the provision of the Tridentine Mass [a.k.a the Traditional Latin Mass: TLM] to quell a schismatic group called Sedevacantists. (See Viganò below.) In doing so, he alienated many devout ‘trad’ Catholics who are committed to their faith, the Church and the Papacy.
Wits on Social Media are asking why Pope Francis restricted the TLM when he now says “Diversity in religious identities is 'a gift from God!’ ” They have a point.
DIVISIVE MOVEMENTS
Just because someone supports a divisive issue, does not mean all their influence is a bad thing. Some are pushing us to contemplate issues which we may not have considered before.
Sedevacantism
Carlo Maria Viganò is an excommunicated former Archbishop and Papal Nuncio to the US! He was excommunicated for denying the legitimacy of Pope Francis, Vatican II and the Novus Ordo: in other words, a Sedevacantist.
One can see how Viganò came to such conclusions when his warnings about McCarrick were ignored by the Vatican as far back as 2006—a full 12 years. Viganò was a hard liner on many issues and fought against the financial corruption in the Vatican bank. (Wiki)
Viganò may be the reason why Pope Francis’ hates Sedevacantists so much!
The Pride Movement
Fr. James Martin is correct in guiding us to welcome anyone who wishes to worship in the House of the Lord. Welcoming another in prayer does not give approval for someones ‘lifestyle’…the same way someone inviting me to prayer does not endorse my sin. (er…sins!)
That said, Fr. Martin and the Pride Movement can push too far. Look at the image of him at a lectern with a Marian image adorning a modified Pride Flag. This flag appears to include the colours of the 1979 Pride Flag with the Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride Flag. The latter flag includes the colours of the Transgender Pride Flag and the (unofficial) 2018 paedophile pride flag.
This appears to give support for paedophilia and underage transgenderism—from the pulpit—in a Church devastated by the sexual abuse scandal. A BIG BIG NOPE!
Fr. Martin has lumped all “LGBTQ” issues all together and does not appear to separate underage Trans issues which is leads to the sterilization and mutilation of children. Fr. Martin also needs to indicate how the Church can reconcile its teachings with an acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle.
POORLY EXPLAINED THEOLOGICAL CHANGES
Sometimes, having less clarity in the exact ‘letter of the law’ allows for personal conscience development, especially when receiving appropriate spiritual guidance. That said, pronounced uncertainty in a change can harm people when they are conflicted about that which seems to contradict long-held Theology and/or Canon Law.
Blessing couples in irregular situations
A major example of this is the “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.”
Salvation for all Faiths
The Church holds that salvation comes through Jesus Christ.
Some reacted badly to the Holy Father’s recent generic comments about God and salvation.
We should remember that the Holy Father was speaking from his heart to a group of inter-denominational children.
The new “sins”
The Synod Office announced that on October 1# there will be a Penitential Service in St. Peter’s to atone for some new sins: “against peace; against creation, indigenous populations and migrants; sin of abuse; sin against women family, youth; sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled; sin against poverty and sin against Synodality.
“Sin against peace” : is easily understood.
“Sin against creation”: hints to the Pope’s support for Globalism in combating Climate Change. (The problem is that we are the carbon which Globalists want to reduce most.)
Pope Francis uses his position to push unproven and destructive Climate Change initiatives— COP28—when it is far from “settled science.” (Science does not occur by consensus…Galileo??) In particular I object to the lack of hope the Holy Father presents in Laudato Si, and to a lesser degree, in Laudate Deum.
“Sins against indigenous populations”: These do occur, but many serious offences happened in the past. For example, the Holy Father came to Alberta, Canada, to apologize to First Nations for the Catholic Church’s involvement in the Residential School Scandal.
“Sin against migrants”: a pet issue for Pope Francis. He flip-flops from the reasonable “ “grave sin” of repelling migrants“when done with awareness and responsibility” putting them in jeopardy or leading to their death…” to pushing total acceptance & support of every illegal/unvetted migrant, some of whom are coming for the destruction of Western Civilization & Christianity.
“Sin of abuse”: sounds reasonable, if rather vague.
Clarification is needed, especially when ‘hurty words’ are taken as violence and abuse.
“Sin against women, family, youth”: So…there are no sins against men? None??
“Sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled”: he must be referring to the clergy!
“Sin against poverty”: Again, this sounds very reasonable, but lacks specificity. (What of the wealth in the Vatican?) Capitalism is far from perfect, but it is the system which has led much of the world OUT of poverty.
“Sin against Synodality”: This is a tricky one, especially after Pope Francis forbade the German Synodal Way in 2023! The Germans were proposing “a consultative and decision-making body” when clearly the power in the church is held by the parish priest at the parish level; by the bishop in the diocese and by the Holy Father in the church.
Synodality should not be a way to ‘brow beat’ people into submission or a con-job about meaningless ‘consultation.’
IDOL IN THE VATICAN
The Celtic Cross
The Church has evangelized pagans and in the process, assimilated their symbols and celebrations. The Celtic Cross may be a possible example!
(“It has often been claimed that Patrick combined the symbol of Christianity with the sun cross to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross.”)
That said, there is a PR problem when the Pope appears to participate in a pagan ceremony at the Vatican. (While hosting Amazonians in the Vatican in 2020.) We must allow the Pope to show respect for other cultures.
At the time, we received inconsistent explanations: one that the Pachamama is a Marian representation and another that it “is an image of Mother Earth.” Later, the Vatican admitted the Pachamama was the Amazonian idol. (as in “a goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes.” Wiki) Understandably, some Catholics object to the presence of any idol in the Vatican.
This is an example of how shabby PR can be injurious to the Church—especially in light of restrictions on the TLM.
NON-DEVOTIONAL ART
The Church has always been a patron of the Arts, and certain depictions have caused a ruckus over the centuries! For example, Pope Paul IV mandated the use of fig leaves to conceal the genitalia of statues and paintings in his papal bull from 1557!
(Equality between the sexes during the middle ages?!)
Our Lady Giving Birth
This sculpture is beyond repulsive, but according to the artist Esther Strauß (Strauss) I am the intolerant, backward and and un-enlightened one!
How did such a piece come to be displayed in a Catholic Cathedral? It would surprise me if Strauss is a practicing Catholic. (The sculpture has since been vandalized.)
Our Lady Giving Birth, St. Mary's Cathedral, Lintz, Austria.
Church design after Vatican II
Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal
In no way am I saying that all churches must be ornate…a simple church can be beautiful and lift our souls in prayer & adoration.
But…these concrete and brick monstrosities? Too many awful buildings popped up after Vatican II.
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Newcastle.
Wotrube Kirche, Vienna 1976
Interior Wotrube Kirche, Vienna
BCE & CE versus BC & AD
Again, I am ‘part of the problem’ because of my attitude to the Vatican’s use of the secular abbreviations BCE & CE instead of the traditional BC & AD. (Before Common Era/Common Era vs. Before Christ/Anno Domini.)
The Vatican explained that “…this method aligns more closely with contemporary culture, reflecting a pastoral sensitivity to the pluralistic context in which the Church operates.”
Sorry. This just looks like the Church is denying Christ.
CONCLUSION: AN ORTHOPEDIC ANALOGY!
When our knee grinds, locks and gives way we may have “Internal Derangement.”
The Internal Derangement started way before Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio ever became Pope Francis, though many blame him for every ill affecting the church. Perhaps Pope Francis is the ‘physiotherapist’ who needs to manipulate the joint first? That may hurt!
Or maybe he is the ‘orthopedic surgeon’ who must replace the joint..? So, admission to hospital for surgery with the associated pain, risk of complications, healing & rehabilitation, which will take time. (Or possibly, that task is for the next Pope.)
This is a dangerous time for the church. It could also be a time of great regeneration.
Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 / Twitter @ kevinhay77