There's an epic battle at the Vatican btw the Pope & The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
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All this will meet with wide approval far beyond the Catholic church. His undifferentiated rejection of abortion and women's ordination will, however, probably provoke criticism. This is where the dogmatic limits of this pope become apparent. Or is he perhaps under pressure from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and its Prefect, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller?
In a long guest contribution in Osservatore Romano (Oct. 23), Müller demonstrated his ultra-conservative stance by corroborating the exclusion of remarried divorcees from the sacraments who, unless they live together as brother and sister (!), are ostensibly in a state of mortal sin on account of the sexual character of their relationship.
As Bishop of Regensburg, Müller, as a clerical hard-liner who provoked numerous conflicts with parish priests and theologians, lay bodies and the Central Committee of German Catholics, was as controversial and unpopular as his brother bishop at Limburg. That Müller, as a loyal supporter and publisher of his collected works, was nevertheless appointed CDF prefect by Papa Ratzinger, surprised people less than the fact that Francis confirmed him in office quite so soon.
And worried observers are already asking whether Pope Emeritus Ratzinger is in fact operating as a kind of "shadow Pope" behind the scenes through Müller and Georg Gänswein, [Benedict's] secretary and Prefect of the Papal Household, whom he also promoted to archbishop. One remembers how in 1993 Ratzinger as cardinal whistled back the then-bishops of Freiburg (Oskar Saier), Rottenburg-Stuttgart (Walter Kasper) and Mainz (Karl Lehmann) when they suggested a pragmatic solution for the problem of remarried divorcees. It is revealing that the present debate 20 years later was again triggered by the Archbishop of Freiburg, namely Robert Zollitsch, the president of the German bishops' conference. It was Zollitsch who ventured a fresh attempt to rethink pastoral practice as far as remarried divorcees are concerned. And Francis?
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http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/church-reform-all-levels
The Pope still holds positions that are regressive. Am I satisfied with this? No. Justice comes too late too many times.
However, he has seriously left the reservation and the hierarchy at the Vatican is apoplectic. He is trying to shift the focus from social issues such as abortion to helping the poor. This is a radical change and the conservative priests and others have no idea how to respond.
Moving the Catholic Church as a whole is like turning the Titanic. We all want it to turn on a dime and that's not going to happen. As change goes for the Catholic Church, the Pope is moving at light speed compared to the speed at which shifts usually occur.
As the article states, he has a battle on his hands behind the scenes. As battles go, this one is probably off the charts. However, when the Pope speaks millions of people hear him. The Vatican can issue corrections all they want. Their influence on the majority of the faithful is small compared to that of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis is one of my 50/50 people. This is temporary for now.These are individuals who have negative records as well as positive ones. They cannot be viewed through a zero sum lens. All of it has to be considered in evaluating them.
LBJ is another of my 50/50 people. His record on civil rights and other domestic issues is tremendous. However, his moves regarding Vietnam create a huge negative history of him.
I consider Bobby Knight to be a 50/50 individual. On the positive side, his players graduated and he did not have problems with the NCAA. Google Landon Turner and find out what Knight did for him. On the other hand, his behavior towards players and in other instances was execrable.
Do I trust Pope Francis? No. I don't think he should be given a pass and not scrutinized. Any group with power needs to be closely watched.
As it is, watching the Pope is fascinating. I expect him to release a mix tape at some point.
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Anyone who scrutinizes this pope is obviously a republican.
Get with the program.
