Let Us Try to Make Sense of What is Going on So Far in the Church - By John Huggins
(1) Pope Francis has imposed on the universal Church a document (Amoris Laetitia) that seems to lend itself to morally erroneous interpretations of an already magisterially defined immutable moral law.
(2) Pope Francis has continually and emphatically shown favor and encouragement to prelates who interpret this document in a way that clearly contravenes the divine moral law.
(3) Pope Francis has refused the many requests and corrections from various members of the Church to address the problematic interpretations of his document.
(4) Pope Francis has seemingly punished, removed, rebuked, any prelates or clerics who have refused to assent to the dissenting interpretation of his document.
(5) Pope Francis has the authority as Supreme Pontiff to bind the Church with his document but will not come out and do so. Rather, he implies that it is binding, but will not definitively utilize his Petrine powers to do so.
(6) Pope Francis has entered the problematic interpretation in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis in an effort to give the problematic interpretation a more definitive quality.
(7) Pope Francis has bent over backwards to force this document on the Church using every possible strategy he can, short of using his authentic Papal authority to bind.
(8) Pope Francis is accused of heresy for his behavior but most canon lawyers do not construe moral issues to be heretical per se.
(9) The Catholic Church groans under the weight of the strain and most Catholics in the know, whether faithful or unfaithful, look forward to an end to this ongoing drama.
(10) Many Catholics remain disoriented and bewildered that God has allowed this to get this far. Some people wonder if Pope Francis is truly the Pope in light of all of this chaos, and some people wonder if we are not at the end of the world.
I have no answers for you. The Church seems to be under a diabolical spell.
The author is a Catholic layman residing in Steubenville, Ohio.
(2) Pope Francis has continually and emphatically shown favor and encouragement to prelates who interpret this document in a way that clearly contravenes the divine moral law.
(3) Pope Francis has refused the many requests and corrections from various members of the Church to address the problematic interpretations of his document.
(4) Pope Francis has seemingly punished, removed, rebuked, any prelates or clerics who have refused to assent to the dissenting interpretation of his document.
(5) Pope Francis has the authority as Supreme Pontiff to bind the Church with his document but will not come out and do so. Rather, he implies that it is binding, but will not definitively utilize his Petrine powers to do so.
(6) Pope Francis has entered the problematic interpretation in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis in an effort to give the problematic interpretation a more definitive quality.
(7) Pope Francis has bent over backwards to force this document on the Church using every possible strategy he can, short of using his authentic Papal authority to bind.
(8) Pope Francis is accused of heresy for his behavior but most canon lawyers do not construe moral issues to be heretical per se.
(9) The Catholic Church groans under the weight of the strain and most Catholics in the know, whether faithful or unfaithful, look forward to an end to this ongoing drama.
(10) Many Catholics remain disoriented and bewildered that God has allowed this to get this far. Some people wonder if Pope Francis is truly the Pope in light of all of this chaos, and some people wonder if we are not at the end of the world.
I have no answers for you. The Church seems to be under a diabolical spell.
The author is a Catholic layman residing in Steubenville, Ohio.