Sunday, December 03, 2017

Pp. Francis Escalates the Church's Civil War

We live in interesting times.  So interesting that the question "Who's on first?" is germane.

This week, the Vatican's organ for promulgating the Official Acts of the Apostolic See, Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS), has published its October 2016 issue, containing Pope Francis' infamous Letter to the Buenos Aires Bishops. AAS not only published this letter, declaring that there are "no other interpretations" ("No hay otras interpretaciones") of Amoris Laetitia other than those of the Buenos Aires bishops, but it also published the full Buenos Aires guidelines themselves, which permit Holy Communion in some cases for couples in a state of permanent and public adultery who are not committed to living in complete continence. ...

Ehhrrmmm.  Here's the specific passage from the letter:

6) In other, more complex circumstances, and when it is not possible to obtain a declaration of nullity, the aforementioned option [living in continence] may not, in fact, be feasible. Nonetheless, it is equally possible to undertake a journey of discernment. If one arrives at the recognition that, in a particular case, there are limitations that diminish responsibility and culpability (cf. 301-302), particularly when a person judges that he would fall into a subsequent fault by damaging the children of the new union, Amoris Laetitia opens up the possibility of access to the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist (cf. footnotes 336 and 351). These in turn dispose the person to continue maturing and growing with the aid of grace. ...

"Diminishing responsibility and culpability...."--such as, how, exactly?  Alcoholic haze?  Navigation error into the wrong bedroom?  Too many turns at Spin the Bottle or Strip Poker?  If this weren't se damn serious, it could be funny.

And then we get to "damaging the children."  WAT??  It's impossible to imagine how remaining continent will 'damage chilluns.'  Yes, I know, the case has been offered whereby a wife, abandoned by Hubby #1, marries (adulterously) Hubby #2 without whose support wife and children might have to live in the streets, (etc., etc.)  So wife submits herself to #2's demands.  She apparently has no family, no friends, no social-service agencies, NO ONE from whom she can beg or borrow a living, except this Hubby #2My, my.

OK.  Ask yourself how many times you've seen exactly those circumstances......we'll wait.

Back?  OK, then, how many times?

Uh-huh.  Well.

You see (and smell) the camel's nose, my friends.  The times, they are a-....ah....interesting. 

And it gets better!  The "Who's on first?" thing apparently reaches right into the heart of the Vatican.

...Marco Tosatti says that even some who have been ideological supporters of the pope are allegedly losing patience with his brashness:

...And further, if what we have learned from two different sources is true, this annoyance extends to the Vatican. A cardinal of great renown, a former diplomat, who has served an impressive career at the head of Congregations and in high offices in the Secretariat of State, is said to have reproved the Pope for his actions [as Pope], saying to him essentially, “We elected you to make reforms, not to smash everything.” News of this conversation — if it can be called a conversation — has spread through the Vatican, because it took place at a high decibel level, which carried through the fragile barrier of the doors and walls. The cardinal in question was one of those who supported the candidacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the conclave of 2013....--quoted at onepeterfive

Yah, well, you voted for him, turkey.  "Reform" means different things in Peron-speak, I guess. 

Apparently, this is not the first time HH has been batted about by the gang who (apparently) cannot shoot straight, as OnePeterFive makes clear.  Read the link; it's worthwhile.

Anyhoo....we live in interesting times.

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