Theological Censures Against Amoris Laetitia Revealed

OnePeter5 ^ | 6/27/16 | Steve Skojec

[marshmallow]

"The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, issued by Pope Francis on March 19th 2016 and addressed to bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, Christian married couples, and all the lay faithful, has caused grief and confusion to many Catholics on account of its apparent disagreement with a number of teachings of the Catholic Church on faith and morals. This situation poses a grave danger to souls.”

So begins the 13-page document sent by an international group of Catholic theologians, pastors, historians, and scholars “to every one of the Cardinals and Patriarchs, of whom there are 218 living at present.”

Though the document was intended to be viewed only by its ecclesiastical recipients and not the general public, it has now been published in full on the website of The Australian by Tess Livingstone, who is also the biographer of Cardinal George Pell. (There is no indication in the story as to the source of the leaked document, but the professional connection between Livingstone and a prominent member of the curia is worth noting in this regard.)

Dr. Joseph Shaw, one of the signatories and the group’s spokesman, previously revealed to Claire Chretien of LifeSiteNews the reasoning behind the originally-intended secrecy of the content of the appeal and its signatories, as well as the public revelation of the effort’s existence:

The appeal and cover letter are directed to the cardinals for action in the first place, and we have taken the view that the Sacred College should be allowed to consider the substance of the document and the action to be taken in response to it before its contents are made public,” he said. “The censures are a detailed and technical theological document whose contents are not readily accessible to a non-specialist audience, and are easily misrepresented or misunderstood. Making the.....

[opus1]

It’s not a “leak” if Pell (or any cardinal for that matter) chose to share the letter; the recipients of a letter are not bound to secrecy merely because that is the wish of the sender.

[jobim]

I just read it. They detail 11 instances of heresy, and 8 instances of lesser guilt, although all 19 cases are designated by the 45 theologians as a danger to the faith.

[opus1]

Do these 45 also like bread and butter, or do they prefer toast and jam?

That would be more interesting to the “sacred college,” and 99% of Catholics, than their opinions on theology.

[piusv]

The following analysis does not deny or question the personal faith of Pope Francis. It is not justifiable or legitimate to deny the faith of any author on the basis of a single text, and this is especially true in the case of the Supreme Pontiff.

Too bad it's not the only text and not the only circumstance. I guess they found nothing wrong with Evangelii Gaudium, for example.

I guess that shouldn't surprise me given it read much like Vatican II and they have no issues with that.