Famed Papal ‘Mouthpiece’ Compares 4 Cardinals to ‘Witless Worm’ in Stream of Tweets

LifeSite News ^ | November 18, 2016 | Pete Baklinski

[BlessedBeGod]

ROME, November 18, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) -- A Jesuit priest often described as Pope Francis' "mouthpiece" has deleted a tweet in which he appeared to compare cardinals of the Church to the character Wormtongue from the Lord of the Rings.

Fr. Antonio Spadaro's tweet came amidst a stream of posts criticizing four cardinals for raising concerns about the Pope’s confusion-plagued exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

Spadaro began criticizing those who “don't like what they hear” in a series of more than a dozen tweets beginning Monday Nov. 14, the same day the cardinals’ went public with their letter asking Francis to answer five "yes or no" questions (Dubia) to clarify what they called “uncertainty, confusion, and disorientation” in the Exhortation.

#AmorisLaetitia: The Pope has "clarified". Those who don't like what they hear pretend not to hear it! Just read... https://t.co/Dm6wqIvb53 — Antonio Spadaro (@antoniospadaro) November 15, 2016

The following day, Spadaro ramped up his criticism, calling the Pope’s exhortation an “act of the Magisterium,” a point largely contested by Cardinal Burke, one of the signers of the “Dubia.” Spadaro stated that those who find the exhortation problematic should stop asking the “same question until you get the answer *you* want.”

#AmorisLaetitia is an act of the Magisterium (card. Schönborn) so don't keep asking the same question until you get the answer *you* want... pic.twitter.com/A9NGhELryE — Antonio Spadaro (@antoniospadaro) November 15, 2016

Only hours later that same day Spadaro tweeted a screenshot from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy where the hero Gandalf confronts the traitor Wormtongue for poisoning the King’s ear to accept the reign of evil. In the screenshot, Spadaro included the subtitle of Gandalf stating, in reference to the traitor, that he refuses “to bandy crooked words with a witless worm.”

Twitter users apparently had no trouble understanding the meaning behind the post, with some even wondering if Spadaro’s account had been hacked. 

@antoniospadaro Am I actually seeing tweets of English-subtitled "The Two Towers" being posted to attack 4 Cardinals of the Catholic Church? — Mechagodzilla79 (@Mechagodzilla75) November 16, 2016

It was shortly after this that Spadaro deleted the tweet, but not before it was retweeted and later captured and preserved by others.

.@antoniospadaro has deleted his "witless worm" tweet

Who's he calling Wormtongue? Gandalf also wears white@RorateCaeli @SteveSkojec pic.twitter.com/CkjldZOBWp — (((Nick Donnelly))) (@ProtectthePope) November 16, 2016

Catholic bloggers, faithful to the teaching of the Catholic Church, did not fail to see the irony in Spadaro’s tweet. 

“Yes, one of the Pope's closest allies wants you to think that those who supported the ‘Dubia’ are akin to the traitorous spies of Saruman. And Pope Francis is Gandalf… Maybe Spadaro took down his tweet because the irony was too rich even for him,” wrote one blogger. 

The exhortation continues to be a hotbed of controversy since its publication in April. It has been criticized for its ambiguity on the issues of the indissolubility of marriage and whether couples in adulterous relationships can receive Holy Communion.

Sources in Rome close to the Pope say he is “not happy at all” and is "boiling with rage" over the Cardinals raising their concerns about his exhortation. 

Spadaro tweeted today that he “laughs” at such a suggestion. He wrote off the Cardinals’ Dubia as a matter of “ecclesiastical quarrels.”

When I read that someone wrote that #PopeFrancis gets "furious" because of ecclesiastical quarrels I laugh! Other topics make him "furious"! — Antonio Spadaro (@antoniospadaro) November 18, 2016

Earlier this week Francis took the unprecedented step of canceling a scheduled meeting with the world's cardinals that was to take place during this weekend's consistory, in which they were to discuss important issues facing the Church. 

[dp0622]

You wouldn’t want to sum this up in a few sentences for we less read Catholics, would you?

From the gist of it, I assume 4 cardinals are against the Pope regarding something. And the Pope’s right hand man hit back on twitter.

Wasn’t a big Lord of the Rings and dont understand some of the theological language used.

[faithhopecharity]

leadership is the art of building consensus

[DuncanWaring]

As I understand it, the four cardinals are looking for clarification on parts of Amoris Laetitia that seem to contradict historical teachings of the RCC.

[BlessedBeGod]

Sorry. It's been an ongoing topic for the last few days so one tends to assume everyone is familiar with the backstory. Hope this short article helps:

Breaking: In Wake of 4 Cardinals Letter, Pope Francis Rebukes ‘Legalism’ of Amoris Laetitia Critics

[Mrs. Don-o]

The four cardinals have formally asked Pope Francis for a clarification of doctrine. They posted five "Dubia" (doubtful items) to the Pope phrased in such a way as to be answerd by a simple "Yes" or "No." (Answering such questions is the Pope's job, by the way.)

These had to do with disputes concerning marriage and communion arising from the ambiguous 8th chapter of Pope Francis' document "Amoris Laetitia" ("The Joy of Love").

The Pope ignored the letter for 2 months. The Cardinals then made the contents of their letter public. Now Pope Francis is in effect being openly challenged to give straight "Yes" or "No" answers, which seems highly uncongenial to his customary equivocating style.

The questions were posed in a scrupulously correct and respectful manner. But the Pope's oft-times spokesman, Spodano, is erupting with contempt for the questioners. This is uncalled-for hostility to a legitimate plea for a clear exposition of doctrine.

It will be interesting to see what Cardinal Burke, a chess player, has in line as his next move. Fervent prayer is highly advised.

[ebb tide]

>> Fervent prayer is highly advised.<<

Prayer for the Conversion of Sinners.

Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful Saviour of the world, we humbly beseech You, by Your most Sacred Heart, that all the sheep who stray out of Your fold may in one days be converted to You, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end.

Amen.

Prayer for a Happy Death

O God, great and omnipotent judge of the living and the dead, we are to appear before you after this short life to render an account of our works. Give us the grace to prepare for our last hour by a devout and holy life, and protect us against a sudden and unprovided death. Let us remember our frailty and mortality, that we may always live in the ways of your commandments. Teach us to “watch and pray” (Lk 21:36), that when your summons comes for our departure from this world, we may go forth to meet you, experience a merciful judgment, and rejoice in everlasting happiness. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thank you. Excellent prayers.

[bboop]

The four cardinals, among whom is Cardinal Burke - a wonderful, clear-thinking, fighting man - have challenged the Pope’s April ‘paper’ as being not theologically correct. It is NOT. Burke is correct, and they are right to challenge it. This Pope is not holding to the teachings of the church, and he will not be allowed to get away with that. I hope. He does not guard carefully the words he speaks nor writes (and that is as magnanimus as I can be.) He is, imho, a very bad, very dangeous pope.

[NKP_Vet]

All four cardinals have forgotten more about Catholicism than Bergoglio will ever know.

[redgolum]

That is a rather gutsy move. There is no retreat from playing that card. Simply put, it plays the Pope in a “dangerous ground” situation and forces him to same something explicit that he does not want to say.

In an organization, that is a career ending move. As in you had better have an exit plan. Win or lose. You do not make the “boss” look bad.

Good for them. Integrity means sometimes you have to pull the pin on the grenade. They are serving their flock well by doing this.

[LadyDoc]

on the surface it is asking the Pope to clarify a footnote in the document that suggests people married outside the church or in “irregular unions” can receive communion.

But the real question is a deeper matter: Can people who are living in a state of sin receive the sacrament? This not only applies to those married outside the church, but unmarried couples living together, active homosexuals, members of the Mafia, drug addicts/pushers, Crooked politicians who take bribes (a big problem here in the Philippines) or who support abortion/euthanasia, and people involved in the abortion industry, to name a few.

Jesus was pretty strict about the divorce part, although Paul and some ancient churches (i.e. the Orthodox churches) do allow divorce for adultery, or when the unbelieving spouse refuses to stay with the Christian spouse.

But the larger issue is letting people who are living a sinful lifestyle to receive the sacrament, which Catholics consider the body and blood of Christ.

the Pope has condemned those who were “rigid” and saw good and evil in black and white terms..

Bishop Burke bluntly asked:

Questions two, three, and four are about fundamental issues regarding the moral life: whether intrinsically evil acts exist, whether a person who habitually commits grave evil is in a state of “grave sin”, and whether a grave sin can ever become a good choice because of circumstances or intentions.

and that is the heart of the whole matter.

[dp0622]

The mafia? Time to go to confession! jk Already did a long time ago.

I can answer the question. Nope. You can’t live in grave sin and be a good Christian.

I knew gangsters who would laugh about kicking an old man down the stairs of his own house after robbing him, and worse.

then they’d go to church on Sunday.

I wasn’t as bad as then and never physically harmed anyone but I lived in grave sin and it is not compatible with God.

I never gave God a thought in the midst of this period in my life.

How can you and keep doing what you’re doing, if it’s wrong?

You can’t.

No room or God when you’re committed to evil.

I found my way back to God when I stopped doing wrong.

It is what it is.

[Petrosius]

Why not just answer the questions?

[LadyDoc]

Then you agree with Bishp Burke and the majority of Chrstians and Catholics.

The heresy here was not limited to Catholics, but pushed in many liberal protestant seminaries.... the idea if you had a commitment to Christ then your sins did not count. Come to think of it, Paul ran into people who claimed this and corrected them. So it is not new.