Pope gives Chicago a Pastor committed to the culture of encounter and the poor

People are not obligated to kneel? And no one sees an issue with this? More Protestantization of the Liturgy. More New Religion.

Of course He would be opposed to Francis.

There have never been any rubrics that direct the people to do anything in particular during the Mass—in the old Mass or the new.

They may stand, kneel, sit, as they please.

So are you trying to tell me that before Vatican II, the laity wasn't expected to kneel at the consecration? They could "do as they pleased"?

They have never been OBLIGATED to do so. The Missal contains rubrics, but they are addressed to the priest, and to a deacon, a lector, or a server.

Of course, it was expected, and it still is, and it’s still the normal thing to do.

I got the impression that someone was feeling GUILTY for not kneeling because it was painful.

Quote: Expect Cupich and Francis to spend the rest of their lives sucking up to limousine leftists in a mad search for money and striving never to offend rich people whose daughters might want abortions and whose sons and daughters want "liberated" sex lives, believing that the Church should just shut up, mind its own business and leave the young to live as they please.

C'mon! You know that none of that is true about the Holy Father.

The Good Lord knows our limitations and our strengths better than we do. Both Peter and Judas were His appointed Apostles. Do not panic prematurely; pray that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church.

It's worth to investigate further about the kneelers removed and the abortion protests forbidden by Bp. Cupich. None of those seem right. There could be more to those stories.

I know nothing of the sort about Pope Francis. I know he is an Argentinian, a Jesuit of a generation that should know better than to govern as he has so far in his papacy, that he will turn 78 years old in December, and some of the commonly known details of his papacy.

For good or for ill, Francis is pope. I get that. When I say rosaries, I pray for his intentions and I also pray that his intentions be consistent with God's intentions. I know that he will not eclipse the track record of such predecessors as Alexander VI.

I am giving him and Bishop Cupich the benefit of the doubt by presuming that they are motivated by a desire to suck up to folks in the megadonor class and that they do not actually believe in the substance of many of the things they say and do. Does Francis really mean it when he asks as to practitioners of homosexual perversions: "Who am I to judge?" Of the 7 billion people on this earth, he is the very first in line with a right and a DUTY to judge. That comes with the power of the Keys.

Does the overcooked linguine spined Cupich REALLY believe that it is a sensible policy for a Catholic bishop to require that his priests and seminarians not pray outside Planned Barrenhood baby-killing mills? Or is it that judging homosexuals and confronting America's leading purveyor of infanticide just sooooooo embarrassing when chatting up the thoroughly liberated Mrs. Gotmegabucks for a contribution to ministries that she finds more "respectable" and politically "correct." "Some more Beluga caviar, Mrs. Gotmegabucks?"

I take second place to none in my admiration for St. John Paul II but, in appointing such disgraces as Joseph Cardinal Bernardin to Chicago and Roger Cardinal Mahony to Los Angeles, even St. John Paul II was prone to occasional prudential errors. If Pope Francis in his capacity as Pope Chatty Cathy I in his relations with reporters, does not learn to stifle his misplaced enthusiasm to be quoted promiscuously by every reporter with a notepad or a tape recorder, he will make many more. Likewise the appointment of the likes of Blaise Cupich to sees like Chicago and to receive the inevitable red hat.

Having lived through John XXIII and Paul VI with my Catholic credentials intact, I never panic. I do remain firmly rooted in reality observed.

If the Holy Ghost has anything to do with the selection of Francis or of Cupich, it must be that He knows we are in dire need of some collective punishment for our sins and that Chicago is worse in that respect than most American venues. The good news is that Francis is about to be 78 years old and Cupich is 65 and required to resign in ten years. Maybe Chicago can then get another Catholic like Francis Cardinal George.

It occurs to me that Judas was chosen to remind future generations of Catholics that, If our Savior's choices turn out to be as bad as Judas, then we can endure the Bernardins, the Mahonys, and the Cupiches.

OTOH, Francis Cardinal George made a series of predictions in his archdiocesan newspaper earlier this year. He said that he expected to die in bed, that his immediate successor would die in prison and the next successor would be martyred in the public square. I hope Cupich is up to the challenge.