[Alex Murphy]

On the 'evolution of discipline': “(Some Cardinals) fear a domino effect, that if one thing changes, everything will collapse. That's their fear. All this is related to ideology, an ideological interpretation of the Gospel, but the Gospel is not a penal code. As the Pope said in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Gospel is a grace from the Holy Spirit manifested in the faith that works through love. That's a different interpretation. It is not a museum. It is a living reality of the Church and we have to walk with all the people of God and see what their needs are. Then, we have to carry out a discernment based upon the light of the Gospel, which is not a code of doctrines and commandments. We cannot simply take one paragraph of Jesus' Gospel and from there deduce everything. A hermeneutic is needed to understand all the message of the Gospel and differentiate what is doctrine from what is discipline. Discipline has changed. But I think we are facing here a theological fundamentalism that is not Catholic”....

....Regarding the upcoming publication of the five cardinals' book right before the synod: "Yes it is a problem. I don't remember a similar situation, in which in such organized manner five cardinals would write such a book. That's the way politicians operate, but in the Church we should not behave like that.”

PFL

[livius]

Yes, and the good (elderly VII generation) cardinal is out there presenting himself as the spokesman of Pope Francis. I don’t think he really is, but I think that for some reason Francis is very intimidated by liberals, and German liberals in particular.

Many people talk about Francis as a Latin American, but actually, he’s an Argentinian, which is a breed unto itself. Argentinians think they’re better than other people in Latin America, because they think they’re more European (because of the Italian, German and English influence) and many of them boast that they have not a drop of Spanish blood since they regard Spaniards (such as Opus Dei members) as trash.

I wish he’d move beyond being a provincial Argentine bishop, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen. Every so often he writes something that makes me think this may be happening, but then he goes out the next day and does or permits something utterly stupid and not at the level of a Pope. One thing he should do immediately is stuff a sock in Kasper’s mouth, although I will say that Kasper’s stupid statements have galvanized the opposition.