Posted on 05/30/2021 9:34:56 AM PDT by ebb tide
Before his election to the papacy, Jorge Bergoglio had already earned a reputation as an exponent of “pastoral” Catholicism. But out of it came few pastors, as those familiar with his tenure as archbishop of Buenos Aires knew. They noted that his local seminary was suffering from a small number of vocations. Even John Allen, a Vatican correspondent sympathetic to the pope’s liberalism, reported in 2013 that “vocations to the priesthood have been falling in Buenos Aires on his [Bergoglio’s] watch, despite the fact they’re up in some other dioceses. Last year the archdiocese ordained just 12 news priests, as opposed to 40-50 per year when Bergoglio took over.”
That the pope’s “pastoral” Catholicism produces few pastors is no surprise, given its open hostility to orthodox candidates. The pope rarely misses an opportunity to criticize them as “rigid.” Last week, he urged the Italian bishops to keep their eyes peeled for seminarians who take doctrinal teaching too seriously. “We frequently have seen seminarians who seem good but rigid,” he said.
The priests most desperately needed as the Church and the culture unravel are the ones most likely to be targeted.
According to the pope’s peculiar view, the crisis in the post-Vatican II Church — a period marked by decadence, laxity, and heresy — is due not to a betrayal of orthodoxy and discipline but to an emphasis on them.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Ping
It is a serious question.
“Is the Pope Catholic?” is no longer a rhetorical question.
I don’t believe it is open to question.
He has excommunicated himself, and is therefore not a Catholic—if he ever was.
Not a Catholic, not the pope. Where is the question?
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