Posted on 03/14/2023 1:26:51 PM PDT by ebb tide
...The pope’s endless off-the-cuff comments and in-flight interviews have blurred the line between official magisterial declarations and mere unreflective papal spitballing, leaving many wondering how seriously they are to take the pope’s verbal musings. These unedited comments have also resulted in fairly frequent unintended offense, such as when Francis called women theologians “the strawberries on the cake,” when he told large families they needn’t “breed like rabbits,” or when he asserted that the “cruelest” soldiers in Ukraine are not ethnic Russians but outsiders like “the Chechens” and “the Buryati” who fight on Russian side.
Another serious point of contention has been the pope’s politics in appointing cardinals. Preaching diversity, he has instead homogenized the college of cardinals, only elevating prelates who share his particular pastoral proclivities. Gone are the days when popes welcomed pushback and alternative points of view. As one commentator wrote recently, unlike Popes John Paul or Benedict, Francis “is often at war with postconciliar pluralism,” which allows him to only to appoint men “clearly allied with his program.”
Ironically, while calling for a “synodal” approach to church where greater listening is meant to involve the people of God in decision-making, Francis has proven to be the most autocratic of any pope in recent history. He has notably stripped local bishops of their autonomous decision-making power, for example in allowing the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass, recentralizing all authority in Rome. In his practical rejection of Vatican II’s call to greater collegiality, Francis has shown himself a throwback to the days of the “Papa Rex,” a monarchical pontiff.
As an anti-intellectual, Pope Francis has downplayed the importance of doctrine and theological insight, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
“Papal spitballing” = heretical comments...
The pope doesn’t get to muse in public. His public statements can’t go outside Catholic propriety.
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