Posted on 03/30/2014 11:37:00 AM PDT by Salvation
Full Title:
How to Be a Loyal Catholic Today? By Being Loyal to the Bishop of Rome
Lenten series ping!
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The answer has to be far more nuanced than that. There have always been bad popes. Blind loyalty to a bad shepherd does no good for anyone. If the pope violates dogmatic doctrine, should one follow along whistling a cheery tune? One must form a morally mature conscience and actually think, and temper such consideration with a sincere consultation of scripture and doctrine.
Ex Cathedra is Ex Cathedra. Everything else is taken under advisement.
With a bushel of salt.
I don't know if there has ever been a time in history when absolute loyalty to the pope was less likely to make you a good Catholic.
You’ve got to think of when Father Hardon wrote this in 2002. I dare say it was very true at that time.
The time of its writing is immaterial. What concerns me is the idea that merely being loyal to the pope can make you a good Catholic.
That may be stating it a bit strongly. As of this date, there have certainly been worse popes than Pope Francis. I pray it remains thus.
I see what you are getting at.
What about a bad Pope? Although I think what we see from the lamestream media is paint Pope Francis in their broad strokes of spin.
He really has not said anything that is not in line with the Church and its teachings, although the lamestream media would have you believe he has deviated from the truth.
What if the Bishop of Rome submits his mind to the mind of cardinal Kasper and his “profound theology” in support of Communion for adulterers rather than submitting his mind to the mind of Christ - “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”? It is a fact that the Bishop of Rome has promoted and praised Cardinal Kasper’s theology. It is also a fact that Cardinal Kasper’s theology is contradictory to Church teaching.
“One suggestion in particular, that the Church might one day allow divorced-and-remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion, prompted responses by Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, emphasizing that not even the Pope has the authority to redefine the sacraments.”
That has been disproved with many Bishops disagreeing with Cardinal Kasper.....prayers for Kasper to not be blinded by his own ego.
It is a fact that the Pope praised Kasper’s theology regarding this matter, and he did so on camera.
“In other words the Cardinal should not have brought to the fore a proposal based upon mercy because it is diametrically opposed to the case he is trying to advance. Invoking mercy allows one to see that the indissolubility of the marriage bond is the great gift of divine love given to spouses. The defense of this bond is the true witness to the presence of Love among men (in a broken world?).”
The Pope invited him to do so. Kasper was given the honor of keynote speaker by the Pope, who afterwards praised his theology. Does loyalty to the Pope require that we now must all join him in praising Kasper’s theology even though it is in opposition to Church teaching?
We've had bad Popes. They haven't changed the Catholic Faith. "Loyalty to the Pope" doesn't mean looking at his life and saying, "Okay, I guess I'm going to be a drunk and a fornicator," or whatever Bad Pope X was.
It means clinging to the Magisterium, even when it's hard. Even when the Magisterium says, "We don't contracept." Even when the Magisterium says, "You're still married." Even when the Magisterium says, "Love the people you want to write off."
Thank you.
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