" ... it is one of the reproaches urged against the Church of Rome, that it has originated nothing, and has only served as a sort of remora [barrier] or break in the development of doctrine. And it is a objection which I embrace as a truth; for such I conceive to be the main purpose of its extraordinary gift."
It is not easy to gauge how our beloved Holy Father understands his office. At my most pessimistic, I fear that, not being a theologian, he has been misled by some of those around him, such as that sinister Archbishop Fernandez and the sycophantic Pio Vito Pinto.
If such people have persuaded the Sovereign Pontiff to adopt a view of his office which contradicts these happy words of Blessed John Henry Newman, I think they have done the Pope, and the Church, an immensely grave disservice.
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Sandro Magister today discusses the battle to influence Francis: At the Vatican There Is a “Seismograph” That Is Setting Off Tremors.
Just a pedantic note on the word 'break' - as it is so crucial to Newman's meaning. Some (particularly younger readers) may not realize that in writing the word 'break' Newman did not mean a rupture or breakage, but the word 'brake' - which used to have the alternative spelling 'break'. 'Remora' (in Latin) has the meaning of hindrance, delay, or passive resistance. In modern Italian it is used as a word for a 'compunction', 'hesitation' or 'qualm'.
The fish known in English as the Remora is so-called because by applying the suckers on its dorsal fins to the keels of boats, it could delay them in their voyage of commerce.
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