Rumours abound ... and have reached me from various plausible sources ... that distinguished members of a particular, respected, religious order in this country have been or are being prevented or discouraged by various means from making public protests against (apparently and prima facie) unorthodoxies recently propounded by the current occupant (tenant?) of the See of Rome.
I will say no more, because I am unable to offer a precise and evidenced account of exactly who is putting what pressures upon whom; and by whose instructions.
Out of the same sense of profound ecclesial responsibility, I shall not enable any Comments offered to me on this subject.
But, if readers do offer Comments, even though I shall not enable them, their guidance may influence me. Think of me as pretty well a tabula rasa.
Sadly our dear Holy Father Pope Francis has around him, some utterly vindictive men (any 'king's evil advisors' reading of the situation seems naïve but still a comfort to believe that) who would think nothing of utterly destroying the charism and seizing the property of any Order. Luckily, with an early target, the Franciscans of the Immaculate, a lay trust held the property (which some mindless Twitter trads deride as Protestant, yet Cobh cathedral survived as a result), which meant it was safe from wreckovation. Saying nothing is frankly the only sensible course nowadays with a Vatican full of contempt for canonical law protections that once held fast (like Trent carefully respecting the rights of cathedral canons etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe goal, as I see it, is to remake the Church in nmore or less the German (Cupich, Tobin, McElroy...) mode. And suppressions of the Latin Mass/ad oriented presiding is but a symbol of that attempt. The Church will divide as PF excommunicates those he has pushed to far (his intent) and who will not obey. The traditionalists would never leave on their own.
ReplyDeleteThe "Vatican [is not] full of contempt for canonical law protections"---Pope Francis is.
ReplyDeleteHmm. Would this be connected to the transfer of a prolific English theological writer to the teaching staff of a seminary in the Carribbean by any chance?
ReplyDeleteIf you are a member of a religious order, you have massive problems if you see abuses. You are under a vow of obedience, so you are morally obliged to do what your superiors tell you in all matters that are not sinful. You can be directed to any unpleasant assignment. You have no financial independence and, quite likely, no saleable skills, so walking out is not an option, unless you have very supportive family and friends to give you food and housing. Your social circle and sense of identity is bound up in your Order. And you freely chose this trap after years of discernment. Note Pater Edmund Waldstein in Austria, who allegedly had to withdraw his signature to a petition critical of recent developments.
ReplyDelete