Interview With Cardinal Collins (toronto)

[Perigrina]

This is a great article and I recommend reading the whole thing.  http://wordonfire.org/WoF-Blog/WoF-Blog/June-2014/Marriage,-Divorce,-and-Communion--An-Interview-wit.aspx

 

Here is one of my favourite bits:

 

Brandon Vogt: Outside the Church, the secular media overwhelmingly expects the Synod to substantially revise Catholic teaching on marriage and divorce. How does this compare to the expectations swirling before Pope Paul VI’s release of of Humanae Vitae in 1968? 

Cardinal Thomas Collins: In the years before the letter of Pope Paul re-affirming the constant Christian teaching that contraception is not in accord with the will of God, there was widespread speculation that the Church was going to change this teaching. This kind of speculation is based to some degree on the idea that Christian doctrine is like government policy: when the circumstances change, or when more people support this alternative rather than that, then policy changes.

But Christian teaching is based upon the natural law that is written in our very natures by God, and especially upon the revealed word of God. We discover God's will, and the scriptures and the living faith of the Church help us to do so. We do not shape God's will according to what currently seems best to us.

So when Pope Paul did not change what he could not change, but re-affirmed Christian faith, many, many people were upset, and simply decided to ignore the teaching. That is our present situation. I certainly hope that we do not suffer a repeat of that, as unfounded speculation swirls concerning a change by the Church of the explicit teaching of Jesus on marriage. 

[Luigi]

Interesting. A friend of mine posted a similar thought on Facebook today, although his is a little more concise:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=865969373430366&set=a.491231494237491.120817.491214847572489&type=1&theater

Edited June 25, 2014 by Luigi

[Perigrina]

I have been seeing variations on this idea pretty much since Francis became Pope.  The media is trying to force things to go in a liberal direction by setting up an expectation that Pope Francis is going to change everything to the way that liberals want it to. 

[Nihil Obstat]

This is the second time in as many days that I am seeing a parallel between Pope Francis and Pope Paul.

[Not The Philosopher]

I am happy to have Cardinal Collins as my bishop.

[CatherineM]

If people think they can push Pope Francis around, I think they are going to be in for a big shock.

[Perigrina]

If people think they can push Pope Francis around, I think they are going to be in for a big shock.

 

The distorted portrayal of Pope Francis in the media does a lot of harm, but I agree with you.  They are not going to push him into anything.

[Fidei Defensor]

If people think they can push Pope Francis around, I think they are going to be in for a big shock.

I agree. It's so "cute" (see: not cute) when people believe that their opinion has some kind of bearing on what the Holy Father is going to do. They forget that he is the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, the last absolute monarch left in Europe, and a man of great love. He will do what he so chooses, and he'll do it lovingly and with good example.

[Perigrina]

Fr. Z. has a blog post making similar comments about a Humanae Vitae-style rebellion: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/06/weve-see-this-movie-before-and-it-aint-the-bells-of-st-mary/

 

They are, I think, afraid that the Synod is notgoing to relax the “rules” (read: doctrine) about Communion for the remarried without declarations of nullity, inter alia. They see that support for the Kasperite position is falling away and they are scared.  We have had indications that His Holiness himself, and some of the left-leaning power brokers near him, are moving away from the untenable proposal: “tolerated but not accepted”.

People have asked me what I think is going on, what is going to happen.

As the Kasperite position crumbles watch what will happen on the catholic Left.  They will start whipping up fear among bishops whom they think desire the Kasperite Non-Solution.

They will work to create the same sort of rebellion among priests and bishops that the catholic Left did around the time of Humane vitae.  They will stir mutiny against the Church’s clear doctrine and against ecclesial authority.  What they want is that when the Holy Father upholds the Church’s teaching, as many priests as possible, and bishops with them, will criticize the Pope and will ignore the the Church’s doctrine and law when dealing with the divorced and remarried.  Just as liberals told people, afterHumanae vitae, to go ahead and contracept as they pleased, so too they will tell the remarried to do as they please and receive Communion.  Then they, in defiance fueled by what they will claim is compassion and mercy, will stop submitting marriage cases to diocesan tribunals.

Anyone who upholds the Church’s doctrine (who won’t give a pass to adultery, etc.), will be vilified by the Left as being against mercy, lacking in compassion.

[Perigrina]

Here is a CNS article with background information on the Synod: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1402659.htm  See link for full article.  Here is an excerpt:

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Representatives of the world's Catholic bishops, meeting together in a synod, are not expected to make any formal proposals about the church's pastoral care of families until after a second, larger gathering in 2015.

The extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family will meet at the Vatican Oct. 5-19, bringing together the presidents of national bishops' conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and Vatican officials. The world Synod of Bishops, which will include more bishops -- many elected by their peers -- will meet at the Vatican Oct. 4-25, 2015.

 

Introducing the working document for the first synod assembly -- formally an "extraordinary" synod -- Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, said participants "will thoroughly examine and analyze the information, testimonies and recommendations received" from around the world in response to a questionnaire sent out in November.

The responses to the questionnaire, submitted by about 90 percent of the world's bishops' conferences and about 800 Catholic organizations or individuals, formed the basis for the working document for the extraordinary assembly.

The results of the extraordinary assembly will form the basis for the working document for the 2015 meeting, he said.

The general assembly in 2015, "representing a great part of the episcopate and continuing the work of the previous synod, will reflect further on the points discussed so as to formulate appropriate pastoral guidelines," the cardinal said.

Only the suggestions of the 2015 synod will be forwarded to the pope as formal proposals for church action, he said.

The theme of the extraordinary synod is: "The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization." Cardinal Baldisseri said there would be about 190 voting members, plus "fraternal delegates" from other Christian churches as well as observers and experts appointed by Pope Francis.

[CatherineM]

So much for people expecting him to pronounce this or that rule no longer applies. This is pretty much how I expected it to go. Slow and steady and cautious.