Started strong, turned wishy-washy.

To a certain extent, there’s a bright side. As the rock on which the church is built begins to look more like sand, many Catholics are forced to examine the situation and look more seriously than before into their personal commitment.

It’s a sort of trial, from which they might, just might. come out stronger than before.

It’s a thought.

via Crisis Magazine

Sick, sick, sick. Apparently we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

via The American Conservative

National Catholic Register stands by its story, defending itself, specifying back-up sources. Besides denying everything, the bishops speak in general terms.

via Honduran Bishops’ Conference Replies to Accusations of a Homosexual Network at Major Seminary

In praise of innovation and dialogue, 2017:

“We are not a Church of preservation, but rather a Church of proclamation.”

So sayeth Cardinal Cupich in 2017 when he gave the Murnion Lecture at the Chicago Theological Union, titled “Dialogue in the Key of Pope Francis.”

Right out the gate, Cupich praised Cardinal Bernadin.  He also declared in the context of expelling a revolution afoot in the Church, that “we are not a Church of preservation, but rather a Church of proclamation.”

From there, a good portion of the lecture is all about building bridges and dialoguing. Talking.

I wonder how much dialogue Cardinal Cupich had [in 2018] with the parishioners of St. John Cantius.

Which is the Chicago parish which lost its pastor a few months back because of accusations later thrown out of the court to which the cardinal had sent them.

More here of that which in the writer’s view deserves more dialogue — via The Bellarmine Forum

===============

Later, from longtime St. Jn Cantius parishioner Dorothy Amorella:

Thanks, Jim, for your thoughts on this. Cupich has shown no regard for Fr. Phillips parishioners. He has given us no consideration or consolation or “dialogue”. He (who has lived here a very short time) has changed forever a community that came together and saved a parish and with the help of many faithful families and dedicated priests grew it to international status.

Pope Benedict and Cardinal George gave us the path to follow. Many sacrifices were made with contributions of time, talent and money. Cupich made his decision and we who have been here and have grown in our faith and raised our children to be faithful are ignored.

Why does he use his authority to remove our spiritual leader?What is he actually “proclaiming”? Our parish is a success story because Fr. Phillips taught us how to “preserve” the faith. The bishop has the divine instruction to preserve the faith, not to deny the faithful of their heritage.

Eloquent.

He started with a bang.

However, the enthusiasm began to subside—as indicated by the thinning crowds—when Francis began to engage in partisan politics with, for example, frequent comments on environmentalism.

In so doing, he began to act more like a secular public official than a religious leader, which served to dilute his teaching authority.

Sometimes it was a little thing. The Vatican press corps noticed when Pope Francis decided to disregard protocol when he refused to bless them, presumably to avoid offending non-Catholics.

Many more people noticed the absence of any reference to Christ in the pope’s address to Congress.

Ross Douthat, Catholic columnist for the New York Times, proposed in the early days that Francis was trying to end a low-grade civil war that had afflicted the Church since the Second Vatican Council.

A year later, he abandoned that thesis by suggesting that the pope can be preserved from error only if orthodox Catholics resist his papacy.

He had a yen for pontificating but not on matters pertaining to a pontiff, liked being applauded but was or seemed uncomfortable with his role as a religious leader in a time when religion gets little or no respect.

Moremoremore on the pope who would be king, or today’s version of the same, via Crisis Magazine

The managing editor of Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse lays out the score in a game in which Francis plays a more crucial part than he intended to play when he took on the job.

For many victims of clerical sexual abuse and their advocates, last week offered a stark reminder of how far the Church has to go in cleaning house.

Not only did Cardinal Theodore McCarrick face further accusations of abuse, including minors, but the right-hand man of one of Pope Francis’s chief advisers also resigned after accusations he had targeted seminarians for sexual favors in Honduras.

He’s on the biggest stage of his life, at which the world is watching far more than in Argentina, where he had not the best of success.

Honduran Bishop Juan José Pineda Fasquelle served under Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpas, the coordinator of Francis’s influential “C9” Council of Cardinals, which advises him on Vatican reform and governing the Church.

Another member of the C9, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, stands accused of covering up the sexual abuse of minors in Chile.

The C9 Council of close advisors situation leaves his flank particularly exposed.

Increasingly, it’s hard for Pope Francis to distance himself from the fallout. A full 30 percent of his C9 body of cardinals is now tainted by these scandals. Pell, Maradiaga, and Errazuriz are all over 75, so their resignations are on Francis’s desk, unaccepted. Pineda Fasquelle also made a point to mention he offered the pope his resignation “months ago,” yet continued in office until Friday.

Makes you wonder, what is he thinking?

As for getting back in the game, what is there that we know about him that would lead us to believe he’s up to the task?

via How Pope Francis could get back into the game on sex abuse reform

I knew this was coming.

Several bishops from across the globe announced today that they are considering allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Chick-fil-A.

via PopeWatch

The hidden hand?

A source inside the religious hierarchy has confirmed that it was Cardinal Cupich, and not Fr. Szarek, who wrote the recent letter to parishioners of St. John Cantius announcing that Fr. Phillips would not be allowed to return to public ministry.

Mahound’s Paradise has seen documentary evidence establishing the truth of this.

The letter, signed by Fr. Gene Szarek, the provincial superior of the Congregation of the Resurrection (the “Resurrectionists”) and containing the Resurrectionist seal, appeared in the St. John Cantius Bulletin [a month ago] . . .

The ventriloquism display . . .

. . . will perhaps not come as a shock to many. But it’s another confirmed example of the archdiocese’s distinctive (to put it politely) modus operandi in the entire Fr. Phillips affair.

It’s been a winding path throughout, for sure, beyond the creativity of most soap opera writers.

more more more at Mahound’s Paradise

Oh what a friend Cardinal “Joe Tobin” of Newark had in McCarrick, whose recommending letter to Francis worked.

via Rocco Palmo on Twitter: 

A friend of Glenn Reynolds on Facebook comments:

“See, this is how it works. Obama officials who get arrested and convicted of even pervy crimes get no news coverage at all. As the story says, ‘His arrest and conviction were never made public until DailyMail.com acquired the report of the investigation and the footage through a Freedom of Information Act request.’

Don’t tell me no White House reporter knew about this in July 2016. They knew. And now they’re too busy going after Brett Kavanaugh’s wife to even follow this up. The bastards.”

See the Daily Mall story here: Obama advisor William Mendoza seen taking a picture up woman’s skirt | Daily Mail Online