Closing the Gap

[rug]

Pope Francis' stances on sexual issues show a willingness to reach out to the flock.

By Jeff Nesbit

Nov. 6, 2014 | 12:00 p.m. EST

So is the pope Catholic?

While that may be the punchline for late-night comedians on Pope Francis’ recent comments on divorce, pre-marital sex and homosexuality, the underlying question has set off a potentially divisive rift with some of the more conservative leaders of the Catholic Church in America.

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who is the highest-ranking American prelate in the Vatican, openly criticized Francis recently, claiming that his liberalizing attitude towards sexual and family issues is creating a crisis within the Catholic Church and that there is a “strong sense that the church is like a ship without a rudder.”

Burke, who is the former archbishop of St. Louis, raised significant questions about the pope’s efforts to take the church in new directions. “If we don’t teach that truth and live it well, we will be lost. We would cease to be the church,” Burke said during an interview with the Spanish religious newspaper, Vida Nueva.

Burke is no slouch. As the current prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican, he’s essentially in charge of administering social justice efforts within the Catholic Church. So when Burke called matrimony “the pillar of the church” in his comments during the Vida Nueva interview, he indirectly challenged Pope Francis on his efforts to change direction on the church’s attitudes on issues such as pre-marital sex, divorce and homosexuality. (It's not surprising, perhaps, that Burke recently confirmed that the pope intends to remove him as prefect, and move him to a ceremonial position with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.)

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/faith-matters/2014/11/06/pope-francis-forges-a-new-path-on-sexual-issues-in-the-catholic-church

[shenmue]

1. We remember what happened to the last Pope who tried to allow birth control for married people

Married people, mind you. Not the single folks.

He was working on a letter to allow married couples to use birth control; he wound up serving about six weeks and then "mysteriously" died of a heart attack- which looks very close to what happens when someone is given arsenic.

This new fella is saying things like, "Maybe you shouldn't punch gay people in the face," and what have you, and people like Cdl. Burke are practically licking their chops. Now, why would they have a sense that they can tell him what to say?

I wonder.

[rug]

2. I hadn't heard that one about JPI.

The rumors I read was that it was something about the Vatican Bank.

What Francis has been saying is mild and right out of the Gospel. This reaction to that shows how big the real fight will be.

[shenmue]

3. Yep