Amoralis Lamentia Oozing Through The Archdiocese Of Washington

Long-time readers of this blog will recall the key roles that Pope Francis gave to Cardinal Wuerl during the two synods that were the cover for culminated in Amoralis Lamentia (see here and here).  Therefore it is no surprise that the Cardinal is singing the dubious praises of AL, giving great cause for concern for the over-emphasis on the role of subjective "conscience".

In the online version of the Catholic Standard, an article was released today dealing with a letter that the Cardinal sent to archdiocesan priests regarding Amoralis Lamentia.  As you read it, note the incorrect exaltation of subjective conscience.  Basically what he says is that all priests can do is remind their parishioners of what the Church teaches, but at the end of the day each person will do what he/or she wants based on their "conscience".  Completely lacking is any mention of the fact that if these "consciences" run counter to the Teachings of Jesus Christ, then any acquiescence to these "consciences" (in a saner time, they were called "temptations to sin") would be sinful - perhaps mortally sinful.

Note this quote from the Standard: "Our task as pastors of souls is to provide the guidance that we hope will lead the person to more fully grasp the teaching and make a right judgment,” the cardinal wrote. Noting the catechism’s teaching on forming and following one’s conscience, he added that priests “are called to walk with the faithful so that they might grasp, understand and make their own the teaching of the Church… But the person, not the priest, makes the final personal conscientious judgment.”

Do you notice how there's no mention of any remedy when these "final personal judgments" lead to mortal sin?  Please note that if a person continues in an action that he/she knows goes counter to the Teachings of Jesus in matters of marriage and sexuality, they already know it's a grave matter and they most likely have deliberated on it.  I believe those are the elements of mortal sin.  Remedy most certainly is needed in those cases for these people imperil their own souls and those of others (including their accomplices in adultery).

The article ends with a thinly-disguised dig at the four cardinals who issued their dubia.  It's not too surprising that Wuerl might do that since he most likely had some hand in the proceedings of the sin-nods, if not the crafting of Amoralis Lamentia itself.  However, not all share his opinion.  Last month Msgr Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington wrote a piece that appears in the National Catholic Register.  In that piece the Msgr stated his support of the dubia and restated clear teaching that de facto adulterers cannot be admitted to Holy Communion, "consciences" notwithstanding.

Faithful Catholics, Msgr Pope is quite correct.  Precisely because he's correct and is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, we need to lift him up in prayer and to make plain to the DC chancery that our eyes are open, lest he be subject to retribution, much like Father Guarnizo was five years ago when he withheld Holy Communion from a practicing lesbian.  I've also written before about the harassment being inflicted on the Knights of Malta.  Today things there took an ugly turn as we learned that the pope demanded the resignation of the Knight's Grand Master, Fra Matthew Festing.  All Festing did was what was required of him in dismissing the condom-dealing official.  Might Msgr Pope suffer similar vindictiveness?  We must watch and pray.