Bishop Kissy-Face: "Refusal To Use Condoms Contradicts Demands Of Charity"

Remember!  He is now head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  Here is prima facie evidence of him proclaiming heresy against Catholic morality.  To insinuate that the refusal to commit an act that is inherently sinful "contradicts charity" speaks of fundamental rebellion against Sacred Tradition and the God Who authored it. 

In a 2006 article, written as vice-dean of the Catholic University of Argentina theology faculty, #PopeFrancis’s new doctrinal chief, Archbishop Víctor Fernández, argued that a woman’s “inflexible refusal to use condoms” could, in some cases, contradict the demands of charity.

In a 2006 article, written as vice-dean of the Catholic University of Argentina theology faculty, #PopeFrancis’s new doctrinal chief, Archbishop Víctor Fernández, argued that a woman’s “inflexible refusal to use condoms” could, in some cases, contradict the demands of charity. 👇 pic.twitter.com/C8Thtq9pjx

— Diane Montagna (@dianemontagna) July 7, 2023

H/T - Canon 212 

Disgraceful Dismissal Of Cardinal Muller

Cardinal Muller has been dismissed as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  We knew that was coming, owing to the Cardinal's stances on both Laudato Si and Amoris Laetitia.  One Peter Five has further details of the dismissal interview. The pope summoned Cardinal Muller to a conference.  Right away the Pope presented him with five questions in apparent mockery of the dubia issued a few months ago by the "dubia Cardinals".  The questions are (with the Cardinal's replies):

• Are you in favor of, or against, a female diaconate? “I am against it,” responded Cardinal Müller.
• Are you in favor of, or against, the repeal of celibacy? “Of course I am against it,” the cardinal responded.
• Are you in favor of, or against, female priests? “I am very decisively against it,” replied Cardinal Müller.
• Are you willing to defend Amoris Laetitia? “As far as it is possible for me,” the Prefect of the Congregation for the Faith replied: “there still exist ambiguities.”
• Are you willing to retract your complaint concerning the dismissal of three of your own employees? Cardinal Müller responded: “Holy Father, these were good, unblemished men whom I now lack, and it was not correct to dismiss them over my head, shortly before Christmas, so that they had to clear their offices by 28 December. I am missing them now.”

Any Catholic worthy of the name would have answered all five of these in the negative, as has the Cardinal.  Immediately afterwards, the Pope announced to the Cardinal his dismissal from the post and abruptly ended the interview by walking out without even a "good bye".

When Cardinal Muller first complained about the manner of his dismissal, these details were not known.  Now we can understand the Cardinal's complaint in the correct context.  He also remarked that the Church should follow its own social teaching.  I agree.  For all the jibber-jabber about "dialogue" and "accompanying", those two elements were nowhere to be found in that conversation.

I will say one thing.  The pope put forth five questions and received five very prompt replies.  Will he now condescend to answer the cardinals' dubia?

Who's next?  Will it be Cardinal Sarah?  How about Archbishop Schneider or maybe Bishop Paprocki?  Pray that the faithful prelates remain steadfast and show your support for them.

Vatican Mafia Strikes Again

Yesterday I asked "who's next on the Vatican Mafioso hit list"?  We sure learned that in a jiffy, didn't we?  In a few days, Cardinal Gerhard Muller will no longer be prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  He has always stated that the various screeds proceedings from the Vatican could never trump the Church's traditional teachings on faith and morals.  The LifeSiteNews piece theorizes about possible replacements for Muller; anyone of them would wreak havoc in that position.

Of the faithful prelates who headed various offices, only Cardinal Sarah remains - for now.  Pray for his strengthening and pray for the Church.   If your diocese has not yet had its "Peter's Pence" collection, consider boycotting it.  Regrettably the only language they will heed is the sound (or lack thereof) from the cash register.

Is Cardinal Muller Cowering Before Vatican Progressives?

It certainly appears that way, given the statement that he released on Sunday.  He is Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  He said that a "fraternal correction" regarding Amoris Laetitia is "not possible" because AL poses "no danger to the faith".   Edward Pentin, in the National Catholic Register, points out that the CDF lodged a large number of corrections for AL; not one of them was accepted.

Now what else happened at the CDW just a few days prior to that?  Recall that on December 26, the pope ordered Cardinal Muller to dismiss three of the priests who were working with the CDW.  When the Cardinal succeeded in getting an audience so that he could discuss the matter with the pope, the pope tersely told the cardinal, "I am the pope, I do not need to give reasons for any of my decisions.  I have decided that they have to leave, and they have to leave".  He then walked out of the room, ending the meeting right then and there.  So much for all this "collegiality".  It seems reasonable to guess that Cardinal Muller felt the pope's displeasure.  One might think of the fear that a mafia underling would feel if his don behaved like that.

Like Mundabor, I strongly suspect that Muller is in "cya" mode: that is, "cover your @ss".  While I can understand Muller's "about-face", I can in no way condone it.  I had hopes that he was a bright spot in a very dark place, but he has cowed; no John Fisher is he.  Maybe he will reconsider; I pray he does.  But if he does not, let the four dubia cardinals press forward and do what needs to be done to bring some light and truth to the higher echelons of the Church.  Maybe Cardinal Napier can join them with his own dubium.

Pope Francis Channeling Juan Peron?

As we all know, Pope Francis is an Argentine native.  It is said that he is sympathetic to "liberation theology", condemned by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.  Pope Francis' sympathies to it have been evidenced over the past few years. Last week, Leonardo Boff, a leading proponent of the flawed thought system in the 1980s (and former Franciscan priest), said of Pope Francis "he is one of us".  He even indicated that Pope Francis solicited him for input for Laudato Si.  Unless Pope Francis explicitly repudiates this, I've no reason to doubt Boff's allegations.  Recall that over two years ago, a former Soviet spy claimed that "liberation theology" was a thought system invented by the KGB so that Marxist thought could be insinuated in the thinking and policies of various church bodies.  The KGB might well have found a willing ally in Pope Francis.

Liberation theology might not have been the only mental poison that Pope Francis contracted in Argentina.  Recall how Juan and Eva Peron had a virtual stranglehold on that country as they nationalized the economy, driving it to ruin.  Yes, they did much by hoodwinking much of the populace (like the Obamas managed to do for so long), but some heavy-handedness was also used.  Read this wikipedia entry and go to the "opposition and repression" section.  Bearing in mind that this wikipedia piece seems somewhat sympathetic to the Perons, even the author cannot ignore the way that Peron opponents were treated and that the Perons did hold both Mussolino and Hitler in some admiration.

We've seen how the pope seems to be emulating the Perons as he expunges from Vatican posts those who differ with him, just as Peron did at various universities and other places.  On the day after Christmas, Pope Francis ordered Cardinal Muller to expel three priests from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  The order was given without any explanation.  Read the article to get a glimpse of the atmosphere of fear that seems to permeate the Vatican.

There is also reason to believe that the pope (or at least his operatives) are behind the ongoing smear campaign against the four dubia cardinals, particularly Cardinal Burke.  From EWTN, we read that on Christmas Day, Leonardo Boff (yes, the one mentioned in the first paragraph of this post) mocked Cardinal Burke by calling him "the Donald Trump of the Catholic Church".  Come to think of it, that might not be so much of an insult after all, although it was intended as such.  At any rate, we do see signs of a coordinated campaign.  It's eerily similar to the mainstream media campaign that they undertook before the election to sway the voters towards Hillary.  Happily that media campaign was an abysmal failure, but only because people are waking up to the media's lack of credibility.

We bloggers hope to assist in a similar epiphany for Catholics in the pews so that they can understand what is happening in the Church today.  We must pray and act, but in order to do either properly, we must understand the true nature and gravity of the events occurring in the Vatican.

Personnel Is Policy - Cardinal Muller Removed From CDF

Today it was announced that Pope Francis has removed Cardinal Gerhard Muller from his position as Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  He will take post as Archbishop of Mainz.  His replacement at the CDF?  Cardinal Christophe Schonborn of Vienna: yes, this one.  He is also the prelate that overrode one of his priests when the latter blocked an openly gay man from sitting on a parish council - just two months after Cardinal Wuerl ousted Father Guarnizo for likewise being a faithful priest.  See here for more of Schonborn's destructive antics.

We knew this was just a matter of time, didn't we?  Cardinal Muller has been one of the few remaining voices of sanity and orthodoxy in the Vatican, much to the chagrin of many of his fellows and perhaps even Pope Francis.  Read here for an account of the many times he, as Prefect of the CDF, spoke truth to the lunacy spewing forth from the Vatican.  More than a year ago I predicted that Muller might well find himself in progressive cross-hairs; that has come to pass.  Surprise!!

As they say, "personnel is policy".  With all the faithful prelates being ejected from positions of influence in the Vatican in favor of progressives and de facto heretics, can there linger any reasonable doubt regarding the policies of Pope Francis?

Correction - There is reason to hope that this change has not happened and that the reporting was premature.

Cdl Muller Administers Much-Needed Truth To LCWR

A few days ago, Cardinal Gerhard Muller of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith administered some much-needed medicine to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.  He did not sugar-coat it, he did not adulterate it with disgusting "nuance" and "diplomacy".  He served the truth straight up.  The question remains whether or not the LCWR will actually repent and remind themselves that they took religious vows to obey Holy Mother Church.

Here is the address on the CDF site.

National Bishops' Conferences Presidents NOT Vice-Popes

From Lifesite News, we read the statements of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller.  He is attempting to clarify misunderstandings brought about by Evangelii Gaudium.

When I think of the mess that is our own United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I only have two words to say in response to Archbishop Muller:

DEO GRATIAS!

Leadership Conference Of Women Religious To Undergo Desperately Needed Reform

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today announced that the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has called for reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).  The USCCB press release is here.  That in turn links to the "Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious".  I urge you to read it and to save that pdf to your own hard drives.

The CDF, in that document, spells out some fundamental anomalies that the LCWR has been exhibiting for some time:

• Dissenting speakers at various conferences
• Embrace of the erroneous concept of women's ordination
• Embrace of "social justice" issues at the expense of life issues

All in all, I think the reform process is off to a solid start.  A key to its ongoing success will be the support that the CDF receives from the US bishops, as there is sure to be some "push back" from the LCWR itself, along with other progressives who have infested the Church hierarchy.

Some of the progressives have begun their apoplectic seizures already.  From the Not-so Catholic Reporter we read that "the Vatican investigation into U.S. women religious, which began in 2009, is bearing its first toxic fruit."  (Emphasis mine).  The author goes on to express his terror at the thought of Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain leading the reform effort.  And why?  Because Sartain is a "bishop against gay marriage"!  Gasp!  Who'da thunk it??   A Catholic bishop upholding the teachings of Jesus Christ through His Church!   I realize that this is a novel concept for these progressives, but they'd better start getting used to it.  That goes also for the progressives infesting the LCWR.