March 13 ought to have been a happy day in Rome. But the mood in and around Vatican City before, during and after the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’s election was more somber than festive — and not because the anniversary fell during Lent. Rather, the melancholy reflected the current atmosphere in the Holy See, which has gone unremarked for too long and deserves candid description.
The financial reform of the Holy See, while not without accomplishments, has stalled far short of completion; both the Vatican’s structural deficit and its vast unfunded pension liability remain to be seriously addressed.
The German bishops openly defy Roman authority, much of institutional German Catholicism seems comfortable with apostasy, and a schism is not out of the question. The papal voice in response to this crisis is, at best, muted. Yet the authority of American bishops to provide for the liturgical nourishment of some faithful Catholics is squashed.
Bishops and cardinals who have a tenuous grasp on fundamental truths of the Catholic faith continue to be appointed, in part because of the (typically unreported) fact that Pope Francis often governs in an imperious manner with little concern for established procedure.
The somber mood in Rome these days also reflects embarrassment over the dramatic decline of the Vatican’s moral authority in world affairs: the result of both inept papal commentary and Vatican policies that create the impression that the Church is abandoning her own. Very few senior churchmen are enthusiastic about the Holy See’s kowtow to the Marxist mandarins of the People’s Republic of China, whose communist party now plays a prominent role in naming bishops. The Holy See’s accommodating approach to the brutal thugocracies in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela breeds more embarrassment. When opposition leaders plead for the Holy See to vigorously defend the persecuted Church and imprisoned Catholic dissidents in those countries, their requests often go unanswered — or they’re told by a (very) senior Vatican official that, while he is personally sympathetic, the Pope insists on a different approach.
And then there is the fear engendered by a systematic effort to deconstruct the legacy of St. John Paul II. The John Paul II Institute for Studies of Marriage and Family at the Pontifical Lateran University has been gutted; its new, theologically woke faculty attracts very few students. The approach to the moral life that has dominated the “synodal process” thus far is a flat-out rejection of the basic (and classic) structure of Catholic moral theology that undergirds the Polish pope’s 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor — just as the deliberate ambiguities in the 2016 apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, undercut John Paul II’s teaching in the 1981 apostolic exhortation on marriage and the family, Familiaris Consortio.
Full story at Catholic World Report.
Let up pray for our Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Francis:
May the Lord preserve him and give him life and make him blessed upon the earth and yield him not up to the will of his enemies.
Amen.
God bless the Holy Father who he chose to shepherd Holy Mother Church!
If God chose the pope, what does the College of Cardinals do?
Discern His Will.
You don’t know that?
How do we get people catechized?
1) “Discern His Will. You don’t know that?”…..I know that. Ask those who assert that God choses popes
2) “How do we get people catechized?”…..Provide accurate information about the Faith and live by example.
Are you a Christian? If God authored the Sacred Scriptures, what did St. Paul do?
We cannot always rely on Catholic clerics to authentically listen to and act upon the Divine Will of God. Many have been rebellious against God, all through history.
You can always trust the Pope and the Magisterium.
“You can always trust the Pope and the Magisterium.”….would you trust a pope like Liberius? Honorius? Virgilius?
Did they teach anything against the Faith?
That’s right people. You can always trust the Magisterium in its entirety, when in union, they teach the rest of the Church in matters of faith and morals. When you listen to them in those matters, you listen to Christ.
It’s only the rad trads who don’t like him. The inevitable conclusion of being a rad trad Catholic is conversion to Islam. Islam is the only religion that will be steadfast in opposing the sexual depravity of the world. Catholicism has been one of the last holdouts, but it looks like the house of cards is going to fall within five years as the church will approve gay marriage.
Who, exactly, are these “rad trads?” I have never met one. Anyway, gay pervert sex acts are serious Mortal Sins. There is no such thing as gay “marriage.” If the Catholic Church ever lied and sinned grievously to Almighty God, and foolishly tried to destroy Christ’s holy Sacrament of Marriage– this would end up in a serious schism. Faithful Catholics would remain true to Christ. And the evil ones– possibly under a heretical, schismatic, false Pope– would collapse and fall to the Devil.
you are under-informed re Islam
The answer is no
https://rcrc.org/muslim/
The answer is still no
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/25/middle-east-child-abuse-pederasty
The Church is not going to approve gay marriage. Some people will believe anything.
Without a strong commitment, dedicated, hard work, a strong backbone, integrity, good morals, honesty, good discipline, order, perseverance in hard times, careful, correct thinking and action, self-belief, and adherence to standard, excellent, time-honored, and proven, traditional ways of doing things—- (no short-cuts, laziness, or cheating) — you won’t get very far, or succeed at much. Doesn’t matter if it’s in Marriage, raising kids, running a home, running a school or university, running a bank or managing finances, working to excell in areas like sports, music, or anything else; managing a businnes, office, farm, or workplace, managing a state or country– or managing a worldwide Church… That’s why flaky, “shaky,” lazy, flimsy, corrupt leftist liberalism, and “easy-way” (by cheating) permissiveness are so awful– it is always guaranteed to ruin everything and everyone. Christ gave us The Way, over 2,000 years ago. That’s all there is– and His Pathway is never going to change. It’s made just for us– with thorns as well as roses. (No Cross, no Crown.) Too many people today, want a false, “Cross-less Christ.” Best to submit to Him, in faith, with a happy heart — and go. And all will be well.
I think the pope and Vatican should give up their “human” ways– and give up their phony Synods, as well as give up Martin, Hollerich, Paglia, McElroy, Cupich, and many others… many need strong reprimands and probably, excommunication!! Get rid of Paglia and the dishonest, current Pontifical Academy for Life (PAL), return it rightfully to the structure of Pope St. John Paul II. Give up rebellion against Christ, follow the Catechism and Canon Law honestly and devotedly, deny “bad Catholics” (like Biden, Pelosi, etc.) Communion, return to good discipline, and run the Church right– and be good, honest, practicing Catholics– and really mean it!– for all the world to see!. True Charity in Christ’s Name requires morality, detachment, and good discipline, with no desire for false “popularity” and phony self-gain.
Weigel has been holding off for quite a bit on the atmosphere in Rome. He lives there, he knows it. I think he was hoping for a betterment of the situation by now and felt that now he , sadly, had to tell the truth
Tragically, the Diocese of Albany, NY, now has over 400 clergy child sex abuse cases, filed in just the last few years– so this Diocese is filing for bankruptcy. So sorry for all the poor, suffering victims.
The Oakland Diocese announced in all Diocesan church bulletins last Sunday, that it may soon file for bankruptcy, due to approximately 330 clergy child sex abuse cases, as Bishop Barber explained. May God bless and heal all the poor, suffering victims of clergy child sex abuse!
You can find an official Letter dated March 16, 2023, from Bishop Michael C. Barber, explaining all of this, posted on the Diocese of Oakland website, under the “Bishop Barber” section, in his “2023” year interviews, statements, letters, etc. Tragic.
Jeremiah York, age 24, former Director of Liturgical Ministries and Executive Assistant to the Rector, at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, was arrested in Walnut Creek on January 6th, on charges of possession and sharing of child pornography– and was removed from his job at the Cathedral. Investigations of the case are ongoing. York is also a photographer, and took photos for the Diocese. York formerly worked with liturgies of various types– Masses, religious events, Baptisms, Confirmations, Weddings, Funerals, etc. The news story is on the Diocese of Oakland website. What a horrorific Catholic news story!
It is no secret that Weigel detests Pope Francis. When others criticized Weigel’s favorite pope, St Pope John Paul II, he responded with sharp criticism and admonished the pope’s critics to respect the Holy Father as the Vicar of Christ. Interesting that now a pope not akin to Weigel’s views, both political and theological, occupies the Throne of St Peter, he makes no mention of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ but instead longs for the day when the current pope’s reign will come to the end. Isn’t that a sin?
He used to be a good Catholic. I hope he gets over whatever is bugging him. If he is comparing anybody to JPII, they are going to fall short. That is a once every thousand years thing.
William Robert, I do not have before me the corpus of Weigel’s commentary on Pope Francis, only the original article in Catholic World Report. Based on this I have to means to evaluate your take on Weigel. In the readers’ comment section of this article, Weigel responds to some comments with this:
“I have never claimed to be the “official” biographer of John Paul II and indeed have spent two decades correcting people who say that when introducing me. As for being “inside,” I am quite inside enough to know exactly what I’m talking about in this column — and to know that the votaries of this pontificate are trafficking in fantasy on this tenth anniversary.”
Weigel certainly gives reasons for the lack of optimism in Rome; most appear in the article above. My question to you is, has Weigel provided enough evidence to verify his claim that things are not bright and sunny on this 10 year anniversary? In other words, is the article true? And if so, your question is answered. it is no sin to speak the truth.
“…no means to evaluate…” sorry for the typo
Many long for the end of this papacy, but of course– not the death of the poor pope. Just the end of all the frustrsting evils destroying the Church. Looks like the German bishops are headed for schism. I am sure that Catholic journalists are sick of announcing “bad news” of our Church to the world. Can’t there ever be “good news” to report? What will come to pass, with this continuation of the frustrating Synod on Synodality? Any possible good? I recently read about a group of Latin American bishops who concelebrated a Mass in Brazil, for the Synod on Synodality– with a statue of the Pachamama prominently displayed on the altar. There was a video and photo of this awful event. Where is the young, heroic, Austrian Catholic “pachamama thief and destroyer,” Alexander Tschugguel? Lots of frustrating and embarrassing ambiguity, confusion, and sin, for poor Catholic journalists to report to the world, in this papacy!
“Interesting that now a pope not akin to Weigel’s views, both political and theological, occupies the Throne of St Peter, he makes no mention of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ but instead longs for the day when the current pope’s reign will come to the end. Isn’t that a sin?”….is it a sin that the Vicar of Christ no longer refers to himself as the Vicar of Christ?
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/12708/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-the-vicar-of-christ
No– it’s not a sin. One must be very clear-headed, and logical, on this. Christ is our true “pope,” our true King, in Heaven! Also, the current pope does not use the term, “Vicar of Christ.” Wonderful for all Catholics to desire God’s Justice on this, for true and correct Catholic leadership– for Christ! A Catholic pope is allowed to lead like monarchs of old, until death (or may also choose to resign). There is no means of the top clerics who elected him (College of Cardinals) to discuss possible serious errors, and then apply discipline– or replace him. The “Dubia” did not work. This is like a king in days of old, with Divine right. All one can do, with poor papal leadership, is to simply groan in misery, hoping and praying for God’s Justice to intervene. And keep standing steadfast with Christ, in the True Faith. The Catholic faithful must have really suffered greatly, under the scandalously immoral pontificate, of the terrible “Borgia” pope, Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503). He had several mistresses, and illegitimate children, who all gained much power, prestige and wealth.
Pope Alexander VI reigned from 1492-1503. That’s a total of eleven years of a terrible, scandalous, sinful pope– on his way straight to Hell– unless he repented, which I don’t think he did.
When at last the pope was suffering from a very severe sickness, he spontaneously requested, one after another, each of the last sacraments. He first made a very careful confession of his sins, with a contrite heart, and was affected even to the shedding of tears, I am told; then he received in Communion the most Sacred Body and Extreme Unction was administered to him.
We should pray that Francis’s pontificate ends ASAP.
Be careful what you pray for.
Weigel is just mad nobody buys his books anymore. JPII and the New Evangelization are passe.
“The New Evangelization and the ministries it inspires, and all individual Catholics who desire to be the missionary disciples and the leaven our world currently needs, have a unique gift in Pope Francis.”….has the gift stopped giving?
https://wherepeteris.com/what-does-pope-francis-have-to-say-to-the-new-evangelization/
The New Evangelization was supposed to be reinstructing Catholics in the Faith. I have never seen Pope Francis address that. He talks about going out to the people who are hungry for the Gospel.
I think this author is confused with Pope John Paul II calling for a new evangelization effort.
But it is minor.
This is a good article and a good reminder that Pope Francis is fulfilling the calls of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
There are many Catholics who never read those Pope’s writings so they do not understand and criticize what those Popes were sure was God’s Will for the Church.
Thanks for the article link.
A word about ambiguities: Just because you don’t understand something or someone else does not understand something does not mean it is ambiguous.
Just because someone takes something the wrong way (like this recent secular interpretation of priestly celibacy being temporary) does not mean it is ambiguous.
Temporal would have been a better word and maybe it was a translation error.
Catholics who know the faith get it. When someone misunderstands, you correct.
If you don’t understand, ask.
Some people express their ideas in an ambiguous manner– for whatever reasons they may have. Or else they may be unskilled, poor communicators. It is the responsibility of world leaders, secular and religious– to learn to publicly communicate clearly, so that they can be good leaders. If they cannot do this, they will be a very poor leader, and will not do much good for their cause. We should not expect the public to spend hours trying to figure out what a world leader who is a poor or ambiguous communicator– is “really” trying to say.
Sloth
Pope Francis and all of need to realise that our time on this earth is limited.While here we need to follow our Lord Jesus Christ to the best of our abilities.Lord have mercy on all of us sinners!
The Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is developing a new, Mexican/Latin American indigenous form of the Mass, valled the “Mayan Rite.” Is this truly, honestly necessary? St. Juan Diego, and many other Latino and Indian saints, worshipped at the Latin Tridentine Mass and Sacraments.They kept much of their indigenous ways– clothes, food, customs, etc.– and adopted some Spanish ways of life, too. But these devout Saints were fully Catholic, and loved their Faith, taught to them by Spanish missionaries. Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego as an Indian princess. It must have been very meaningful to him. But I don’t think he would have accepted a “Mayan Mass.” Are there some groups of Mexican/Latin American indigenous peoples who are truly Catholic– and are desperately in need of this “Mayan Mass?” The indigenous peoples of Mexico and Latin America, have now had Catholicism since the 16th century! Why would they ever want to dig up long-ago discarded, worthless, heretical Pachamamas and other pagan idols?
The Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is now working to develop a new “Mayan Rite” of Mass, for indigenous peoples of Mexico/Latin America. Is this really necessary? The indigenous peoples there, have now had Catholicism since the 16th century. Are they honestly Catholic? Why dig up centuries-old, long-ago discarded Pachamamas and other pagan idols, and ways of worship– and try to wrongfully include all of this heretical stuff of another religion, in a Catholic “Mayan Rite” of Mass? What’s the point? St. Juan Diego and all the other indigenous and mestizo Latino Saints, worshipped at the Latin Tridentine Mass– which the current pope oddly does not care for. I would think that the holy Latin Tridentine Mass, which the current pope strangely objects to– is honestly better, it is authentically Catholic– but the new “Mayan Rite?”– no, I don’t think so. Big mistake! And who will honestly want to be a priest for this new “Mayan Rite,” to serve these oddly unknown, unheard-of, “Mayan Rite” Catholic, indigenous parishioners and their families?
Saint Juan Diego lived in the 15th century. He was an Aztec.
St. Juan Diego was born in 1474 and died in 1548. His name at birth was Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means, “talking eagle.” He was born in what is now Mexico City, as an Aztec Indian, a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups of indigenous people there. In 1524, when he was 50 years old, St. Juan Diego and his wife, Maria Lucia, were among the first indigenous people to convert to Catholicism, and they were baptized by one of the first Spanish Franciscan missionaries to arrive in the area. St. Juan Diego had his famous apparitions of the Blessed Mother in December of 1531, at age 57. Because the Spanish Franciscan missionaries arrived in the Mexico City area in 1524, and St. Juan Diego was converted to Catholicism then– and because of his famous apparitions in 1531, I always think of him as living in the 16th century Of course, he was born in the 15th century– you are correct. Love to read all about him, and all the other fabulous saints.
Our Lady of Guadalupe and other Marian apparitions have always been very much-loved, in Mexico and Latin America. Wouldn’t Our Lady be much more important to the indigenous peoples, than a “Mayan Mass” with heretical Pachamamas, and other idols?
There is no Pachamama or other idols. There are 3 things which some will find controversial but most Catholics will not.
Of course, as St. Juan Diego died in 1548, before the Latin Tridentine Mass was promulgated in 1570– he actually attended a Mass that was very similar to the Latin Tridentine Mass.
He may have attended a Franciscan Mass. You would have to get a liturgical history that was pretty detailed to find out.
All the important elements of Mass have been there since the beginning of the Church.
Are you able to find out much about the Mass there in California.
Not every order or area had to change to the Mass of Pius V.
Liturgical history is usually presented as “Jesus said the first Mass at the last supper.”
I am sure that someone along the way wrote down the history of the Mass. I have read that there are histories that have many volumes but I have never encountered one.