Hot Line to God
But what I don't get is that if all the senior figures in the Catholic Church believe that Pope Francis is speaking directly with God, then how can they tell the Holy See that he's barking up the wrong tree as he trees to drag the conservative wing of his church into the 21st century?
Catholic family synod blocks Pope’s welcome to gays and divorcees
Pope Francis has said of gay people: "Who am I to judge?" Tony Gentile/ Reuters
By Tom Kington in Rome, Emily Hall - The Times
Pope Francis faces months of struggle to fulfil his dream of a more open Roman Catholic Church after senior bishops and cardinals blocked his proposals to be more inclusive towards gays and divorced people.
Prelates voted down the pontiff’s bid for a more inclusive church at a stormy warm-up synod in Rome, where insiders reported an atmosphere of rebellion with booing and angry speeches.
The Pope will now decide whether to pick a new fight with the conservative wing of his church before a key synod to discuss the family in a year’s time.
Tempers flared after a document was produced last week summarising speeches midway through the synod. One section, entitled: “Welcoming homosexual persons”, stated that gays had “gifts and qualities” and should be offered a “fraternal space” in the church.
While offering no change on the church’s doctrinal opposition to gay marriages or gay sex, the tone of the document mirrored Pope Francis’s statement, “Who am I to judge?” when he was asked about gays last year.
Conservative bishops rebelled against the document, however, claiming it as the work of a small cadre of liberal, pro-Francis prelates which did not represent them, and they pressed for changes.
When a final synod document was put to the vote on Saturday, the “welcome” of the title of the section on gays was gone, as was reference to their “gifts and qualities” and “fraternal space”.
Rather than addressing homosexuals directly, the new paragraph preferred to discuss “Families who live out the experience of having people in their midst with homosexual orientation.”
But even that change was not enough for hardline bishops, who denied the section the required two thirds majority it needed during the vote on Saturday.
Additionally, two other sections inviting bishops to study ideas to end a ban on communion for divorcees who remarry were also struck out, despite backing from Cardinal Walter Kasper, one of Pope Francis’ favourite theologians.
In a sign that he refuses to let the debate on gays and remarried divorcees end, however, the Pope ordered the passages to be included in the published synod document anyway, with Vatican spokesmen justifying the move on the grounds that it remains a working paper until the final document to published after next year’s conclusive synod.
Speaking today at a ceremony for the beatification of Pope Paul VI, who was elected in 1963, Francis quoted Paul as saying that the church and synods needed to adapt to the “growing needs of our time and the changing conditions of society”.
In his speech to bishops at the end of the synod on Saturday, Francis said that debate inside the church was healthy and warned against both the “hostile rigidity” of traditionalists and the excesses of the “progressive and liberal” wing in the Vatican.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, who attended the synod, agreed that the debate had been positive.
“Why should I be worried when people express openly, clearly and courteously, with great care, what they think?” he told Radio 4 today. “That’s how we live together. That’s how the church works. That’s why these last two weeks have actually been a very good experience.”
Cardinal Nichols said he could not remember which way he voted on the watered-down section concerning homosexuals, but added that he had disapproved of it because it was not welcoming enough.
“There were three key words as far as I was concerned and the three key words were welcome, respect and value ... and I was looking for those words and they weren’t there, so I didn’t think that was a good paragraph,” he said.
Behind praise for the liveliness of the debate, observers expressed concerns that if the Catholic Church cannot reach a consensus on homosexuality and communion for remarried divorcees before next year’s synod, Pope Francis will make his own decisions, risking a huge rift within the church.
One analyst said it was already “embarrassing” that he had to work side by side with the arch-conservative Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who oversees Vatican doctrine as the prefect of the Holy See’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“Francis won’t substitute Müller while former Pope Benedict is still alive, since Benedict appointed him,” said Marco Ansaldo, a Vatican expert at the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Benedict, who resigned in February 2014 before retreating to a life of prayer inside the Vatican, made a rare public appearance on Sunday for the beatification of Paul VI.
La Repubblica reported today that conservative bishops at the synod had secretly tried to enrol the retired, conservative pope to join an anti-Francis alliance, only for Benedict to refuse the offer.
Hotline To God (23 February 2013)
When I was taught religious education at a Catholic school - many years ago now - I was told that the His Holiness the Pope spoke directly to God.
Now all the other Cardinals, Monsignors and Priests - and whatnot - were and are also very holy and all 'good men' - except the ones who abused young boys and others in their care - or played a part in later in covering-up these terrible incidents, of course.
But now that we're going to have two Popes - one retired (Emeritus Pope) and one about to be 'selected' by the conclave of Cardinals - I have a question.
Will there in future be one Papal hotline to God or two - to take account of the new and different circumstances in 2013?
I favour two because the Catholic Church is in such a mess these days - that I think you could fairly say that two heads would be better than one.
Although on the other hand if every Cardinal was able to 'phone a friend' in times of need - it might have kept some of them out of trouble - by avoiding bad decisions and inappropriate behaviour .
Now if I remember my religious education properly, Catholic children were always taught that the Pope was infallible - because his Papal actions and decisions were only taken after much prayer and consulting carefully with God.
But I have to say that I can't really buy that idea - because over the centuries Catholic Popes have done so many awful things - in which case they must have acted with God's blessing the faithful are asked to believe.
For example, by unleashing the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades to the 'Holy Land' or - more recently - by propping up General Franco's fascist regime in Spain between 1936 and 1975 - and by entering into treaties with Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany at the start of the Second World War.
So I - for one - don't believe the Pope is infallible - any more than I believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny.
And I imagine the world would be a better place if more people thought that way - including many Catholics.
