Nella
memoria della vergine megalomartire S. Eufemia di Calcedonia, nella cui chiesa
sepolcrale fu tenuto il IV Concilio Ecumenico, quello di Calcedonia, protettrice dell’ortodossia
cattolica, rilancio questo preoccupato articolo sulle nomine sinodali rese note
nella giornata di ieri. Che la Santa Martire di Calcedonia, la quale indicò
miracolosamente dove stesse l’ortodossia cattolica, possa proteggere la Chiesa
dagli assalti dei novatori, pur numerosi ed in numero schiacciante rispetto
agli esigui sinodali fedeli alla dottrina della Chiesa di sempre.
 |
| Icona del Miracolo di S. Eufemia al Concilio di Calcedonia |
 |
| Francesco Cairo, Martirio di S. Eufemia, XVII sec. |
 |
| Sarcofago di S. Eufemia, Basilica di S. Eufemia, Rovinj (Rovigno), Croazia |
Family leaders alarmed at Pope
Francis’ personal invitees for Synod
by Pete Baklinski
ROME, September 15, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Life and family
leaders worldwide are alarmed by a list the Vatican released today containing the names
of those who will participate in the upcoming Synod on the Family, including a
special list of 45 prelates handpicked by Pope Francis, many of whom publicly
support positions contrary to the teaching or practice of the Catholic Church.
“The Ordinary Synod has a heterodox agenda and many of
the prelates attending it have already shown themselves either supportive of
that agenda or unwilling to resist it,” stated Voice of the Family, a group of
Catholic laity from major pro-life and pro-family organizations worldwide, in a
press release today.
“The family is now under grave danger from within the
Church, as well as from international institutions and national governments,”
the group said.
The list of “members by Papal appointment” includes a
number of controversial figures whose actions or statements have caused
Catholics from different parts of the world to question their orthodoxy:
· Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former president of the
Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who masterminded the proposal last year to change Catholic
teaching on the reception of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried Catholics
objectively living outside of God’s laws.
· Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the former archbishop of
Mechelen-Brussels in Belgium, who in 1990 tried to convince Belgian King Baudouin to sign an
abortion bill into law. In 2013 Danneels referred to gay “marriage” laws as a
“positive development.” This is the second time he has been personally invited
by Pope Francis to be a Synod Father.
· Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, who
has defended giving Holy Communion to
pro-abortion Catholic politicians. In 2011 Cupich, then bishop of
Spokane, forbade priests in his diocese from
taking part in the semi-annual 40 Days for Life pro-life vigil. His responded
to the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to redefine marriage by focusing
primarily on decrying discrimination against homosexuals rather than
criticizing the imposition of same-sex “marriage.”
· Bruno Forte, the archbishop of Chieti-Vasto,
Italy, who was credited with drafting the controversial homosexuality section of the infamous midterm report of
the Synod that spoke of “accepting and valuing [homosexuals’] sexual
orientation.” When questioned about the language, Forte said homosexuals have
"rights that should be protected," calling homosexual unions an
"issue of civilization and respect of those people."
· Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna and
president of Austria’s Episcopal Conference, who identifies himself as the intellectual architect of
so-called “lifestyle ecumenism” that calls on the Church to change its pastoral
approach to focus on the “positives elements” in sexual relationships that
violate the natural law and Church teaching. Schönborn has endorsed civil unions for homosexuals, telling the Tablet in 2013 that
there “can be same-sex partnerships and they need respect, and even civil law
protection.”
· Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, the archbishop of New York, who
led this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade as grand marshal after defending as a “wise one” the organizers’ decision to allow
for the first time an openly homosexual activist group to march in the event.
In March 2014 Dolan congratulated homosexual football player Michael Sam on NBC's "Meet the
Press" for publicly announcing he was ‘gay,’ saying “Good for him… I would have no sense of judgment on him.”
· Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington,
who is a leading proponent of giving Holy Communion to Catholics who publicly
promote grave moral evils, such as pro-abortion politicians. In 2012 Wuerl stripped a priest of his faculties for refusing Communion to a
lesbian Buddhist who had reportedly introduced her lesbian “lover” to the
priest in the sacristy moments before her mother’s funeral Mass. The
archdiocese issued a public apology to the woman, criticizing the priest’s
actions.
· Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, former archbishop of Milan who
has agreed with the Kasper proposal put forward prior to the Synod
last year that the Church should offer Holy Communion to Catholics in divorced
and civilly remarried situations.
· Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the Vatican’s
College of Cardinals, who attempted to halt investigations into sexual abuse allegations
against Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the disgraced founder of the Legionaries
of Christ.
· Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez
Maradiaga, the
archbishop of Tegucigalpa, president of Honduras’ Episcopal Conference, and
close advisor of Pope Francis, who headed a strongly liberal conference in Rome this month featuring numerous
speakers defending the Kasper position.
· Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, the archbishop of Barcelona,
who stonewalled years of evidence from pro-life groups that
abortions were happening in a Catholic hospital under his watch. He refused to excommunicate or discipline a priest in his diocese who
financed the abortions of two young girls and who boasted about blessing
homosexual unions.
· Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, the archbishop of Aparecida,
Brazil, and president of the country’s National Conference of Bishops, who
prior to last year’s Synod praised the “softer and tolerant rhetoric
of Francis, especially regarding homosexuality.” In an October 2014 interview
with LifeSiteNews Assis lamented that no matter how “stable”
homosexual relationships might be, the Church would not approve them.
· Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the archbishop of Manila,
Philippines, who earlier this year decried what he said was the Church’s use
of “harsh” and “severe” language to describe the sins of adultery and
homosexual behavior during the occasion of a UK youth conference. Later he told
local reporters that the Church needs to relearn its teaching on “mercy.”
· Cardinal John Dew, the archbishop of Wellington
and president of New Zealand’s Episcopal Conference, who made an intervention at the Synod last year calling on
the Church to drop traditional language describing sin as “disordered” so that
“people do not see and hear the Church judging or condemning.” Dew has also argued for the admission of the divorced and civilly
remarried to Holy Communion.
· Victor Fernández, the titular archbishop of
Tiburnia, Argentina, who is one of the pope’s top theological advisers and who mutedly criticized Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, prefect
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for opposing the direction
of Pope Francis. Fernández, who was among the drafters of the final report of
the Synod last October, and who was involved in drafting the pope's encyclical
on the environment, told reporters in May that the Pope is
“aiming at reform that is irreversible.”
· Fr. Antonio Spadaro, director of the Italian journal
La Civilta Cattolica, who is a personal friend of the pope and who has repeatedly promoted in
his journal the Kasper Proposal and other
similar arguments aimed at liberalizing the Church's moral teaching on marriage
and the family.
Voice of the Family says the appointments indicate the
Church is facing a grave crisis.
“The time has come for all Catholics, at every level
of the Church, to recognize the full gravity of the crisis that now engulfs
us,” the group said. “Each and every one of us, clergy or lay, has the right
and the duty to defend Catholic doctrine and practice from attacks by members
of the hierarchy.”
Among the names of those handpicked by the pope are a
smaller number of prelates known for their uncompromising commitment to
Catholic teaching. Among these are:
· Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban, South
Africa, who was one of the most outspoken of the anti-Kasper bishops at the
last synod. In April, Napier said Kasper had no business being labeled “the Pope’s
theologian,” as many have done, because of his disrespectful attitude toward
Africans. Kasper openly criticized the contributions of African bishops at the
Synod last year, telling one reporter that Africa “is totally different from
the West, especially about gays” and that the majority of Synod fathers did not
listen to the Africans on the issue.
· Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, former president of the
Pontifical Academy for Life, who is considered a champion among Catholics for
his uncompromising defense of all life and the family. Sgreccia gained an
international reputation for using strong language to condemn the
immorality prevalent in the culture of death, refusing to back down on any life
related-issues including euthanasia, abortion, contraception, and embryonic
research.
· Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, the archbishop of Bologna, who contributed to a book released last month by
Ignatius Press titled “Eleven Cardinals Speak" that defends Catholic
teaching on marriage and sexuality. Caffarra has argued there can be no
contradiction between Church doctrine and practice regarding marriage. He has
criticized the Kasper proposal for threatening to eradicate the very concept of
marriage within the Church.
That the Church is facing an unprecedented crisis is a
theme beginning to be stressed by prelates recognized by many Catholic faithful
for their strong commitment to upholding Catholic teaching.
Last week Archbishop Lenga, the emeritus archbishop of
Karaganda, Kazakhstan, told Polonia Christiana in an explosive video that also featured Cardinal
Burke, that Pope Francis will reveal himself during the Synod.
“The Pope during the Synod will show whose side he is
on,” he said. “If he accepts the statements of those who want to distribute
Holy Communion to the divorced, there would be a heresy in the Church, and if
he does not accept, there could be a schism in the Church.”
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