Pope tells Jesuits inclusivity, doctrinal evolution, synodality are crucial to Church

The Jesuit publication "La Civiltà Cattolica" has published a transcript of the dialogue between Pope Francis and the Jesuits of Portugal during the Pontiff's visit to Lisbon for WYD 2023. These meetings the Pope has with the failing dying and declining Jesuit order are always revealing and Pope Francis often gives us a clearer insight into the workings of his mind.

Vatican News reports:

"Throughout World Youth Day in Lisbon, the rallying cry for an all-embracing Church resonated powerfully with the words "Todos, todos" (Everyone, everyone), pronounced by Pope Francis as he stressed that the Church "has space for everyone". He emphasized the pivotal importance of creating a space for all individuals, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity, within the Church. This message continued to echo through his exchange with the Jesuits of Portugal."

"The Pope reiterated his call to embrace homosexual people within the Church. He critiqued the disproportionate fixation on sexual transgressions, noting that other 'offenses' often remain overlooked. He emphasized the need for a pastorally sensitive and imaginative approach to accompany individuals on their spiritual journeys."

How are we to read this? How does this manifest in the Church? How is it different from what we have always had? 

Can we, with Scott here, really say that this is simply the Pope restating what the Church has always taught? To do so becomes increasingly difficult, especially when you factor in the Pope's endorsement of banned New Ways Ministry which clearly & openly contradicts Church teaching, and his regular meetings with and praise for Fr James Martin, who's whole raison d'être is clearly to overturn Church teaching on this issue.

The very best we can say is that it is simply more dangerous ambiguity from the Pope of Confusion. It can only be seen as a continuation of Pope Francis pro-homosexual mission; a downgrading of sin to an irrelevance which can ultimately only serve to rob the Cross of its saving power and, indeed undermine the whole purpose and mission of the Church.

But perhaps even more worrying is the Pope's direction on trans issues:

"The Pope also recounted an encounter with a group of transgender individuals who were moved to tears by the Pope's acceptance and empathy. He underscored the necessity of reaching out to marginalized communities who often grapple with feelings of rejection, and he accentuated the significance of empathy and compassion."

The great, merciful Pope Francis accompanying young people straight into hospital to be mutilated. This really is awful! A dangerous ideology which contradicts Catholic anthropology and is increasingly recognised as one of the great tragedies of our time and we can't even rely on the Pope to stand against this poison in any meaningful or clear way! It seems just as the world is beginning to wake up to the horror of this mendacious ideology Pope Francis seems to be ramping up his support for it in the most dangerous way imaginable.

Here is a clear explanation of what the Church teaches:

Or perhaps the Holy Father should read 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8:

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honour, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you." 

The Pope goes on to address other issues and unfortunately makes a mess of them as well:

"Doctrinal Development
The dialogue delved into tensions existing within the Church, including reactionary attitudes and resistance to the tenets of the Second Vatican Council. The Pontiff acknowledged the intricate challenges posed by those who scrutinize Vatican II without explicitly naming it. He underscored the dynamic nature of doctrinal evolution and expounded on the notion that Church doctrine is not an unchanging monolith, but rather an evolving entity. He invoked historical instances such as the changing perspectives on the death penalty, nuclear weapons, and slavery to illustrate the fluidity of doctrine over time."

I have a friend who is a bone fide expert in this area, Rev Dr Stephen Morgan - his doctoral thesis is written on the development of doctrine. I asked him what he thought of the Pope's comments in this interview. He said:

"Two things struck me about this interview:
1. That he selectively quoted from Vincent of Lérins, again failing to note that he had said that expressions of doctrine develop such that the developed doctrine is to be understood “in eodem sensu eadamque sententia” (i.e. in the same sense and with the same judgement) as the antecedent expression of doctrine. Like Vincent, Newman took up the biological analogy. Although no analogy runs on four legs, the inherent logic of this one is identity of the antecedent and the developed expression of the article of faith involved: the infant Stephen does not and cannot develop into the adult Mark. Development is not some kind of Hegelian process guaranteed by an exercise of a maximalist notion of Papal Infallibility. Vincent of Lérins, John Henry Newman and Francisco Marin-Sola all see it as an exercise in fidelity to the historical expression of the deposit of faith, not its upending. Hence, in a negative sense it is possible, as the Pope says, to move to clarify something previously unclear (the evil of slavery) but it cannot be used to declare now as something always and everywhere sinful (the death penalty) that which is revealed as just, even commanded, in that same deposit of faith.

A note: the moral licitness of the use of nuclear weapons - at least of the strategic rather than tactical battlefield type - has never been in doubt. Their use could never be justified under the “just war doctrine”: they were never ius in bello. Pius XII said as much in February 1948 (and had warned of the danger in 1943 - even before their use in Japan).

2. When asked by the Jesuits, who worked at the University of Coimbra, how he should pastorally deal with unrepentant, homosexuals, leading lives of sexual activity, he once again took refuge in weasel, words, like “accompaniment“ and at no point, although the question was phrased in such a way that would seem to invited it, affirmed the church’s teaching nor spoke of that a compliment, leading the individuals back to righteousness.

From these two things, I am forced to conclude (yet again) that the Pope believes that doctrine can develop from “a“ to “not a“ and that he considers sexual sin to be fundamentally trivial."

"Synodality

Finally, Pope Francis conveyed his anticipation regarding the impending Synod, a gathering of Church leaders to deliberate on significant matters. He clarified that the Synod wasn't his brainchild; instead, it aimed to restore synodality within the Church—a concept first championed by Pope Paul VI. He emphasized that the driving force behind the Synod was the Holy Spirit, guiding its deliberations devoid of political bias or a focus on garnering votes."

In reality, the Synod of Bishops was established by St Paul VI on 15th September 1965 with the Motu Proprio Apostolica Sollicitudo. Its formation took place in the context of the Second Vatican Council which, with the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium (21st November 1964), had largely concentrated on the doctrine of the episcopate, urging greater involvement of the Bishops cum et sub Petro in matters that concern the universal Church.

The Council Decree Christus Dominus (28th October, 1965) describes the newly established body as follows: «Bishops chosen from various parts of the world, in ways and manners established or to be established by the Roman pontiff, render more effective assistance to the supreme pastor of the Church in a deliberative body which will be called by the proper name of Synod of Bishops. Since it shall be acting in the name of the entire Catholic episcopate, it will at the same time show that all the bishops in hierarchical communion partake of the solicitude for the universal Church» (n. 5).

It is impossible to link Pope Paul VI's ideas with what Pope Francis has done - the inclusion of the laity, the introduction of any number of wacky and anti-Catholic ideas into the synods working document, the packing of the assembly with Francis sympathisers. The Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod, the "Working Document", has the tenor of the ideology and language which draws from the culture of therapy, that the language is now a more sophisticated mixture of the therapeutic and the political. For more on this you can read Dr. Gavin Ashenden's analysis in the Catholic Herald here. In this context the Pope is either ignorant of the truth, or he is deliberately trying to mislead us by suggesting there is nothing to worry about: His mention of Paul VI is meant to appease those concerned with the alarming novelties he is introducing, but in reality, a little analysis reveals that there is actually no continuity. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Pope Paul VI would be scandalised by Pope Francis just as all the faithful are scandalised today.

When the Pope is this wrong, this regularly, we have no choice but to resist just as Cardinal Muller has instructed.