De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

In a wide ranging interview with the Jesuit publication America Magazine , Pope Francis has spoken about some of the key issues and criticisms of his pontificate as well as offering his perspective on female ordination, the abuse crisis and racism. Well sort of. If you can make sense of some of his answers you're a brighter man/woman than me. But it is interesting in lots of ways; the assembled Jesuits don't hold back in terms of the questions they ask and the Holy Father does give some interesting responses. Asked about the growing political polarisation in the US, the pope warned of a divisive mentality suggesting that to be Catholic is to always harmonise differences. He explains that the way the Holy Spirit acts is first to cause disorder (giving the example of Pentecost) and then to bring about harmony. “The Holy Spirit in the church does not reduce everything to just one value; rather, it harmonises opposing differences. That is the Catholic spirit. The more harmony t...

As the Amazonian dust begins to settle, we can begin to see a little more clearly what has been going on, and the preliminary perspective confirms my initial instincts that this is a victory for the Church of Jesus Christ. The Pope & his progressive supporters have spent two years now building expectations around controversial topics like the ordination of married men, the abandonment of priestly celibacy & female ordination. These are not new topics, they are all the same old progressive topics pursued by Bergoglio and the men around him for decades (perhaps best illustrated from a parochial UK perspective by this recent post ). It seemed very clear that the Amazon was going to be used as a Trojan Horse to push these ideas into the mainstream. The arguments were made that the remote Amazonian communities lacked ministers to administer the sacraments, one nun at the synod even said she was already hearing confessions ! The Austrian bishop who seemed to have almost free r...

From Catholic Memes, too good not to share: “I remember, when I used go to Germany in the 1980s and ’90s, that I was asked to give interviews and I always knew the questions in advance. They concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion and other such constantly recurring problems. If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the Church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions; we give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears. I therefore consider it essential always to highlight the greatness of our faith – a commitment from which we must not allow such situations to divert us. ” – Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI, Thursday, 9 November 2006.