Pope Francis: "You can say today we are not living an era of change but a change of era"

During the 5th National Ecclesial Convention in Florence Italy, Pope Francis gave 45 minutes of remarks reflecting upon the Convention's theme of "In Jesus Christ, the New Humanism".

The Holy Father warned that Pelegianism (a heresy denying original sin) and Gnosticism (a heresy denying Christ's divinity) are temptations which defeat a true Christian humanism.

In this context, Pope Francis' exhortation to companion in Christ to all not limited by a closed system of doctrine makes more sense.  Pope Francis voiced a desire of a happy church with a face of a mother who understands, caresses and accompanies.  

These pastoral pronouncements echo the weltanshaaung of this papacy and look forward to the year of mercy.

What is concerning is the inference that Catholic doctrine can change, that moves and grows in the flesh of Jesus Christ. This doctrinal ambiguity led to much of the consternation concerning the recent Synod on the Family, in which "Mercy driven" (liberal) prelates may bend doctrine on marriage to accommodate civilly divorced and remarried Catholics so they receive Communion.

Pending "Time Bombs" in Synod '15 Final Report

Rorate-Caeli published an exclusive long-form interview with Bishop Athanasius Scheider from the Diocese of Astana, Kazhakstan which critiqued controversial paragraphs contained in the Synod of the Family's Final Report as being "time bombs". 

The concern which many faithful who believe in the Gospel admonition that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a women which can not be loosened by divorce,. Thus,  subsequent unions without an ecclesiastical declaration of nullity (i.e. Annulments which parties did not enter into a covenant of marriage) puts Catholics into a mortal sin of adultery. 

Much like the documents from Vatican II tried to paper over serious divergences of opinion to claim a consensus document, the Synod of the Family's Final Report did not enumerate a change in doctrine toward neo Mosaic understandings of divorce.  But the ambiguity in paragraph 85 is worrisome.  The Synod '15 Final Report quoted Pope Saint John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (1981), but left out an important portion:

 “The way to the Eucharist can only be granted to those who take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples.".

WIthout that decisive language, it inspires "merciful" bishops to implement some means of gradualism, in creating a pathway to the Eucharist for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. 

It is unclear how Pope Francis will act upon the Synod of the Family's Final Report. But the Holy See needed to knock down a recent rumor that during the upcoming year of mercy, all divorced Catholics who asked would be admitted to the Sacraments. A more likely scenario is that under a Pope Francis notion of Synodality, prelates who are inclined (or pecuniarily motivated) could implement gradualism on this issue for their own flock. 

Cardinal Donald Wuerl on the Fruits of the Synod of the Family

In order to discern what Cardinal Donald Wuerl meant about the fruits of the Ordinary Synod on the Family, it was necessary to learn the term antinomian,

Some of Pope Francis' Closing Remarks for the 2015 Synod on the Family

h/t: Holy See Press Office 

The Simpsons on Marriage

Fortunately, the aula at the Synod on the Family did not have to hear the intervention of Marge and Homer J. Simpson.  Zoinks!

Cardinal Jorge Savino on Mercy

Cardinal Oswald Gracias Opines About the Synod of the Family Final Document

Cardinal Donald Wuerl on Machinations in the Synod of the Family

Fr. Tom Reese on the Challenges at the Synod of the Family

 

 The gradulalist penitential path for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion was proffered by Cardinal Walter Kasper, the 82 year old President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.   

  

 At the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Francis opined that Cardinal Kasper was a superb theologian, for ideas that were contained in "The Gospel of the Family" (2014).

Cardinal George Pell on Doctrine

Romanian Doctor's Incisive Intervention at the Synod of the Families

[R] Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea,  President of the Association of Catholic Doctors of Bucharest

Along with the 270 Synod Fathers participating in the Ordinary Synod on the Family, there were some laity participating. Planners asked for a variety of input, including a couple of Catholic Pre Cana Marriage Counselors from India. 

But among the Synod interventions which have found their way out of the Paul VI Audience Hall was a pointed speech by Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea, the President of the Association of Catholic Doctors of Bucharest (Romania). Her views having come from a culture which had been wrecked by political Marxism, was insightful in interpolating how cultural Marxism could skew our weltanschauung and threaten our salvation.

Dr. Cernea's intervention in its entirety:

Your Holiness, Synod Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, I represent the Association of Catholic Doctors from Bucharest.

I am from the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.

My father was a Christian political leader, who was imprisoned by the communists for 17 years. My parents were engaged to marry, but their wedding took place 17 years later.

My mother waited all those years for my father, although she didn’t even know if he was still alive. They have been heroically faithful to God and to their engagement.Their example shows that God’s grace can overcome terrible social circumstances and material poverty.

We, as Catholic doctors, defending life and family, can see this is, first of all, a spiritual battle.

Material poverty and consumerism are not the primary cause of the family crisis.The primary cause of the sexual and cultural revolution is ideological.

Our Lady of Fatima has said that Russia’s errors would spread all over the world.It was first done under a violent form, classical Marxism, by killing tens of millions.Now it’s being done mostly by cultural Marxism. There is continuity from Lenin’s sex revolution, through Gramsci and the Frankfurt school, to the current-day gay-rights and gender ideology.

Classical Marxism pretended to redesign society, through violent take-over of property.

Now the revolution goes deeper; it pretends to redefine family, sex identity and human nature.

This ideology calls itself progressive. But it is nothing else than the ancient serpent’s offer, for man to take control, to replace God, to arrange salvation here, in this world.

It’s an error of religious nature, it’s Gnosticism.

It’s the task of the shepherds to recognize it, and warn the flock against this danger.“Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The Church’s mission is to save souls. Evil, in this world, comes from sin. Not from income disparity or “climate change”.

The solution is: Evangelization. Conversion.

Not an ever increasing government control. Not a world government. These are nowadays the main agents imposing cultural Marxism to our nations, under the form of population control, reproductive health, gay rights, gender education, and so on.

What the world needs nowadays is not limitation of freedom, but real freedom, liberation from sin. Salvation.

Our Church was suppressed by the soviet occupation. But none of our 12 bishops betrayed their communion with the Holy Father. Our Church survived thanks to our bishops’ determination and example in resisting prisons and terror.

Our bishops asked the community not to follow the world. Not to cooperate with the communists.

Now we need Rome to tell the world: “Repent of your sins and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”.

Not only us, the Catholic laity, but also many Christian Orthodox are anxiously praying for this Synod. Because, as they say, if the Catholic Church gives in to the spirit of this world, it is going to be very difficult for all the other Christians to resist it.

It was remarkable that Dr. Cernea felt empowered to rail against the Church involving itself in climate change politics, particularly after Pope Francis' ecological cri-de-coeur Laudato Si.  It is a good thing that Pope Francis takes a broad view of Synodality. The question is how he will use this information.

h/t: LifeSite 

Archbishop Blase Cupich on the Indissolubility of Marriage

Cardinal Robert Sarah on the Gospel

Cardinal Thomas Collins on Compassionate Mercy

Archbishop Charles Chaput on the Synod on the Family

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput had the privilege of hosting Pope Francis in the City of Brotherly Love a fortnight before the Ordinary Synod on the Family. The World Meeting of Families was planned before Synod '15 but Archbishop Chaput hoped that those discussions would influence the discernment amongst the Synod Fathers.

Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ on Vocations

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki on the Synod on the Family

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz on Synod '15

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri on the Synod on the Family