Francis, generally voluble, now surprisingly mum

Ubi loqui et debet et potuit, qui tacet consentire videtur.

Washington Examiner:

Pope Francis normally won’t stop talking. He’s picked a funny time to go silent

by Becket Adams
| August 30, 2018 01:08 PM

For a guy who loves to talk, Pope Francis sure has picked a funny time to be silent.

The Holy Father dodged questions this weekend about an 11-page document alleging he knowingly enabled and empowered sexual predators in the Catholic Church. The New York Times weirdly characterized the pope’s non-response as taking “ the high road,” but it’s hard to reconcile this description with the role Francis is supposed to play for the Catholic faithful around the world.

[…]

Pope Francis’ non-response this weekend is especially frustrating, considering his penchant for sloppily expressed public positions that routinely lead to misleading and poorly informed news cycles. When it comes to climate change, immigration reform, priestly celibacy, same-sex marriage, weapons manufacturers, etc., Francis is often willing to rush in, as critics might put it, without too much circumspection.

In fact, in the very same press conference this weekend where he refused to comment on the Vigano letter , Francis was quick to answer a question about what parents should do should they learn their child is gay.

[…]

 

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19 Comments

  1. Malta says:

    Well, he knows that everything in the Vigano letter is true, and verifiable by reliable sources. To deny it would make him not the Supreme Pontiff, but the Supreme Liar. Which on a funnier note, this pope remind me a little bit about this dictator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acpDD4eNeh8

  2. Akita says:

    Ugh. Let me get my Pepto-Bismol before researching what “the guy” said about what the correct parental response should be upon learning your child is a sodomy booster.

    Father, would you consider commissioning Word Press with a snappy line of products imploring either the resignation of Francis or the reinstallation of Pope Benedict? Ie: Zed-heads for Justice: Bring Back Pope Benedict. I’ll be the first in line.

  3. McCall1981 says:

    One possibility is that Francis knows that at least some of what Viganò said is true, but Francis doesn’t know if Viganò any of copies of the documentation.
    Francis doesn’t want to get caught in a lie so he can’t say anything specific.
    Just a thought.

  4. Joy65 says:

    OK I am NOT in “the know” about all of this so take my opinion for what it’s worth. Pope Francis for the time being is our Pope. God alone (not even the Pope himself) knows when his papacy will end. God allows things to happen for His greater glory. Remember Judas, remember what came about because of his betrayal of Our Lord. But remember after Good Friday came Easter Sunday. All of this going on with the abuse scandals and all are very sad, very hurtful, very disgusting and very WRONG that they even occurred and by Catholic clergy. I can’t change that as a lay Catholic, I can only trust God and pray UNCEASINGLY for Our Church, All priests, all Seminarians, all clergy and YES for all of our Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope. We belong to a Church of fallen, flawed human beings in authority. Does it make what they did or ignored about what was done right—-NO WAY! But all of this “remove the Pope, remove this or that Cardinal, remove this or that Bishop” and so on. There is a reason this all came out now, there is a reason it came out the way it did, there is a reason for who remains in authority and who doesn’t and the way this is all unfolding. Have y’all forgotten that GODIS IN CHARGE. Men have sinned since the fall and men will continue to sin until Jesus comes again. But in the mean time we must LOOK TO GOD and GOD alone to continue in our Faith. Trying to figure this all out and get the “scoop” on everybody else is not what we should be doing. This horrible abuse and any who took part or worse ignored when it was brought to their attention will be judged by God and dealt with accordingly. What we need to do RIGHT NOW and DAILY is pray for ALL Priests, Religious Brothers and Sisters, Deacons, Seminarians, Bishops, Cardinals, our Pope and our Church. I TRUST GOD. I TRUST HIS timing. I TRUST HIS way. I TRUST that HE WILL PREVAIL. I TRUST that HIS Church will continue and be the Church He wants. All of this trying to figure it out and find all of the answers could cause us all to go bazzerk ONLY IN GOD IS MY SOUL AT REST! NO one else can do what God can and will do for this situation and for Our Catholic Church.

  5. Ultrarunner says:

    This silence is easily explained.

    When senior management goes into crisis mode, they close the doors, gather counsel, and figure out who’s expendable in order to shift the blame to them. Cardinal Wuerl is the most expendable Cardinal following the Philadelphia grand jury report. Implicating him in the Mccarrick scandal is a no-brainer. Given the magnitude of the crisis, a second US Cardinal could go down. BXVI will probably be blamed as well. This gets Francis through the McCarrick scandal and allows him to retain his title.

  6. jaykay says:

    Joy65: no, we haven’t forgotten any of what you say. Yes, God is in charge, but he does tend to let us discern, and sort out, our own self-created difficulties. We have free will, for good or evil. And we have to sort out our own mess, as much as we can. And very often, that does depend on getting accurate information, from whatever source – if it’s a “scoop”, well and good, whatever the sources. Discernment means we take the truth and reject the bad.

    You’re preaching to the converted. And paragraphs, and lack of needless capitals, helps.

    In Christo.

  7. defenderofTruth says:

    Ultrarunner: Agree, 100%. To placate the masses, Weurl’s resignation will finally be accepted, and Tobin or Cupich are next, my bets on Tobin. Then it will be “nothing to see, move along” while talking about zero tolerance and “its for the children”.

  8. Pingback: The Pope, belatedly, learns circumspection | Petty Armchair Popery

  9. frmgcmma says:

    If Pope Francis is quiet, a large number of Catholic women are not! Posted this morning, they have already over 8000 signatures. They’re simply asking him to reply … here’s the link.

    https://catholicwomensforum.org/letter-to-pope-francis/

  10. JonathanTX says:

    “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent”

  11. Joy65 says:

    GREAT very short video by Father Josh Johnson:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQLpk3m-1bA

  12. Patrick L. says:

    @Ultrarunner, @defenderOfTruth. Unfortunately, yours are maybe the most convincing statements I’ve heard about the scandals yet. And they lead me to the question: when things just go back to business as usual in the Church, as if nothing ever happened, how long has this sort of thing been going on in the Church, where even after a public outrage following a terrible scandal, it just gets swept under the rug and quickly disappears from the consciousness of the vast majority of the laity (for most of whom, I wouldn’t be surprised if they would be happy to just sweep it all under the rug so we can just get back to our clown Masses)?

  13. Dismas says:

    Because anger consumes energy. The laity have bills to pay, diapers to change, and a thousand other things. Even truly invested Catholics can’t keep up anger for more than a couple of years, at least without new outrages to stoke the fire.

  14. Sword40 says:

    here is the 54 minute link to Dr. Taylor Marshall’s interview with another well spoken commentator.
    https://youtu.be/TGOCpc4LZVs
    some may find it a bit harsh but we are beyond the time for restraint. Time to just say it out loud.

  15. jerome623 says:

    McCall1981: “One possibility is that Francis knows that at least some of what Viganò said is true, but Francis doesn’t know if Viganò any of copies of the documentation.
    Francis doesn’t want to get caught in a lie so he can’t say anything specific.”

    I think this is spot on. If Francis denies something, and then Vigano produces a document demonstrating the opposite, then Francis’ credibility is shot and Vigano’s bolstered. Better to remain silent than be caught in a lie.

    Joy65: “Trying to figure this all out and get the “scoop” on everybody else is not what we should be doing. … NO one else can do what God can and will do for this situation and for Our Catholic Church.”

    How can you say with certainty that the efforts of those trying to get the scoop right now are not part of God’s plan to clean this up? Perhaps these investigators are instruments of the Lord?

  16. Johann says:

    The New York Times is a rag and their reputation is worth nothing.

    I stopped caring about what they print when they hired an angry racists as one of the columnists who called for killing white people (if she called for the killing of black people she would have been fired ASAP, and rightly so. So why the double standard?).

  17. teomatteo says:

    “…a funny time to go silent”?
    Maybe not. Maybe my prayer is being answered.

    Prayer For The Silence of A Pope.

    Dear loving and merciful Father,
    We pray for your Son’s earthly guardian
      of the deposit of faith.
    Grant to your humble servant N. __________
    that he may reserve and decline both speech and writing so as to safeguard your tradition that you so lovingly have bestowed on us for thousands years.
    May you grant our Vicar the peace and courage needed for earthly solitude and contemplation.
    Eternal and loving giver of all that is good, we beseech thee, to guide Him in his duties in living the gospel without words.
    We ask this thru Christ Our Lord.
    Amen

  18. Pingback: Viganò Watch: Friday Edition – Big Pulpit

  19. Patrick L. says:

    “…anger consumes energy.”

    That’s true. And banging on bongos during Mass and other nonsense doesn’t, I guess.

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