From infovaticana:
Cupich, McElroy, Tobin, Cobo, Hollerich, Fernández: Leo XIV chooses his own for the meeting on Amoris laetitia
The list of personal guests invited by the Pope to the meeting from October 7 to 14, published this Friday by the Press Office along with the program of proceedings, brings together the most prominent names from the progressive wing of the Church and excludes all critics of Francis’s exhortation.
In four days, cardinals and bishops from around the world will sit down with Leo XIV at the Vatican to discuss the family in light of Amoris laetitia. The official convocation speaks of “synodal discernment” and “mutual listening,” but the roster of guests the Pope has added in his own hand to the ex-officio participants says something more precise. Cupich, McElroy, Tobin, Cobo, Hollerich, Fernández, Tagle, David: all the names that set the agenda of the previous pontificate on the matrimonial question are there. None of those who questioned it have been summoned.
[…]
A variant of personnel is policy.
Hey, you never know… he might be planning to admonish them in person (or promote them to the newly estabslished Sees of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Marianas Trench or Doggerland).
On its face this is perhaps the most troubling report I’ve heard about an action by Leo XIV since he’s been pope. Of course we don’t know what his intentions are – maybe he’s going to let the Africans (etc.) school them in the Catholic Faith, or he’ll dress them all down – we should always hope! But it sounds very sinister.
Combined with his other recent appointments, my initial hope for this Papacy had already turned into fear, but now is turning into resignation. Is there any reason, any reason whatsoever, to hold out any realistic hope for at least a revision of Traditionis Custodes and some form of authorization of the Traditional Latin Mass, especially in dioceses where the bishop is hostile to the TLM?
If they reread contraception along the principles of Amoris; saying that it is sometimes okay to permit sin in advance if the individual doesn’t think he has the ability to participate with God’s grace, that will be an absolute atomic bomb in the Church. Completely catastrophic.
Alea iacta est… The Rubicon will be crossed soon.
The stress on the few remaining threads that hold the seamless garment together will be soon broken from overwhelming force revealing the Emperor’s new clothes.
Could we hope that he is calling them in to reprimand them, give them an interpretation of Amoris laetitia that is consistent with the perennial teaching of the Church and ask them to quit spreading heresy?
I think the best characterization is that we have “the fox guarding the chicken coop”. Unfortunately, our current pontiff is Francis 2.0. For those who were hoping for some relief from the actions of Francis, I suspect your hope was in vain. There will be no true relief under Leo.
We must remember that we are told in Psalms “put not your trust in princes”; our trust must be in God alone.
Pray that the tribulations will be shortened and remain faithful to the Gospel!
@Dan – I sure hope so! Otherwise I fear the outcome.
I think I’ve said this before, but I cannot recommend enough that people take time to study the first-millenium councils, since they can teach us much about the limits of papal power.
Constantinople IV declared Pope Honorios to be a heretic:
“So, *we anathematize* Theodore who was bishop of Pharan, Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul and Peter, the unholy prelates of the church of Constantinople, and with these, *Honorius of Rome*, Cyrus of Alexandria as well as Macarius of Antioch and his disciple Stephen, who followed the false teachings of the unholy heresiarchs Apollinarius, Eutyches and Severus”
Constantinople III also didn’t hold back:
“we define that there shall be expelled from the holy Church of God and anathematized Honorius who was some time Pope of Old Rome, because of what we found written by him to Sergius, that in all respects he followed his view and confirmed his impious doctrine… To Honorius, the heretic, anathema!”
Constantinople II is instructive for different reasons: firstly, Pope Vigilius was *extremely* reluctant to ratify it and desperately tried to wiggle out of doing so, but was finally bullied, cajoled, threatened and even physically coerced into doing so by Justinian. This shows that the inner desires and will of the pope are not something we need to hold to or even particularly care about, but only his *exterior* acts as teacher and lawgiver. We particularly need to remember this because of the current, horrible tendency among Catholics to idolize the pope’s person.
This council is also instructive because it infallibly condemned two theologians who had been fallibly rehabilitated at Chalcedon a century before, showing that councils and popes can sometimes get things wrong, and that it can take a very long time to fix; and also showing that it’s ok to hold people to be heretics even if they have not (yet) been formally condemned. Obviously, do this with the greatest of prudence!
I recommend Philip Hughes’ books on the history of the Church, and/or Alan Fimister’s podcasts on Youtube (especially his Sensus Fidelium talks, recorded about 6 years ago) for learning more about these, and other cases. What we’re going through now is IMO worse in degree than anything else in history, but not different in kind.
I honestly get a warm fuzzy feeling when I read these councils. I can chill and stop worrying about the pope or Vatican II or the Church as a whole or whatever. Just my own soul is enough.
@Luke Welborn – brace yourself. Something like this is coming. It will be in the typical side-winder style, though. Not a direct endorsement, but a “we can’t hold people to some abstract idea of unattainable perfection, but must accompany them toward the goal.” Which will, in practice, be absolutely taken as a full on endorsement by all the agents in the field, and since no correction from the pope or the Vatican will be forthcoming, it will forge in the minds of all that the Church does, in fact, permit contraception.
It’s definitely coming. That and more endorsement/promotion of LGBTQ+ style perversion.
People thinking/hoping Leo is going to “correct” this rogues gallery – you’re at toxic levels of copium. It’s just going to make the shock of the inevitable encounter with reality that much more destructive.
And, @mickeyfitz, the sad reality is you are on the right track. The people still pretending that TC is going to get reversed are guilty of an absurd amount of mental gymnastics. The absolute best that can be reasonably hoped for is a continued approval for waivers asked for by bishops – but for bishops who are against Tradition or even for bishops who are eager to court the favor of Roche and his ilk – no relief for the faithful in those diocese will be forthcoming. It does seem that, at least for now, the FSSP will be left alone. But one can’t help but wonder for how long.
This upcoming meeting seems like a time waste. What is the purpose of AL? Are there really new sins that haven’t already been addressed? The Ten Commandments and the Catechism of the Catholic Church should provide sufficient information and be a trusted resource to answer any questions regarding morality.
Marriage is an indissoluble union between one man and one woman. God has raised this union to the level of a Sacrament. “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” A man should leave his family and cling to his wife. Marriage and family are institutions recognized and protected by both the Church and the state. Parental authority is given by God and should not be undermined. Parents have a duty to instruct their children in the faith. God commanded men and women to be fruitful and multiply. Contraception and IVF are wrong.
Cupich is 77, has tendered his retirement twice, and is still there. It will be interesting to see who Leo selects to succeed him .
I live in Chicago. I don’t know which is worse: the devil you know, or the devil you don’t know.
Rumors are Leo will send J. Tobin here but Tobin’s already 74, so that’s starting to look unlikely. Whatever the case, it seems Chicago is some kind of key archdiocese in the whole scheme of things, and so, like our mayors, bishops are carefully selected to make sure the established status quo does not change. After all, Chicago is the Metropolitan See of the Province, which covers all the dioceses in Illinois. And except for the major metropolitan areas, like Chicago, it’s politically solid red. (Yeah, I know. Hard to believe. But check out voting maps for any major election.)
And apparently Cupich likes it here, because rumors are that he’s doing a million dollar renovation of his residence at Mundelein Seminary, where he’s lived the past unknown number of years. He does not reside at the Cardinal’s Mansion or the rectory at Holy Name Cathedral which are in downtown Chicago, but he lives 40 miles north at the seminary, which is gated and private. Whatever the case, it may have been decided that even if he does retire, he needs to keep a close watch on the Midwest.
I don’t give into despair, but I’m sure not getting my hopes up either. After all, Our Lord said, “He who endures unto the end will be saved.” I guess He knew it might be a rough ride.
I purchased a copy of Remaining in the Truth of Christ and perhaps I spent more time staring at its cover than reading its arguments. In the same way, I’ve spent more time musing over the title Amoris laetitia than bothering with its text. I prefer Sacred Scripture to secondary or tertiary sources. Especially bad preachers.
Anyway, to name a document The Joy of Love was an amazing riposte, IMHO. Alexander Comfort had published The Joy of Sex on the feast day of the Little Flower, fewer than 4 months prior to Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, a certain cadre or coalition of “researchers” was producing some decidedly non-empirical research on the very nature of sex and gender and “orientation”.
So in continuity with Pope St. Paul VI, whose prescient predictions all came to pass, I suppose that Pope Francis really needed to remind the world that sex is holy; sex is a precious gift; the Christian family is an image of the Holy Trinity. If that means treating some populations with kid gloves, and just… kinda… giving them what they want… if they really want it that bad… who am I to judge.
Interestingly, Sigmund Freud’s surname only lacks an “e” to mean “Joy” in German. Kraft durch Freude was a slogan that promised happy workers via recreation and leisure activities. My erstwhile psychiatrist, a German frau, also bore a given name that evokes joy and celebration.
It is neither accident nor happenstance that Laetare Sunday invariably falls during Lent. Laetare is the day of rose vestments and the day to throw off our penance, only briefly, just to enjoy that exciting anticipation of the Risen Lord. This world needs that kind of joy. The rejoicing that only the Holy Spirit can bring. Maranatha!
@Elizium 23
As you probably realize, If one were to translate the title of the book by Andrew Comfort that you named – “The Joy of Sex” accurately into Latin, it would read, “Amoris Laetita”