Fr. Z's Blog

As Rome wakes up from the summer break, the war for the Synod has begun.  Those who wish changes to Catholic doctrine have allies in the Catholic media and the mainstream media.

You should be aware of what is going on, to motivate you in holy anger and concern.  In the letter to the Galatians heard on Sunday in the Extraordinary Form we hear Paul exhort Christians to use meekness in correction of others.  Meekness is the mean between the extremes of unreasonable anger and not getting angry when you should.

I want you to be a little angry with a holy anger so that you will be motivated to pray and to fast, to bear the self-denial and to be focused.  You also need to overcome the case of Synod Fatigue that is sure to set in pretty soon, if you don’t suffer from it already.

Read the following, closely… don’t just scan.  Read.

First, WaPo is weighing in, identifying the “bad guys” who stand against “reform”.   HERE  Pictures are worth a thousand words.  Here is how they start out.

Conservative dissent is brewing inside the Vatican [Conservatives are the dissenters now, even though they uphold Catholic doctrine.]

VATICAN CITY — On a sunny morning earlier this year, a camera crew entered a well-appointed apartment [not “humble” like some apartments!] just outside the 9th-century gates of Vatican City. Pristinely dressed [what the hell does that mean?] in the black robes and scarlet sash of the princes of the Roman Catholic Church, the Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke sat in his elaborately upholstered armchair [not “humble” like some armchairs] and appeared to issue a warning to Pope Francis.

A staunch conservative and Vatican bureaucrat, [bureaucrats are mean] Burke had been demoted by the pope a few months earlier, but it did not take the fight out of him. Francis had been backing a more inclusive era, giving space to progressive voices on divorced Catholics as well as gays and lesbians. [He is also the first Pope who has ever smiled or kissed a baby!] In front of the camera, Burke said he would “resist” liberal changes — and seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority. “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope,” Burke told the French news crew.

Papal power, Burke warned, “is not absolute.” He added, “The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”

Burke’s words belied a growing sense of alarm among strict conservatives, [not just conservatives… but strict conservatives… they are really mean meanies] exposing what is fast emerging as a culture war [culture warriors are super mean meanies who hate the poor… and gays… and hate kittens and music and flowers and sunlight… like orcs] over Francis’s papacy and the powerful hierarchy that governs the Roman Catholic Church.

[…]

It goes on to show photos of “Pope Francis: Acts of humility”.  No…. their not taking sides.

Check out Breitbart on the WaPo piece.    It concludes:

The next time the Washington Post is looking for a writer to report on the Catholic Church, maybe they should ask Dan Brown if he’s free. At least he admits that he writes fiction.

Next, read this piece by Sandro Magister about what is going on with the Jesuit run Civiltà Cattolica, which has a quasi-official status due to its oversight by the Secretariat of State.   These days it is also said that a Jesuit close to Pope Francis is deeply involved with it. HERE

You may weep as you read it.

“La Civiltà Cattolica” Has a New Headquarters. At Santa Marta

ROME, September 8, 2015 – “La Civiltà Cattolica” is not just any magazine. Written exclusively by Jesuits, its proofs always undergo inspection by the Vatican authorities before publication. With Pius XII, it was the pope himself who exercised this supervision and inspired some of the articles. John XXIII left the job to the secretariat of state, and so did his successors.

But with Francis the connection between the pope and the magazine is once again a direct one. The current director of “La Civiltà Cattolica,” Fr. Antonio Spadaro, has a very close and confidential relationship with Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to the point of having become the prince of his interviewers and interpreters. [Don’t freak out.  It is a common practice in Italian journalism to use the baptismal names of Popes.]

Everything that this magazine writes about the synod on the family, therefore, tends to be traced back to him, to Francis.

And in effect, all of the articles published so far on this matter lean in a more or less pronounced form toward supporting that “process” of updating the pastoral care of marriage under the banner of “mercy” which turns out to be the real intention of the pope and which for many – including some writers of “La Civiltà Cattolica” – should be concretized in the admission of the divorced and remarried to communion and in the blessing of homosexual unions.

The latest issue of the magazine and a book it is about to publish are the umpteenth proof of this orientation.

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In “La Civiltà Cattolica” of September 12, 2015 there are two articles dedicated to the subject of the synod.

[…]

It’s hard to know what Pope Francis wants, but it is pretty clear what some people around Francis wants.

Moreover, the New Yorker has weighed in to smear Andrea Gagliarducci.

And USNews & World Report has, with AP, weighed in to smear Ed Peters.

You may all need to stock up on Scotch before this is over.

Meanwhile, I suggest, instead of Scotch, some fasting and lots of prayer before the Synod starts.  Pray a lot.  Make it a constant and disciplined intention.  Use the Most Holy Rosary.  Ask others to pray and to fast.

For the love of God, invite an army to pray.