Happy American Thanksgiving! Two voices for Truth!

Bishop Schneider issues his support for the Four Cardinals, via Rorate HERE.

“The Cardinals say that to “many — bishops, priests, faithful — these paragraphs allude to or even explicitly teach a change in the discipline of the Church with respect to the divorced who are living in a new union.” Speaking so, the Cardinals have merely stated real facts in the life of the Church. These facts are demonstrated by pastoral orientations on behalf of several dioceses and by public statements of some bishops and cardinals, who affirm that in some cases divorced and remarried Catholics can be admitted to Holy Communion even though they continue to use the rights reserved by Divine law to validly married spouses.
In publishing a plea for clarity in a matter that touches the truth and the sanctity simultaneously of the three sacraments of Marriage, Penance, and the Eucharist, the Four Cardinals only did their basic duty as bishops and cardinals, which consists in actively contributing so that the revelation transmitted through the Apostles might be guarded sacredly…
…the unusually violent and intolerant reactions on behalf of some bishops and cardinals against the calm and circumspect plea of the Four Cardinals cause great astonishment. Among such intolerant reactions one could read affirmations such as, for instance: the four Cardinals are witless, naive, schismatic, heretical, and even comparable to the Arian heretics.
Such apodictic merciless judgments reveal not only intolerance, refusal of dialogue, and irrational rage, but demonstrate also a surrender to the impossibility of speaking the truth, a surrender to relativism in doctrine and practice, in faith and life. The above-mentioned clerical reaction against the prophetic voice of the Four Cardinals parades ultimately powerlessness before the eyes of the truth. Such a violent reaction has only one aim: to silence the voice of the truth, which is disturbing and annoying the apparently peaceful nebulous ambiguity of these clerical critics.” (emphasis mine)

There is a lot more.  Go read at Rorate.
The support from Bishop Schneider is not surprising, of course.
The support from Dr. Jeff Mirus was, shall we say, a bit of a shock: HERE

…we have also been forced to admit the Pope’s shortcomings, and in particular the confusion he causes when the faithful compare what the Church has always asked of them with what Pope Francis asks of them.
This has been a source of pain for many deeply-committed and well-informed Catholics. Moreover, the entire problem has been exacerbated by Pope Francis’ unfortunate tendency to dismiss his critics—or even merely those who ask for clarifications—as “rigid”, “nasty”, and suffering from “psychological problems”.
I do not intend to recap all of the unfortunate controversies. Suffice it to say here that it is not “proselytism” to want to bring non-Catholic Christians into the Church so that they can enjoy the full range of God’s gifts for our salvation; and it is not “rigid” or “legalistic” to affirm, as we say to God in the Act of Faith, that we believe “all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.”
Contrary to what Pope Francis often implies, Catholic teaching on faith and morals is not a matter of “laws” or “rules” but of the conformity of the mind with reality, which is the definition of truth. (emphasis mine)

Frustratingly, Mirus goes on to suggest the remedy for all this is merely to ignore Francis and go about your daily life. Nope, that’s not going to cut it, Jeff.
Still, for a guy who only two months ago was still twisting himself into a pretzel to defend Francis, after the affirmation to the Argentine Bishops HERE, this is a pretty big reversal. Welcome down the rabbit hole, doctor!
Sorting and sifting.  Sides lining up.  Everyone will have to choose. Choose wisely.
Happy Thanksgiving!
 

5 thoughts on “Happy American Thanksgiving! Two voices for Truth!”

  1. “Frustratingly, Mirus goes on to suggest the remedy for all this is merely to ignore Francis and go about your daily life. Nope, that’s not going to cut it, Jeff.”
    I agree with you about that.
    Pax.
    Mark Thomas

  2. “Sorting and sifting. Sides lining up. Everyone will have to choose. Choose wisely. Happy Thanksgiving!”
    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family…and to each person who reads your blog.
    Let us pray that God protects us from a schism. May His Holiness Pope Francis and the “four Cardinals” walk with each other in peace.
    Pax.
    Mark Thomas

      1. I realize that the situation appears bleak. But perhaps the following from Cardinal Tobin offers to us a ray of hope. In regard to His Holiness Pope Francis having not responded to the dubia, Cardinal Tobin said the following:
        “I don’t know if the Pope is planning a response to this or not. ”
        I realize that it could be argued that the above comment from Cardinal Tobin doesn’t reveal anything. The following may be laughable: But as Cardinal Tobin is unaware as to Pope Francis’ plans in regard to answering the dubia, we really don’t about that as well.
        Perhaps Pope Francis will respond to the dubia. Perhaps the Four Cardinals will be pleased with the answers that they would receive should Pope Francis respond to the dubia.
        Let us pray for peace between Pope Francis and the Four Cardinals. May the Blessed Virgin intercede for us to prevent the hardening of hearts in regard to the situation at hand.
        May each of us always view the other person as a child of God. Charity will save the day.
        Pax.
        Mark Thomas

  3. May I add the following to my previous comment. More than anybody, I need to embrace charity. I need to practice what I preach. I need to be more respectful to the Four Cardinals.
    Pax.
    Mark Thomas

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