‘Heretic’ in the Vatican - Pope Francis faces pushback from the church’s arch-conservatives. By HANNAH ROBERTS
“They call me a
heretic.” Not the words you’d
expect to hear from the head of the Roman Catholic Church. But that’s what Pope
Francis told a group of fellow Jesuits in Chile earlier this year,
acknowledging the fierce pushback from arch-conservatives in the Vatican. Celebrated by
progressives around the world for his push to update and liberalize aspects of
church doctrine, Francis is facing fierce blowback from traditionalists who
take issue with his openness to Muslim migrants, his concern for the
environment and his softer tone on divorce, cohabitation and homosexuality.
Opposition has become so heated that some advisers are warning him to tread
carefully to avoid a “schism” in the church.
Father Thomas
Weinandy, a former chief of staff for the U.S. bishops’ committee on doctrine,
has accused Francis of causing “theological anarchy.” Another group of bishops
has warned Francis risks spreading “a plague of divorce.” Last fall, more
than 200 scholars and priests signed a letter accusing Francis of spreading
heresy. “This was not something I did lightly,” Father John Rice, a parish priest
in Shaftesbury in the U.K. said, claiming the pope’s liberal push has caused
“much division and disagreement, and sadness and confusion in the church.” It’s not merciful to let people continue to
sin and say nothing,” Rice said. “If you see a child trying to put his hand in
a fire you say stop.”
Deviating from doctrine is bad enough. But Francis is
also under fire from the Vatican’s civil service, known as the Roman Curia. On becoming Pope,
Francis set a new tone by setting up his headquarters in a humble guesthouse
for priests rather than the grand apostolic palace — a gesture of humility that
carried with it an implied criticism of past excesses. He also did away with
the system of automa-tically giving a cardinal’s hat to bishops in certain
posts. Conservatives have been irked by some of his more liberal stances. In
2015, Francis ordered every parish to host two refugee families. And last week,
in his most explicit acceptance of homosexuality yet, he told a gay Catholic
that God had made him that way and that his sexuality “does not matter.”
The focus of most
traditionalist dissent has been Francis’ Amoris Laetitia, an “apostolic
exhortation” - a type of papal communication - in which he called for
a “merciful” approach to divorcees and opened the door for those living with
new partners to take communion with their priest’s permission.. read more:
https://www.politico.eu/article/pope-francis-heretic-vatican-liberal-conservative-war/
