A Pontificate for Thugs

The Fr Thomas Rosica 'case' now covered by quite a few sites disturbs me greatly. The idea that a Catholic layperson can voice his concerns at what certainly appears to be the public statement of doctrinal positions that deviate from the Magisterium, only to then be issued with a lawsuit from a priest is quite unbelievable.

This news ties in with the latest reports of the wrecking ball approach of the Commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. This is getting really very ugly. A papacy that was meant to embody 'mercy' more and more appears to be used - by some at least -as a smokescreen for a new and brutal era that seems well suited to thugs or nightclub bouncers.

Nightclub bouncers - I am sure there are many good ones - have a reputation for being rough around the edges and every now and then giving someone a 'good going over' if they've stepped out of line. They look quite respectable a lot of the time, but know how to pack a good punch and can leave you with a broken nose. Laws like those which forbid grievous bodily harm are known to go out of the window in the heat of the moment, when it is convenient.

Pope Benedict XVI was - in an age in the Church that probably demanded 'tough love', really very gentle with those who sought to oppose him. He would never - unlike Fr Thomas Rosica - think Lent - or any other time - was a time for getting even with your enemies. What a way to start Lent!

'That man criticised me, because my own words make me look and sound heretical. Sue that man!'

Apparently, Fr Thomas Rosica can spout whatever nonsense he likes on Twitter - or other media outlets - and everyone has to accept it without complaint, even if it insults God, Our Lady and St Joseph. What we are seeing now is in stark contrast to the Benedictine approach. The new regime seems to talk the talk about mercy, but walk a different walk that sees might as right, even though if you ask them to give a clear answer on good and evil, and the difference between the two, they offer very little advice. Strange that, isn't it? I suppose that a new atmosphere and a new 'springtime' in the Church regarding moral and doctrinal issues could leave certain prelates and priests confused, giving them a conducive environment in which to exercise their baser, more brutal, more violent sides.

People are still confused as to what STFU means. Does it mean 'Surrender to Francis Unconditionally?'

Cardinal Donald Wuerl and others are very good at talking about compassion and mercy but then go onto attack other bishops as 'dissenters', while not taking time to tell us who or what they are dissenting to. Is it the Bishop of Rome they are dissenting to or the timeless teaching of the Eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ and His Church? It is rather important to ascertain whether 'dissenting' bishops are being loyal to Jesus Christ by voicing concern over the 'agenda' promoted in the pontificate of Pope Francis.

While we are on the subject of 'agendas', is it really appropriate for the Pope to say that the issue of married priests 'is on my agenda'? Does the Vicar of Christ really have an 'agenda'? I think it is safe to say that Pope Francis does have an agenda, not far down the list of which seems to be the habitual insulting and public denigration of priests, seminarians and other Catholic Christians he thinks don't live up to the mark. Questioning, in public, the psychological state or moral state of 'traditionalist' seminarians is, I think, pretty outrageous and an insult to the intelligence of Catholics. Has it escaped His Holiness's notice that the former Bishop of our Diocese and others now known as notorious were not particularly 'traditionalist'. I don't recall the abusive priests and scandalous bishops or those who covered up serial abuse in Belgium and Ireland and the US being 'traditionalist', but I suppose it would be unhelpful to let truth get in the way of a good old fashioned smear campaign.

Whatever is going on in Rome, it doesn't appear to be the way of Jesus at all, and stands in stark contrast to the humble way of Francis's predecessor. All this ugliness now starts to make sense if the truth of Jesus Christ is not placed firmly at the top of the Pope's 'agenda' and moral confusion is allowed to flourish in Rome.

It would be nice if goodness and charity always filled a moral vacuum, but in a fallen world, it doesn't seem to be the way things work out as malice and pride fills Rome quicker than ISIS fill a war-zone. I don't think people should be sued or labelled dissidents or 'thrown to the wolves' for just asking whether the 'agenda in Rome' is the same agenda, if we can use that crass word, as the Divine Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.

Thugs and bullies don't win. The mighty are humbled by God. Those who exalt themselves are brought low. Might is not necessarily right. Though He was innocent, Jesus redeemed the World through an instrument of torture, humiliation and public scorn. Authority itself does not guarantee justice if those in authority do not exercise clemency. Authority can be abused. There is nothing Christian about thuggish and bullying, intimidatory behaviour towards those who are in your care. Yes, Fr Rosica, you really are suing your own spiritual son, who felt compelled to offer you some correction, even if he lives miles away! I hope and pray such behaviour in Rome stops soon, but I'm not holding my breath. We might have to wait for another time for that, another era. After all, Pope Francis can read the riot act as much as he likes to the mafia in Sicily, but if he can't reign in the mafia in Rome, why should even the members in Sicily take him seriously?