It is not uncommon for the coronavirus to leave serious pulmonary consequences in patients who contract the disease; I don't know if this is the case with Cardinal Burke, but wherever he ends up living, I hope he receives good care from a doctor, which I imagine is a right for cardinals; in fact, his recovery seems like a miraculous event anyway.
My reference to Arroyo's video program, was not so much his, as you say, blunt assesment of the circumstances. But to better understand the timeline and the pedestrian manner in which we were informed of Cardinal Burke's loss of his privileges, the loss of his Roman housing and pension (salary). I wish I had made that clear. My apologies if it mislead the readers. Mea culpa. Pope Francis reportedly takes Vatican apartment, salary from Cardinal Burke | Catholic News Agency Pope reportedly confirms he is taking away Burke’s apartment, denies calling him his ‘enemy’ | Catholic News Agency I agree with Arroyo that the news about Cardinal Burke could have been made directly from the Vatican. Thus eliminating the misunderstanding and confusion among the layity.
One has to have sympathy for people like Liz Yore. The synodal pathway is not catholic. The sham synodal meeting in Rome is exactly that a sham. Talks about talks with the final draft already written. My conscience has limits and God knows the struggles this pontificate has caused my brain.
One thing I have noticed it is not just traditionalists who have the most difficulty with this pontificate. It is pro-life Catholics fighting in the trenches for the unborn and those who have devotion to our Lady and pray the daily rosary. Can someone explain why this is or is my hypothesis wrong?
I am in the Ralph Martin camp - 'personnel is policy'. It is not just the words but the actions of a man that reveal the character. If your modus operandi in life is to 'create a mess' then don't become a leader.
Alas, confusion reigns. Obviously, it is impossible for anyone except God to determine the exact culpability and responsibility of Pope Francis for the statements and events of his papal reign. Nevertheless, scandal and heresy abound, many loyal to the Faith are treated brutally without heed being paid to canon law, while many obviously extremely antithetical to It are feted and indulged. Pope Francis did not achieve the position of pope without possessing acute intelligence and ability; he is not a child or an imbecile. He cannot simply be exonerated from responsibility, even if he is of a very benign character. Even if his essence is essentially the most innocent, the scandals that are ongoing without any attempt on his part to reject them, and various dubia served that opportunity up for him on a plate, remain his for which to answer. He is the Vicar of Christ on Earth, after all. Not Forrest Gump.
I am not sure if it even makes a big difference if "Pope Francis" called His Eminence Cardinal Burke an enemy or not. The actions of "Pope Francis" seem to quite clearly resemble enmity. Also, I am not sure if it makes a big difference in which way we have been informed about these news.
It is the final battle, as Our Lady of Fatima said. As I recall, the final battle is about marriage and family. Also, Our Lady's message of Akita is related to Fatima - this has been confirmed by Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict) and Bishop Ito. In Akita, Our Lady warned that it will be Cardinals against Cardinals and Bishops against Bishops. On which side does "Pope Francis" stand in this final battle? Well, we can see which position he takes regarding the family - the sacred union of husband and wife to produce children. We can see new definitions and changes coming from the current synod, so we can deduce which side of the final battle "Pope Francis" belongs to.
If he does not regard Cardinal Burke as his enemy, I would not like to be his enemy, given how he treats his non-enemies.
We have to pray for him. Absolutely. But I have no rose colored glasses on when it comes to this papacy. Rather than exaggerate I think the traditional Catholic media has gone out if their way to give the benefit of the doubt. Judging from what has happened to Cardinal Burke I think the gloves are off now. Edward Pentin and Damian Thompson made that clear last night on EWTN. Clare is right--prayer ftom the heart is what we need now. Rosary upon Rosary.
Booklady, you conveyed your thoughts well. Certainly the good Cardinal has from the time of the first dubia been shamefully treated with contempt. We must support him with prayer.
Interesting question Bobby. I have always felt the fight for innocent life in the abortion issue is the litmus test for every Catholic. Those devoted to the Rosary and those in the pro life trenches are often one and the same.
I hadn't watched the programme before posting my comment. Now that I have watched it, I don't see how it can be confirmed beyond doubt that Pope Francis called Cardinal Burke his enemy. All the indications we have already point to Pope Francis being dictatorial, a bit of a narcissist, rather vindictive and possessing a management style that in the secular world would have seen any business fail due to failure to attract and retain efficient, committed staff. We're still left with the choice of believing the words of "anonymous sources" or the denial of those words by the Supreme Pontiff. Going through some old articles recently from Catholic sources about the Antichrist, I was struck by references to the Reformation and accusations from the Reformers against the Pope at that time. The similarities between the language of the Reformers and the language coming now from otherwise faithful well known Catholics made me question the motives of some of this Pope's detractors. Too many of this Pope's critics are making insinuations that lead ordinary Catholics to suspect that Pope Francis is the AC or the False Prophet of Revelation. Of course good prelates like Burke, Schneider and Strickland are making no such insinuations but others are using this division in the Church for what seems to me to be nefarious reasons. The Vatican has been in contact with the German Bishops about their false teachings on women priests and same sex unions. Michael Lofton has a video on that. (I won't link to the video because Michael Lofton really grates on my nerves and I hate his sanctimonious pseudo charity towards Catholics he disapproves of). Sure, the Pope's treatment of faithful prelates is unfair headline grabbing pandering to enemies of the Church in comparison with his sofly, softly approach to the German heretics. Perhaps he is more careful with the Germans because almost the entire church in Germany is in de facto schism and he's hoping to manage to somehow get them back on track. My own suspicious mind nags that the Germans get better treatment because they control a lot of money that aids the Church in developing countries. Who knows? The American Bishops also control a lot of money but the difference is that only a small minority of Bishops in the US are posing any challenge to him and those who are will never lead a schism from the papacy whereas the majority of Germans work hand in glove with secular powers and will happily lead where their own nests are feathered.
Yes, it would have been stupid for him to have made such a statement openly. Nobody would call him a great intellectual. He seems to be rather cunning but he's certainly not stupid.
I'm reminded of something Pope Francis said early in his papacy. It was in reference to Communism and how the Communists had appropriated some of Catholic social teaching. He was roundly denounced for that statement but I thought there was a ring of truth to it. The Communists managed to portray themselves as the great and only advocates for the poor, casting the Church in the role of the rich and powerful at prayer keeping the poor downtrodden and ignorant as a source of cheap labour for the Church's benefactors. I think that Pope Francis is trying to correct that image albeit in the most hamfisted way possible. I also think that there's a clash of personalities between the Pope and Cardinal Burke. Both are human with human failings and both probably have the best interests of the Church at heart (Christian charity obliges us to believe that). Maybe it's simply a case of them have different ideas on how to go about it and the Pope believing that the Cardinal is preventing him bringing souls to God. We simply don't know the whole of it. All information we receive is filtered through people who have their own prejudices.
I do not believe that Pope Francis is the antichrist or the false prophet; however, I think it is extremely important to remember that the majority of Catholics who relate him to these figures do so based on the hypothesis that he is an antipope, which has no comparison with Luther, who made direct attacks on the papacy and the Holy mass (which he found to be something more immoral than all the brothels in the world), yet Pope Francis called him a witness to the gospel.
