Adultery Legitimized by Francis: Supreme Vatican Lawyer explains how (full text)

Can one be at once an impenitent adulterer and in the grace of God? Christ said not, but Francis says yes, and the Supreme Vatican Lawyer, Cardinal Francisco Coccopalmerio, explains how to square the circle. Yes, yes, "scribes and doctors of the law..." -- the true pharisees are on Francis' side.

Translation of the his book (which should have been released in a groundbreaking Vatican press conference, but from which he was absent at the last minute) provided by Andrew Guernsey:

Chapter Eight of the Post-Synodal

Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia

by Francis Cardinal Coccopalmerio

President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts

Translated by Andrew Guernsey

April 2, 2017

[For Academic and Private Usage]

For a guided reading

Chapter Eight of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia is significantly entitled: "Accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness." This part of the document is not very large, because it is composed of only twenty-two numbers, from n. 291 n. 312, but it is very dense and therefore presents greater difficulties for analysis and comprehension. A certain non-organic structure should be added to this, that is, a sequence that is not always in the order of the topics covered. 

Op-Ed: "Adultery as a venial sin" -- and other absurdities of trying to defend the indefensible Francis Doctrine

Nathan rebukes King David for his Adultery (Eugène Siberdt)

Dr. Jeffrey Mirus on marriage and the Eucharist

by Dr. John Lamont

Dr. Jeffrey Mirus has recently published an article entitled ‘Not heretical: Pope Francis’ approval of the Argentine bishops’ policy on invalid marriages’*. The object of this article is to argue that Pope Francis has not asserted or endorsed heresy in approving of a recent document issued by some Argentinian bishops concerning the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. To justify this conclusion, Dr. Mirus makes a number of claims about moral behaviour and the discipline of the sacraments. 

These claims urgently need to be addressed.

This discussion of Mirus’s assertions will not consider the rights and wrongs of the Argentinian bishops’ document itself and the Pope’s endorsement of it. Nonetheless it should be noted that Dr. Mirus’s article is somewhat misleading on this subject, because it gives the impression that the only objectionable part of this document is the permission it gives for the divorced and remarried to receive the Eucharist. In fact the document in its paragraph 6 extends this permission to both absolution and reception of the Eucharist, and states that the divorced and remarried persons it refers to can grow in grace through these sacraments. This contents of this paragraph have been addressed by a group of Catholic scholars, who have drawn up theological censures of heretical and erroneous propositions that could be attributed to Amoris Laetitia and have asked the college of cardinals and the patriarchs of the Church to petition the Pope to condemn these propositions. These censures were sent privately, but were leaked to the media and are now publicly available. Paragraph 6 of the Argentinian bishops’ document endorses the propositions condemned in censures 6, 7, 11, 15, and 16 of the document sent to the cardinals, which are accessible here. The bishops’ statement thus has a broader scope than the issues addressed by Dr. Mirus, a scope whose extent can be grasped by considering their statement and the censures referred to above.

The Francis Doctrine: On Communion to "Divorced and Remarried", one is either with Christ or with Lucifer

St. Ignatius under the Standard of Christ

From the very beginning of this ill-fated pontificate, this page was maligned for stating the obvious about Cardinal Bergoglio, and the prospects his positions brought to the papacy. 

For example, from the very beginning it was clear to us Francis wanted to impose on the Church the new doctrine of communion to the "divorced and remarried" (that is, those living in permanent state of sin, without the desire to end their sinful situation), the new German Doctrine. Other commentators tried to hide for as long as possible, even up to a few days ago, that the Pope wanted to personally impose upon the Church a doctrine that is absolutely and irrevocably opposed to the very words of Our Lord. 

Why so keen to impose it? Because that is what the wealthiest church, the German Church, the Church that was behind his very election as Pope, the Church that financed what the rebel Cardinals themselves called the "Mafia" that worked tirelessly for the overthrow of past moral positions and the election of Cardinal Bergoglio, wanted as well. One thing that cannot be said of Francis is that he is a man who does not keep his campaign promises!...

And why did the German Church want it so much? Because of the income derived from the "remarried" faithful by way of the "Church Tax", certainly. But also because liberal theologians who dominate the Church in Germany need this apparently small change in doctrine since it undermines at least three Sacraments at once: the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, Penance, and, last but certainly not least, Matrimony. And this is necessary because each reduction of meaning of the Sacraments makes the Church less "supernatural", less "divine", and a vehicle of merely human ideas -- as Pope St. Pius X recalled in Pascendi: "for the Modernists the Sacraments are mere symbols or signs, though not devoid of a certain efficacy - an efficacy, they tell us, like that of certain phrases vulgarly described as having 'caught on,' inasmuch as they have become the vehicle for the diffusion of certain great ideas which strike the public mind." (Pascendi, 21). In their view, therefore, an undermining of the divine demands of the Sacraments makes them more "human" and more "meaningful" for the secular understanding of the world and make the Church seem less "absurd" in the eyes of the world.

For the record: Video plea to the Pope for doctrinal clarity

ROME, July 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) -- In a spirit of love, humility, and faithfulness, 16 international life and family advocates are asking Pope Francis in a powerful new video to unambiguously speak the truth of the Catholic faith, to end doctrinal confusion, to restore clarity, and to be the Holy Father that Catholics need.  

Those that undermine the Papacy

Below is a short but important reminder of those who are truly destroying the authority of the Papacy these days. Here's a hint: It's not traditional Catholics. 

From our friends at The Remnant: 

"Those who blindly and indiscriminately defend every decision of the supreme Pontiff are the very ones who do most to undermine the authority of the Holy See—they destroy instead of strengthening its foundations."

In an interview with the German regional newspaper Aachener Zeitung on April 22, Cardinal Walter Kasper spoke of the further church-reform plans of Pope Francis and his intention "not to preserve everything as it has been of old." With Pope Francis, "things are not anymore so abstract and permeated with suspicion, as was the case in earlier times," he said. 

Socci: The Pope Who Wants to Put Himself in God's Place

Antonio Socci

                                                                                                                              Libero

                                                                                                                              March 20^th 2016

Will the post-synodal apostolic exhortation just signed by Pope Bergoglio - but not yet made public - represent a revolution for the Church? Will a “new church” be founded on the word of progressive Catholics like Pope Bergoglio and Walter Kasper instead of on the Good News of Christ?

Indeed, Cardinal Kasper, Joseph Ratzinger’s great opponent, has announced a genuine “revolution”.

Bergoglio used Kasper in February 2014 at the consistory to launch the sensational news of communion for the divorced and remarried. It’s not that Bergoglio cares about the divorced who want to receive communion but they have been used as a battering ram to shake Catholic doctrine on the sacraments.

Last Monday in a meeting in Lucca and on the eve of the Pope’s signature of the exhortation, Kasper couldn’t contain himself. “It will be the first step in a reform that will turn the page in Church history after 1700 years.”

The exhortation will be made public in the middle of April but Kasper – who knows the content – is already claiming victory. “The document will make its mark,” he said, “as the biggest revolution in the Church for 1500 years.”

Breaking News: Cardinal Gerhard Müller Corrects Idea of Allowing Holy Communion for “Remarried” Divorcees

[A guest article courtesy of Maike Hickson.]

On 27 October, shortly after the end of the controversial Synod of Bishops on the Family, I reported on the important role which the German-speaking language group had played in finding a supposed compromise between the Kasper and the Mueller camp, Cardinal Walter Kasper being in favor of the admittance of the “remarried” divorcees to Holy Communion, Cardinal Gerhard Müller – head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – being a defender of the traditional teaching of the Church. The compromise had found its way into the final report of the Synod, namely into paragraph 84-85 which Cardinal Raymond Burke afterwards criticized for its ambiguity. According to Edward Pentin:

Exclusive Op-Ed - Pio Pace reveals for Rorate: "The Post-Synodal Exhortation has been ready since September"

We are very honored to post this new article by a very wise, knowledgeable, and highly influential cleric, writing under the pen name of don Pio Pace.

***

 "The Post-Synodal Exhortation has been ready since September"

by Father Pio Pace

Will there be a Post-Synodal Exhortation of the Synod of the Family, the commentators on Vatican matters ask. In fact, it was already completely ready before the Synod! Several months before the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Family, last October, the group of Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Assembly, together with men such as Abp. Bruno Forte, Special Secretary, Abp. Paglia, President of the Council for the Family, and a few others, had already established a campaign plan in four stages:

1st: Pretending to base itself on the conclusions of the Extraordinary Assembly of October 2014, the Instrumentum Laboris, the roadmap for the 2015 Assembly, was unveiled in June 2015. It was in its third part that the explosive mines were placed to destroy the bastion of traditional doctrine: regarding eucharistic access for "remarried" divorcees, the Instrumentum inserted this proposal (n. 123): "Others refer to a way of penance, meaning a process of clarifying matters after experiencing a failure and a reorientation which is to be accompanied by a priest who is appointed for this purpose. This process ought to lead the party concerned to an honest judgment of his/her situation. At the same time, the priest himself might come to a sufficient evaluation as to be able to suitably apply the power of binding and loosing to the situation."

RORATE EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Athanasius Schneider reaction to SynodDoor to communion for divorced & remarried officially kicked open

His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, one of the most visible prelates working on the restoration of the traditional Latin Mass and faith, has penned a nearly 5,000-word response to the Synod exclusively for our readers. Anyone may reproduce or link to this article, but all must reference Rorate Caeli as the source. 

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to His Excellency for taking the time to analyze and express his views on one of the most critical events in Church history -- one that he too sees as a "back door" to Holy Communion for adulterers, a rejection of Christ's teaching and a Final Report full of "time bombs."

In the coming days, we will also publish an interview with His Excellency, on a wide range of topics. For now, we bring you this important work, exclusively for our readers. 

A back door to a Neo-Mosaic practice in the Final Report of the Synod

The XIV General Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops (October 4 – 25, 2015), which was dedicated to the theme of “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World”, issued a Final Report with some pastoral proposals submitted to the discernment of the Pope. The document itself is only of an advisory nature and does not possess a formal magisterial value.

Yet during the Synod, there appeared those real new disciples of Moses and the new Pharisees, who in the numbers 84-86 of the Final Report opened a back door or looming time bombs for the admittance of divorced and remarried to Holy Communion. At the same time those bishops who intrepidly defended “the Church’s own fidelity to Christ and to His truth” (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, 84) were in some media reports unjustly labeled as Pharisees.

Bombshell: Pope to His Favorite Journalist: "All the Divorced who ask will be admitted [to Communion]"

Yes, he said it over the phone to his favorite journalist, Italian editor Eugenio Scalfari of La Repubblica (the Pope's favorite newspaper), in a conversation on October 28, revealed by the latter in an editorial published this Sunday.

Repost: "Yes, I know Bergoglio. He’s a person who’s caused a lot of problems in the Society."

“Yes I know Bergoglio [, says a Jesuit superior from another Latin American country]. He’s a person who’s caused a lot of problems in the Society and is highly controversial in his own country.

Synod: In interview, Kasper says he won - in video, Pell is not so sure. We report, Francis decides.

Cardinal Kasper clearly considers the Final Relatio of the Synod favors his position in an exclusive interview to Il Giornale, translated only by Rorate. Cardinal Pell (see video below) does not. Whose view will Francis favor if the language is unclear?...

“Communion for the divorced if they repent; homosexual [unions] are not family”

The Synod explained via new mediaAn epic Catholic rant and a look back to see the present

The Synod of Sin has concluded. For some perspective to understand the traditional position -- from a non-traditional medium -- we bring you two helpful tools.

(UPDATED) The Triumph of Ambiguity - The Synod Final Relatio's most controversial passages: 69-71, 75, 84-86 (English translation)

The six most controversial passages in the Final Relatio (so far) are nos. 70-71, 75, and 84-86, which also got the fewest "yes" votes and the most "no" votes in the entire document. Paragraphs 84-86 (on the divorced and remarried) got 187, 178 and 190 "yes" votes and 72, 80 and 64 "no" votes respectively. The minimum number of votes for a passage to be included in the Final Relatio was 177, which means that no. 85 squeaked by by just one vote past the minimum. 

Passage 85 (made up of two paragraphs) is special; it quotes John Paul II's Familiaris Consortio # 84 but omits the part where communion for the "divorced-and-remarried" is forbidden. It also opens a path to doctrinal devolution by speaking of the "orientations of the bishop" with regards to the "divorced and remarried". 

We have updated this post to include translations of all these six, plus no. 69 which provides necessary context for 70-71. Our thanks to blogger Vox Cantoris for his valuable help on par. 69-75. We have highlighted the potential flashpoints in the passages below.

Our initial commentary can be found at the end of this post. Extended commentary on these passages and on the Pope's slashing speech against conservatives -- an obvious sign of frustration and a terrifying glimpse into his theology (since when was it possible to oppose the "letter" and "spirit" of CATHOLIC doctrine, and to defend one but not the other?) will follow on Monday.

 Complex situations

69. The sacrament of marriage as a faithful and indissoluble union between a man and a woman called to accept one another and to welcome life, is a great grace for the human family. The Church has the joy and the duty to announce this grace to every person and in every context. She feels that today, in an even more urgent way, She has the responsibility of making the baptized rediscover how the grace of God works in their lives - even in the most difficult situations - in order to lead them to the fullness of the sacrament. The Synod, while appreciating and encouraging families who honor the beauty of Christian marriage, intends to promote the pastoral discernment of situations in which the reception of this gift has difficulty in being appreciated, or in which it is compromised in various ways. Keeping dialogue open with these faithful [people] in order to enable the maturing of a coherent openness to the Gospel of marriage and the family in its fullness, is a grave responsibility. Pastors should identify the elements that may favor evangelization and the human and spiritual growth of those entrusted to their care by the Lord.

UPDATE: Final Report of Synod published.(Original post) Will the final Synod document have hidden time-bombs on the issue of the "divorced-and-remarried"?If Familiaris Consortio can't be overturned, then it will be distorted

The Final Report of the Synod is now available in Italian only:

Synod15 - Relazione Finale del Sinodo dei Vescovi al Santo Padre Francesco (24 ottobre 2015), 24.10.2015

[Our translation of paragraphs 84-86 of the "Relazione Finale" and our commentary on these, and on the Pope's speech, are located in a separate post: The Triumph of Ambiguity - The Synod's Final Relatio, numbers 84-86)]

***

[Original posting time: 10/24/15 3:30 PM]

The final document of the Synod is expected to be published this evening, Rome time. No word yet on whether it will be only in Italian, or if translations are to be made available at the same time. Once the document is out we will try to post relevant passages as soon as possible. 

However we already have an idea about its contents from the official Vatican press briefing today, where Cardinals Schönborn and Damasceno Assis spoke. 

It might be protested that these two Cardinals are more or less on the "progressive" side, and therefore have an interest in twisting or distorting the presentation of the final document. Our response is that if the document can be interpreted in a heterodox-friendly manner, then that is a major issue even if a first reading of it is friendly to orthodoxy. We already saw this happen with the Synod Instrumentum Laboris (henceforth referred to as IL), which at its release was largely hailed as a "conservative" document, only for its progressivist time-bombs to become more evident upon a closer reading of the text. 

DANGER AHEAD. Synod document drafting committee member: Familiaris Consortio? "Circumstances have changed!" Divorced-and-remarried, "decentralization" still on the agenda

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, one of ten mostly-liberal prelates assigned by Pope Francis to the drafting committee for the final Synod relation, has unexpectedly emerged in recent days as a champion for greater "openness" to homosexuals. His comments in today's Vatican press conference are true to form, and given his role in drafting the Synod document hints at something that can be manipulated in favor of Kasperite and liberal concerns. 

It is telling that in speaking of decentralization he, and other champions of this idea, repeatedly refer to the problem of polygamy in Africa as an example of issues that need to be dealt with by local bishops' conferences. One has to ask if this is an agreed-on liberal talking-point to humiliate the African bishops into endorsing the "decentralization" option. 

The Most Dangerous Part - Language Group Reports on Third Part of Instrumentum Laboris

English First (4  ANGLICUS groups), then French (3 GALLICUS groups), Italian (3 ITALICUS groups), Spanish (2 HIBERICUS groups), German (GERMANICUS).

Emphases ours. 

[Update (3 PM GMT): Only a small minority of the circoli minori are either favorable to the Kasper position or use language that can be interpreted in its favor. Most of the circoli are clearly unfavorable (Anglicus A, C, Gallicus B, etc) or simply ignore it. For some reason some commentators are saying the opposite, but this confirms the huge defeat of the Kasper thesis. Of course there are many, many shadows; the defeat of the Kasperites on the level of the circoli minori should not cause any complacency or relaxation in our vigilance.]

Relatio – Circulus Anglicus “A”

Moderator: Card. PELL George

Relator: S.E. Mons. KURTZ Joseph Edward

Huge Kasperite defeats and liberal Trojan horses on contraception:Why orthodox Catholics should remain vigilant over the Synod

Yesterday we reported that an overwhelming majority of Synod Fathers have signified their opposition to the "Kasper proposal" to give communion to the "divorced and remarried". La Croix's report on yesterday's Synod proceedings (Les évêques restent timides dans leurs propositions) gives a more precise number: only one out of four bishops were in favor. This statistic emerged in the course of the voting in the circuli minori over the proposed amendments or modi (at least 600, according to La Croix) to the third and most controversial part of the "Instrumentum Laboris", the part that (among other things) deals with divorced couples.

One out of four, or 25%, is smaller than even the "35%" support for Kasper's proposal that was estimated by Abp. Mark Coleridge of Brisbane earlier during the Synod, and the "three out of ten working groups" who supported the proposal in the Synod of 2014 according to Cardinal Pell. If anything, this Synod seems to have resulted in a decrease of support for Kasper. This is a crushing blow, we repeat, a crushing blow to the position of Cardinal Kasper and Co, stealthily supported by the highest echelons in the Church since February 2014, and even earlier, and by Synod manipulations since before the organization of the 2014 Synod. Well done, Synod fathers!

Polish bishops: liberal Synod fathers want to change doctrine.

One of the most pernicious slogans used both by the Synod liberals and the Synod's apologists is that "doctrine will not be changed, only the discipline". It is a slogan calculated to lull Catholics into complacency -- after all, whatever happens, the doctrine is not gonna change, right? It is a slogan, a talking point, that reveals how well the liberals understand the modern Catholic mentality, with its unwarrantedly sharp distinction if not de facto divorce between "doctrine" and "discipline", between "Tradition" (big T) and "tradition" (small t), between the "letter" and the "spirit" of laws and doctrines, and between the "essence" of Church teachings and the "language" in which these are expressed. 

Thankfully, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, President of the Polish Bishops' Conference and acknowledged mouthpiece of the Polish hierarchy, has published a short note (October 17)  on the website of the Polish Bishops' Conference, succinctly exposing this slogan, this mantra, for what it is: a deception, a lie. (Our thanks to Toronto Catholic Witness for the translation). 

 Archbishop Gądecki: they are trying to push through changes in doctrine

The Cardinals' Manifesto - Amidst the Chaos of the Past Week, its Immense Historic Significance Cannot Get Lost

The exact wording of the historic "Cardinals' Manifesto", or "The Pell-Müller Intervention" (after the names of its main authors), which became known as simply the "Letter of the Thirteen Cardinals", the most profound challenge faced by a Pontiff in recent history, may be in dispute. But the general terms of the missive are not. And, in particular, the huge historic significance of a document that promises to be foundational in the 21st-Century papacy cannot be lost.