Pope Francis
Many of us non-RC traditionalist all over the world had awaited the news from Rome with some trepidation. In the end it turned out to be rather good. Pope Francis, the first non-European Bishop of Rome since Gregory III (d. 741), is universally described as “modest” and “moderate”—which is much preferred to the dreaded “bold” or “courageous,” in the sense that those words are used by the global media.
“He lives like a monk in a small apartment, travels by bus, and detests all vanity,” Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro told me when he heard the news. His Grace has visited Buenos Aires repeatedly in recent years as the Orthodox Diocesan Administrator, but he has not met Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who was mostly in Rome on those occasions. “I’ve heard from many local people, however, both lay and clergy, that he radiates a burning faith,” says the Metropolitan and adds that his simplicity and compassion for the poor go hand in hand with doctrinal firmness.
Two examples illustrate this dichotomy. When Pope John Paul II appointed him a cardinal in 2001, Bergoglio appealed to affluent Argentines not to fly to Rome to celebrate his investiture but instead to donate to charity the money they would have spent on air fare. In 2010 he furiously opposed Argentina’s legalization of same-sex “marriages,” arguing that children need to have the right to be raised and educated by a father and a mother. In a letter to the faithful he spoke strongly: “Let us not be naïve, we are not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.” Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner reacted by saying that his tone was reminiscent of “medieval times and the Inquisition.”
After an unprecedented 35 years of non-Italian pontificates, many observers had expected the Italian contingent in the College of Cardinals to insist on one of their own. Jorge Bergoglio is as close to being an Italian, however, as is possible for a straniero. He was born in Argentina in 1936 to first-generation Italian immigrants, speaks Italian without an accent, and has a deep grounding in Italian culture, arts and literature. At 76, Pope Francis is significantly older than expected by laity or predicted by punditry. His election is a compromise which will keep most traditionalists contented, if not exactly enthused, while giving the reformist zealots another decade or so to select a strong, charismatic candidate for their long-planned onslaught. Pope Benedict’s sudden decision has caught them off-guard and unprepared.
Among the congratulatory messages sent to Francis, the one from France’s President Francois Hollande was remarkable for its cold, Christophobic rudeness. Hollande said that France, “faithful to its universal principles of liberty, equality and fraternity,” would continue its “dialogue” with the Holy See for “peace, justice, solidarity and human dignity.” That country used to be Christian, once. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, on the other hand, made an innocent mistake when stating that the new pope’s “choice of the name Francis suggests that he wants to call us all back to the transformation that St Francis knew and brought to the whole of Europe.” As a Jesuit—the first ever to become pope—Bergoglio was guided in his choice of the name by the co-founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Francis Xavier.
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Catechism of the Council of Trent:
The true Church is also to be recognised from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire world. Hence no one can doubt that the impious opinions which heresy invents, opposed as they are to the doctrines taught by the Church from the days of the Apostles to the present time, are very different from the faith of the true Church.
That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word Apostolic. For the Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of Apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church. And just as this one Church cannot err in faith or morals, since it is guided by the Holy Ghost; so, on the contrary, all other societies arrogating to themselves the name of church, must necessarily, because guided by the spirit of the devil, be sunk in the most pernicious errors, both doctrinal and moral.
Dear Mr. Chan The Catholic Encyclopedia and The Catechism of the Council of Trent and The Baltimore Catechism, etc etc all teach the plain and simple truth about Apostolic Succession embodied in Catholic Tradition but we can see (and you have posted for all to see) the new imprecise and unsound words of the new theologians, who sound their faith with an uncertain trumpet in the brass balls band of effete ecumenism and so I can not see how Unitatis Redintegratio can be reconciled with Catholic Tradition.
You think it may mean thus and such whereas others may think it completely capitulates and that is a major problem with the Council and its works- it can mean different things to different people depending on the soundness of the orthodoxy of the individual looking at The Documents whereas there is absolutely do doubt about what the Catholic Church taught prior to the bestest council ever.
And now I am really done this time. Again, I thank the moderators for their patience in allowing this exchange to proceed as this is obviously not a site devoted to Doctrine.
Dear Mr.Vermont Crank,
I did not intend for my post to be condescending toward you in any way. I like cranks and crackpots and in times of persecution even the strongest characters tend toward caricature. My favorite crackpots around Chronicles these days ( are we Christians allowed to have them? ) are Tom Fleming, Clyde Wilson and Taki --- a Roman Catholic of sorts, an old onwry Masonic/ Protestant type and a notorious Orthodox greek. Yes, as St. Paul reminds all of us this Holiest Week of all the year, if we have everything but charity, it doesn't really add up to very much at all.
Dear Judge Reavis. I didn't think you were at all condescending at all; in fact, I think the men in here have been very generous and good-natured given that my rhetoric is rebarbative as that is my "voice" as learnt me by my betters, the old timers, in the hills and mountains of Vermont.
I know I read as though I am an arrogant bastid but I doubt that many readers here have received the Sacrament of Confession as often as have I in the past one-quarter century (or needed it as often) - which could indicate humility or identify me as a man who too often surrenders to his passions and who has a perpetually weak purpose of amendment; or both.
Pax tecum to all in this Blessed Holy Week.
" learnt me by my betters, the old timers, in the hills and mountains of Vermont."
Have only been to Vermont once for the early petal fall and a one time visit to a friend of mine who was a monk at the Carthusian House of the Transfiguration there near Mt. Eqinox ? or some such mountain... . I believe he is now at the Grand Chartreuse but he doesn't write much --- only once very year or so around Christmas. No word from him this last Christmas but after twenty five years I can't blame him.
As for the " I am an arrogant bastid" I would not worry about that too much --- most of us are in one way or the other, and must wrestle with it out entire lives. In the old catechism they called it perseverance, today I believe they call it a chemical imbalance. The one explanation appeals to the prejudice of creatures, the other to the prejudice of creators. Without the most humiliating way, opened by Christ, we would all be stuck with Aristotle's observation that humans generally cannot know the friendship of gods because friendship supposes a certain equality.