If you are interested in what really happened at the Synod, be sure to read Sandro Magister’s “The True Story of This Synod. Director, Performers, Assistants”. In that summary he states:
When the assembly resumed its work on Thursday, October 16, secretary general Baldisseri, with the pope beside him, made the announcement that the reports of the ten groups would not be made public. A protest exploded. Australian cardinal George Pell, with the physique and temperament of a rugby player, was the most intransigent in demanding the publication of the texts. Baldisseri gave up. That same day, Pope Francis saw himself forced to expand the group charged with writing the final relation, adding Melbourne archbishop Denis J. Hart and above all the combative South African cardinal Napier.
Cardinal Pell is proving to be a another hero for Catholicism. Here is the full text of his “Homily for the Mass of the 10th anniversary of Juventutem during the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage” in which he concludes with this:
Today we have one of the more unusual popes in history, enjoying almost unprecedented popularity*. He is doing a marvelous job backing the financial reforms.
We all have an important task during the next twelve months i.e. to explain and build a consensus out of the present divisions. We will be counter productive if we have anger or hate in our hearts, if we lapse into sterile polemics against a surprisingly small number of Catholic opponents. Our task is to explain the necessity of conversion, the nature of the Mass, the purity of heart Scriptures requires to receive Holy Communion. We, and especially you young people, must live this in love, giving reason for your hope. This is a unique opportunity which we must seize in God’s name.
So I conclude with the prayer I was taught as a child. “May the Lord preserve the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and give him life, keep him safe on earth and deliver him not into the hands of his enemies”.
*Ben’s note: What concerns me about this popularity is that it seems to be based directly on the belief that he’s sticking it to the old establishment.
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Thanks, Brother Ben, for this post. Cardinal Pell, with Cardinals Burke and Napier are true heroes of the synod.
That being said, I am resisting labeling anyone a coward or villain of the Synod; although it does appear that there were manipulators.
I will strive to take to heart what Cardinal Pell wrote and what you quoted above:
“We all have an important task during the next twelve months i.e. to explain and build a consensus out of the present divisions. We will be counter productive if we have anger or hate in our hearts, if we lapse into sterile polemics against a surprisingly small number of Catholic opponents. Our task is to explain the necessity of conversion, the nature of the Mass, the purity of heart Scriptures requires to receive Holy Communion. We, and especially you young people, must live this in love, giving reason for your hope. This is a unique opportunity which we must seize in God’s name.”
Recently I emailed a beloved sister in Christ the following excerpt in an email which now seems to me to be an apt comment to this post which includes ‘what really happened at the Synod’ and which includes the sentence ‘Today we have one of the more unusual popes in history’:
“I find the Holy Father’s homilies to be spiritually nourishing. His often quoted remarks in interviews are less helpful and I have to explain to others it can’t mean what the secular media wants it to mean. George Weigel wrote that ecclesiastical leaders should no longer give press interviews. I agree. An invitation to Mass to hear the readings and homily should be sufficient for the press.
To date I have not doubted Christ is Lord of the Church and Pope Francis is his Vicar. I am not angry with Bergoglio, although it can be challenging to understand his apparent patience with prelates who suggest what is intolerable.
Cardinal Burke is an inspiration. I don’t want to see anymore photos of Cardinal Dolan laughing. I don’t want to read any thing Cardinal Kasper writes and I am surprised by Cardinal Wuerl’s positions.
That midterm relatio was terrible. Thank God Michael Voris was there to report.”
Now it is high time that all of us, Church leaders and laity alike, explain the necessity of conversion, the nature of the Mass and the Scriptural requirement for purity of heart to receive Holy Communion! By God’s empowering grace we can both live in love and lovingly offer reasons for our hope in Christ Jesus and in the teachings of His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Another hero: + Athanasius Schneider Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan
In an interview with Izabella Parowicz, this courageous Catholic Bishop asserted:
” Modern clerical Pharisees and Scribes, those bishops and cardinals who throw grains of incense to the neo-pagan idols of gender ideology and concubinage, will not convince anyone to either believe in Christ or to be ready to offer their lives for Christ.”
Referring to the manipulation on the part of some clerics holding editorial and governing positions in the Synod on the Family, His Excellency also said:
“this agenda reflects the corrupt and pagan main stream morality of our time, which is being imposed globally by means of political pressure and through the almost all-powerful official mass media, which are loyal to the principles of the world gender ideology party. ”
To read the entire interview, go to http://www.pch24.pl/Mobile/Informacje/informacja/id/31907