Bernini’s Holy Spirit

No, this isn’t the exact text of a letter to His Holiness, but it forms the issue around which I am sensing a written communication is necessary, at least not remaining in silence on a weighty and dangerous issue.  The major comfort, of course, is that the Holy Spirit IS with the Catholic Church to the end of the world, which might be a lot closer than many think.  But since we don’t know the time or the place, we proceed doing the best we can out of love for the Church and for the Unity to which Christ called us all the night before He died (John 17).

Quite simply, I am expressing my own personal opinion that Cardinal Kasper presents a real and imminent danger to the Faith, to our Unity, and to individual souls. To read the interview with him, go here to read his outrageous quotes as he campaigns even in New York for his own version of the Catholic Faith.   And be sure to read the insightful comments at the end of that interview.  And then pray for Pope Francis, to be able to promptly remove the cancer which threatens souls.

Generally, I choose not to be part of publicizing anyone’s misleading, untruthful, or injurious opinions, since the usual media frenzy is around precipitating further division and fomenting discord, and I don’t want to contribute free publicity to evil.  But in this case, the storm warning is up and to ignore it would be unconscionable.

Framing the Concern

We need only remember the early post-Vatican II years when the Catholic world waited for a pronouncement of whether or not Pope Paul VI would “permit the [birth control] pill.”  There were priests and bishops teaching during that waiting period that it was inevitable that the pill would be approved, and therefore it was allowable to begin using the pill even before the papal decision.  Many members of the hierarchy lobbied for such a ruling.  Many marriages and decisions to limit or even have no children were made in those mid-60’s years, which sometimes formed the basis for subsequent annulments.  Father Charles Curran of the Diocese of Rochester was one such person proposing a potpourri of sexual sins during that period and thereafter.  The Catholic in the pew was able easily to find an opinion in support of using contraception, and if the local pastor didn’t facilitate the matter, it was easy to find another church, even a Catholic Church, that was permissive.

The “problem” for the agitators turned out to be the unanticipated heroic virtue of Pope Paul VI, who took what seemed to many to be a long time to oppose formally what so many considered “obvious” change.  But, in the end, the Holy Spirit’s protection prevailed, even if some then left the Church as a result.  Now the danger is a repeat of the damage done in the mid-60’s.  Illegitimate liberalizations inevitably lead to division when the laity takes it upon themselves to follow their version of the Faith, all the more when apparently justified by priests, bishops, Cardinals.   From the hierarchy, it looks a lot like the statement of disobedience which was promulgated by a majority of the Canadian bishops after Pope Paul VI’s decision.  From the pew, the simplistic wording would be:  “Since the Church is bound to change (liberalize) this issue, and since Cardinal so-and-so says it is okay, it must not be a sin (or not a baaaad sin at least)  so, therefore, I can do it today, rather than “ruin my life” by living within such constrictions until the paperwork is done.”   Inevitably the victims of such bad advice and skewed thinking find themselves deeply injured, sometimes with the sheepfold gate practically closed.

Those who don’t understand history are bound to repeat it!

What is Cardinal Kasper saying and doing that has the potential for causing a repetition of such harm 50 years later?  If he were a lone voice like shouts from a raving uncle in the attic, the risk would be much less.  But that the media carries the perception/misperception that Pope Francis is permitting or even encouraging the dialogue, how can the people in the pews who want such change not exhibit the same human qualities as their parents and grandparents did a half-century ago and ‘get on’ with the anticipated or their hoped-for change?

The difference is that the mass media and electronic communications today accelerate the metastasizing of erroneous information.  That a Cardinal engages in such behavior puts him on a level with the mob tweeters on the streets of Benghazi.  And do not be surprised if you see some of the same stench related to the current US administration’s push to legalize sin as a strategy to grow the institution of supporters.  What promulgators of such feel-good religion forget, is that reception of the Eucharist is a prime reason for reconciliation and return to the Church.  Rubber-stamping irregular and disordered relationships removes a major impetus to seeking forgiveness.

Conclusion:  Cardinal Kasper is a very dangerous man, acting like the Pope’s puppeteer  

One could reasonably read the free-wheeling scandal-provoking interview as a bid to run the Vatican, or at least to dissemble within it, marshalling his version of the Catholic Church through media pressure.  Cardinal Kasper’s uncharitable views of Pope Benedict and of Cardinal Mueller show a careening arrogance, and indifference to souls who are affected by such discourse, and prime evidence of improper motives.  It is only matched in magnitude by Cardinal Kasper’s denigration of good Catholics with the words:  “Heroism is not for the average Christian.”  He certainly doesn’t explain how he can justify that comment with the universal call to Holiness!  His approach fundamentally undermines much more than teaching on specific issues, to which the heart of the faithful is called to assent and to work out our salvation with “fear and trembling.”

What I would like to hear Cardinal Kasper say is:  “And as I say these things today to a world audience, I ask the Good Lord who knows and sees everything, that if anyone should commit a sin in His Eyes as a result of my words, that the Lord will lay the punishment for such sin upon my own shoulders.”   Somehow I don’t think we are going to hear that … ever.    And that is the difference between a Shepherd and a hireling.  If Pope Francis doesn’t stop such politicking of Church Teaching, may the Holy Spirit please intervene.  Lord make haste to help us.

The excerpts from the interview are contained in a LifeSiteNews story published Friday, May 9, 2014, reported by Hilary White, Rome Correspondent.  The article begins below and continues by clicking on  “Read the rest of this entry.”

‘The Church is not against birth control at all’: Cardinal Walter Kasper (Interview Excerpts)