Two Cardinals, two visions of the Church
A recent article published by Life Site News reported on the talks given in England by two Cardinals from the Roman Church, Cardinal Raymond Burke, from America, and Cardinal Luis Tagle, from the Philippines, on the subject of October's Extraordinary Synod on the Family. The contrast between the opinions and views of these two cardinals is striking.
Cardinal Burke expressed the very clear teaching of the Church on the subject of Matrimony, and urged his listeners to be ready to suffer and even to face persecution and martyrdom in defense of this Sacrament. He called upon the examples of the martyrs St. John Fisher, St Thomas More, and St. John the Baptist, who all gave their lives in defense of the “integrity of the fidelity and indissolubility of marriage.” What is perhaps more interesting, however, are his comments on modern society and culture, both in the secular sphere and within the Church. Cardinal Burke, in his talk, points out that our societies have lost the “Christian culture” which they possessed for centuries, and that the only remedy is a re-evangelization “from scratch,” with a special insistence given “to the sanctity of marriage, to the fidelity, indissolubility and procreativity of the marital union.” He further points out that this evangelization must begin “within the Church itself” which “has seen 'a growing confusion and even error entering it.” Cardinal Burke notes that the first manifestation of the confusion and error which we saw in the recent synod and the resulting “Relatio,” was Cardinal Kasper's speech at the consistory of cardinals in February, 2014.
Cardinal Burke has become well known for his defense of Catholic principles, even against the Pope. He is on record as saying that he would resist were Pope Francis to persist in allowing those in irregular unions to receive Communion. This speech is certainly another example of his courage in defending the truth against all comers.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Tagle, in his own talk, took a very different view, denouncing “the use of 'harsh' and 'severe' language to describe the sins of adultery and homosexual behavior.” He expressed the opinion that the language once used in referring to “gays and divorced and separated people, unwed mothers etc... were quite severe,” and he expresses amazement and even disbelief that the suffering that such persons experienced from the disapproval of society could ever have been considered as a just consequence of their actions. Rather, he says that the Church needs to “learn over” it's teaching of mercy, due in part to the “shifts in cultural and social sensibilities.” Of course, he insists that allowing such persons in “'irregular' sexual unions” to receive Holy Communion will not change the Church's doctrine, and that such cases should be decided case-by-case in “the sacrament of reconciliation ... so that a help, a pastoral response, could be given adequately to the person,” and he also insists that “we cannot give one formula for all.”
Cardinal Tagle clearly puts to silence the gravity of the kinds of sins in question, much less of the enormous public scandal which they give. What would be the result from a “pastoral” point of view, may I ask, if such public, scandalous, sinners were to be permitted at the Communion rail? Might it not incite an explosive increase of these sins among the rest of the faithful? What about the mercy which is due to the weak and impressionable at Mass? Does not this mercy demand that they be protected as much as possible from public scandal? Of course, I haven't even mentioned the sacrilege involved.
The two speeches discussed in Life Site's article are an example of the interior conflict within the Church today, and as the liberals continue to try to change Catholic doctrine and discipline, the rift will only grow between them and those who defend the Truth. The synod on the Family of last October is certainly not the only occasion at which the liberals have attempted to influence Catholic thought. The Vatican also recently hosted a feminist conference which featured speakers notorious for being pro-women-priests, pro-abortion, and pro-homosexual. That these persons want to influence the Church is pretty obvious. They even suggested that the conference participants could act as a “think-tank” for the Pope.
As the liberals try to tear apart the Church of Christ, let us pray that more bishops and cardinals, following the example of Cardinal Burke, will take a stand for the truth, and that he and they will come eventually to realize that all of this liberal modernism was widely promoted by Vatican II and the reforms which followed, and the only way to finally stop its spread is a return to the sound teaching and traditions of Holy Mother Church found in Her nearly two thousand years of history prior to 1962.
Oremus!
