"That makes me really angry, actually."
Such was the first reaction of parishioners after Mass on Sunday, from a convert from Anglicanism, to international charges against the Holy Father, Pope Francis, of the canonical crime of heresy.
Another reaction - from a cradle Catholic - was, "is the Pope infallible?"
No one I spoke to had heard of the open letter released last week by an international group of theologians, philosophers, scholars and academics (67 at the last count) to the Catholic bishops of the world, asking them for an investigation into the alleged "canonical crime of heresy". Seven heresies, to be precise.
It would seem, from the level of engagement at my church, that I should list the alleged heresies. in laymen's terms:
1. God's grace doesn't always provide the strength we need to obey His commandments.
2. Catholics can know something is seriously sinful and do it without necessarily being guilty of mortal sin.
3. Catholics can sin even when obeying a commandment.
4. It's not always sinful for Catholics who are civilly married but still in the eyes of God married to someone else, to have sex; it might even be asked or commanded by God.
5. It's not true that sex outside marriage is sinful.
6. There's no such thing as an act that is always objectively sinful.
7. God wills that we should have different religions, including non-Christian religions.
Now to answer the second question above, of course the Pope is infallible only when he speaks ex cathedra, and Pope Francis has never spoken ex cathedra. So, my friends, relax! You don't have to believe any of these 'heresies'.
Should we be angry that someone (67 someones, actually) is asking bishops to investigate charges of heresy against the Pope?
Well, it's perfectly legit. In fact, Canon Law says the Christian Faithful (aka Catholics) "have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful" (Canon 212).
Two months ago I felt moved to ask a Monsignor if he were aware of a vast body of opinion in the Catholic Church (maybe not represented in his parish and certainly not in mine, where opinions of any kind on these things are conspicuous by their absence) which would support this letter. It's been claimed that there would be more than 67 signatories but many potential backers, like the bishops and cardinals who totally agreed with the Filial Correction of 2017 but refused Bishop Athanasius Schneider's request to sign, are afraid of "persecution".
Given the way Pope Francis cashiers his opposition, such fears are hardly groundless. Look at Cardinal Mueller, Cardinal Burke and Archbishop Vigano, where they are now.
This is the third attempt at reining the Pope in. The first was a private letter in 2016, objecting to seeming "heresies" in the Pope's Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. In the second, in 2017, an international group numbering 235 accused him of heresy in suggesting divorced and remarried Catholics could receive Communion, an incident the Washington Post called "shocking".
The Filial Correction accused Pope Francis of modernism, named by Pope Pius X as "the synthesis of all heresies"- in essence the belief cherished by many Catholics, especially ex-Protestants once nurtured by Luther's legacy, that Church doctrine can change over time (which might help explain the anger expressed by the ex-Anglican, above).
2018 was again an off-year for papal heresies, but now for the first time Pope Francis is directly charged with the canonical crime, and the college of bishops are asked to investigate the ambiguities, apparent contradictions and questionable appointments that distinguish this papacy.
It follows that the lay faithful should tell their bishops if they support the letter - or not.
Bishops can't sack a pope, no matter how heretical. But a substantial number of bishops (not necessarily a majority) can announce a heresy, making it "a juridical fact" which means the pope loses his office.
This letter has been challenged, of course, by liberal prelates and the secular media. Reuters rushed to the defence of a Pope who promotes homosexuality, demotes the sacrament of matrimony and like Jacinda Ardern seems to think 'We are One' with Islam and other pagan religions.
Reuters called the letter-writers 'extremists', then revealed their ignorance and bias by stating, "Conservatives say the Roman Catholic Church is the only true one and that members are called to convert others to it."
In that case, all Catholics are 'conservatives' - because it's the Catholic Church herself that teaches this truth. And all Catholics are required to believe it.
Like the previous challenges to this pontificate so far, it could be ignored. Please, no, says the US Catholic publishing giant Ignatius Press, insisting that its authors have high stature, can't be dismissed as extremist, and deserve a response from the Holy See.
Ignatius Press says the letter illustrates pontifical statements "that seem to contradict Church teaching" and deserves a response from the Holy See.
This isn't just conservatives versus liberals. This is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church versus a New World Order, led by technocratic elites and with its own ecumenical 'church', being erected as we speak by stealth, subversion and skulking by population control activists in the Church and the Vatican, and its new globalist friends like climate change, 'sustainable development' (read birth control) and abortion guru Jeffrey Sachs. Sachs, who believes birth control and abortion are the answer to poverty, is now top of the bill at conferences organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
In 1931, before his election, Pope Pius XII prophesied that "a day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted … I hear all around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the true Faith of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past".
The Third Secret of Fatima, said Cardinal Mario Ciappi, personal papal theologian to John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II, "foretold that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top".
Paul VI echoed this in his famous statement, "The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading … into the highest levels within the Church."
Meanwhile, back at the parish pump, last night's council agenda featured tree pruning in the carpark, a pilgrimage of eight parishioners to the Home of Compassion, and a parish dinner.
And, I'm sure, prayer for our Holy Father and the Church.
Paul VI echoed this in his famous statement, "The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading … into the highest levels within the Church."
Meanwhile, back at the parish pump, last night's council agenda featured tree pruning in the carpark, a pilgrimage of eight parishioners to the Home of Compassion, and a parish dinner.
And, I'm sure, prayer for our Holy Father and the Church.
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