Sure sounds like it. In a court of law you can't convict anyone on circumstantial evidence and hearsay, but in view of the pope's style and the bizarre carryings on at the Vatican, it is entirely plausible that he believes himself to be the autocrat of the Church. Ironic, ain't it, since liberal churchmen are always talking about shared authority with the bishops?
I've had many a liberal pastor who surrounded himself with church council laity with the appearance of their having a real say in the activities of the parish. The reality, however, was that these pastors were the most tyrannical I ever experienced. As long as a parishioner was pushing Father's agenda he got the green light, but let the K of C want to put up a memorial to the unborn or the parishioners want to promote sidewalk counseling at a local abortion mill and advertise in the bulletin and the long swords came out. Too divisive.
Shall we recommit to praying for the pope, the magisterium, pastors, and all priests. They are under constant attack by the enemy. We need them and they need our prayers. Our Lady, Queen of the clergy, pray for them.
Well, technically, you can convict someone in a court of law on circumstantial evidence. In fact, most evidence is circumstantial. Very rarely do you have direct eyewitness observance of an act. You have DNA, sightings of the accused at the time and place of the crime (although not direct observance of the crime), fingerprints on the instruments used in the crime, etc., all of which is circumstantial. You can even convict on hearsay if no objection is raised.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteHow true! How terribly terribly true! Openness and transparency is only a farce so that the tyrant can do what he wants and do away with all opposition. Whenever his own stance is put into question, all hell breaks loose.
January 21, 2016 at 7:07 PM Delete
Anon, Anon please excuse me editing your post. I totally sympathize with everything you said, but I could not bring myself to post the rest of your comment. Let us pray for Pope Francis. My heart grieves for what he is doing to our beloved Church. So many are being misled by his public statements.
ReplyDeleteBut respect for the chair of Peter, I believe, still binds us.