Just over two years ago, the courageous Australian cardinal George Pell, the late outspoken defender of the Catholic Church, referred to the pontificate of Pope Francis as “a disaster” and “a catastrophe.” Writing under the pseudonym “Demos” (Greek for “the people”), Pell said that “Roma locuta. Causa finita est” was once the norm: Rome Spoke. The case is closed. Now, he said, it is much more a matter of “Roma loquitur. Confusio augetur.” Rome speaks. The confusion is increasing.
The Pope’s role is not to make Catholic principles seem palatable to an increasingly degenerate world.
While the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s (DDF) recent publication Dignitas Infinita is a welcome one — condemning such atrocities as abortion, surrogacy, gender theory, and transgenderism — it is arguably a rarity under the pontifical reign of Francis. The Jesuit Pope, as his order is wont to do, places a high premium on seeking out those on the margins of society, ministering to the most disturbed and the most confused. But in their missionary zeal, it is not unjust to question whether the Jesuits (including Pope Francis) have perhaps spent a little too much time at the margins of society.
Mercy and missionary work are tremendous goods which the Catholic Church has always championed — but mercy must be tempered by justice and missionary work must aim not just to seek lost sheep but to return them to the flock. The Francis pontificate has seemingly immersed itself so completely in reaching out to the lost that it has at least risked losing those who never strayed far in the first place. In short, the moral teaching of Pope Francis and his allies and confidantes has been, as Pell noted, disastrous. (READ MORE from S.A. McCarthy: Lessons From the Life of Evelyn Waugh)
In a recent synodal synthesis report from the diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, Catholic priests and laity expressed their concern over the “lack of clarity regarding Church teaching” emanating (or, rather, not emanating) from the Vatican. “There is a universal hunger for greater clarity from church leaders on Church teachings,” the report noted. “[F]rustration was expressed about the lack of clarity from church leadership, citing especially Pope Francis. This was generally related to Fiducia Supplicans and the confusion and consternation it caused among the faithful regarding what was perceived to be an approval for the blessing of same sex unions.”
“Pope Francis was described as being ambiguous in his teaching and in his casual remarks,” the report continued. “A plea was made for the Holy Father to ‘be direct and tell us what you actually mean.’” The report cited a priest of the diocese who commented, “A lack of clear statements from those in positions of authority in the church leaves people feeling confused and afraid.”
This “lack of clarity” may be well-intentioned on the part of Pope Francis, a desire to reach out to sinners with love and forgiveness instead of rebukes and condemnation. But ultimately, this “lack of clarity,” no matter how well-intentioned, is (quite literally) damning. A failure to proclaim moral truth with clarity and consistency can only ever result in confusion, apathy, and spiritual decay.
There is a reason that bishops carry a crozier: it is not some mere fancy symbol of authority or office, it is the tool of their trade, for bishops are shepherds. A shepherd who does not guide his flock, who does not keep his sheep from wandering into thornbushes and off of cliffs, who tries to befriend the ravenous wolf is a poor shepherd. His staff (the bishop’s crozier) is intended to keep his flock from straying and to fight off wolves and jackals when they appear. That is the role of the Pope, of the bishops, and of priests: to guide faithful souls to Heaven and to strike out when evil rears its ugly head.
The Pope’s role is not to make Catholic principles seem palatable to an increasingly degenerate world. His role is not to go to the ends of the earth to preach to remote peoples who have never heard of Christ before. His role is to stand in Rome, diligently protecting the doctrines and apostolic traditions of the Catholic Church, ensuring that they remain unmolested by heresy or apostasy, and boldly proclaiming them to all who might listen.
In his 1907 apocalyptic novel Lord of the World, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson wrote of the fictional Pope John XXIV, who regularly published letters, exhortations, and encyclicals to be distributed in parishes throughout the world. While the unified Freemasonic Marxist governments of the Americas and Europe rallied against the Vatican and the repurchased Papal States, the fictional pontiff quietly and simply continued his duty to teach the Faith in clear terms to Catholic faithful facing a world of hate. (READ MORE: DC Cardinal Surprisingly Praises Pope Francis on LGBT Issues)
Although fictional, Benson’s model of Pontiff may be one for Francis, surely in the last years (perhaps even months) of his pontificate, to emulate. Of the current Pope, Pell wrote, “The Pope does not need to be the world’s best evangelist, nor a political force. The successor of Peter, as head of the College of Bishops, also successors of the Apostles, has a foundational role for unity and doctrine.” Of Francis’s yet-to-be-determined immediate successor, Pell counseled, “The new pope must understand that the secret of Christian and Catholic vitality comes from fidelity to the teachings of Christ and Catholic practices. It does not come from adapting to the world or from money.”
Whether Pope Francis recognizes the cataclysmic damage his lack of clarity has visited upon the Church, whether he corrects course, whether the next Pope follows in the Jesuit Pope’s footsteps, the moral truths preserved and long preached by the Catholic Church will remain. All that is needed for them to dominate in the hearts of men is a Pope bold enough to speak them with clarity.
