Friday, March 29, AD 2024 2:52am

PopeWatch: Fr. Weinandy’s Letter to Pope Francis

I’m going to cite a post from the Deus ex Machina blog commenting on a letter by Fr. Thomas Weinandy to Pope Francis.   There is nothing I can add to the analysis of S. Armaticus, other than to point out that his (?) viewpoint is probably quite traditional…There’s a picture of Archbishop Marcel LeFebvre on the web page.   However, even given that, I find nothing to fault in the analysis of Fr. Weinandy and S. Armaticus.

Go here for the full post.

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ken
ken
Wednesday, November 1, AD 2017 4:25pm

I’m no fan of the current pontiff, but I wonder what to make of this guy’s private letter being made public. Should we take comfort in that it appears opposition to PF is gaining momentum and more of the Church intelligentsia are willing to state their differences publicly? I seem to recall reading an item last week by a liberal supporter of PF that stated that his opponents are in the majority. If this is the case it would seem foolish to wait any longer to stand up to the pontiff before any more traditionalists die off. Perhaps the steady stream of body blows have significantly weakened the pope and it is time to score the knockout?

Clinton
Clinton
Wednesday, November 1, AD 2017 7:36pm

The USCCB has fired Fr. Weinandy because of his letter, pour
encourager les autres
.

Clinton
Clinton
Wednesday, November 1, AD 2017 9:01pm

According to Carl Olsen at Catholic World Report, Fr. Weinandy
had told Mr. Olsen this morning (Nov. 1st) that “the USCCB asked him
to resign”, which is much the same thing as firing him.

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/11/01/fr-thomas-g-weinandy-explains-his-critical-letter-to-pope-francis/

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 2:57am

Four good arguments against Pope Francis and his diabolical undermining of Catholic doctrine. And four strikes and you’re out—out of a job that is–for Fr Thomas Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap. This is what happens when the Truth is spoken about Pope Francis. Pope Francis can’t handle the truth or priests who speak it. nor can the Devil most especially.

It should be an honor and a mark of holiness for priests and Bishops to be fired by Pope Francis. Surely Fr. Weinandy will be acknowledged by Jesus before his Father. And just as surely Pope Francis and his followers will not.

Father of Seven
Father of Seven
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 4:58am

Fr. Weinandy received a sign from God before writing his letter. He is being persecuted for it. Is there any doubt God loves his people. We should rejoice.

Clinton
Clinton
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 5:39am

Mr. Dowd, for me,the disturbing thing about Fr. Weinandy’s swift
dismissal is that it wasn’t Pope Francis that fired him, but some
of our own Vicar-of-Bray bishops at the USCCB. Pope Francis has
shown the way, of course, with his dismissals of men like Cardinals
Burke and Canivares-Llovera (a.k.a. “Little Ratzinger”), and by demanding
Cardinal Muller fire three of the best priests on his staff at the CDF– only
to unceremoniously dump the Cardinal from his own post afterward.
Now, Cardinal Sarah appears to have a bullseye painted on his back…

This Pope has made it clear how he will treat those who aren’t on
board with his lio, and our more career-minded prelates have
taken note of how best to please Rome. When theologian Josef
Seifert published two essays critiquing the ambiguities in Amoris
Laetitia
, his Ordinary the Archbishop of Granada, Spain first
announced the Professor was no longer permitted to teach the
Archdiocese’s seminarians, and then forced Professor Seifert’s
dismissal from his chair at the university. And now we see how
our own USCCB has also chosen to purge a man who similarly
forgot his place and dared question Amoris Laetitia. And
no one in Rome had to lift a finger.

It’s strange, but I cannot recall our prelates reacting so swiftly or so
harshly when any other aspect in the life of the Church was publicly
questioned. There are innumerable so-called “Catholic theologians”
and religious who publicly question the divinity of Christ, mock the
belief in the Real Presence, and dispute any number of papal
encyclicals from previous Popes– and yet those men and women
still have their places today. Our Vicars of Bray are not too keen
to defend the Magisterium, but woe betide anyone who dares
question the tower of ambiguity that is Amoris Laetitia.

This pontificate cannot end too soon.

Phillip
Phillip
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 6:15am

“The USCCB has fired Fr. Weinandy because of his letter…”

Good. Maybe now he can work for a Catholic organization.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 6:39am

I have a sense we are living through an updtated version of the 10th century. Uncontrollable corruption, and we will not life to see the end of it.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 8:25am

Our Father Weinandy wasn’t alone in carrying out this letter and having it presented to the Pope. He had confirmation from on high;

“If you want me to write something, you have to give me a clear sign,” Weinandy recalls saying. “Tomorrow morning, I’m going to Saint Mary Major’s to pray, and then I am going to Saint John Lateran. After that, I’m coming back to Saint Peter’s to have lunch with a seminary friend of mine.”
“During that interval, I must meet someone that I know but have not seen in a very long time, and would never expect to see in Rome at this time. That person cannot be from the United States, Canada or Great Britain. Moreover, that person has to say to me, ‘Keep up the good writing’.”
Sure enough, Weinandy said, exactly that happened the next day, in a chance meeting with an archbishop he’d known a long time ago but not seen for over twenty years, who congratulated him for a book on the Incarnation and then said the right words, “Keep up the good writing.”
“There was no longer any doubt in my mind that Jesus wanted me to write something,” Weinandy said.”

This is confirmation. Father continues in this post from CRUX that Dale Price linked yesterday, that he isn’t afraid of any reprisals.

God bless our Father Weinandy!
A man for Christ.

c matt
c matt
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 10:16am

I am saddened that our bishop, Cdl. DiNardo, carried out Bergoglio’s assassination for him, weasling that Fr. Weinandy needs to learn how to dialogue or sum such crap. Hey DiNardo, did you lose your balls on the way to the red hat? I got your dialogue – any time, any where. Can’t wait for his next appeal for money – I will put $.01 in, which is $.01 more than he deserves. No doubt I will receive an automated form letter “thanking” me for my contribution.

DJH
DJH
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 4:51pm

@C Matt: so long as the “Church” continues to get money, they will continue on with business as usual. (The Church may be God’s business, but it’s still business, isn’t it?) I think maybe these folks must be monetarily “fasted” (starved) out of the Church. Perhaps send your monies (pennies if need be) to a worthwhile organization: a pro-life one, a Catholic homeschooling family, your needy neighbor, etc., and send play money to your bishop.
.
My sister would send play money to various political requests she didn’t like. Funny, you know, I think she may have got an automated “thank you” once or twice. Very sad.
.

Mary De Voe
Thursday, November 2, AD 2017 9:40pm

Not a penny.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Friday, November 3, AD 2017 4:06pm

Dear Father Weinandy,

You may remember me as your predecessor as executive director of the Secretariat for Christian Doctrine at the U.S.C.C.B. You replaced me in January.

I am writing this open letter to you in response to your open letter to Pope Francis in which you address what you describe as a “chronic confusion” that seems to mark his pontificate.

According to Sandro Magister’s introduction to your letter, you had asked Jesus for a sign as to whether you should write your letter, you received that sign and thus “no longer had any doubt that Jesus wanted me to write….” I cannot enter into the subjective conditions that inspired you to write, but I need to note that “Amoris Laetitia,”toward which you express great concern, was the fruit of two synods and broad consultation throughout the church, is widely recognized as an act of ordinary Magisterium, and thus enjoys presumption as having been guided by the Spirit of the Lord.

Your first concern is centered on Chapter 8 of “Amoris Laetitia.” You maintain that the Holy Father’s “guidance at times seems intentionally ambiguous.” I believe that the vast majority of bishops and theologians do not agree. The pope does indeed open the door to the possibility that some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can be admitted to the sacraments after careful discernment. Rocco Buttiglione, one of the foremost interpreters of the teaching of St. John Paul II, sees no contradiction, but rather continuity between “Familiaris Consortio”and “Amoris Laetitia.” And most recently Cardinal Gerhard Müller stated that there are conditions which open the way for those in second marriages to receive sacraments.

Your second concern is that the pope’s manner “seems to demean the importance of Church doctrine.” I would note, first of all, that the Holy Father’s homilies, based on the Gospel, call us to a discipleship that is rigorous and uncompromising. Second, I interpret his criticism of those who make doctrine an ideology as a challenge for us to never isolate doctrine from its source in the mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Your third concern is the Holy Father’s “choice of some bishops, men who seem not merely open to those who hold views counter to Christian belief but who support and even defend them.” Unless you are willing to name these bishops and the views counter to Christian belief that supposedly they tolerate, this remains a gratuitous assertion and damages the unity of the church.

Your fourth concern is the pope’s encouragement of a “‘synodality’ that allows and promotes various doctrinal and moral options within the Church.” Here, again in an open letter to the pope, it would have been more responsible to specify what these various options have been. To do anything less is to foster suspicion of bishops and theologians by some circles in the church.

Your fifth concern is that bishops feel that the pope is not open to criticism and indeed resents it. What is your source for this? Indeed, there has been much criticism of the pope, but he has remained silent. I am not aware of anything that he has said in public to indicate that he resents criticism.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, urged that dissent from ordinary Magisterium should be disclosed privately to church authority—see “Donum Veritatis” (No. 30). In a world and even an ecclesial environment of sound bites and facile partisanship, that becomes even wiser advice.

Fraternally yours in Christ,

Msgr. John Strynkowski

The final sentence is ironic.
I hear “IN A WORLD and even ecclesial environment of sound bites and faciel partnership, becomes even wiser advice.”

That’s rich when in light of Pope Francis’ off the cuff guffaws our Fr. Weinandy delivers clarity.
Only from Amerika!

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Friday, November 3, AD 2017 5:31pm

Kurland

As they say at bingo; “BINGO!”

Can’t help it…..too many years in nursing home.
🙂

c matt
c matt
Tuesday, November 7, AD 2017 3:51pm

I am not aware of anything that he has said in public to indicate that he resents criticism.

No one ever said Bergo was not shrewd. So, that leads to the question, what has Bergo said in private? How has the “no public comment” worked out for the FFI? For Fr. Weinandy? For Dr. Josef Seifert? For Cdl. Burke? For the Knights of Malta? Heck, Stalin was hardly more efficient at purges.

Buttiglione sees no contradiction because he sees what happens when you call out the emperor for having no clothes. He is also a shrewd one, and knows how his bread gets buttered.

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