Of the truth, that is.
Maike Hickson’s December 1 article Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto Redoubles His Rebuke of the Four Cardinals commences:After there has now come to us a sort of denial concerning the recent words attributed to Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto about the Four Cardinals – namely, that he did not say that the pope would remove the red hats of these Cardinals – the German Catholic website Katholisch.de has published its own interview with Msgr. Pinto where he now redoubles his critique of the four prelates. In this interview, Pinto again uses very harsh language against these Four Cardinals who have expressed their serious concern that Amoris Laetitia could teach the faithful doctrines that go against the traditional Catholic teaching.
Let’s hold it there while we look at the first sentence. The Dean of the Rota, Pinto, acknowledges that the actions of the Cardinals were “correct and legitimate.” Let’s leave aside the long history of the Church that tells us that dubia expressed by respected members of the Episcopate are always answered, and consider it from a purely human perspective – wouldn’t common courtesy demand that the legitimnate concerns of Princes of the Church be properly addressed? It would seem that in Pinto’s Vatican, even common courtesy can be dispensed with quite summarily. However, common courtesy, in this case, is backed up by the long history of the Church I have alluded to. Msgr Pinto therefore has no right to denounce the Cardinals for challenging the Pope’s words and seeking clarification. Had Pinto lived in Apostolic times, would he have chided Saint Paul for challenging Saint Peter at Antioch, as related in Galatians Chapter 2?
Pinto now says about the Four Cardinals:
They have written to the pope and that is correct and legitimate. But, after there did not come [from the pope] an answer after a few weeks, they published the case. That is a slap in the face. The pope can choose to take counsel with his cardinals; but that is something different from imposing upon him a counsel.
The article continues:When the journalist then says in response that the Four Cardinals would answer that they had no other choice, the Italian prelate further responds:
” They are not a council with any kind of competences”? They are Cardinals – Princes of the Church – and thoroughly versed in all areas of theology. How much more competence is required to recognise those parts of Amoris laetitia that conflict markedly with the moral position the Church has held for millennia? Indeed, does one need the level of erudition of those four Cardinals to recognise just that? The answer is NO. Those of us fortunate to receive the good Catholic education given in the 40s, 50s and into the 60s are more than satisfactorily equipped to perceive that the wording of Amoris laetitia is very seriously loose and ambiguous, and is itself a scandal in that those looking for ease, rather than truth, can find an interpretation that appears to justify their sin.
They are not a council with any kind of competences. On the contrary, they as cardinals are bound in a higher degree to be loyal to the pope. He stands for the gift of unity, the charisma of Peter. That is where the cardinals have to support him, and not hinder him. By what authority do the authors of the letter act? On the fact that they are cardinals? That is not sufficient. Please. Of course they can write to the pope and send him their questions, but to oblige him to answer and to publish the case is another matter.
Another excerpt from the article:When asked about Cardinal Burke’s words that he would present a formal correction of the pope if necessary, Pinto responds once more with vehemence:
As I pointed out above, even tolerably educated laymen can perceive the startling differences between the millennia-old teachings of the Church, right up to the end of the 20th century, and the words of the Apostolic Exhortation.
This is crazy. Such a council of cardinals does not exist that could hold the pope accountable. The task of the cardinals is to help the pope in the exercise of his office – and not to obstruct him or to give him precepts. And this is a fact: Francis is not only in full accordance with the teaching, but also with all of his predecessors in the 20th century, and that was a Golden Age with excellent popes – starting with Pius X.
Further on, Pinto charges the Cardinals with disrupting the unity of the Church:Pinto closes this interview with some seemingly flippant, if not superficial, words when he answers the question as to what should now be done: “Pray a little more, stay calm, basta. Officially, this action has no value. The Church needs unity, not walls, says the pope. We know how Francis is. He believes that people can convert. I know that he is praying for them.”
I suppose the only kind thing one can say about this is that Pinto hasn’t a clue as to what is going on outside his office. In the real world, where unity has been absent for some forty years, as self-styled “progressives” move ever further away from true Catholicism, at least the Popes have continued to support the true Church. With the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia seeming to place the Pope on-side with the “progressives”, unity, which can only come if based in truth, is in very great danger.
To sum up this interview: Pinto claims that the supreme principle of the Church is unity. He does not mention, much less affirm, that the basis of unity is truth.
Responses « Back to index | View thread »