The Letter by The Four

Four cardinals said they formally asked Pope Francis to clarify his teaching on Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried and, not receiving a response after two months, they released their letter to the press.
In releasing their letter and accompanying explanations Nov. 14, the cardinals said, “The Holy Father has decided not to respond. We have interpreted his sovereign decision as an invitation to continue the reflection and the discussion, calmly and with respect. And so we are informing the entire people of God about our initiative, offering all of the documentation.”
full story at CNS

Drudge even posted it

Father Z I think has a great point here:
In particular, keep in mind that many people have wondered whether there is an ongoing effort to undermine the Magisterium of St. John Paul II.
The fact that The Four do not presently have curial or diocesan roles means that – short of having their red hats taken away – the Pope can’t remove them from offices that they don’t hold.
I’d be willing to bet that The Four are merely the tip of the spear. I’d wager that they represent a large gang of quiet Cardinals who want answers, but because they are presently in curial or diocesan positions they are hesitant to raise their heads too high.
I find it very unlikely the cardinal electorate would have expected how aggressively a Francis pontificate would undermined the teachings of JPII.  Who knows how far off it is but the next conclave sure seems to be shaking out to be a reaction to Francis.  Whether "whoops" or "woohoo" is the vote has yet to be seen.

4 comments:

Kat said...

Anyone else think it's funny the Twitter picture's headline reads "Conservative cardinals challenge pope over tea..."?

Unknown said...


Has something like this happened in recent history?

Badger Catholic said...

LOL!!

Dad29 said...

No. And nothing like Francis has happened in recent history, either.