Please read and pray over the 2 articles below before we decide to label the Pope a heretic. We need to know what we are talking about before we make accusations.
My opinion our safest and best course of action is to reserve judgement. The Pope belongs to Christ. He is the only one to judge motives. We could harm the faith of simple Catholics and contribute to schism. Finally and most important, we also risk putting the salvation of our own soul in danger.
Unless we are a Cardinal we have no authority, hence no business making judgements if any Pope. We will have to answer to God for any judgements made that damage the faith if others.
King David did not dare when the opportunity presented itself to him to kill Saul who was anointed as King. David left him to God's providence. We also should do the same, refraining from unleashing the swords of our tongues against the Pope anointed by God to represent Him and lead His Church.
My opinion our safest and best course of action is to reserve judgement. The Pope belongs to Christ. He is the only one to judge motives. We could harm the faith of simple Catholics and contribute to schism. Finally and most important, we also risk putting the salvation of our own soul in danger.
Unless we are a Cardinal we have no authority, hence no business making judgements if any Pope. We will have to answer to God for any judgements made that damage the faith if others.
King David did not dare when the opportunity presented itself to him to kill Saul who was anointed as King. David left him to God's providence. We also should do the same, refraining from unleashing the swords of our tongues against the Pope anointed by God to represent Him and lead His Church.
Prudence dictates, if the Pope is out of line the Cardinals are responsible to help make the pope aware of his error. If it's God's will they will step in or the situation may warrant leaving Him in the hands if God's Providence as David did.
Reading the articles below they both indicate that there are no dogmas denied a requisite for a charge of heresy. We as laity need to take care of our own sphere of influence. Our family our work and leave judgement of the Pope to Christ and this who are able to assist the Pope to see any errors. Lets not become part of the problem by making charges on issues we are not educated in and know nothing about!
We will not be asked on judgement day on the popes possible sins. We will be asked how we helped our families or that homeless guy we pass everyday on our way to work. We will be asked on judgement day if we kept the Pope close to us in prayer! The Fatima message requested this.
The following links are to articles requesting restraint in judgement if the charge of heresy. Their arguments to support their reasons are legitimate. It is worth reading you are guaranteed to learn a thing or two!
The writers are Phil Lawler and Jimmy Akin each give sufficient reasons that are not considered by those who are pushing for the charge of heresy of this pope. You may not care for a certain author for one reason or another. Just consider the truth in the reported facts in their articles. And above all pray very much for the Pope. May God Bless you!
The writers are Phil Lawler and Jimmy Akin each give sufficient reasons that are not considered by those who are pushing for the charge of heresy of this pope. You may not care for a certain author for one reason or another. Just consider the truth in the reported facts in their articles. And above all pray very much for the Pope. May God Bless you!
Oremus,
Spera Rose, Ocds
Phil Lawler is the editor of Catholic World News (CWN), the first English-language Catholic news service operating on the internet, which he founded in 1995. CWN provides daily headline news coverage for the Catholic Culture site, where Phil Lawler also offers regular analysis and commentary
Well, is the Pope a heretic? I am not qualified to address that question. As a matter of fact, I don’t know who is. St. Robert Bellarmine introduced the possibility (note: he mentioned it as a theoretical possibility, not as an established certainty) that a Pontiff who promoted heresy would forfeit his office. But citing that argument begs the question. Who could make the authoritative judgment that the Pope had fallen into heresy and therefore lost his authority? Certainly not a handful of independent scholars.
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=1344
Well, is the Pope a heretic? I am not qualified to address that question. As a matter of fact, I don’t know who is. St. Robert Bellarmine introduced the possibility (note: he mentioned it as a theoretical possibility, not as an established certainty) that a Pontiff who promoted heresy would forfeit his office. But citing that argument begs the question. Who could make the authoritative judgment that the Pope had fallen into heresy and therefore lost his authority? Certainly not a handful of independent scholars.
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=1344
Another article worth considering.
Jimmy Akin is an internationally known author and speaker. As the senior apologist at Catholic Answers, he has more than twenty years of experiencing defending and explaining the Faith. It’s gravely reckless and irresponsible to charge anyone with an ecclesiastical crime as serious as heresy if you can’t prove it, and it’s even worse to do so with regard to the pope, given the scandal, confusion, and risk of individual schism that it will create for the faithful. It’s one thing to ask for clarifications, voice concerns or express disagreement, but making charges of heresy is another matter.
There are multiple problems with the recent Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church that charges Pope Francis with heresy, but here we will focus on the core problem: the letter fails to sustain the charge of heresy.
According to the Code of Canon Law, “heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith” (CIC 751; cf. CCC 2089).
(Generally in relation to the Dogmas.)
If you are going to charge anybody (especially the pope) with heresy, you need to prove your case, and this letter doesn’t.
A cursory review of the list of signatories indicates that none have doctorates in the relevant fields of canon law or sacred theology, though a few have licentiates (the equivalent of master’s degrees). None seem to be specialists in ecclesiology—the branch of theology that deals most directly with the Magisterium of the Church—and none seem to have published a book on the Magisterium and how it engages its infallibility.
The signatories of the Open Letter make no attempt to do the needed work. They either do not quote the language used by Church documents or they do not argue that the language they do quote shows that a truth has been infallibly defined as divinely revealed.
A dogma of Faith.
What Dogma Is
A dogma is a special kind of Church teaching. Any time the Church authoritatively teaches something, it is a doctrine (Latin, doctrina = “teaching”). Within the set of doctrines is a smaller set of teachings that have been infallibly defined by the Magisterium. These are infallible doctrines.
Within the set of infallible doctrines is a smaller set that consists of those infallible teachings that the Magisterium has infallibly defined to be divinely revealed. These are the dogmas.
Note: That just because something is infallible, that doesn’t make it a dogma. The Magisterium has to have infallibly said that it is divinely revealed for that to be the case.
The distinctions between these categories, as well as examples of doctrines that belong to them, are discussed in a 1998 commentary by Joseph Ratzinger and Tarcisio Bertone.
The Open Letter has many other flaws, but its chief one is that it fails to make the case that the present pope is guilty of heresy. To do that, it would need to show the following:
- The Magisterium has infallibly defined some specific truth
- It has infallibly defined that this specific truth isdivinely revealed, creating a dogma
- The pope has been baptized (that’s easy)
- The pope’s words or actions indicate that he refuses to believe the dogma
- His words or actions cannot be understood in a way consistent with the dogma
- He does so obstinately.
It’s one thing to ask for clarifications, voice concerns or express disagreement, but making charges of heresy is another matter. It’s gravely reckless and irresponsible to charge anyone with an ecclesiastical crime as serious as heresy if you can’t prove it, and it’s even worse to do so with regard to the pope, given the scandal, confusion, and risk of individual schism that it will create for the faithful.
http://m.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/on-charging-a-pope-with-heresy
