Pope Replaces Conservative U.S. Cardinal on Influential Vatican Committee

[BootinUp]

ROME — Pope Francis moved on Monday against a conservative American cardinal who has been an outspoken critic of abortion and same-sex marriage, by replacing him on a powerful Vatican committee with another American who is less identified with the culture wars within the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington was named by Pope Francis to the Vatican committee that selects new bishops.
The pope’s decision to remove Cardinal Raymond Burke from the Congregation for Bishops was taken by church experts to be a signal that Francis is willing to disrupt the Vatican establishment in order to be more inclusive.

...
“He is saying that you don’t need to be a conservative to become a bishop,” said Alberto Melloni, the director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna, a liberal Catholic research institute. “He wants good bishops, regardless of how conservative or liberal they are.”
...
Last week, Cardinal Burke also seemed to create more substantive daylight between himself and the pope, giving an interview in which he raised concerns about comments by Francis that the church should reduce the focus on abortion and same-sex marriage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/world/europe/pope-replaces-conservative-us-cardinal-on-influential-vatican-committee.html?_r=0

[freshwest]

1. Good change to quit backing 'conservative' Catholics like Ryan, Gingrich, Sanctorum. n/t

[dembotoz]

2. good

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. To Bill Donohue and Rick Santorum:

[life long demo]

4. Each little step has been a positive one

Yes they are little steps but they have been loud and clear. Thank you.

[DemocraticWing]

5. I honestly think Pope Francis is laying the groundwork for change.

He still espouses the historical policies of the Church, but he's doing minor things to slowly reform it. He may never come out in support of gay marriage before his death (partially because if he plans to, his death might be hastened by others) but let's remember for comparison that two years ago Barack Obama was against marriage equality and Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law in 1996. People change, policies change, and before big changes happen there is always a quiet history of small changes laying the groundwork.

Again, Francis may not be the person to bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century on homosexuality. But he's making small changes that may make it possible for that to happen. Watch his cardinal appointments over the course of his papacy...as the College of Cardinals slowly shifts from a group of conservative JPII/Benedict appointees to more progressive Francis appointees, it can lay the groundwork for an even further evolution of the Church under the next Pope.

As a gay Catholic, I certainly hope that's the case.

[Chan790]

7. On that front, I wish he was a little younger.

Even two or three years so. He's 76 and was to some extent chosen because he was the runner-up to Benedict previously and because he was older with the expectation that he'd have a short rein and the incorrect assumption he would be a continuation of the status quo. Really, a Pope needs to serve around 10 years to appoint the majority of the Curia and College of Cardinals unless he's going to take the mostly-unprecedented step of dismissing people. (He'd be firing the people that elected him to do so.)

If he lives to be even as old as John Paul II, who actually lived to be older than most Popes of the 20^th century, he'd only serve 8 years. Conversely, a part of Benedict's decision to retire may have been to create a culture where, like Cardinals, Popes don't serve unto their deaths. If Francis follows that lead, he might retire at less than 84. (Benedict was 85 at his retirement.)

[TexasProgresive]

8. Wishing Francis a long and prosperous life.

But Roncalli did a lot to shake up the Church in his 5 years as Pope John XXIII. It is said he was made pope with the though he would not last long, not doing much and Montini (Paul VI) would be pope. I am seeing Francis taking up the reins of reform that John began. There has been a hiatus during John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

I hope that the spirit that existed in those times both secular and in the Church is coming back. It was a time of hope.

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. knr

[a kennedy]

9. Yeah, this cardinal Burke who said he would deny Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John

Kerry, a Roman Catholic who supports abortion rights.

This from our local newspaper:

Wisconsin native Cardinal Raymond Burke is losing his influential role in the appointment of bishops in the United States.

The former La Crosse bishop was not reconfirmed to the Congregation for Bishops by Pope Francis. The former St. Louis archbishop had been a member for several years.

Burke served as La Crosse bishop from 1994 to 2003 and went to the Vatican in 2008 after serving in St. Louis. He's popular with conservative Catholics in the U.S. for upholding church rites and traditions favored by Pope Benedict. He drew attention in the U.S. in 2004 when he said he would deny Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Roman Catholic who supports abortion rights.

Burke retains his position as the head of the Vatican high court, the Apostolic Signatura.

http://www.news8000.com/news/cardinal-burke-losing-influential-role-in-vatican/-/326/23522746/-/fxr2n7z/-/index.html