Conservative dissent is brewing inside the Vatican

[mfcorey1]

VATICAN CITY — On a sunny morning earlier this year, a camera crew entered a well-appointed apartment just outside the 9th-century gates of Vatican City. Pristinely dressed in the black robes and scarlet sash of the princes of the Roman Catholic Church, the Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke sat in his elaborately upholstered armchair and appeared to issue a warning to Pope Francis.

A staunch conservative and Vatican bureaucrat, Burke had been demoted by the pope a few months earlier, but it did not take the fight out of him. Francis had been backing a more inclusive era, giving space to progressive voices on divorced Catholics as well as gays and lesbians. In front of the camera, Burke said he would “resist” liberal changes — and seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority. “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope,” Burke told the French news crew.

[What has Pope Francis actually accomplished? Here’s a look at 7 of his most notable statements.]

Papal power, Burke warned, “is not absolute.” He added, “The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”

Burke’s words belied a growing sense of alarm among strict conservatives, exposing what is fast emerging as a culture war over Francis’s papacy and the powerful hierarchy that governs the Roman Catholic Church.

This month, Francis makes his first trip to the United States at a time when his progressive allies are heralding him as a revolutionary, a man who only last week broadened the power of priests to forgive women who commit what Catholic teachings call the “mortal sin” of abortion during his newly declared “year of mercy” starting in December. On Sunday, he called for “every” Catholic parish in Europe to offer shelter to one refugee family from the thousands of asylum-seekers risking all to escape war-torn Syria and other pockets of conflict and poverty.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/conservative-dissent-is-brewing-inside-the-vatican/ar-AAe2NSI?ocid=mailsignout

[LiberalElite]

1. I am sick.to.death. of conservatives

wherever they are.

[riversedge]

2. you speak the TRUTH

[MBS]

4. me, too -and in this case of Cardinal Burke,

who is a complete jerk as well as a shamelessly partisan far-right conservative, my nausea and annoyance are particularly extreme. Burke gives the Catholic Church and religion a bad name. "Holy" or "reverend" are the last words I would associate with this a___hole. Burke represents everything that's wrong about the American far right. He is the worst of the worst.

In addition to his tacky and mean-spirited attempts at sabotage of everything Pope Francis is doing, Burke is the same guy who asserted that he would not serve communion to John Kerry in 2004 because of Kerry's support of abortion rights, and in general tried to cause trouble for Catholic Democratic politicians across the board.

I cheered when Pope Francis demoted Burke (so deliciously deserved); I only wish Francis could make Burke go away completely.

[B Calm]

3. They probably like to go back to the Mussolini era. .

[MBS]

5. here's the direct link to the original WaPo article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-conservative-revolt-is-brewing-inside-the-vatican/2015/09/07/1d8e02ba-4b3d-11e5-80c2-106ea7fb80d4_story.html

(The MSN version appears to have the same text)

The opening paragraphs nicely show the degree of jerkdom of Burke (and, in his love of luxury and pomp, showing yet another way in which he is the utter opposite of Francis). Burke is really the worst of the worst:

On a sunny morning earlier this year, a camera crew entered a well-appointed apartment just outside the 9th-century gates of Vatican City. Pristinely dressed in the black robes and scarlet sash of the princes of the Roman Catholic Church, Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke sat in his elaborately upholstered armchair and appeared to issue a warning to Pope Francis.

A staunch conservative and Vatican bureaucrat, Burke had been demoted by the pope a few months earlier, but it did not take the fight out of him. . . In front of the camera, Burke said he would “resist” liberal changes — and seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority. “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope,” Burke told the French news crew.

This also made me shudder:

. .. for liberal reformers, the bruising theological pushback by conservatives is complicating efforts to translate the pope’s transformative style into tangible changes.
“At least we aren’t poisoning each other’s chalices anymore,” said the Rev. Timothy Radcliffe, a liberal British priest and Francis ally appointed to an influential Vatican post in May. Radcliffe said he welcomed open debate, even critical dissent within the church. But he professed himself as being “afraid” of “some of what we’re seeing”

Despite Radcliffe's optimism (hope?) that conservative opponents will not resort to more dastardly methods to thwart Francis, I personally hope that Francis has a food taster, and excellent, loyal security. I actually am serious.

[AngryAmish]

6. Same old Jesuit v Church battle that has gone on for centuries

Jesuits have upper hand now.

[MBS]

7. Yes, indeed

Whenever I start to worry (which I do often) about Pope Francis' safety, I am reminded that Francis is no naif about dirty politics in the Vatican, and is fully prepared for battle. As Charlie Pierce says, "Don't f*k with the Jesuits".

However, I'd also add that the fight is broader than Jesuits vs "the Church"- it's really between ALL those who would open up the church, emphasizing the message of love, generosity and mercy, vs the holier-than-thou contingent, who emphasize rules, hierarchy, privilege and exclusion. John XXIII was not a Jesuit, and he waged the same battle that Francis is waging.

It's just that as a Jesuit, Francis has an extra set of tools