“The arrival on the throne of Peter of a theologian like Benedict XVI is without a doubt an exception. John XXIII was not a theologian by profession. Pope Francis is also more pastoral, and the congregation for the doctrine of the faith has the mission of the theological structuring of a pontificate."
These words of Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, in an interview with the French newspaper “La Croix” on March 29, have raised nervous reactions in the camp of the ultra-Bergoglians.
The historian Alberto Melloni has dismissed the cardinal’s intention of "theologically structuring" the pontificate of Francis as “a comic outburst of subversive paternalism.”
While the vaticanista Andrea Tornielli has denounced it as an abuse of power exceeding the duties of the congregation, in addition to being offensive toward the current pontificate, judged as being insufficient in its theological “structure” and stature.
But that in fact some of the statements - and among the most famous - made by Pope Francis suffer from a lack of clarity is plain for all to see.
Two of these have recently returned to the center of the debate.
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The first is the famous question “Who am I to judge?” as applied to the ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ who “is seeking the Lord and has good will.”
Francis launched this question at the press conference on July 28, 2013 on the return flight to Rome from Rio de Janeiro.
He repeated it in the extensive interview a few weeks a later with “La Civiltà Cattolica,” adding that “spiritual interference in personal life is not possible.”
Without ever clarifying in what sense the question relates on the one hand to the evangelical saying “Do not judge and you will not be judged," but on the other to the power to "bind and loose" given by Jesus to Peter.
The fact is that the ambiguity of the phrase has contributed enormously to Pope Francis’ success in the media.
Only to come back to bite him, as is happening these days on account of the lack of Vatican approval for the new ambassador to the Holy See designated by the French government.
Back in 2007 the Holy See had withheld approval for another ambassador proposed by Paris, Jean-Loup Kuhn-Delforge, because he was openly ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ and cohabiting with a companion in a legally recognized form.
It is the consistent practice of the Holy See, in fact, to refuse diplomatic credentials for anyone in a condition of marital “irregularity” with respect to the Catholic canons.
But Laurent Stefanini (in the photo), the person now in question, does not appear to be in this irregular situation. He is a practicing Catholic, confirmed as an adult, single, ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ but without ideological grievances. From 2001 to 2005 he was an attaché at the French embassy to the Holy See and came to be appreciated by the latter, seeing that at the end of his service he was decorated with the order of Saint Gregory. His current candidacy for ambassador was backed by the archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, although he is highly engaged in opposing “gender” ideology, and was defended by Ludovine de la Rochère, president of the pro-family movement “Manif pour tous.”
Designated by the French government on January 5, a month later Stefanini received from the apostolic nuncio in Paris, Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the request to withdraw on account of his ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ orientation.
But neither Stefanini nor the government of Paris have given in. And in early April the case exploded in the media.
The Vatican has declined to comment.
But this rejection of credentials appears to be in glaring contradiction not only with that “Who am I to judge” which has become the trademark of the pontificate of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but also and above all with the unprecedented number of ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ churchmen promoted in the last two years to important positions in close contact with the pope.
With regard to these churchmen, including Monsignor Battista Ricca of scandal-strewn past, director of the Casa di Santa Marta and “prelate” of the IOR, no veto has ever been raised. On the contrary, the opposite has happened.
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351029?eng=y