Quote from: Marlelar

He uses secretaries as examples a lot, I think I shall take umbrage on their behalf.

I didn't know secretaries were so powerful  :confused1: that they alone would decide if a child could be baptized...  I wonder what pastors do nowadays in the NO  

Does Francis really think we are that stupid?

Marsha

Secretaries work under the policies that their employers give them. If the pastor says soemthing is a requirement or an impediment then the secretary has to do what they're told to do.  

While there is a kernel of truth to at least part of this homily by the Pope, I find his style very, very hard to take.

Pope Francis seems to make semi-spontaneous observations that don't clearly have objects.  Frankly, I am left with '...and what is your point?'  

I can wring my hands about commonalities, too- and I hope my friends would slap me back into reason.

And what is the rationality in the Pope's case?  Does he have any shred of appreciation for the autodestruction of the Church?  

Making elementary observations that 'gatekeepers exist' and 'processes can get annoying' does not, to me, show that there is much of an understanding of what his Petrine office is.

He is father of princes and kings, the ruler of the world on earth, the vicar of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Yet, I do see an appreciation, even a basic one, of a) the Four Last Things, b) there is a hell c) that is populated and d) given the state of affairs, the Church is in shambles.

If one is actually devoted to Fatima (really devoted I mean, not just superficially or in a dabbling sense, but actually makes real life choices taking it into account), I don't see such a man spouting statements that seem to be about nothing (though have a residue of rejecting 'stuffy rules and trappings.')

I don't mean disrespect to the Pope or to undermine him.  Indeed, these homilies really bother me and meanwhile the Church is shedding more and more souls.

Quote from: poche

Quote from: Marlelar

He uses secretaries as examples a lot, I think I shall take umbrage on their behalf.

I didn't know secretaries were so powerful  :confused1: that they alone would decide if a child could be baptized...  I wonder what pastors do nowadays in the NO  

Does Francis really think we are that stupid?

Marsha

Secretaries work under the policies that their employers give them. If the pastor says soemthing is a requirement or an impediment then the secretary has to do what they're told to do.  

I don't think it is as you say, poche, so much.  

Novus Ordo pastors don't like to "rock the boat", so to speak.  They allow parish secretaries to do just about anything because, ultimately, the priest will only be in a parish a short time while the secretary is permanent.  Pastors are seldom appointed permanently anymore.  The Conciliar Canon Law allows bishops to appoint pastors for a term of years and most bishops use that authority to keep pastors from getting "too familiar" with any one parish.  They think they need flexibility with priestly assignments and don't want any one pastor to get to "powerful".  The parish secretary, on the other hand, is the hired, and often almost permanent, bureaucrat.  She had done what she has done for years and is a much more stable part of the parish than virtually any pastor who will likely be moved in a few years.

What do Novus Ordo pastors do nowadays? They go to meetings and retreats, they sit on committees, they discuss new pastoral methods, they learn how to "reach" young people, they learn about liturgical innovations, and they sign reports given them by the parish secretary.