Respectfully, Holy Father, We Disagree

Our Catholic Church is in trouble! After the synods clearly renounced his agenda, Pope Francis has covertly led us into division if not outright schism on the specific issue of communion for those divorced-and-remarried-civilly. The German bishops allow it; next door the Polish do not. The German bishops are, of course, implementing the approval (in defiance of the collegial decision) that Pope Francis gave the Argentinian bishops about this practice. This is NOT the Catholic way. It is a binary question: they can or they can't! It is like woman priests and contraception: it is a Yes or a No. It can't be avoided or transcended or finessed. Pope Francis is right or wrong. I stand firmly, clearly, peacefully, confidently, and loyally against our Holy Father, in fidelity to the legacy of two thousand years so recently and stirringly re-affirmed by Popes John Paul II and Benedict. At the very heart of our Catholic faith is marriage of man and woman, indissoluble, as analogue for our conjugal union with Christ in the Eucharist. If you distort these two, you have destroyed the Catholic faith. St. Thomas Moore and countless martyrs suffered tortuous death on behalf of this reality. Our Pope MUST be resisted on this; he must be corrected, perhaps formally by the cardinals or bishops. It is simple: Speak the truth in love!  Hate the sin, love the sinner!  Has no one condemned you? Then neither do I! Go now and sin no more! Truth and Love are not separate from or extrinsic to each other: they belong to each other in a perfect union, a marriage, a communion analagous to the Trinity. If I love you I will be true to you, I will speak the truth to you. If you are in sin, I will tell you the truth and invite you to repent and pray for me, a sinner-in-recovery myself.But it is essential that we witness in a spirit of love and peace. There must be nothing shrill, anxious, judgmental or angry about our witness. Our dispute can and must be civil, respectful and charitable. Unfortunately, Pope Francis himself is not a role model in this regard. He refuses to answer the "Dubia" which were questions for clarification from a group of Cardinals. Instead, he makes a habit of ridiculing his opponents as rigid, moralistic pharisees. His style is emotional, resentful, and contemptuous. And so we do well to emulate his predecessors in style as well as substance: John Paul and Benedict were unfailingly sober, unemotional, peaceful, dignified and respectful as they witnessed to the Truth in Love. Always! Their teaching was reliably profound, clear, faithful to Tradition and yet refreshingly creative. Pope Francis, by contrast, has successfully humanized the papacy in that he is transparent in his confused thinking and personal bias.  By now this is so obvious that it cannot be denied by a sentimental piety of unthinking  submission to papal authority. A healthy family is not one without problems, but one that faces, acknowledges and engages the problems: peacefully, respectfully, directly. And so those of us who love the legacy of JP/Benedict and the Great Tradition now must renounce the positions of Pope Francis which contradict our tradition. But we do so respectfully: he is our Holy Father! Notwithstanding his shortcomings, he is both Holy and Father by virtue of his office. And so, respectfully, Holy Father, we disagree!