Our new guardian of the faith, Archbishop Hernandez, unveiled his theological intentions in a recent interview with Pillar. Asked about John Paul's magisterial "Veritatis Splendor" he responded: "It is a great document, powerfully solid...with a particular concern--to set limits." He then called for a new tone, a new approach.
I would translate this as: "We can ignore these principles and be pastoral, compassionate, welcoming." This is a kind of hyper-flexibility, a fluidity, a retreat from doctrine and the intellect to feelings.
In my supervisor career at UPS I often joked that my favorite clause was the "flexibility clause." The management culture there was schizoid: officially, mountains of regulations dictated everything including safe work methods, defensive driving, and detailed industrial engineering protocols for efficiency. At the same time, a macho "get-it-done" attitude was ready to throw out the rule book to overcome the actual obstacles to getting the packages delivered on time. I have carried this attitude into many spheres of my life. But there are two that are Sacred: the sacraments and sexuality. These are NOT to be played with! You play fast and loose with the regulations of global capitalism and the expansive State but NOT with the liturgy and chastity!
Unfortunately, Hernandez and the entire Francis coterie overapply the flexibility clause where it does not belong. Notice: he did not contradict, critique or in any way engage Veritatis Splendor. Shrewdly, he affirmed it...and then put it back on his bookshelf to ignore. This tactic recalls the response of Pope Francis to the famous "Dubia": he completely ignored them. Francis often rants against rigid dogmatism. He carries a resentful anti-intellectualism that is the polar opposite of his two predecessors. Such an attitude is widespread and not necessarily toxic, except in a pope.
When asked about the blessing of gay unions Hernandez stated clearly that such were not to be confused with sacramental marriages. With that clear, he opened the door. He specifically renounced the formulation "God does not bless sin." He explained that such might be correct theologically but pastorally inappropriate in light of given circumstances. Surely we share his concern for sensitivity, kindness and discretion. But he again sets principle, truth and our legacy against compassion. He would surely have an allergic reaction to our classic "Hate the sin; love the sinner." This has been replaced by: "Don't worry about sin! Always Be Compassionate!" (ABC) This adds up to accompaniment in sin: let me give you a ride to your abortion appointment; do you need a few dollars for your birth control pills or your transgender surgery?"
Pope Francis sees in Hernandez a new era, a renunciation of a past harshness, the dawning of the Age of Aquarias! I feel like I am back in the late 1960s.
Cult of Synodality
The obsession with this new synod offers no specific agenda, teaching, or development. It is a quasi-mystical fascination with an illusive process of listening and talking. It seems to be a faux-Hegelian or Teihardian dynamic, a imminent dialogic process, that will miraculously produce a new Church, discontinuous with the rigid, static, closed Church of the past (Including Benedict, John Pau,l John Paul, Paul, John, Pius, etc).
It is a return to the intoxicating confusion of the late 1960s. I know this well because I myself, in college at the time, drank deeply of the kool-aid. Intuitively, which is to say delusionally, we all knew with certainty that we had entered a new world, an era of enlightenment discontinuous with a systemically ignorant, oppressive past: a Camelot of Alinskian empowerement, Rogerian listening, peace rather than war, Freirian education for liberation, triumph of the therapeutic, "Spirit of Vatican II," gospel secularity, existential engagement, counter-culturalism, anti-establishmentarianism, women's liberation and such. In a fog of idealism, we surrendered ourselves to leftist politics of liberation and salvation through the therapeutic. We were fascinated with the impure union of Freud and Marx and, without deliberation, abandoned our Catholic communion with Christ in sacrament, Word, tradition, authority and prayer.
This armada of demons, renounced in the great dual pontificate of John Paul and Benedict, is back with reinforcements now in this vacuous, hysterical fascination with "synodality."
Crisis of Mercy
If you asked me for a single word to sum up the papacy of John Paul II, I would answer "Mercy." He channeled the heavenly message entrusted to St. Faustina to the entire world. This is the Mercy given us by the Father, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, which delivered us from the domain of sin and restored us to the dignity and freedom of our identity as children of God. This is Mercy infused with Truth, Justice and Wrath (against sin and evil) in the tradition of all the saints.
With the pontificate of Francis, we entered a crisis of Mercy. By this I do not mean a resurgence of moralism, arrogance, legalism and rigidity. That is a perennial temptation for the religious temperament. What I see rather is a cheapened Mercy, torn away from Truth, Justice and Holy Wrath (against sin): effete, soft, indulgent, accommodating, lukewarm and therefore nauseating. It is resentment of the paternal and patriarchal in its legacy, authority, accountability, and sacredness as oppressive and restrictive of the autonomous Sovereign Self.
Weeds and Wheat
How do we navigate a Church in which the guardians no longer safeguard doctrine; the preachers no longer call to repentance; the patriarchs disparage our patrimony; and we are stampeding in synodal confusion straight off the cliff of emotionalism?
We find strength and serenity in the parable of the hysterical workers and the calm, confident owner. The farmer assures us: "I wouldn't worry about the weeds. Be at peace! Be patient! Take courage! The wheat is strong, resilient, steady, enduring. Even in adversity it will thrive. At the proper time there will be the ingathering and the weeds will be burned. For now continue to husband your crops...calm, steadfast, joyous, trusting."
Things have been worse in our Church. They may get worse before they get better. But Christ is with us to the end. The Holy Spirit is our constant companion. And so we dispel anxiety and resentment. We rejoice gratefully in the abundance of grace He pours upon us, even in our mess.
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