Francis exerts papal authority requesting Cardinals inform him of their whereabouts, reveals leaked letter
The Tablet
12 June 2017 | by Christopher LambThe request will give Francis advance warning of any important speech or intervention from a cardinal
Cardinals
living in Rome should inform Pope Francis when they leave the city and
provide him with their address when they are abroad, a leaked letter
reveals.
The request is revealed in a
letter sent by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Dean of the College of
Cardinals, who informs the prelates that it is a “noble tradition” for
them to keep both the Pope and the Holy See’s Secretariat of State up to
date with their movements.
“Pope Francis has recently
requested of the Dean of the Cardinalatial College to fraternally remind
each single Cardinal the opportunity of keeping that practice, even
more so in the case of an extended absence from Rome,” read the letter
dated 31 May but revealed today by Francis Rocca of the Wall Street Journal.
Those
living in Rome are in charge of Vatican departments, but many are
frequent travellers who fly around the world giving talks and attending
major Church summits.
Throughout his papacy, Francis
has sought to govern the Church collegially with his fellow cardinals,
and to that end set up a cardinal-advisory body - the C9 - which is this
week meeting in Rome.
The letter re-affirms that
collegiality cuts both ways and requires the Church’s most senior
prelates to work with the Pope and inform him of their agenda. It
also reveals a Jesuit Pope showing his tough side by calmly, but firmly,
exerting the authority of the papacy.
The latest reminder will have
the effect of giving Francis advance warning of any important speech or
intervention from a cardinal, particularly those who are his critics.
One of those often on the road
is Cardinal Raymond Burke, who is threatening to formally correct
Francis for watering down teaching on giving communion to divorced and
remarried Catholics. Sources close to the cardinal say he always tries
to accept invitations to speak abroad. In March while speaking in
Springfield, Virginia, the cardinal used the opportunity to restate
that he will "simply have to correct the situation" regarding allowing
the remarried to receive the sacraments.
Last year, another cardinal
seen at odds with Francis’ papacy used a trip to London to call for
priests to face east when saying Mass. Cardinal Robert Sarah, who is in
charge of the Vatican’s liturgy department, was later publicly rebuked by the Pope.
No comments:
Post a Comment