Letter from Rome

By Robert Mickens
Commonweal
October 14, 2015

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/letter-rome-51?utm_source=Main+Reader+List&utm_campaign=58ade91164-July+18_The_Week_at_Commonweal&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407bf353a2-58ade91164-92306633


It has been known for quite some time that a number of cardinals and bishops, both in Rome and abroad, are—to put it mildly—uncomfortable with the way Pope Francis’s pontificate is unfolding.

Well, this week it all spilled out into the open when it was unveiled that several cardinals—including three top Vatican officials (Cardinals Pell, Muller and Sarah)—wrote a letter to the Pope that basically criticized the way he is running the Synod of Bishops.

One should be magnanimous and give these birds credit for being honest with the Pope and telling him their concerns. (They were not happy that the public found out, which is another story.) But one should also be aware that, at least some of these prelates, are active ringleaders of an opposition to Francis.

As the Vatican II-minded theologian, Enzo Bianchi, noted this week in the Rome daily, La Repubblica, they have at times waged a fierce battle.