Conservatives Within the Catholic Church Are Trying to Lay ‘poisoned Bait’ for Pope Francis, Says Author

By Alice Philipson
National Post
October 15, 2015

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/religion/conservatives-within-the-catholic-church-are-trying-to-lay-poisoned-bait-for-pope-francis-says-author

Pope Francis smiles as he leaves for a break during the Synod on the family at the Vatican on October 15, 2015.

Conservatives within the Catholic Church are trying to lay “poisoned bait” for Pope Francis, it has been claimed, just days after he faced a rebellion from Vatican cardinals opposed to his more liberal stance.

With the Pope mid-way through a family summit dogged by scandal and rumours of plotting, Italian newspapers reported on schemes to destabilise Francis. Nello Scavo, a journalist at Avvenire, a daily linked to the Church, told La Repubblica there was a concerted move to “weaken the character and the strength of Pope Francis.”

“There is an ideological battle, it is true,” said Scavo, the author of a new book entitled The Enemies of Francis. “There have also been some inside the curia who have tried to lay poisoned bait for Francis.”

He cited the example of Krzysztof Charamsa, a senior Vatican official and Polish priest, who came out publicly as gay just a day before the summit began, criticising what he called “institutionalised homophobia in the Church.”

Charamsa also claimed that a majority of priests were gay, after which he was sacked.

Leonardo Boff, a theologian who has close ties with the Pope, told Oggi magazine it was “a trap set by those on the Right of the Church who oppose the Pope.”

“Because he [Charamsa] didn’t do it in a simple way,” he added. “But in a provocative way in order to create problems for the Synod and for Francis.”

On Monday the three-week debate — tackling issues such as homosexuality and divorce — was thrown into chaos as a rebellious letter to Pope Francis signed by 13 cardinals was leaked to Italy’s L’Espresso magazine.

It urged against abandoning key elements of Catholic doctrine, warning the Church risked collapse in the same way liberal protestant churches had done. Federico Lombardi, chief Vatican spokesman, described the letter as an “an act of disturbance.”

Vatican experts warned certain sections of the Church were trying to recreate the climate that lead to the Vatileaks scandal, when a series of secret documents alleging corruption and nepotism were made public.

Pope Francis issued a surprise public apology over the situation. “I want, in the name of the Church, to ask forgiveness for the scandals that have recently hit Rome and the Vatican. I ask you for forgiveness,” he said at the start of his weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square.

“It is inevitable that scandals happen, but ’woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!’” he said, quoting a passage from the Bible. Vatican expert Joshua McElwee writing in the National Catholic Reporter described the apology as an “extraordinary step.”

The summit is seen as ideological battleground between the conservative and progressive wings of the Church.