UNITED STATES
Catholic Online
By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
9/9/2015
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Working in Catholic media, one of the most frustrating things is reading secular coverage on quintessentially Catholic matters. While every subject is a Catholic subject, for Catholic is a universal worldview that encompasses literally everything, it’s annoying to see outsiders attempt to co-opt Catholic teaching to promote secular agendas.
The latest claim that a coup is brewing in the hierarchy of the Church is an example of muckraking. Several media outlets have run with comments from Cardinal Raymond Burke that he would “resist” liberal changes in the Church and that “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope.” The comments were given to a French news team a few months ago.
The pope’s power, Burke explained, “is not absolute. The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”
Burke is of course, correct. And Burke might have an axe to grind since he was allegedly demoted by Pope Francis from the Vatican’s highest court. For the record, Pope Francis denied that he demoted Burke, saying instead that he needed him elsewhere.
The much-trumpeted rivalry between Pope Francis and Cardinal Burke is almost certainly contrived by the media. The two men can have differences of opinion, as any two parish priests might have, and they can have preferences and grievances even. These realities aren’t unique to the Church, they exist in every job and in every household. And just as every disagreement in a house doesn’t end in divorce, every grievance in the Vatican does not a schism make.
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