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Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke
Here’s an excerpt from a fine L’Osservatore Romano article that was written by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. The American prelate does a fantastic job explaining Pope Francis’ pastoral modus operandi. The starting point for Cardinal Burke is to highlight persistent speculation (in the U.S. media in particular) that the Pope is on the verge of enacting seismic changes in Church teaching. Citing the Pope’s actual, unfiltered statements and placing them within the context of perennial Church teaching and statements from previous popes, Cardinal Burke presents a true portrait of the current successor to Saint Peter.
So, calculated media agendas and uninformed spin doctors aside, what is Pope Francis all about?
… Pope Francis has clearly reaffirmed the Church’s moral teaching, in accord with her unbroken tradition. What, then, does he want us to understand about his pastoral approach in general? It seems to me that he first wishes to have people set aside every obstacle which they imagine to prevent them from responding with faith. He wants, above all, that they see Christ and receive His personal invitation to be one with Him in the Church.
The Holy Father, it seems to me, wishes to pare back every conceivable obstacle people may have invented to prevent themselves from responding to Jesus Christ’s universal call to holiness. We all know individuals who say things like: “Oh, I stopped going to Church because of the Church’s teaching on divorce”, or “I could never be Catholic because of the Church’s teaching on abortion or on homosexuality”. The Holy Father is asking them to put aside these obstacles and to welcome Christ, without any excuse, into their lives. Once they come to understand the immeasurable love of Christ, alive for us in the Church, they will be able to resolve whatever has been troubling them about the Church, His Mystical Body, and her teaching. … ~Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
Read the rest of the article here.