On his October 15 posting from Rome, Archbishop Dew noted that there had been vigorous arguments in the small group discussions taking place this week.

"The arguments are very strong as to whether this should be about doctrine and truth, or about mercy and compassion for those who struggle or for whom life is difficult," he said.

But the Archbishop of Wellington stated that doctrine is not being done away with.

"We are saying that the Church needs to be warm and welcoming - showing the mercy and kindness of Jesus."

Archbishop Dew also noted another bishop referring to the parable of the wheat and the weeds and saying that we need to admit we are all in this together.

"Sometimes we are the wheat and sometimes we are the weeds, but whatever happens, life will be full of both," Archbishop Dew said.

He also observed that some synod members only want to use scripture passages that support their own arguments.

In his October 16 posting, Archbishop Dew mentioned media portrayals of the competing factions at the synod, and admitted there is some truth in these.

"[But] it seems to me the majority [at the synod] are very aware of the need for the Church to reach out in new ways to many who do struggle," he wrote.

"I am sure that the mission of Pope Francis - even though some don't like it - is to make the Church a place of love and welcome, a community where people know they are accepted and cared for."

Archbishop Dew was sure this would come through when the small group discussions were to be reported back.

The blog is being updated daily with Archbishop Dew's postings on the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference website.

Sources

• Archbishop Dew synod blog
• Archbishop Dew synod blog
• Image: NZ Catholic

Despite concerns about the potential outcomes of the synod, where a diverse group of bishops, priests and laity will convene to discuss the Church's future, Barron is confident that doctrine will not be a topic of discussion.

He bases this belief on Pope Francis' assurances.

Barron says he is taking Pope Francis' word that the Synod will neither discuss doctrine nor vote on doctrine.

"The pope has said it over and over and over again in the lead up to the Synod—that the Synod is not a parliament, not a democratic process. We're not voting on doctrine," said Barron.

However, Barron admits that he is uncertain about what the synod will entail, but he places his trust in Pope Francis to steer it wisely and responsibly.

Barron reinforces the Pope's sentiment that the synod is not a parliament or a democratic process.

As for the American delegation, Barron believes that the American delegation will provide a balanced ideological perspective which he thinks aligns with the Pope's preference.

From a personal perspective, Barron sees the synod not as a platform for reform but as a strategy session to improve evangelisation and effectively accompany people from all walks of life.

He emphasises that the focus is more on strategy, particularly in reaching out to those who feel alienated from the Church for various reasons.

His personal hope is that the synod will extend the work initiated by the Second Vatican Council, helping the Church to better fulfil its mission through evangelisation and accompanying people on their spiritual journey.

Barron does not outline how he will respond should the Synod not focus on how he thinks it should.

The synod, which will gather nearly 400 Catholics from around the globe to discuss the Church's future and suggest changes, will hold two sessions in October 2023 and October 2024.

After the final session, Pope Francis will have the ultimate authority to critique and reject or accept the synod's proposals.

Source

• Catholic Vote

This was only the second time that Francis has convened the entire College of Cardinals for a discussion on a specific topic. The first gathering was an extraordinary consistory in February 2014 at which Cardinal Walter Kasper delivered the opening presentation.

It was part of preparations for the Synod of Bishops' extraordinary general assembly on family and marriage (October 2014) and the ordinary general assembly on the same topic that was held a year later (October 2015).

Cardinal Kasper's thesis, which advocated some changes in the way the Church deals with divorced and remarried Catholics, did not go unchallenged. A good number of cardinals harshly criticized his position, and indirectly the pope's as well.

Looking at Roman Curia reform

This is one of the reasons Francis waited eight years before again calling together all the members of the College of Cardinals.

The topic of the August gathering was quite different from the one in 2014: the reform of the Roman Curia, which Francis unveiled on March 19 with the publication of the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium.

More than a consultation, which should have happened before the promulgation of the constitution, the meeting was meant to prepare the cardinals for what is already codified in law.

Nonetheless, some further modifications are still possible, given the pope's incremental way of implementing reforms.

Not all the cardinals agreed with important parts of the apostolic constitution, especially with Praedicate Evangelium's passage that separates the exercise of Church governance from sacramental ordination.

This introduces "lay governance" on a theological foundation that contradicts the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) as spelled out in Lumen Gentium.

No high drama this time

But there was no high drama at this meeting as there was at the extraordinary consistory of 2014.

There are three reasons why.

The first is that the reform of the Roman Curia is something quite technical and juridically complex. Its results are yet to be seen and will largely depend on the top personnel Francis appoints, especially the new prefects of the dicasteries.

The cardinals discussed the separation of the power of governance from that of Holy Orders (and so lay people being given senior positions in the Roman Curia), as well as the question of what it means to be a synodal and hierarchical Church. They also focused on the issue of Vatican finances.

These are all important topics, but they were always unlikely to stir strong emotions in many cardinals (and in some quarters of the Catholic Church, especially in the United States) in the same way family and marriage did eight years before.

Outdistancing the opposition

The second reason there was little drama is that, after nine-and-a-half years as pope, Francis has outlived and overcome many of his opponents.

Some of them have died, while many others have marginalized themselves by expressing embarrassingly extreme views on certain political and ecclesial issues.

Since 2014, Francis has created many new cardinals who lead dioceses around the world, and this also influenced the mood of the August meeting.

But there is also a third and more important reason that there were no real fireworks this time — the dreaded "paradigm shift" in doctrine did not take place and those in opposition to Francis have since become convinced that anything the pope has done can be quickly reversed.

The thesis put forth by Cardinal Kasper (not a liberal by any means, judging by his recent criticisms of the German "Synodal Path") was that doctrine is not set in stone.

In his opening presentation at the 2014 extraordinary consistory there was this passage, for example:

"The doctrine of the Church is not a stagnant lagoon, but a torrent that flows from the source of the Gospel, into which the faith experience of the people of God of all centuries has flowed. It's a living tradition that today, like many other times throughout history, has reached a critical point and which, in given the 'signs of the times', it needs to be continued and deepened."

Pastoral practice vs doctrine

Eight years after the 2014 Synod assembly on family and marriage, it's fair to ask whether there has been a recalculation in Francis' roadmap, or what that roadmap was in the first place, or if there has been a lack of theological backing of Francis' pontificate.

"For years, in fact, a theological populism has spread in the Church which claims to defend Francis from the reactionaries by repeating that the pope 'does not touch doctrine', it's only about 'pastoral practice'," Church historian Alberto Melloni so accurately put in an August 26 article in the Italian daily La Repubblica.

"This is an offense against doctrine (which is not a monolith, but a hierarchy of truths), against what is consider 'pastoral' (which is an adjective of the way of being Jesus and not the marketing of the sacred for fools), and against the successor of Peter (who is a teacher of the faith and not a security guard placed in front of a vault)," Melloni wrote (translation mine).

Whenever the pope touched some critical issues for a certain kind of reactionary Catholicism in the West, the pushback from some influential cardinals, bishops, and the Catholic media system has been substantial. They have essentially argued that "no one can change doctrine, not even the pope".

And they have even leveled the subtle, yet unmistakable, accusation that the Jesuit pope is bordering on heresy.

Is it enough to change the pastoral approach without changing doctrine?

This pushback continues every time someone, even from one of the Pontifical Academies in Rome, tries to say something that might be seen as a crack in the doctrinal dam for the post-Vatican II — such as revisiting the meaning of Humanae Vitae.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are some overzealous defenders of Pope Francis who have fallen into that same trap.

For instance, there are those who retreat to the last line of defense in their uncoupling of pastoral and doctrinal change and deny that a Church more welcoming of LGBTQ Catholics implies changes in previous theological and magisterial statements.

The unaddressed — and therefore unanswered — question remains whether it is possible to be a more welcoming Church without a doctrine that leaves no doubt about such acceptance.

We have seen that Francis is not afraid to defend Vatican II from neo-traditionalists, on not just liturgical reform.

But the overall message has become, indeed, defensive. Hence the temptation has been to reduce what Francis does as pastoral, but not doctrinal, especially on intra-ecclesial issues dealing with ministry.

Some of the changes he has made, such as in his decision in January 2021 to open the stable and institutionalized ministries of lector and acolyte to women, are not being enthusiastically implemented throughout the Church — not even in Rome.

Downplaying expectations for change

This question of the relationship between pastoral practice and doctrine does not concern only our understanding of Francis' pontificate, but also the "synodal process" now that it enters its crucial phase, in the next 12 months leading up to the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023.

Will the synodal process bring about change in language and style or even a change in substance on some issues? We will have to wait and see.

Two cardinals who have major roles in overseeing the 2023 gathering — Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich SJ, the papally-appointed general rapporteur of the assembly — seemed to downplay expectations for major changes during an August 26 press conference at the Vatican.

But in the last few months these two cardinals have defended the freedom and orthodoxy of people to make suggestions in the local synodal process, especially the Germans' "Synodal Path".

In doing so both men have kept a healthy distance from other cardinals and Roman Curia officials that have an interest in silencing the hopes of those Catholics who responded to the synodal consultation.

A false dichotomy

Historians know that it takes a long time for change to come about in the Church.

Francis' pontificate is far from over, and in some sense we are only now beginning to see more support for him in the College of Cardinals, from its members in Rome and those around the world. This was evident from the August meeting.

But the question now is whether the much-needed change, on those issues where the tradition and the magisterium clearly need aggiornamento, will be supported by the courage to refuse the false alternative between pastoral practice and doctrine.

The temptation is to do with Francis' pontificate what has already been done many times with Vatican II — neutralize him by opposing pastoral practice to doctrine.

The problem is that, during this pontificate, those who strongly disagree with Francis — and even those who support him — have repeated this slogan: "pastoral change, yes; doctrinal development, no".

But no one can explain precisely what this means because it is a false dichotomy.

In the history of the Church, pastoral change has always implied and caused doctrinal development and vice-versa.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, confirmed investigations were being carried out in the CDF, led by Cardinal Gerhard Müller

But the spokesman denied the cardinal's involvement in any wrong-doing.

"The superiors of the dicastery, especially Cardinal Müller . . . have absolutely nothing to do with the affair," Fr Lombardi said.

Germany's Bild newspaper claimed investigators carried out a raid at the CDF and confiscated 20,000 euros (US$21,976) in cash.

The funds had been paid by dioceses around the world for the investigation of sexual abuse cases.

The newspaper claimed the funds had been used by Cardinal Müller for private and business expenses.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Müller has said in an interview about "mercy" that Jesus did not "make cheap discounts on the truth".

Asked by the Catholic News Agency if one could be merciful and still correct doctrinal errors, the cardinal said "if a father doesn't correct his children, but justifies or minimises their mistakes, he wouldn't love them and would drive them to disaster".

"In the end, a father who doesn't help his children to recognise their mistakes doesn't really esteem them and doesn't have trust in their ability to change."

The cardinal also said: "Mercy is contrary to the laissez-faire . . . is this not God's attitude toward man: it is enough to read the Gospel and see how Jesus acted, who was good but at the same time didn't make cheap discounts on the truth."

Elsewhere in the interview, Cardinal Müller said "Mercy isn't just free-market loving each other".

"When God bursts into the life of man, in the measure of his acceptance, it tends to change also the way he looks at things, his attitude, the criteria of his actions and thus, by grace, also his behaviour."

Sources

• DW.com
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Voice of the Family

Francis made the remark during a Q&A at a visit to Rome's Evangelical Lutheran church on Sunday.

A Lutheran woman said she is married to a Catholic man and that the current prohibition on Lutherans receiving Communion in the Catholic Church causes them sadness.

The Pope stressed the role of personal discernment.

He said: "There are questions that only if one is sincere with oneself and the little theological light one has, must be responded to on one's own."

Pope Francis said he asked himself: "Is sharing the Lord's Supper the end of a path or is it the viaticum for walking together?"

"It is true that in a certain sense sharing is to say that there are not differences among us, that we have the same doctrine - I underline the word, a word difficult to understand - but I ask myself: Don't we have the same Baptism?" he continued.

"And if we have the same Baptism, we must walk together," he said.

He told the couple: "You are a witness of an even [more]profound path because it is a conjugal path, a path truly of family, of human love, and of shared faith. We have the same Baptism."

Francis referred to a pastor friend of his telling him: "We believe that the Lord is present there. He is present. You believe that the Lord is present. And what is the difference?"

"There are explanations, interpretations," said the Pope.

"Life is bigger than explanations and interpretations. Always make reference to Baptism."

"‘One faith, one baptism, one Lord,' Paul tells us," Francis continued. "From there, grab hold of the consequences."

"I will not ever dare to give permission to do this because it is not my competence," he said.

"One Baptism, one Lord, one faith. Speak with the Lord and go forward. I do not dare to say more."

Church law on the subject is covered in Canon 844.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Reporter
• Whispers in the Loggia (text of Pope's remarks)
• Code of Canon Law - The Sacraments
• Image: Catholic Herald

Last month, columnist Ross Douthat wrote several pieces about the synod on the family in Rome.

He suggesting, among other things, that clear factions among the bishops have emerged, that Pope Francis favours a more liberal resolution of the key questions and that heretical viewpoints are afoot in Rome.

Dozens of theologians and academics responded by sending a letter to the editors of the New York Times.

They stated that Douthat was proposing a politicised reading of Church affairs and that he was, at the end of the day, unqualified to speak on such complex matters.

"Moreover, accusing other members of the Catholic Church of heresy, sometimes subtly, sometimes openly, is serious business that can have serious consequences for those so accused. This is not what we expect of the New York Times," the academics wrote.

Douthat responded by agreeing that he is not a theologian.

"But neither is Catholicism supposed to be an esoteric religion, its teachings accessible only to academic adepts," he said.

Douthat said that while he has great respect for the professors' vocation, his own role is to provoke and explain.

He said that in his columns, he aims to cut through obfuscations and get to the basic truth.

He went on to explain his concerns about ideas of "development of doctrine" that appeared to reverse doctrine, and to pastoral suggestions that seem to empty doctrine in practice.

Los Angeles auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron backed Douthat being able to express his views.

"Are all of Ross Douthat's opinions on the synod debatable? Of course," Bishop Barron wrote.

"Do I subscribe to everything he has said in this regard? No. But is he playing outside the rules of legitimate public discourse in such an egregious way that he ought to be censored? Absolutely not!"

"The [academics'] letter to the Times is indicative indeed of a much wider problem in our intellectual culture, namely, the tendency to avoid real argument and to censor what makes us, for whatever reason, uncomfortable," Bishop Barron added.

Sources

• New York Times
• Daily Theology
• New York Times
• Aleteia
• Image: Veritas

Pope Francis said that the synod was not about settling all the issues to do with the family, but rather to see them in the light of the Gospel.

He said the Gospel is always a vital source of newness for the Church.

This newness of the Gospel is "against all those who would ‘indoctrinate' it in dead stones to be hurled at others".

"It was also about laying closed hearts, which bare the closed hearts which frequently hide even behind the Church's teachings or good intentions, in order to sit in the chair of Moses and judge, sometimes with superiority and superficiality, difficult cases and wounded families.

"It was about trying to open up broader horizons, rising above conspiracy theories and blinkered viewpoints . . . ."

The first thing the synod was about, the Pope said, was "urging everyone to appreciate the importance of the institution of the family and of marriage between a man and a woman, based on unity and indissolubility, and valuing it as the fundamental basis of society and human life".

Pope Francis added that "the synod experience also made us better realise that the true defenders of doctrine are not those who uphold its letter, but its spirit; not ideas but people; not formulae but the gratuitousness of God's love and forgiveness".

"This is in no way to detract from the importance of formulae, laws and divine commandments," the Pope noted.

"But rather to exalt the greatness of the true God, who does not treat us according to our merits or even according to our works but solely according to the boundless generosity of his mercy."

Preaching at the final Mass of the synod the next day, the Pope warned against a temptation to practice a "spirituality of illusion" that ignores people's struggles or sees things only as we wish them to be.

Sources

• Reuters
• National Catholic Reporter
• Full Text of Pope's closing address to the synod
• Full text of Pope's homily at synod final Mass
• Image: Yahoo News

Francis said this in an unscheduled intervention during the second day of the synod in Rome.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi told reporters that the Pope affirmed that "Catholic doctrine on marriage has not been touched or put into question".

The Pope also said: "We should not let ourselves be conditioned by or to reduce the horizons of our work as if the only problem were that of Communion for the divorced and remarried or not," Father Lombardi reported.

The Vatican did not release the text of the Pope's remarks.

Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, writing on his blog, said that during open discussion at the synod on Monday, some bishops were "uneasy about the impression given by the presentation of Cardinal (Peter) Erdo in the morning that some key questions are already decided and seemingly off the table".

"They felt that such a stance was premature," Archbishop Coleridge wrote.

Cardinal Erdo, the synod general relator, had said "merciful pastoral accompaniment is due" to the divorced and civilly remarried.

But this cannot leave in doubt "the truth of indissolubility of marriage, taught by Jesus Christ himself", he added.

"The mercy of God offers the sinner forgiveness, but requires conversion," said the cardinal.

"It is not the failing of the first marriage but the living in a second relationship that impedes access to the Eucharist."

But the following day, Italian Archbishop Claudio Celli said discourse on the matter is still open.

Canadian Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher noted there could well be differences of opinion as to whether Church practice towards the divorced and remarried represented doctrine that could not be changed, or a discipline.

Vatican spokesman Fr Thomas Rosica said on Tuesday that among the subjects raised by synod participants was a suggestion the Church's pastoral practice to divorced and remarried persons could perhaps be determined by national or regional bishops' conferences.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Image: Reuters

In a recent interview, Cardinal Gerhard Muller said the synod in October will need to deal with "the challenge of finding pastoral solutions to ensure a stronger integration of people in difficult situations into the community".

But this must be done "without reducing the word of Jesus and the teaching of the Church", he said.

"We must help people, including Catholics, to gain a renewed understanding of the meaning of marriage and publicly committing oneself to another person," he added.

"There needs to be a review of the preparation and guidance processes for marriage."

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Fr John O'Malley said this in an opening address to a conference on Vatican II at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

The conference was focused on the meaning and import of the council and how its vision might be carried forward

Fr O'Malley referred to the typical refrain that Vatican II was a pastoral council and therefore did not propose new doctrines of the Church.

Saying that such a perspective tries to downplay the council's decrees or call Vatican II a sort of "council-lite", the Jesuit said the 1960s event was pastoral through its doctrinal nature.

Vatican II, Fr O'Malley said, offered a new model of merging between so-called pastoral and doctrinal councils.

"Vatican II was a pastoral council by its teachings, that is, its doctrines," he said.

"In a word, Vatican II was pastoral by being doctrinal."

Former Catholic Theological Society of America president Dr Richard Gaillardetz expanded upon Fr O'Malley's conclusions by tying Vatican II's understanding of doctrine to Pope Francis.

Dr Gaillardetz, from Boston College, said Francis "has boldly returned to the foreground a broad range of conciliar teachings".

Among those, the professor said, is a "recontextualisation" of the role of doctrine in the life of the Church.

"Our first Latin American pope is not afraid to affirm the necessary place of doctrine in theC, but he . . . situates it within the pastoral life of the Church," Dr Gaillardetz said.

At the conference, Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle called on Catholics to avoid wanting to witness to Christ "in some idealised past that they long for with nostalgia".

Rather, Catholics should embrace and live out the council's sense of openness to the modern world, he said.

"The Church is being asked to retrieve its deepest identity as a communion, but a communion that is not focused on itself," he continued.

"Not self-focused, not self-referential."

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Jesuits.org

In his view there is broad agreement on 80% of core doctrine, while the remaining 20% presents significant challenge.

Moxon was formerly the Anglican Bishop of Waikato.

He is currently the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

Moxon said agreement has not yet been reached on the Gift of Authority document published in 1999 and the 'Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ' statement published in 2005.

He was speaking after the the fifth session of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission concluded last week.

The group, known as ARCIC III, met from April 28th to May 4th to discuss relations between local, regional and Universal Churches and how moral or ethical decisions are made within each tradition.

During an audience with the group on Thursday, Pope Francis said these discussions remind us that ecumenism is not a secondary element in the life of the Church and that the differences which divide us must never be seen as inevitable.

Following that audience, Philippa Hitchen interviewed the co-presidents of ARCIC III, Moxon and the Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham in the UK, Bernard Longley. Listen to interview

Commenting on Pope Francis' words about the ecumenism of the martyrs, Moxon said that in off-the-cuff remarks the Pope spoke of the Anglican and Catholic martyrs of Uganda who were murdered together in the 1880s.

Moxon also mentioned the martyrs of Papua New Guinea from different churches who were killed during the 2nd World War and where ecumenical solidarity is now extremely strong.

Source

• Vatican Radio
  Image: Vatican Radio

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has accepted a final report of a doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The LCWR represents 80 per cent of US religious sisters.

Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain was appointed three years ago to oversee a programme of reform for the LCWR.

But on April 16, the Vatican "mandate" ended at a meeting between LCWR and CDF representatives and Archbishop Sartain.

The archbishop and the LCWR officers presented a joint report on the implementation of the mandate, which the doctrinal congregation approved.

The report addresses two main issues: updating the organisational statutes of LCWR and the process by which the group chooses speakers and writers for its annual conferences and publications.

The report stresses the need for LCWR speakers and writers "to have due regard for the Church's faith".

The report also stated that LCWR publications "need a sound doctrinal foundation".

"Measures are being taken to promote a scholarly rigour that will ensure theological accuracy and help avoid statements that are ambiguous with regard to Church doctrine or could be read as contrary to it," the report continued.

The report also stated that LCWR manuscripts "will be reviewed by competent theologians, as a means of safeguarding the theological integrity of the conference".

The report says that "a revised process" for choosing the winner of the group's annual Outstanding Leadership Award "has been articulated".

LCWR president Sr Sharon Holland said in a statement that the oversight process brought the sisters and the Vatican to "deeper understandings of one another's experiences, roles, responsibilities, and hopes for the Church and the people it serves".

"We learned that what we hold in common is much greater than any of our differences," she said.

Former LCWR president Sr Joan Chittister said the most important thing was that the LCWR has not lost its ability to operate freely.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Vatican Radio
• Image: New Ways Ministry

In an interview with French Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne, Cardinal Gerhard Müller called the notion "absolutely anti-Catholic".

The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the idea does not respect the catholicity of the Church.

"Episcopal conferences have authority over certain issues, but not a magisterium alongside the Magisterium, without the Pope and without communion with the bishops," Cardinal Müller said.

He also responded to recent remarks by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German bishops' conference.

Cardinal Marx argued that the German bishops were "not just a subsidiary of Rome" and needed to set their own policies on marriage and the family.

Cardinal Marx said: "Each episcopal conference is responsible for the pastoral care in their culture and has to proclaim the Gospel in its own unique way.

"We cannot wait until a synod states something, as we have to carry out marriage and family ministry here."

In a translation published on the Rorate Caeli blog, Cardinal Müller said "an episcopal conference is not a particular council, even less so an ecumenical council".

"The president of an episcopal conference is nothing more than a technical moderator, and he does not have any particular magisterial authority due to this title."

Cardinal Müller said hearing that an "episcopal conference is not a ‘branch of Rome' gives me the occasion to recall that dioceses are not the branches of the secretariat of a bishops' conference either, nor of the diocese whose bishop presides over the episcopal conference".

"This kind of attitude risks in fact the reawakening of a certain polarisation between the local Churches and the Church universal, out of date since the Vatican I and Vatican II councils.

"The Church is not a sum of national churches, whose presidents would vote to elect their chief on the universal level."

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Rorate Caeli
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Catholic News Agency

In an interview on a French television channel, Cardinal Raymond Burke said popes do not have the power to change the Church's teaching or doctrine.

Papal power is "at the service of the doctrine of the faith", he explained, according to a translation of the interview on the blog Rorate Caeli.

The interviewer then asked: "In a somewhat provocative way, can we say that the true guardian of doctrine is you, and not Pope Francis?"

"We must, let us leave aside the matter of the Pope," the cardinal replied.

"In our faith, it is the truth of doctrine that guides us."

"If Pope Francis insists on this path, what will you do?" the interviewer then asked.

"I will resist. I cannot do anything else," he said.

Cardinal Burke went on to say that the Catholic Church is facing "a difficult time" that is "painful" and "worrisome".

But he recalled the Lord's assurances in the Gospel that the forces of evil would not prevail.

Asked whether Pope Francis is his friend, the cardinal replied, "I would not want to make of the Pope an enemy, certainly!"

According to a subsequent report on the Catholic News Agency, Cardinal Burke said he was "responding to a hypothetical situation" in his comments about Pope Francis and doctrine.

"I simply affirmed that it is always my sacred duty to defend the truth of the Church's teaching and discipline regarding marriage," Cardinal Burke said.

"No authority can absolve me from that responsibility, and, therefore, if any authority, even the highest authority, were to deny that truth or act contrary to it, I would be obliged to resist, in fidelity to my responsibility before God."

Late last year, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Burke to a largely ceremonial position with the Order of Malta.

This came after the cardinal's term as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura had come to an end.

Many commentators saw the move by Pope Francis as a demotion for Cardinal Burke.

Sources

• UCA News
• Catholic Herald
• Catholic News Agency
• Rorate Caeli
• Image: CBS News

Fr Tony Flannery, who had been banned from ministry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was due to meet senior members of the Redemptorist order to which he belongs.

Fr Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests, founded by Fr Flannery, was also due to attend the talks.

Fr Flannery was ordered to step down from public ministry by the Vatican in 2012.

This came after publication of his views questioning Church teaching on contraception and the theology of priesthood.

Meanwhile, Fr Flannery is organising a major international gathering of Church reform leaders to be held in Ireland, probably in April.

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