By Beltha Mokube – Wednesday February 20, 2019
Pope Francis is pictured during his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Feb. 13. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, has been criticized by two Catholic Cardinals. Cardinals Brandmüller and Burke had this criticism to the Pope in an open letter.
The Cardinals have accused the Pope of not answering questions related to whether the Church should allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.
Although the subject is unconnected to the upcoming summit, it has caused controversy in the Church, causing many ecclesiastics to question the Pope’s guidance.
In the letter, the Cardinals state that’ “The plague of the homosexual agenda has been spread within the Church, promoted by organized networks and protected by a climate of complicity and a conspiracy of silence.”
While calling on bishops to break the silence over cases of sexual abuse, the Cardinals said the Church has wrongly blamed the abuse of power by clergy as the main cause of the scandals.
The German and US Cardinals, Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Burke, have opined that the cases of abuse are a result of “clericalism”, referring to those abusing their power, and protecting each other.
“Sexual abuse is blamed on clericalism. But the first and primary fault of the clergy does not rest in the abuse of power but in having gone away from the truth of the Gospel, they Cardinals noted.
The bulletin comes on the eve of a conference of bishops in Rome summoned by Pope Francis in an effort to deal with the indignities shaking the Roman Catholic Church.
Many critics worldwide are talking of situations of sexual abuses on priests and how the Church tried covering them up.
“The even public denial, by words and by acts, of the divine and natural law, is at the root of the evil that corrupts certain circles in the Church.” Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Burke have said.
With a total of two hundred and twenty-three (223) Cardinals now within the Catholic Church, pundits say many may write many open letters challenging the Pope.
The summit built for Thursday, February 21, 2019, would be attended by the heads of all national bishops’ conferences from more than 130 countries, National Telegraph has been told.
