Posted on 02/27/2024 5:11:14 PM PST by ebb tide
NAIROBI, Kenya (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Robert Sarah, former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said he is “very proud” that the African bishops have “completely” rejected the controversial Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans that proposes the priestly blessing of couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.
“I think Fiducia Supplicans has a response from the African Bishops – very clear,” Sarah said. Emphasizing that the document lacks any foundation in Scripture, he continued, “And not only the African bishops but many in Europe, in Kazakhstan, in Poland, refused, because the document has no scriptural basis, no theological basis.”
“I was very proud to hear the African bishops rejecting completely this text. And many other bishops even in Brazil refused, so I think it seemed to me impossible to accept,” he concluded.
Sarah made the remarks on February 23 at the Catholic University of East Africa in Nairobi as part of a Q&A for a theological symposium. This conference, organized by the dogmatic department, aimed to shed light on the missionary mandate of Christ in the religious, cultural, and social context of Africa today. Sarah, a stalwart defender of Catholic orthodoxy in both teaching and sacramental discipline, was the keynote speaker.
READ: Cardinal Sarah to address theological symposium on spreading the Gospel in Africa
The Symposium attracted at least 700 participants over the course of the two days, many drawn from across East Africa by the presence of Cardinal Sarah as well as the Archbishops of Nairobi and Kisumu.
Notably, in early January, in a lengthy statement published by veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister, Sarah joined his voice to those of his fellow African bishops in rejecting Fiducia Supplicans’ endorsement of same-sex “blessings.”
READ: Cardinal Sarah strongly rejects Fiducia Supplicans, ‘heresy’ of same-sex ‘blessings’
In his January statement, Sarah allied himself with the African bishops and bishops’ conferences that had made known their rejection of Fiducia Supplicans.
He called for more bishops to make similar statements and thanked the “Episcopal Conferences which have already done this work of truth, in particular those of Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, etc., whose decisions and firm opposition to the Declaration ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ I share and make my own.”
Such opposition to Fiducia Supplicans is not an opposition to Pope Francis, he explained, but instead is a move “firmly and radically opposing a heresy that seriously undermines the Church, the Body of Christ, because it is contrary to the Catholic faith and Tradition.”
READ: Pope Francis backs down, permits African bishops to ban blessings of homosexual ‘couples’
Just a week ago, Cardinal Gerhard Müller declared that Church leaders and the Catholic faithful must reject “blessings” for homosexual “couples” endorsed by Pope Francis in Fiducia Supplicans because they contradict Catholic teaching and “lead to heresy.”
“Fiducia Supplicans must be considered doctrinally problematic, for it contains a denial of Catholic doctrine,” he wrote in a February 16 essay for First Things, criticizing the “grave defects” of the document that Pope Francis approved in December. “For this reason, it is also problematic from a pastoral point of view.”
READ: Cardinal Müller: Fiducia Supplicans ‘leads to heresy,’ Catholics cannot accept it
Ping
Cardinal Sarah is is one of my heroes. Too bad he isn’t our present Pope.
My thoughts, too.
You know, eleven years ago, when B16 made the disastrous decision to resign and the conclave was impending, there were voices in the Church clamoring, “It’s about time for African pope!” It was the Obama era, and I have to admit that my reaction was, “Oh, for crying out loud, we’ve got an affirmative action president. Do we need an affirmative action pope too?” And what I meant by that was not that I opposed the idea of an African pope, but that it was annoying to suggest that a pope should be selected because he was African.
But now the great irony is that I am forced to admit that if the 2013 conclave had gone that route, and adopted the position that it was Africa’s turn to get a pope, whatever African they’d have picked would likely have been a million times better and more Catholic than Bergoglio. So, I’ll admit it... I was dead wrong. I understand the logic of my position, but sometimes that right thing can happen for the wrong reasons. And any African pope would have saved us from the Bergoglian papacy.
“any African pope would have saved us from the Bergoglian papacy.”
I’m not Catholic, but tend to agree with your comment. It appears the Africans are truer to the faith.
It appears the current Pope is true to commie-land.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the next conclave elects a non-cardinal. And if so, there are plenty of good bishops to choose from. Not as many good bishops as there are bad bishops, but enough to find one with the necessary courage, orthodoxy, and skill set. Offhand, I can think of only two cardinals: Sarah and Muller.
Your words to God’s ears!
“Cardinal Sarah is is one of my heroes. Too bad he isn’t our present Pope.”
When Google AI showed a black Pope, I just said that I wish it were true...
I felt the same way. You’re not alone.
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