Foot in the door

'Sailing Nun' to help steer Church course with key Vatican job

 (Photos source: Twitter)

Translated from Vida Nueva: "Nathalie Becquart: the woman with a voice and (for the first time) with a vote at the Synod" - and a foot in the door!

"A female undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. Make no mistake about what it means. It is not an administrative responsibility anymore. The French nun Nathalie Becquart will be in charge, along with the Spanish Augustinian Luis Marín, named after her on February 6, to take care of the proper functioning of this Roman department that is in a prominent place on Pope Francis' reform agenda. And they will do so under the guidance of Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod since last year.

Marie-Lucile Kubaki, Vatican correspondent for the French Catholic weekly La Vie, observed, "With her arrival at the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the Pope deepens his logic of appointing more women to positions of responsibility in the Vatican, as he did with Francesca di Giovanni, undersecretary in the Section for relations with States in 2020, for example.

"Small but firm steps. That seems to be Jorge Mario Bergoglio's strategy. It is clear that Nathalie's voice and vote will not change things on their own. But for the first time, the opinion of one of the 660,000 religious women on the planet counts. Will others follow?"

'Small but firm steps' will sound familiar to Anglicans. Step by step women who, allegedly, only wanted to be deacons used every trick in the book to be ordained priest  and to be admitted to the episcopacy.

Remember when it was said that if women were allowed to be accepted as deacons, it didn't follow that they would then be allowed to become priests? When deacons wanted to be ordained priests, it didn't mean that they would be allowed to become bishops?

Jolly June Osborne, bishop of Llandaff, admitted recently in a podcast that "once you've made women priests there isn't a theological reason at all why they shouldn't enter the episcopacy."

June along with her colleague Joanna Penberthy, bishop of St Davids, both complain that anyone taking a different theological position to them is prejudiced.

In a television interview in April 2018, bishop Joanna asserted, "if you can be prejudiced in the soft institution of the church, what does that say about your attitude to women?"

The 'soft institution of the church' to use Penberthy's words has been used by feminists to advance their own cause at the expense of the Church, trampling on the faithful in the process as Women and the Church (WATCH) have demonstrated when they have reneged on the agreement that gave them what they wanted, feminist power.

A foot in the door is just the beginning.

Pope's support for same-sex civil unions

Pope Francis                                                                                  Source: Twitter

American Magazine carries the headline:

 "Pope Francis declares support for same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope"

"Gay couples deserve legal protections for their relationships" Pope Francis said in a documentary.

Fine. Not so fine if this is taken as a green light leading to same-sex marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others and for life.

Same sex partnerships are to be welcomed but activists take any opportunity to further their cause. Witness feminism in the Church and how civil partnerships were bent and twisted in demands for same sex marriage.

Pope Francis has not changed his stance. When Archbishop of Buenos Aires he advocated same-sex civil unions in an attempt to block a same-sex marriage law.

Probably the best archbishop we never had, Bishop Michael Nazir Ali, summarises the situation in this tweet:

"Anyone living together in long term arrangements should have legal protection. This can include siblings or mother and daughter, as well as those in other kinds of relationships being protected eg in tenancy or visiting rights. Such legislation, however, should not mimic marriage."

Exactly.

Hurt

The obvious hurt expressed in this interview by a lifetime Labour supporter whose conscience told him that his Party no longer represented the traditional values he stood for reminds me of the breakup of the Anglican Communion.

The response of the extreme Left which now dominates the Labour Party was to claim that Ian Austin was “employed by the Tories”.

This is reminiscent of the takeover of the Anglican Church by trendy, Left leaning bishops and their feminist allies. If more people had had the guts to speak out for Anglicanism we may have been saved from the actions of mean spirited bishops who ignore scripture and tradition and have no regard for anyone who gets hurt.

The contagion is spreading to Rome. Fortunately some have the guts to speak out while Pope Francis denounces Amazon Synod critics as racist!

A new beginning?

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Pope Francis met at the Jose Marti
 airport in Havana Feb. 12, 2016 – the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian
 Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity.
 (Crux / Max Rossi / AP)

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:21

The key points in the declaration signed by Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill after their historic meeting on Friday 12 Feb 2016 reported by Crux include:

• An acknowledgement that “we have been divided by wounds caused by old and recent conflicts, by differences inherited from our ancestors.”
  
• Deep concern for “Christians [who] are victims of persecution.” The two leaders said, “In many countries of the Middle East and North Africa whole families, villages and cities of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being completely exterminated. Their churches are being barbarously ravaged and looted, their sacred objects profaned, their monuments destroyed.”
  
• A plea for greater inter-religious dialogue: “Differences in the understanding of religious truths must not impede people of different faiths to live in peace and harmony,” the two men said.
  
• Worry about secular hostility to religion: “We observe that the transformation of some countries into secularized societies, estranged from all reference to God and to His truth, constitutes a grave threat to religious freedom. It is a source of concern for us that there is a current curtailment of the rights of Christians, if not outright discrimination.”
  
• Defense of immigrants and refugees: “We cannot remain indifferent to the destinies of millions of migrants and refugees knocking on the doors of wealthy nations,” they said.
  
• A strong call for preserving the “natural family” based on marriage between a man and a woman, and the “right to life,” including opposition to abortion and euthanasia.
  
• An invitation to “prudence, social solidarity and action aimed at constructing peace” in Ukraine.

Full report here. 

In the words of St Benedict "Always we begin again" -

 "that the world may believe that thou hast sent me".

Francis: Assisi and Xavier; the Ignatius link

Pope Francis has ended the speculation about his choice of name. He said that he chose the name Francis to remember the poor after the example of St. Francis of Assisi who represented "poverty and peace". But there remains a link with St. Francis Xavier.

Francis Xavier was a student of St.Ignatius Loyola with whom he was a founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Ignatius was noted for following the example of Francis of Assisi. He and a few followers bound themselves by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He was also responsible for the prayer I remember from my Sunday School days in line with the Jesuit motto, "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man":

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest;

To give, and not to count the cost,

to fight, and not to heed the wounds,

to toil, and not to seek for rest,

to labor, and not to ask for any reward,

save that of knowing that we do thy will. 

St Ignatius Loyola