Disagreement is emerging about an open letter four cardinals wrote asking for clarification from the Pope on his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia
Bishop Fragkiskos Papamanolis, the president of the Greek bishops’ conference has written an open letter accusing them of heresy and scandal.
In the letter Papamanolis says:
“If you are “deeply concerned for the true good of souls” and moved by ‘an impassioned concern for the good of the faithful’, I, dearest brothers, am “deeply concerned for the good of your souls”, for your two very serious sins: –
- The sin of heresy (and apostasy? This, indeed, is the way schisms begin in the Church). It is clear from your document that, in practice, you do not believe in the Pope’s supreme magisterial authority, backed up by two Synods of Bishops coming from the whole world. Obviously the Holy Spirit inspires only you and not the Vicar of Christ, nor even the Bishops gathered in Synod;
- More serious still, the sin of scandal, given publicly to the Christian people throughout the world. On this point Jesus said: “Woe to the one through whom they [scandals] come” (Matthew 18,7). “It would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the sea” (18,6)
Other bishops are praising the four cardinals for their prophetic voice
Bishop Józef Wróbel, auxiliary bishop of Lublin, Poland, told the Italian daily La Fede Quotidiana (The Daily Faith) that the four Cardinals “did well in asking for clarification” and it is “evidently necessary to answer them.”
Bishop Athansius Schneider, the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan says the cardinals have acted in a manner consistent with the history of the Church and are fulfilling their basic duty as bishops and cardinals
He says The unusually violent and intolerant reactions on behalf of some bishops and cardinals against the calm and circumspect plea of the Four Cardinals [has caused] great astonishment.
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