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Cardinal Burke at the Rome Life Forum in Rome, May 18, 2018.Steve Jalsevac / LifeSiteNews

VATICAN, February 19, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Raymond Burke and Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, the two remaining dubia cardinals, wrote an open letter to the Presidents of the worldwide Bishops' Conferences meeting in the Vatican for the Summit on sexual abuse.

“The plague of the homosexual agenda has been spread within the Church,” they write, “promoted by organized networks and protected by a climate of complicity and a conspiracy of silence.”

The Church hierarchy, however, wishes to ignore this fact and blames “clericalism” as the root cause of the abuse crisis. Brandmüller and Burke object to this approach with the words:

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. 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.

Cardinal Burke explained his hopes for the letter to LifeSiteNews. “Given the incontrovertible state of confusion and error in the Church regarding the most fundamental moral questions, pastors of souls must raise their voices to defend the teaching of Christ and His Church,” he said. “Silence is cooperation with the ever-spreading confusion and division which is bringing serious harm to many souls.”

Pointing to the fact that their dubia – as published already in 2016 – concerning the papal document Amoris Laetitia have never been answered by Pope Francis, they now ask the participants of the Abuse Summit: “In the face of this situation, Cardinals and Bishops are silent. Will you also be silent on the occasion of the meeting called in the Vatican for this coming February 21st?”

Just as the silence on the dubia is now “part of a more general crisis of the Faith,” the two dubia cardinals ask that the silence concerning the real problem of the clerical sex abuse crisis will be addressed. They write: “Therefore, we encourage you to raise your voice to safeguard and proclaim the integrity of the doctrine of the Church.”

The letter was meant to be released tomorrow, but since the embargo was broken, LifeSiteNews publishes it now.

 

See here the full Open Letter:

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENTS OF THE CONFERENCES OF BISHOPS

Dear Brothers, Presidents of the Conferences of Bishops,

We turn to you with deep distress!

The Catholic world is adrift, and, with anguish, the question is asked: Where is the Church going?

Before the drift in process, it seems that the difficulty is reduced to that of the abuse of minors, a horrible crime, especially when it is perpetrated by a priest, which is, however, only part of a much greater crisis. 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. The roots of this phenomenon are clearly found in that atmosphere of materialism, of relativism and of hedonism, in which the existence of an absolute moral law, that is without exceptions, is openly called into question.

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. 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.

In the face of this situation, Cardinals and Bishops are silent. Will you also be silent on the occasion of the meeting called in the Vatican for this coming February 21st?

We are among those who in 2016 presented to the Holy Father certain questions, “dubia,” which were dividing the Church in the wake of the conclusions of the Synod on the Family. Today, those “dubia” have not only not had any response but are part of a more general crisis of the Faith. Therefore, we encourage you to raise your voice to safeguard and proclaim the integrity of the doctrine of the Church.

We pray to the Holy Spirit, that He may assist the Church and bring light to the Pastors who guide her. A decisive act now is urgent and necessary. We trust in the Lord Who has promised: “Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Mt 28,20).

Walter Cardinal Brandmüller
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke