(LifeSiteNews) — Father Charles Murr and Frank Wright once again join John-Henry Westen on this week’s episode of Faith & Reason. They discuss Pope Francis getting accused of human rights violations over alleged wiretapping, Bishop Joseph Strickland joining in on an exorcism prayer by retired Bishop René Gracida, and Cardinal Robert Sarah’s statement that the rejection of the traditional liturgy is akin to the rejection of traditional Catholic morals.
On Sunday, the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reported that lawyers of British financier Raffaele Mincione, who is accused of defrauding the Vatican in a London real estate deal, filed a complaint to the United Nations (U.N.) for alleged human rights abuses committed by Pope Francis during the trial.
According to the outlet, the complaint is addressed to the U.N. special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. Further, human rights lawyer Rodney Dixon, representing Mincione, accused Francis of personally authorizing wiretapping during an investigation into his client’s alleged wrongdoing.
Fr. Murr said that while the allegation is “believable,” an attempted investigation would be difficult, not only because the Vatican is a sovereign state with its own laws and that the state is exempt from “any number of things,” something it has said in the past. Murr added that he is not sure of any other pope from his lifetime who would have “gotten involved with something like that, but I can see Pope Francis getting involved in something like that.”
Wright said it is “depressing” and “extremely demoralizing” for Catholics to have to confront another scandal. He also agreed with Murr that the history of the current pontificate makes the allegation credible. Further, however far any investigation can go, Wright continued, “it is a disgrace to the Church that this is even… thinkable, let alone reported.”
“We shouldn’t allow ourselves to lose sight of the fact, with so much news in this line, of how damaging this is, not just to the Church, but probably to the faith of people who seek guidance from the Vatican in following it,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Rorate Caeli blog released a blog post Monday saying that the Vatican is going to attempt to release what the outlet called a “final solution” for the traditional liturgy. The outlet, informed by “credible sources,” said that the Vatican seeks to release a document banning the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), with a source telling LifeSiteNews that the document would be released on the third anniversary of Traditiones Custodes, July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
“This is beyond parody,” said Murr in reaction to the rumored document. Noting that faithful Catholics have had to tolerate for six decades “the most bizarre liturgical happenings in the history of the Church,” and have tolerated liberation theology and the charismatic renewal, with the same faithful living typically in “a state of confusion.”
“When it comes down to asking permission to celebrate the Mass that has been offered for approximately 1,700 years, and that is rejected as something intolerable, that decision is intolerable,” the priest opined.
Murr invited Francis to rethink any such document if he were listening, adding that there are millions of people trying to live a Catholic life that ask only to have free liturgical expression. Should that be impossible, the priest asked Francis to permit them to establish their own rite like the Anglican Ordinariate or the Byzantine Church.
Wright said that the old rite is “full of kids” and “often quite noisy” because of the number of children. He also noted that there has been a change in the way the sacraments themselves are administered, not just the Mass, for they are celebrated with a “relative lack of reverence” and liturgical abuse is “routine.”
“To frame this as a simple argument between ‘Tradition’ and whatever else it is, I think, that basically it’s an argument between Catholicism and something new, because that’s the Mass,” he said. The traditional rite, Wright added, is “just the Catholic faith,” whereas the “novelty” of the new does not respect the Catholic Tradition and the sacraments.
Earlier this month, Cardinal Robert Sarah, former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, gave a talk at the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., in which he addressed how President Joe Biden is a “self-identified Catholic president who is an example of what Cardinal (Wilton) Gregory recently described as a ‘cafeteria Catholic.'”
The African prelate also spoke of Catholic politicians, hospitals, and universities that are “Catholic in name only,” as they exchange their witness to the faith for a “cultural assimilation” that he condemned as a form of “practical atheism” that is “hostile to the faith” and “threatening the common good.”
Murr said that Sarah’s remarks reminded him of something Ven. Fulton Sheen discussed, namely that the devil, when tempting Christ in the desert, offered Him any of the world’s governments, since they were his to give. Sheen said that he thought it was the first time in history that the devil spoke the truth. Lying, the priest observed, “unfortunately” goes in tandem with governing. While it need not be, it is “easier,” with many politicians being “professional liars.”
Noting that Sarah has said that Biden “identifies” as a Catholic, Wright opined that it “was a well-chosen phrase.” Wright also noted that Sarah warned people who care about “what Catholicism actually is, rather than just identifying it,” and that such a thing exists both within and without the Church.
“You need to be aware of people who are, if you like, ‘trans-Catholic,’ who dress up as that, or dress themselves up as it, for political or for other reasons, but who really aren’t the genuine article,” he observed.
For this and more, tune in to this week’s episode of Faith & Reason.
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