Time for a Papal Intervention

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 08, 2023

For many years—during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI—worried Catholics like me wished that the Holy See would intervene to fix the damage caused by liberal American bishops. Now the roles are reversed, and I pray that our bishops, joining with bishops of other countries, will step in to guard the universal Church from the increasingly erratic leadership of Pope Francis.

Bishops are understandably loath to acknowledge serious divisions in the Church, and rightly reluctant to criticize the Roman Pontiff. But in any household, when the father’s behavior is causing serious harm to the family and even to himself, the most loyal and respectful of children realize that the time has come for an intervention.

Any doubt in my mind that that time has come was erased when I read this powerful opening paragraph of a Catholic Thing column by my friend Robert Royal, summarizing an unusually chaotic sequence:

In the past week or so, the pope has: praised “that great imperial Russia” for its noble culture and humanity (a remark later admitted to be “badly phrased”); lauded Genghis Khan’s blood-soaked empire for its religious tolerance and “pax mongolica” (40 million killed, give or take); encouraged Chinese Christians to be good citizens of a nation whose “culture” he greatly admires and whose government is, he says, “very respectful” towards the Church (other views abound); shied away from saying anything more about Nicaragua where the Ortegas are basically outlawing Catholicism and a bishop has been sentenced to 26 years in jail; and denounced worried Catholics, especially American Catholics, for their criticism of—well—many things, but especially “politicizing” the upcoming Synod on Synodality, and embracing rigid and empty “ideologies” instead of following the living doctrine of the Faith.

Anyone who loves the Catholic Church must be concerned about a Pontiff who manages to offend so many different groups of people in the course of one week by a series of ill-considered statements. But the problems of this disastrous papacy run much deeper. For more than a decade now, Pope Francis has been causing confusion among the faithful on matters of faith and morals. With a liberal cadre of prelates committed to “irreversible change,” and the upcoming Synod on Synodality providing their opportunity, our ailing Church sorely needs a strong infusion of clarity.

Pope Francis and his stalwart supporters assure us that the Synod will make no change in Catholic doctrine. But does that matter, if no one pays attention to doctrine anyway?

Imagine that somehow an avowed heretic won election to the papacy. Imagine further that this heresiarch wanted to destroy Catholic faith in the Trinity. He could go about this nefarious task in two different ways:

• He could issue an ex cathedra statement denying the reality of the Triune God. (Or could he? Would the Holy Spirit prevent it?) But if he did, hundreds of orthodox bishops and millions of ordinary faithful Catholics would rise up in outrage to defend the true faith.
• Or he could avoid any direct statement on the Trinity—and thus avoid a showdown—but merely observe that the doctrine is difficult, that some people cannot accept it, that we should keep open minds, that the Church welcomes those who struggle with the doctrine. And meanwhile he could promote theologians and prelates who more openly questioned the doctrine.

Wouldn’t the latter option be more likely to undermine faith in the Trinity among the world’s Catholics? And isn’t that approach what we have seen acted out in this pontificate, particularly in regard to Catholic moral teachings? Pope Francis has never formally contradicted an established doctrine. But he has downplayed the importance of Church teaching, criticized those who adhere to the teaching for their “rigidity,” and offered his support to dissidents who do demand doctrinal changes. The net effect of this approach is to convey the impression that doctrine doesn’t really matter—that an up-to-date Catholic may accept or reject Church moral teaching as he chooses.

Many Church leaders, I fear, are willing to bide their time, watching nervously but maintaining a respectful silence, as long as there is no frontal assault on a defined doctrine. But in the long run the confusion of the faithful and the erosion of traditional teaching can be every bit as devastating. The time for intervention is now.