Cardinal O’Malley emphasizes: Pope Francis will not change Catholic teaching
February 11, 2014
Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, who serves on the eight-member Council of Cardinals that is advising Pope Francis on curial reform, told The Boston Globe will not change Catholic teaching on controversial matters.
“I don’t see the Pope as changing doctrine,” he said. “The Church needs to be faithful to the Gospel and to Christ’s teaching.”
“Sometimes that’s very difficult,” he continued. “We have to follow what Christ wants, and trust that what he asks of us is the best thing.”
Cardinal O’Malley also said that “I don’t see any theological justification” for permitting Catholics who have remarried outside the Church to receive Holy Communion.
The Pope, Cardinal O’Malley continued, has helped bring about a change in emphasis. In the past, the Church was “too strident, maybe too repetitious.”
“If people only think of the Church in terms of the sex abuse crisis or the culture wars, and that makes our job very challenging,” he said.
“But when they say, ‘Oh, the Church is about announcing the Good News, about God’s love for us, that God wants us to be touched by his mercy and his love and that we have to take care of one another,’ that’s the Gospel we all want to preach,” he added. “Francis has done it so well, which makes it easier for all of us.”
Cardinal O’Malley also criticized the recent UN committee report on the Holy See and children, said that women may assume a greater role in the Roman Curia, and expressed the hope that speedier judgments may be rendered in annulment cases.
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Posted by: Bveritas2322 -
Feb. 13, 2014 2:26 PM ET USA
Repetitious? How about manning up and speaking out for the first time against hundreds of thousands of priests, nuns, laity, and even a couple of Cardinals who have publicly spoken out in support of a tolerant attitude towards abortion.
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Posted by: shrink -
Feb. 11, 2014 4:02 PM ET USA
If you don't talk about a doctrine, there might as well not be one.
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Posted by: shrink -
Feb. 11, 2014 4:01 PM ET USA
Is the Church " “too strident, maybe too repetitious.” as OMalley says. Didn't he just say the other day that pastors no longer preach about contraception, divorce, homosexual behavior. It seems that even according to OMalley the priests and bishops are running as fast as they can away from these issues. How's that for being strident? I would like to know what OMalley does when he's fearful!
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Posted by: jacquebquique5708 -
Feb. 11, 2014 10:44 AM ET USA
There is a great deal of uneasiness which Cardinal O'Malley does not totally alleviate.
