An archdiocese of Mexico City publication has dismissed Pope Francis’s criticism of the country’s bishops, saying he must have been given “bad advice”.
The Pope had appeared to condemn Mexico’s bishops during his visit last month for living like princes and resting on their laurels. In a speech in Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral, he called on them to fight “as men, face-to-face” if they did fight – an allusion to disunity in the conference.
An editorial in the archdiocesan newspaper Desde la Fe asked if the Pope had been properly briefed prior to his visit, saying the Church had kept more than 80 per cent of the population professing Catholicism even in the face of Evangelical missionaries, a secular state and anti-Catholic persecution. “Here it must be questioned: does the Pope have some reason for scolding Mexican bishops?” asked the editorial.
The piece ended with a further question: “Will it be that the improvised words of the Holy Father respond to bad advice from someone close to him? Who gave the Pope bad advice?”
Some commentators speculated that the editorial was inspired by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of Mexico City. But staff at the paper said he was not involved.
In his speech Pope Francis called on prelates to denounce drug cartels, better attend to victims of violence and avoid brokering backroom deals that lacked transparency. At a seminary the next day in the city of Ecatepec, he signed the guestbook with a warning to students to avoid becoming “clerics of the state”.
Catholics involved in human rights issues have criticised the hierarchy for speaking out too softly on issues such as crime and corruption and seeking favour from the political class.
“While other institutions have failed in the care and promotion of the common good, Mexican bishops have been accompanying a suffering and downtrodden people, living a life of giving to neighbours and not of princes without contact with the flock,” the editorial said. It added that the bishops had shown “compassion, strengthening the bonds of unity through prophetic pastoral signals, which, thanks to the Catholic faith, have returned hope in the country.”
Church observer Rodolfo Soriano Núñez claimed that the editorial “confirms [Cardinal Rivera’s] rejection of the Pope’s reform”.
‘Oafish’ Trump not fit to be president, say Catholic writers
A group of leading American Catholics has said Donald Trump is “manifestly unfit to be president”. In an article for the National Review, George Weigel, distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre, William E Simon, its chair in Catholic studies, and Robert George, McCormick professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, wrote that Mr Trump’s campaign for the Republican nomination “has already driven our politics down to new levels of vulgarity”.
In the piece, Mr Trump was also accused of “oafishness, shocking ignorance, and … demagoguery”. “His appeals to racial and ethnic fears and prejudice are offensive to any genuinely Catholic sensibility,” the article said. “He promised to order US military personnel to torture terrorist suspects and to kill terrorists’ families – actions condemned by the Church and policies that would bring shame upon our country. And there is nothing in his campaign or his record that gives us grounds for confidence that he genuinely shares our commitments to the right to life, to religious freedom and the rights of conscience, to rebuilding the marriage culture, or to … the principle of limited constitutional government.”
Pope hails Ukrainian martyrs
Pope francis has paid tribute to the suffering and martyrdom of Ukrainian Catholics who refused to give up their fidelity to the Church despite harsh Soviet repression. After meeting Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Pope said in a message: “We bow our heads in profound gratitude before those who, even at the price of tribulation and martyrdom, testified to their faith, which was lived with dedication to their Church.”
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.