Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

A Leaven In The World… The Hug And The Shrug: Kim Davis And The Pope

October 6, 2015 Frontpage No Comments

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK

As with all things Catholic and all things in life, we must always put the most charitable interpretation on events that come to our attention. If they come to our knowledge through sinful curiosity, it is, of course, none of our business. In our voyeuristic culture, however, where the news cycle knows no sleep and many people record their entire existence on the Internet, it becomes increasingly heroically virtuous to observe private boundaries in our culture and to ask that others do the same. In this milieu almost every word and action of Pope Francis is recorded, analyzed, and spun.
To our Holy Father Pope Francis we owe a great deal in the way of respect for he is the Vicar of Christ: There is no office on Earth more important to Christ and His plan for our salvation in and through the Church. To the Pope, and his Successors, we owe obedience of intellect and will as he reaffirms Church moral teaching. We owe our assent likewise if he should, as has happened very rarely in history, declare a matter of faith and morals to be binding for all of the faithful.
We owe the Pope and his intentions our prayers and our love in his role as our “sweet Christ on Earth,” as Peter and all of his Successors are so beautifully described by St. Catherine of Siena.
In light of everything that is true about the office of the papacy, Pope Francis’ ability to surprise and delight some while causing chagrin to others is proving to be a stretch for many of the faithful. His wide-open pastoral approach, characterized by hugs and selfies for all, which throws accustomed papal caution to the wind, is not without its pitfalls.
There is a very important reason why Popes have customarily worked from a prepared text when speaking and have done background checks on people and causes whose actions or policies they may not want to appear to be supporting. The downside of this traditional approach, characterized by a superabundance of prudence, is that some Popes have seemed somewhat distant and therefore less pastoral.
Jesus Christ dined with tax collectors and prostitutes, He embraced sinners, and, though some came to Him repentant, we cannot be sure that in every case He told every sinner He encountered to “go and sin no more.” Beyond the famous case of the woman caught in adultery, who clearly responded to Jesus’ mercy with repentance, it is very difficult to say with assurance that the Lord’s conversation with every sinner in every case included words of reprimand. He taught the crowds very clearly about the need to repent and accept His forgiveness for sins but most likely took a very different approach with individual cases.
“Man sees appearances, but God looks into the heart”: Surely He offered mercy and words of support for a new life of holiness in every case where His forgiveness was prepared for by a heart moved to seek Him by sorrow for sin.
As we all know so well, Pope Francis errs on the side of having “the smell of the sheep” — of both those who consider themselves sheep, and those who don’t. He has made himself so available that sometimes he ends up redolent with the smell of public sin and rejection of mercy. This was certainly the case of a former student from the Pope’s days in Jesuit education, who was granted an individual, or “private,” audience with him in Washington, D.C. At the same time, we have come to hear, he did meet with county clerk Kim Davis and offered her words of encouragement, but, say Vatican sources, he did not do so privately and not in such wise that he was aware of all of the aspects of her case.
The most important thing Pope Francis said to aid Kim Davis and all who, like her, resist the redefinition of marriage as county clerks or public officials of any kind, was to speak out clearly on his flight back to Rome after the visit to the USA. He said then that people of faith have a right to freedom of conscience, as do all persons.
What caused consternation on the part of many Catholics and other Christians was the way that the Vatican distanced itself from the Davis meeting at the nunciature in Washington so quickly after news of it erupted in the American media. The vocal leftists were writhing and groaning in pain when they learned that Kim Davis came into friendly contact with Pope Francis. Many, no doubt, enjoyed the spectacle, which much resembled devils suffering the effects of an exorcism!
The Vatican reacted by not only distancing itself from Davis but also by stating she was part of a large group at the embassy and received brief generic words of greeting and well wishes from the Pope as well as the gift of rosaries. As if salting that wound, the Vatican then said that there was indeed a private audience with, surprise, a homosexual man and his partner, and not Kim Davis. No doubt many orthodox observers felt stunned as if receiving a virtual slap upon hearing this news.
[Wanderer Editor’s Note: Elsewhere in this issue: Please see statement from Liberty Counsel, whose chairman, Mat Staver, is Davis’ attorney, that disputes the Vatican’s claims about the meeting.]
Why did Pope Francis not only meet with a homosexual man who clearly rejects Church moral teaching by his manner of life as well as God Himself in his stance as an atheist? And why does it seem as though the “full truth” about whom the Pope met with was unnecessary? Why, people ask, does it seem as though he is now dismissing Kim Davis and like-minded freedom of conscience warriors with a shrug while embracing their putative cultural foes with a hug?
First, it is simply not possible to ask the Holy Father to embrace the cause of Kim Davis in all of its aspects. It is usually true that there are very few cases where it possible for the Pope to do that for anyone due to reasons of complexity alone. In his interview on the plane the Pope had already lent his important support to culture warriors through his remarks about the right to freedom of conscience.
In charity for the Holy Father in his pastoral mission to the peripheries, as he has described it in his own words, and in the light of Jesus Christ and the Gospel, we recall that Jesus embraced sinners and ate with them, so much so that He Himself was accused of being a drunkard. The benefit of the doubt would lead us to assume that Pope Francis is simply trying to do the same thing in order to further the love of Jesus Christ for every human person.
Pope Francis was asked by a friend from his own home in Argentina to meet with him. In human charity and pastoral solicitude, Pope Francis embraced him. In our faith we can surely understand that, even if the Pope did not explicitly mention sin in his private conversation the man, perhaps his example of holiness might have accomplished the same objective. We can only pray that it may always be true for us as for him.
Thank you for reading. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)