13 Cardinals write Pope to denounce manipulation of Synod

From Rome we hear shocking reports of strong pushback by conservative Roman Catholic bishops against the plot of Cardinals Baldisseri and Kasper and other "progressives" to change traditional teachings of the Church on matters of divorce and homosexuality.

Vatican insider Sandro Magister, an eminently reliable source, reported Monday in Chiesa that 13 leading Cardinals wrote to Pope Francis on October 5th to express the "serious concerns" of themselves and other bishops over the procedures of the Synod on the Family. In their judgment, the rules and documents of the conclave are "designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions". They also view "Instrumentum laboris" (working document) as inadequate as a "guiding text or the foundation of a final document."

In layman's language, as Walt revealed on October 2nd, the fix is in!

Sig. Magister named 10 of the 13 Cardinals who signed the letter as:
- Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna, Italy, theologian, formerly the first president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family;
- Thomas C. Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, Canada;
- Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, United States;
- Willem J. Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland;
- Gerhard L. Müller, former bishop of Regensburg, Germany, since 2012 Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;
- Wilfrid Fox Napier, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa, President Delegate of the Synod (a position he also held at last year's session);
- George Pell, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney, Australia, since 2014 Prefect in the Vatican of the Secretariat for the Economy;
- Robert Sarah, former Archbishop of Conakry, Guinea, since 2014 Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline;
- Jorge L. Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela;
- Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, Italy.

Click here to read the complete text of the Cardinals' letter to the Pope, in English, as revealed by Sig Magister in Chiesa, 12/10/15. See also "Archbishop Chaput feels 'sense of hopelessness' about Synod on Family" (WWW 9/10/15)

Yesterday, Father Federico Lombardi, the sock puppet in charge of the Vatican press office, called the leaking of the Cardinals' letter a "disruption". Because the authors of the letter intended it to remain confidential, he said, "It would be inappropriate to allow it to have any influence."

In layman's language, "Don't listen to those guys with the red hats. Just listen to the Pope, who speaks through me!"

Father Lombardi then muddied the water more than somewhat, by claiming that Cardinal Pell, who has acknowledged writing to the Pope, has said that neither the text published in Chiesa nor the list of signatories was accurate. He also said that Cardinals Erdo and Scola, named by Sig. Magister, and Cardinals Piacenza and Vingt-Trois, not identified by Sig. Magister, had denied having signed.

Meanwhile, the Jesuit periodical America reported in "Thirteen Cardinals, Including Di Nardo and Dolan, Challenged Pope’s Decisions on Synod" that the correct list of 13 cardinals includes Cardinals Caffarra, Collins, Dolan, Eijk, Müller, Napier, Pell, Sarah, and Savino -- named by Sig. Magister -- and four not on his list: Daniel Di Nardo (Archbishop of Galveston-Houston), John Njue (Archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya), Elio Sgreccia (President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life), and Norberto Rivera Carrera (Archbishop of Mexico City).

Another Vatican spokesthingy, Father Thomas Rosica, posted a link to the America article on his Twitter account, thus lending credence to the new report.

And now... this very morning, Rome time... Sig. Magister has published a follow-up to his original account, headed "The Letter of the Thirteen Cardinals to the Pope. Episode Two". He confirms the names of the signatories, and stakes his reputation on the authenticity of the text, apart perhaps from a few marginal inaccuracies and questions of form. Above all, he says, the letter is important for underlining what is at stake: control of the procedures of the Synod, and thus its outcome.

"The substance," he writes, "remains that which the statement of Cardinal Pell and even more so the interview with Cardinal Napier have confirmed: a widespread and growing unease among many synod fathers over the insistence in imposing upon them as the basis of discussion a document, the 'Instrumentum laboris', which every day shows itself more and more to be inadequate, and the fear that this with its ambiguities will contaminate the 'Relatio finalis', the writing of which is in the hands of a commission entirely appointed from on high, with an overwhelming presence of innovators."