Mounting Frustration in the Twilight of the Pontificate, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, May 03, 2024

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org.

Was it sheer frustration that prompted a group of Catholic scholars to issue their open letter charging Pope Francis with heresy?

Thus began a piece that I posted here exactly five years ago today. The same question now arises in response to a new statement, signed by many of the same people, demanding the Pope’s resignation.

As I said in 2019, so I repeat today: I share the frustration. But as I also remarked five years ago:

Who could make the authoritative judgment that the Pope had fallen into heresy and therefore lost his authority? Certainly not a handful of independent scholars.

To be fair the new statement does not focus exclusively on charges of heresy; the signatories also accuse the Pontiff of “criminal acts that have gravely harmed individual believers and the Church.” They lead with the evidence that Pope Francis has protected prelates and priests who have been guilty of sexual abuse, and continue with complaints about his secret deal with China, his suppression of the traditional liturgy, his peremptory removal of bishops without canonical due process, and more. …

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