Where Peter Is

there is the Church

Where Peter Is

Author: Mike Lewis

19

Obedience / Pope Francis / Rigidity / Schism

The road to schism isn’t a one-way street

In the last several days, many Catholics have been discussing Pope Francis’s comments about a potential schism in the Church, specifically in reference to a movement (in the U.S. Church and elsewhere) that is highly critical of Francis and his teachings. In his comments, Francis described the causes of schism, suggesting that they occur when: Ideologies enter into doctrine and when doctrine slips into ideology that’s where there’s the possibility of a schism. There’s the...

64

Cardinal Burke / death penalty / Dissent / Magisterium

Cardinal Burke: “This is an opinion of Pope Francis as a man”

Recent remarks by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, captured on audio, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Burke explicitly rejects the revised teaching on the death penalty in Catechism #2267 and urges catechists not to accept or teach the change that Pope Francis has mandated. On this site, we have long been tracking the views of those with extremist viewpoints who criticize Pope Francis. We have also noted a more mainstream contingent whose members strongly oppose...

40

Cardinal Burke / Dissent / Papal Primacy

What would Fr. Hardon say?

On April 7, 2018, Cardinal Raymond Burke delivered an address to a conference in Rome dedicated to the legacy of the late Cardinal Carlo Caffarra titled, Catholic Church: Where are you heading? The title of Burke’s address was, “The plenitudo potestatis of the Roman Pontiff in service of the unity of the Church.” Plenitudo potestatis means “fullness of power,” a term frequently used by medieval canonists to describe papal power and authority, and canonized in...

133

Dissent / Pope Francis / Schism

NCR’s Winters warns of a looming schism

Today in the National Catholic Reporter, columnist Michael Sean Winters argues that the biggest threat to the unity of the Catholic Church (especially in the U.S.) is the expansion of a highly visible and well-organized movement that opposes Pope Francis and seems determined to split the Church in two. He even goes on to suggest that the highest priority for the USCCB’s November meeting should be developing a response to the question, “To what degree are...

10

Radio Interview

Talking WPI with Mark Shea

Last night, I was a guest on Mark Shea’s radio show, Catholic and Enjoying It!, where we discussed Where Peter Is and the polarization over Pope Francis in the Catholic Church. Topics included the origins of the site, the Amoris Laetitia controversy, and the relentless media attacks against the Holy Father. Click below to listen!   Read Mark’s blog by clicking here!   Image: Pixabay Mike LewisMike Lewis is a writer and graphic designer from Maryland, having...

28

Amoris Laetitia / death penalty / Pope Francis / Pope John Paul II / priestly celibacy

The dramatic developments of John Paul and Francis

In yesterday’s post, I explored the hostile responses from many of Pope Francis’s critics over his ecumenical gestures towards Christians outside of full communion with the Catholic Church, and how the outcry compares to their acceptance of similar gestures — not to mention a major change in sacramental discipline — made by St. John Paul II during his papacy. Today, we’ll take a closer look at three issues that are at the center of debate...

7

Ecumenism / Pope Francis / Radical Traditionalists / Saint Peter

“When JP2 did it, it was different”

On July 25, the Catholic Herald published a piece by the Canadian priest Raymond de Souza entitled, “The inexplicable transfer of St Peter’s relics to Constantinople,” in which the author offers a litany of objections to Pope Francis’s gift of a reliquary containing small bone fragments (believed to be St. Peter’s) to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. I pointed out in a Twitter thread on July 3 that radical traditionalists’ objections to popes giving...

5

Humanae Vitae / Marriage / Natural Family Planning / Pope Francis

NFP Week Roundup

In conjunction with yesterday’s anniversary of St. Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, this week has been designated by the USCCB as National NFP Awareness Week. Humanae Vitae, of course, affirmed the Church’s traditional teaching that prohibits the use of artificial contraception. NPF, as you likely know, is an abbreviation for Natural Family Planning, a catch-all term for the various methods of avoiding pregnancy that are approved by the Church, which rely on tracking a...

24

Amoris Laetitia / Archbishop Chaput / Archbishop Viganò / Pope Francis

The Archbishop Doth Protest too Much

On Thursday, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) published an unattributed defense of Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, arguing that he did not endorse the ‘testimony’ of Archbishop Carlo Viganò, and that Chaput was a supporter of the Holy Father. In his testimony, the former nuncio accused Pope Francis of lifting formal sanctions on then-Cardinal McCarrick and called on Francis to resign. The CNA article then recounted several other instances suggesting Abp. Chaput is a supporter of...

21

Cardinal Burke / Church News / Dissent / Homilies / Pope Francis

Links: Pius X vs Francis; Cardinal Burke; Abp Gregory ordains 10 in DC

Happy Trinity Sunday, and Happy Father’s day! Today Pope Francis visited the city of Camerino in Italy, which was struck by earthquakes 3 years ago that took the lives of nearly 300 people. Vatican News reports that in his homily, he spoke about healing woulds and rebuilding after such a tragic event: “Remembering is a key word for life”, said Pope Francis. “Remembering gives us the strength not to surrender”. The Pope admitted that bad...

31

Homilies / Pope Francis

Savor the Harmony of the Holy Spirit

This morning in his homily on the feast of Pentecost, Pope Francis spoke at length about the work of the Holy Spirit. Excerpt: The Holy Spirit does not bring only harmony within us but also among us. He makes us Church, building different parts into one harmonious edifice. Saint Paul explains this well when, speaking of the Church, he often repeats a single word, “variety”: varieties of gifts, varieties of services, varieties of activities” (1 Cor 12:4-6). We differ in the variety of our qualities...

8

Uncategorized

A quick note about comments

This is just a quick post about comments on our site, for those who might be confused. Our more regular commenters seem to be generally aware of our policy — it’s more of a “practice” than a formal policy, but we often receive questions from new commenters. Please don’t consider these to be absolute, strict rules, but a glimpse of what typically happens behind the scenes when comments are submitted. First of all, we want...

27

Ecumenism / Pope Benedict XVI / Pope Francis / Tradition

In-Flight presser from Romania: Francis on Tradition and Benedict

UPDATE 6/3/19 CNA has published an English translation of the entire press conference. Here are Francis’s comments in fuller context. On ecumenism: I always have this idea: Ecumenism is not reaching the end of the game, of the discussion. Ecumenism is walking together, walking together, praying together… The ecumenism of prayer. In history, we have the ecumenism of blood. When they killed Christians they did not ask: Are you Catholic? Are you Orthodox? Are you...

61

Dissent / Pope Francis

“I pray for them because they are wrong”

Pope Francis recently gave a 40-minute interview to a Mexican TV station, the full transcript of which has not been released in English (full Spanish transcript here). Several English-language outlets have translated portions, including America magazine, CNA, and Vatican News. Much is covered in the wide-ranging interview, including abortion, immigration, sexual abuse, Amoris Laetitia, homosexuality, China, Theodore McCarrick, and Archbishop Viganò. This interview also contains what appear to be his first public comments on the...

Pope Francis

Why we do what we do

Back in 2017, when I began planning this website, many of my fellow Pope Francis-supporting friends weren’t entirely enthusiastic about my idea. After all, why should I give any attention at all to the pope’s detractors? Doing so, they asserted, would give credence to their claims and conspiracy theories, as well as their faulty understanding of the Magisterium and papal primacy. Wouldn’t it be better to simply ignore them and let them fade away into...