Pope Francis waves as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for his weekly general audience on Sept. 20, 2017. A total of 62 clergy, theologians and other academics, though no cardinals and only one bishop from a break-away traditionalist society, have signed a letter accusing Pope Francis of heresy for his document 'Amoris Laetitia' and its cautious opening to Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, with organizers saying the last time such a "correction" happened was in 1333 under Pope John XXII.
VATICAN CITY Several dozen tradition-minded Roman Catholic theologians, priests and academics have formally accused Pope Francis of spreading heresy with his 2016 opening to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.
In a 25-page letter delivered to Francis last month and provided Saturday to The Associated Press, the 62 signatories issued a filial correction to the pope a measure they said hadnt been employed since the 14th century.
The letter accused Francis of propagating seven heretical positions concerning marriage, moral life and the sacraments with his 2016 document The Joy of Love and subsequent acts, words and omissions.
The initiative follows another formal act by four tradition-minded cardinals who wrote Francis last year asking him to clarify a series of questions, or dubbia, they had about his 2016 text.
Francis hasnt responded to either initiative. The Vatican spokesman didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment late Saturday.
None of the signatories of the new letter is a cardinal, and the highest-ranking churchman listed is actually someone whose organization has no legal standing in the Catholic Church: Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior of the breakaway Society of St. Pius X. Several other signatories are well-known admirers of the old Latin Mass which Fellays followers celebrate.
Also among the signatories are a handful of well-known Catholic figures from around the world, including Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, a former president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, the so-called Vatican bank, and Italian Monsignor Antonio Livi, former dean of the philosophy faculty at Romes Pontifical Lateran University.
Organizers said the initiative was nevertheless significant and a sign of the concern among a certain contingent of academics and pastors over Franciss positions, which they said posed a danger to the faithful.
There is a role for theologians and philosophers to explain to people the churchs teaching, to correct misunderstandings, said Joseph Shaw, a spokesman for the initiative, signatory of the correction and senior research fellow in moral philosophy at Oxford University.
When it was released in April 2016, The Joy of Love immediately sparked controversy because it opened the door to letting civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion. Church teaching holds that unless these Catholics obtain an annulment a church decree that their first marriage was invalid they cannot receive the sacraments, since they are seen as committing adultery.
Francis didnt create a church-wide pass for these Catholics, but suggested in vague terms and strategically placed footnotes that bishops and priests could do so on a case-by-case basis after accompanying them on a spiritual journey of discernment. Subsequent comments and writings have made clear he intended such wiggle room, part of his belief that Gods mercy extends in particular to sinners and that the Eucharist isnt a prize for the perfect but nourishment for the weak.
Shaw said none of the four cardinals involved in the initial dubbia letter, nor any other cardinal, was involved in the filial correction.
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Organizers said the last time such a correction was issued was to Pope John XXII in 1333 for errors which he later recanted. The letter and accompanying materials may be found here.
Crux Staff also contributed to this report.
Pope Francis talks to an infant during his visit to the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. (Credit: L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP.)
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Poster Comment:
Looks like someone at the Vatican doesn't like heretics, and gave Francis a black eye. Maybe Benny 16, the shadow Pope?