VATICAN CITY — On the eve of the beginning of a highly anticipated Vatican Synod, a senior American Cardinal and four others have published a series of questions, or dubia, they presented to Pope Francis, including addressing the blessing of gay marriage and ordination of women. The pope responded, leaving more questions than simply “yes or no.”
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke issued the official statement and published the questions he and his brother Cardinals submitted to Pope Francis on his website and social media pages. Citing the law of the Catholic Church, the five senior clergymen write that they believe it their duty, as Bishops in the College of Cardinals, to “manifest … their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church” with the particular responsibility “to assist the Roman Pontiff (the pope).”
Expressing their concern over recent declarations — particularly it seems, those made in March of this year by the German Synod of Bishops, where approval of “blessings” of same-sex unions, along with promotion of support for ordination of women was propagated—and which the Cardinals claim “are openly contrary to the constant doctrine and discipline of the Church, and that have generated and continue to generate great confusion and the falling into error among the faithful and other persons of good will.”
The Cardinals say they have revised an initial series of questions sent to Pope Francis on July 10, stating that the Pope’s response to their questions failed to give clear direction on the issues.
The revised “yes or no” questions — published by Cardinal Burke in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish, German and Portuguese — are summarized as follows:
- Can the Catholic Church, today, teach something contrary to the doctrines it has previously taught on Faith and Morals?
- Can the Church bless homosexual unions? Is the Church teaching that any sexual act outside the bonds of the Sacrament of Marriage constitute a grave sin, still true?
- Will decisions made by a small minority of representatives at the “Synod on Synodality” — currently being held in Rome — exercise the Supreme Authority equal to that given solely to the Pope in union with the College of Bishops?
- Could the Catholic Church ever ordain women priests?
- Can a priest validly absolve someone who goes to Confession with intention to continue the sin they’re admitting to?
Cardinal Burke is joined on his questions to the Pope by German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, the former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, who was also a cosigner with Burke in another series of questions sent to Pope Francis, in 2016.
The three other cosigners of the questions published on Monday include Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, and Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun. Being that Cardinals Brandmüller, Sandoval, and Zen are past the age of 80, they are no longer able to vote in the next conclave (or election of the next pope).
The Cardinals say the initial series of questions to Pope Francis on July 10 received a response from the Pope in Spanish, which has just now been published by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the Vatican’s new Prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Cardinals claim the answers, which The Daily Wire has published in English, “did not follow the practice of responsa ad dubia [responses to questions].” The Cardinals say they submitted the reformulated answers on August 21, but have not received a response.
The following is a working translation of Pope Francis' answers to the Cardinal's dubia, provided by the DDF.
It is due to these answers, the Cardinals state, that they were compelled to ask the pope to simply respond "yes or no".
Thoughts? https://t.co/rHbic3sJKg pic.twitter.com/moOpr1SGdG
— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) October 2, 2023
Cardinal Fernandez, a close confidant of Pope Francis who was elevated to Cardinal just days ago, says the Pope’s initial answer to the dubia were sufficient, and criticized the new inquiry.
“The Pope has already answered the ‘dubia’ of these cardinals,” Cardinal Fernandez told ABC. “They have not published the response of the Holy Father, who despite his many occupations took the trouble to answer them. Instead of publishing those answers, they now make public new questions, as if the Pope were their slave for errands.”
With 363 voting delegates, 54 of them women, attending the final stage of this 3-year “listening Synod,” issues ranging from sexual abuse to LGBTQ inclusion and female ordination are set to be hot-button debates. The “Synod on Synodality” will begin the final stage of meetings, in Vatican City, on October 4.
The Daily Wire is in touch with several of the signing Cardinals and will report on the Pope’s response.