![]() īut in The Power of Silence, he implies that until the election of Francis, t he Catholic Church had been the world’s most consistent and brightest beacon of truth on moral teachings. Sarah (pronounced “Sa rah ”) is generally a quiet man – no propositions nailed to church doors no gathering of kindred spirits into a following no submissions to the pope (whether dubia – formal requests for clarification on teaching, and which imply dissent, as recently with three prominent cardinals – or, more serious, filial or fraternal corrections) indeed, his latest book is called The Power of Silence : Against the dictatorship of noise. Nevertheless, given the doctrine of papal supremacy – “the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls” (Catechism of the Catholic Church) – it is rather easier to portray dissenting cardinals as the ones who aren’t following the herd. Indeed, they would seem to hold that in key respects, it is Francis himself who thinks and acts in an independent way. Sarah, along with the other cardinals who are expressing unease with some of the things that Francis says, would argue that they were trying to be faithful to the Magisterium, which is not exclusively the pope’s dominion 3. ![]() ![]() In one sense, it is difficult to characterise Cardinal Sarah as legitimately belonging in this week’s UnHerd series of free thinkers, or mavericks. Until the election of Pope Francis, above, according to Cardinal Sarah, t he Catholic Church had been the world’s most consistent and brightest beacon of truth on moral teachings. This is Pope Francis’s position, and it is increasingly troubling a number of senior cardinals – the men who elect the pope and subsequently advise him – not least of whom is Cardinal (Robert) Sarah. At the same time, the world is saying something to the church. ![]() The church, by its teaching and by its discipleship, has something to say to the world. Vatican II sought to engage, not condemn. The argument pro Vatican II runs roughly thus: the Church is not against, not above, not apart, but in the modern world. On the other hand, an increasing number would argue that with the watering down – abandonment, even – of the Church’s unique claim to “Authority” (as if to Christ’s charge to St Peter, “ tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam”, 2 a “ sed” – “but” – had been added), Vatican II introduced a bacillus to the Catholic Church’s central nervous system. ![]()
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