Archbishop Chaput's Remarkable Challenge to Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter

Archbishop Chaput's Remarkable Challenge to Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I would love to see a purer Church - one where Chaput, Burke and Tobin are retreat directors and not bishops.  His confusion comes from the fact that he used to know how to get that Red Hat.  I wish him luck, especially if His Holiness has Internet Access or a staff who tracks what people say about the Synod.  Maybe Burke needs an auxiliary in Malta.  As for the sheep and the goats, I suspect it is Chaput, Burke and Tobin who are wandering around in the wild, not Francis and the rest who seem to know the difference between essential truth (things like the Trinity) and natural law (which can improve with new evidence) and practice - who we allow to get married, how we treat divorce, who receives Communion.



As I said before on the CNS article, Chaput's job is not to tell Philly what to think - but instead to find out what they think.  I have a similarly conservative bishop in Arlington.  Lets hope he is not so confused.  (Even if he is, I will copy the Vatican with my remarks - as well as the reason why I am doing so).  As for same sex marriage and the Church, I suspect that this is where we will find the God of surprises - especially when the Laity weighs in on wanting to have their gay children married in Church.



It was not so long ago that Catholic hospitals excluded long time gay companions from medical decision-making, letting an estranged family member supplant the person who was essentially the spouse.  To a great extent, those little insults created the movement to marriage equality.  If you read the Gospel with an open heart, you will note that marriage is when a person leaves their family and clings to another.  That applies to this issue as much as it applied to a persons family seeking a divorce for their child so that the family can have better marital connections.  Are gay Catholics who left the Church after such insults lost?  Maybe - but it is not sinfulness on their part that drove them away.  Until the Burkes and Chaputs of the world understand that, there will be much kicking and screaming in the conservative camp.   Hopefully, instead of allowing Chaput to shoot off his mouth at Pope during his visit to Philly, someone else may be found for the archdiocese.