Is the dream of Francis as the ‘great liberal reformer’ dead?

Catholic Herald, 20 February 2020

The Amazon synod could be paid for but Pope Francis could not be bought, or beseeched, or bullied.

Last week brought us the much-anticipated “post-synodal apostolic exhortation”. Is there any less lovely combination of words on the Vatican beat? This one though, Querida Amazonia, was lyrical and poetic, and Pope Francis chose to style it in the form of dreams which he has. Four of them to be precise: social, cultural, ecological and ecclesial.

The dream imagery was suitable.

Suitable because so much of the Amazon synod and its aftermath has been about dreams more than realistic visions, let alone concrete plans. And one should not be surprised when dreams do not come true.

The most vivid dream was of those who thought that the Amazon synod, concerned with an infinitesimally small slice of the global Catholic population, would be the anaconda’s nose in the tent for a married priesthood. The German bishops certainly thought so. Both those in Germany, who paid for much of the synod’s preparations, and those of German descent in Latin America, led by Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, who organised the preparations on the scene.

But it was not to be. Pope Francis did not approve the ordination of married deacons as priests, as recommended by the synod. Neither did he approve women deacons.

The main organs of the ecclesial bureaucracy in Germany were not at all happy, accusing the Holy Father of “lacking courage”. After all, everything had been bought and paid for. Except for Pope Francis; the synod could be paid for but he could not be bought, or beseeched, or bullied.

Continue reading at the Catholic Herald:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/is-the-dream-of-francis-as-the-great-liberal-reformer-dead/