Three for Friday
- Ross Douthat, “Who Are Pope Francis’s Critics?,” New York Times – Criticisms continue to be directed against Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig’s problematic cover story on Pope Francis for The New Republic, though some have been better than others. Douthat gets into the mix with an occasionally informative, though slightly unbalanced, blog post which tries to map the field of Francis’ critics. While Douthat is right to observe that the Pope’s critics cannot be filed under a single heading, his handling of traditional Catholicism lacks care. Given Douthat’s ecclesial-political commitments, that’s not entirely surprising.
- Fr. John Hunwicke, “Consecration in the Roman Mass” (Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4), Mutual Enrichment – Two weeks ago Fr. Hunwicke paid a visit to the Silverstream Priory in Ireland to give a series of conferences. Now he is distilling them into blog posts, starting with the often fraught and pointless dispute between East/West concerning consecration at the Mass. Did the liturgical reformers need to add an epiklesis in 1969? What are we to make of the restyled eucharistic prayers in the Novus Ordo Missae?
- Michael Matt, “Afraid of Pope Francis: A Sobering Email from Father Anonymous,” The Remnant – Two years ago Jorge Bergoglio was elected the successor of St. Peter, a move which concerned many traditional Catholics given the former cardinal’s track record in Argentina. While early criticism of Pope Francis was written off as reactionary nonsense, things began to change during the so-called Extraordinary Synod on the Family and its aftermath. Traditional Catholics continue to raise tough questions about Francis’s pontificate, and they are often vilified for doing so. In this editorial, Matt offers a note from a non-traditional Catholic priest concerning his apprehension over where Francis is leading the Church.
