i stumbled on a story on the huffington post to the effect that conservatives in the hierarchy of the roman catholic church who are unhappy with the 'liberalism' of pope francis have started circulating rumors that francis conspired in his own election and hence is not a legitimate pope. shades of avignon.
i do not have a dog in this hunt, as i understand they say down here outside of the confines of chapel hill, so i feel free simply to sit back and enjoy the fun. the real point, of course, is that according to the church, when the cardinals meet in a conclave to select a new pope, they are guided incomprehensibly but unerringly by the holy spirit to choose the person whom GOD wants. this is the foundation of the claim that when the pope speaks from the throne [ex cathedra] on matters of faith and morals, he [or she, by the way] is infallible. if it takes a little hanky-panky to get them to fix on GOD's choice, well, the LORD moves in mysterious ways.
i have a suspicion that the conservative clerics have been corrupted by modernity. 'legitimate' indeed! next they will be alleging vote fraud and we will have the unedifying spectacle of hanging chads rather than hanging heretics as in the good old days.
No comments:
Post a Comment