Crisis for Pope Francis as top-level cardinals tell him: your synod could lead to the collapse of the church

UNITED KINGDOM
Spectator

Damian Thompson

A group of cardinals – including some of the most powerful figures in the Catholic Church – have written to Pope Francis telling him that his Synod on the Family, now meeting in Rome, has gone badly off the rails and could cause the church to collapse.

Astonishingly, they include Cardinal Péter Erdö, the ‘general relator’ of the three-week gathering of the world’s bishops, who delivered its opening address a week ago.

Their leaked letter, written as the synod started, presumably explains why a few days ago the Pope suddenly warned against ‘conspiracy‘ and reminded the cardinals that he, and only he, will decide the outcome of the synod.

This is the gravest crisis he has faced, worse than anything that happened to Benedict XVI, and he knows it.

And, talking of the Pope Emeritus, I have no doubt whatsoever that, had he been free to sign the letter, he would have done so.

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