Here is the LifeSiteNews article, quoting Cardinal Muller and Cardinal Burke in their opposition to Pope Francis: Cardinals Burke, Müller condemn Pope Francis’ support for same-sex ‘blessings,’ Communion for adulterers.

The article’s title shows the bias of LifeSiteNews. The Pope did not specify the blessing of same-sex unions, and the term “same-sex” suggests. The blessings that might be possible, in some cases, but perhaps not as a rule, were to be on one or more persons. Blessing same-sex unions was not given the Pope’s permission, and any blessings that might confuse people on the Catholic definition of marriage were specifically excluded.

Neither did the Pope specify Communion for adulterers (in Amoris Laetitia). Rather, he acknowledged the teaching of the Church that not every objectively grave sin has the full culpability of actual mortal sin. Pope Francis therefore permits some persons in difficult situations, to avail themselves of the advice of their pastor, and of the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. He also taught that Confession is not invalid merely because the penitent falls again and again.

[Matthew]
{18:21} Then Peter, drawing near to him, said: “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Even seven times?”
{18:22} Jesus said to him: “I do not say to you, even seven times, but even seventy times seven times.

[John]
{8:7} And then, when they persevered in questioning him, he stood upright and said to them, “Let whoever is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
{8:8} And bending down again, he wrote on the earth.
{8:9} But upon hearing this, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest. And Jesus alone remained, with the woman standing in front of him.
{8:10} Then Jesus, raising himself up, said to her: “Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no one condemned you?”
{8:11} And she said, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus said: “Neither will I condemn you. Go, and now do not choose to sin anymore.”

Those who assume that every divorced and remarried couple are adulterers are like the Pharisees, who wanted the woman caught in adultery to be stoned. They wish to figuratively stone persons who have, perhaps, committed objectively grave sins. They assume that these sins have the full culpability of actual mortal sins. They assume that these sinners are not repentant, have not been to Confession, are not trying to reform their lives. And these assumptions apply to both their claims on Communion and on blessings. Jesus wants every sinner to come to Him and be converted, so as to overcome sin — perhaps even after a long struggle. The opponents of Pope Francis want a Church that utterly rejects sinners — except for those who sin gravely, objectively, by opposing the Pope.

If sinners cannot receive blessings, and divorced and remarried persons cannot go to Confession and Communion, then how is it that those who scandalize the faithful, raise themselves up above the Pope, falsely accuse and then condemn the Pope, rejecting his teaching and authority, can still say Mass and receive Communion? LGBT persons and the divorced and remarried are getting into the kingdom of God ahead of them.

Quotes from Muller and Burke

In interviews with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over” on 5 Oct 2023, Cardinals Muller and Burke made the following statements.

Burke: “As St. Paul did with St. Peter, we also address the pope himself with our concerns.”

So in the case of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the error Paul corrected in Peter was in his personal behavior. Pope’s do not have a charism of sinlessness (impeccability). But the error of Peter in only eating with converts from Judaism, who still followed Mosaic dietary restrictions, was not found in his teachings. In Acts 15, Peter and the other Apostles taught that such OT disciplines are no longer in force. So the case of Peter and Paul does not support the claims of the papal accusers today, who claim that Pope Francis has erred gravely on doctrine and discipline.

Tertullian, 155-220 A.D.: “But if Peter was reproved because, after having lived with the Gentiles, he separated himself from their company out of respect for persons, surely this was a fault in his conversation, not in his preaching.”

Moreover, Muller and Burke are not merely addressing the Pope with their concerns. Their Dubia were answered promptly and at length by the Pope. But they refused to be corrected by the Vicar of Christ. So they went to the media to accuse the Pope of grave error.

Burke: “Even if the pope himself is announcing things that are false, we defend the truth,”

The problem with the above quote is the assumption that the Pope is wrong, and a small subset of Cardinals are right. If it seems to your own mind that you are right, and someone else is wrong, such a judgment is not absolute. These Cardinals are speaking in pride, as if they could not possibly have erred gravely, and so they accuse the Pope of grave error on each point where they disagree. But the body of Bishops continues to support Pope Francis in his decisions on doctrine and discipline, so the assumption of grave error by the Pope implies that the Pope and body of Bishops have gone astray, which is contrary to the dogma of indefectibility. Then the worry that the Synod will decide grave errors on doctrine and discipline, with the approval of the Pope and implementation by the Bishops throughout the world also implies that the Church can go astray, which we know is impossible due to the promise of Christ that the gates of Hell will never prevail over the Church.

As I have pointed out many times, the ancient constant teaching of the Church is that the Pope has the charism of truth and never-failing faith, such that he cannot teach grave error, cannot err gravely on discipline, and can never gravely fail in faith. Vatican I confirmed this teaching of the ordinary universal magisterium in Pastor Aeternus, chapter 4, n. 6-7, based on the Council’s authoritative interpretation of Luke 22:32, and using the term “charism of truth and never-failing faith”.

Here is what Saint Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, taught on the Roman Pontiff:

Bellarmine, on Lk 22:32: “Therefore, the true exposition is that the Lord asked for two privileges for Peter…. The second privilege is that he, as the Pope, could never teach something against the faith, or that there would never be found one in his See who would teach against the true faith.”

Bellarmine: “Fourthly, the gift asked for Peter in this citation [Lk 22:32] also pertains to the successors. For Christ prayed for Peter to the advantage of the Church; but the Church always needs someone by whom she is confirmed, whose faith cannot fail.”

Saint Bellarmine: “The Pope is the Teacher and Shepherd of the whole Church, thus, the whole Church is so bound to hear and follow him that if he would err, the whole Church would err.”

God never permits the Roman Pontiff, in his exercise of the Keys of Peter over doctrine or discipline, to err gravely. The charism of truth and never-failing faith prevents such a grave error, so as to keep the Church indefectible.

And now read what Bellarmine says about those who want the Church to only listen to the Pope when he is teaching correctly:

Saint Bellarmine: “Now our adversaries respond that the Church ought to hear him [the Roman Pontiff] so long as he teaches correctly, for God must be heard more than men. On the other hand, who will judge whether the Pope has taught rightly or not? For it is not for the sheep to judge whether the shepherd wanders off, not even and especially in those matters which are truly doubtful. Nor do Christian sheep have any greater judge or teacher to whom they might have recourse. As we showed above, from the whole Church one can appeal to the Pope; yet from him no one is able to appeal; therefore necessarily the whole Church will err, if the Pontiff would err.”

Saint Bellarmine rejects the proposal of Muller and Burke, that the faithful should oppose the decisions of the Roman Pontiff on doctrine and discipline, whenever the Pope supposedly “is announcing things that are false.” For if it were possible for the Pope to err gravely, would it not also be possible for a small subset of Cardinals to err gravely? Then who would decide who is right? But Christ gave Peter and his successors the charism of never-failing faith, and this was not given to any individual or small group of Cardinals or Bishops. And the body of Bishops supports Pope Francis. So it is absurd to claim that Christ designed the Church so that the Pope and most Bishops could all go astray, giving the surety of truth and true interpretation of Tradition and Scripture only to a minority of Cardinals and Bishops. One cannot follow such a minority, as there is always multiple minorities of Cardinals, Bishops, priests, religious, and laity, with varying claims on how the Church has supposedly erred and what the faithful should believe instead.

Muller and Burke are implicitly suggesting that they have the charism of truth and never-failing faith, and the Pope does not. But it was only to Peter that Jesus said: “But I have prayed for you, so that your faith may not fail, and so that you, once converted, may confirm your brothers.” [Lk 22:32]

Burke: “You can’t reconcile these positions with Catholic faith and practice, and that has to be made clear to everyone,” he said.

Muller and Burke do not have a position above the Pope and the body of Bishops to judge when they have gone astray from “Catholic faith and practice”, nor do these few Cardinals (of the Dubia) have indefectibility or the charism of truth and never-failing faith. Their assertion that these positions of the Pope cannot be reconciled with truth can possibly err gravely, in principle, and are in fact grave errors, as proven by the teaching of the Church on the papal charisms. Again, it is the sin of pride for them to assume that they are right, and the Pope is wrong.

The reply to the Dubia by the Pope explains how these positions are consistent with Catholic faith and practice, and many supporters of the Pope have also written in defense of Pope Francis’ positions. Then, if the Synod decides certain questions, and the Pope and body of Bishops next teach these decisions and implement these practices, the indefectibility of the Church prevents these decisions of the Pope and the body of Bishops from erring gravely.

Müller accused Pope Francis of “going directly against the Word of God” by endorsing Communion for the divorced and illicitly “remarried” who reject chastity.

Muller wrongly assumes that every divorced and remarried couple are rejecting chastity, assumes that they do not have or are not seeking an annulment, and assumes that these persons have no repentance and are not sincerely seeking to live according to Church teaching.

It is not possible for any exercise of the Keys of Peter (signifying authority over doctrine and discipline) by any Roman Pontiff to err gravely, or to cause grave harm to the indefectibility of the Church. Then the body of Bishops, when teaching or ruling with the Roman Pontiff, participate in the charism of truth and never-failing faith, and in the indefectibility of the Church. This is the result of the last part of Luke 22:32, that the Pope confirms his brethren, the Bishops, in a never-failing faith.

So IF the situation is that either a few Cardinals have erred gravely, by misunderstanding certain points of doctrine and discipline and by accusing the Pope of grave error falsely,
OR the Pope (or in some cases the Pope and the body of Bishops) has erred gravely and is leading the Church astray,
THEN it is a dogmatic fact that the Pope (or the Pope and body of Bishops) are right, since they cannot err gravely on doctrine or discipline. For the charism of truth and never-failing faith and the indefectibility of the Church prevent grave errors on the part of the Pope or the Pope with the body of Bishops.

Müller: “The pope and nobody in the Church has the authority to relativize the Commandments of God,” the German prelate and theologian said, noting that the Magisterium “is not superior to the Word of God but is under the Word of God.”

The Magisterium is the sole authoritative interpreter of Tradition and Scripture. A small group of Cardinals do not have the authority, nor charisms to determine that the Pope has erred gravely by relativizing the Commandments of God. That is a judgment not given to any number of Cardinals or Bishops. As for the Magisterium and the Word of God, Muller and Burke are speaking as if they were superior to Tradition and Scripture, to judge their interpretation authoritatively and infallibly, and as if they were superior to the papal Magisterium, to judge and even condemn the teachings of the Pope.

Müller: “Surely, the pope has a special authority in the Church, according to our Catholic faith, but he is not a person who receives a new revelation.”

Muller and Burke speak as if they have a special authority above the Pope, the body of Bishops, Tradition and Scripture. But the Roman Pontiff has not only supreme authority to teach and rule, but also the charisms needed so that this authority will not and cannot teach or rule with grave error, nor ever harm the indefectibility of the Church. A small group of Cardinals does not have these charisms of authority and indefectibility.

The interpretations of Tradition, Scripture, and past magisterial teachings by the Pope are not a new revelation, but merely interpretation with which Muller and Burke disagree. Christ entrusted the Catholic Christian Faith to Peter and his successors, and to the Apostolic College, not to individual small groups of dissidents. In following the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops with him, ignoring all who fight against them, the faithful are unified in one holy Church, as one flock under Christ.

Responding to Pope Francis’ apparent assent to homosexual “blessings,” Cardinal Burke stressed, “You cannot bless sinful acts.”

“You cannot bless a relationship which, in itself, is involved with intrinsically evil acts, and therefore, it’s not possible to bless these unions in any way,” he told Arroyo.

“Yes, we are judges,” he added. “We have to judge between what is right and what is wrong, and we know on the authority of divine revelation that genital acts between people of the same sex are intrinsically evil.”

Pope Francis did not approve the blessing of sinful acts, but only of one or more sinners. Pope Francis approved of blessing persons, not unions. But the claim by Burke that a relationship which is “involved with intrinsically evil acts” cannot be blessed in any way is FALSE. What if a husband and wife have a valid Sacrament of marriage, but they commit intrinsically evil acts, such as lying to one another, contraception, or unnatural sexual acts? Homosexual acts are not the only intrinsically evil acts. What if an engaged man and woman have premarital sex, and then they go to the Church for the great blessing of the Sacrament of Marriage? Is the Sacrament invalid? No. Should the Church refuse Marriage to engaged couples who have committed premarital sex or contraception? No. So intrinsically evil acts, committed by persons, do not absolutely preclude the Church from giving some type of blessing to those persons.

As in the error of Burke and Muller on the divorced and remarried who seek Communion, there is an assumption that only certain sins prevent one from receiving Communion or a blessing. They wish to issue a harsh judgment against certain sinners, but not others. This is like the error of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees sinned gravely against religion in many ways (see Mt 23), and they also wanted to deny the blessing of healing to a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, to goad Him into approving of stoning her to death. But what happened to the man caught in adultery? Why didn’t the Pharisees accuse him?

Muller and Burke are committing the grave objective sin of scandalizing the faithful, by opposing the Roman Pontiff. They sin by rejecting the dogmas of indefectibility and the charism of truth and never-failing faith. They sin by pride, thinking themselves to be above the Magisterium and the Roman Pontiff. They violate the teaching and law that the First See is judged by no one but God. And then they seek to deny blessings and Communion to sinners.

Reiterating Catholic teaching, Burke explained that sexuality exists “for marriage and for the procreation of children, and sexual acts outside of the marital union are sinful. That’s the long and the short of it.”

“We say it with charity, we try to help people to understand this, but we don’t give blessings that cannot be interpreted otherwise, that somehow we think that this is good,” he said.

Pope Francis reiterated Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality. He also ruled that blessings which confuse the faithful on what is true marriage are prohibited. Yet Burke speaks as if the Pope did not make those statements. Burke and Muller are speaking as if they had the role of the Roman Pontiff.

Burke: “We have simply to be His faithful co-workers, soldiers, if I may say, and defend the truths of the faith,” the cardinal stated. “And if there are those who are denying those truths of the faith, they are the ones who are going into schism.”

Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, chose Peter and his successors to have that very authority, to defend the truths of the faith against those who deny those truths. To that end, Jesus gave Peter and his successors, not only supreme authority — against which there is no appeal — but also the charism of truth and never-failing faith, which secures the indefectibility of the Church. Therefore, the faithful do not need to, and must never try to, judge every decision of the Pope on doctrine and discipline, and then oppose the Pope whenever they think he has erred — and this is by their own opinions as fallen sinners who can err gravely because they lack the papal charisms.

Schism by definition is refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff in his authority over doctrine and discipline. One cannot redefine schism so that one’s own opinion is absolute truth, and any who disagree — even the Pope and the body of Bishops — are the ones in schism. By definition and by the protection of the prevenient grace of God in the charism of never-failing faith, the Pope can never be in schism, can never teach heresy, and can never fail gravely in faith.

I believe that a schism is imminent, but this is due to the failures of faith of certain conservatives and traditionalists who put their own understanding above faith in the Magisterium of the Pope and the Apostolic College.

Ronald L Conte Jr