World News Korner

Pope Francis dumps outspoken anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, cardinal. Is this a trick?

Courtesy of TPM:

Pope Francis announced changes in the influential Vatican office that evaluates and nominates candidates for bishop around the world.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington was appointed Monday to the Congregation for Bishops. The pope also reconfirmed Cardinal William Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco and former head of the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog office.

Some members of the congregation were very conspicuously not retained. Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, will no longer serve in the office.

Burke is considered an outspoken critic of abortion and same-sex marriage and a favorite of conservative Catholics. He has also been publicly critical of Francis's changes in the direction of the church.

Burke retains his position as the head of the Vatican high court, the Apostolic Signatura. Burke drew attention in the U.S. in 2004 when he said he would deny Communion to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Roman Catholic who supports abortion rights.

Okay now this does not prove that the Pope has any new ideas on which direction the church should take on the issue of abortion and gay marriage, but it IS interesting.

And don't forget he is also still the Pope who said this:

"Every child that isn't born, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord," he said.

It looks to me that he is still supporting the church's discriminatory policies toward women, and shares their archaic views on sex, but he just does not want it advertised so blatantly anymore.

Let's just say that the jury is still out until he does something to really shake the old cathedrals up. Then we will decide if he is the real deal, or simply a wolf in lambs clothing.

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