Pope Francis fires Vatican official who opposed ‘blessings’ for same-sex couples by Doug Mainwaring for Life Site News
Since the CDF issued its statement barring the blessing of homosexual relationships, Pope Francis has rewarded dissident religious who promote the normalization of homosexuality within the Church with warm personal letters of thanks and encouragement – gestures which now stand in stark contrast to his harsh treatment of Archbishop Morandi.
Pope Francis has removed an archbishop from his position as a second-in-command Secretary of the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), reportedly because he was the driving force behind last year’s CDF document denouncing proposed ‘blessings’ for same-sex couples.
Archbishop Giacomo Morandi has been named by Pope Francis as bishop of the Italian diocese of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla – a move viewed by Vatican observers as a demotion because he will now shepherd a diocese, not an archdiocese, although Morandi will retain the title “Archbishop.”
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A prolific, if pseudonymous, Twitter commentator, believed to be a Vatican insider, proposed that Morandi was demoted because he was “less than enthusiastic” about the pontiff’s crackdown on the Traditional Latin Mass.
“Today’s victim of Francis’ displeasure is Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, the Secretary of the CDF; he has been sent to Reggio Emilia-Guastalla,” wrote Twitter user Monsignor Ferrari.
“Because he was less than enthusiastic about TC [Traditionis custodes],” he continued.
“It is about creating fear in the Vatican, as if we didn’t have enough,” added Ferrari.
Today’s victim of Francis displeasure is Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, the Secretary of the CDF, he has been sent to Reggio Emilia-Guastalla.
Because he was less than enthusiastic about TC.
It is about creating fear in the Vatican, as if we didn’t have enough. pic.twitter.com/9yJHB418nP— Monsignor Ferrari (@ServizioVatican) January 10, 2022
But since the CDF issued its statement barring the blessing of homosexual relationships, Pope Francis has rewarded dissident religious who promote the normalization of homosexuality within the Church with warm personal letters of thanks and encouragement – gestures which now stand in stark contrast to his harsh treatment of Archbishop Morandi.
The move by Francis against Morandi is seen as the beginning of an overhaul of the vast Vatican bureaucracy, possibly shifting power away from the CDF, placing the guardian of Church doctrine in a position of less prominence under a proposed Dicastery for Evangelization.
In March 2021, LifeSiteNews reported that the CDF had declared that it is “not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex.”
“The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan,” the statement read.
