or he may not be. However, Monsignor Robert Wister of Seton Hall got to weigh in on CNN.com. His comments are below.
Monsignor Robert Wister, a professor of church history at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, said he can't recall anything similar to the heresy letter in recent times. Pope John XXII was rebuked in the 1330s for teaching that the souls of the dead do not see the face of God until the Last Judgment.
"But it's really hard to make a comparison," he said. "Nine hundred years ago, most Catholics were illiterate. Now everybody is on Twitter."
So what effect will the heresy letter have on Francis' papacy?
"In the grand scheme of things, it will fuel some of the more extreme anti-Francis websites," Wister said. "And I think it will encourage various priests and bishops who do not like his pastoral direction."
"But, if you look in the pews or even at polls, most people like Francis," he said. "They see in him a compassion they have not seen in the church, an understanding of the very difficult reality of living in this very complicated world."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/world/pope-heresy/index.html
Monsignor Robert Wister, a professor of church history at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, said he can't recall anything similar to the heresy letter in recent times. Pope John XXII was rebuked in the 1330s for teaching that the souls of the dead do not see the face of God until the Last Judgment.
"But it's really hard to make a comparison," he said. "Nine hundred years ago, most Catholics were illiterate. Now everybody is on Twitter."
So what effect will the heresy letter have on Francis' papacy?
"In the grand scheme of things, it will fuel some of the more extreme anti-Francis websites," Wister said. "And I think it will encourage various priests and bishops who do not like his pastoral direction."
"But, if you look in the pews or even at polls, most people like Francis," he said. "They see in him a compassion they have not seen in the church, an understanding of the very difficult reality of living in this very complicated world."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/world/pope-heresy/index.html
