Bombshell: Bishop Accuses Cardinal McElroy of Heresy

Validity of Next Conclave Questioned?

I woke up in a punchy mood this morning.  So I was intending to write on how the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Francis, his Synod of Synodality and the rest is in a headlong rush to become Lib Prots complete with LibChurch cringe even.  Go ahead and read Rod Dreher on that.

If you thought oil paintings of the Sacred Heart are cringe, LibCats are doubling down on that!

So I was going to have some fun when a bombshell hit.

The RCC Bishop of Springfield Thomas Paprocki has accused Cardinal Robert McElroy of heresy in a First Things article.  He does not do so by name, but as Rod Dreher points out, that is clearly who Paprocki is accusing.

Further, Paprocki seems to crack open the door to the next Conclave being invalid: “the unseemly prospect arises of a cardinal, excommunicated latae sententiae due to heresy, voting in a papal conclave.”

At this point, I should catch my breath and back up a bit.  Paprocki begins his First Things essay by imagining a cardinal who said blatantly unworthy recipients should come get their body and blood anyway without bothering with confessing their sin.  Oh, and homosexual acts?  That’s not sin and should be blessed.

Well, Paprocki is imagining Cardinal McElroy, though not by name, and adds, “Unfortunately, it is not uncommon today to hear Catholic leaders affirm unorthodox views that, not too long ago, would have been espoused only by heretics.”

For those unfamiliar with collegial forms of governance among Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, I point out that a bishop making a statement like this and against a cardinal no less is very unusual (although I think it needs to happen much more often). This is one reason I am not being sensational in calling it bombshell.

Paprocki then takes a dive into canon law and notes, “…canon 1364 says that ‘an apostate from the faith, a heretic, or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.’ A latae sententiae excommunication is a sentence that is automatically incurred without any canonical process.”

Thus he is saying Cardinal McElroy among others are excommunicate even though no one has officially recognized it or acted on it.  The same can be said about other cardinals.

Now Paprocki does not jump to the conclusion that a Conclave consisting of a number of excommunicate cardinals is invalid.  But he goes right to the edge of it.  Heretic cardinals who are automatically excommunicate and should removed from the College of Cardinals — such choosing the next pope is asking for the next pope not to be recognized by millions of Catholics.  Again, he doesn’t go there, but the implications are obvious.

But I am getting way ahead of matters.  For now, it suffices to say The Pillar is right:

The bishop of Springfield, Illinois, formally argued this morning that the cardinal bishop of San Diego has committed a heresy, and that he thus might have incurred an excommunication, and that he thus should be prevented by the pope from voting in a future conclave.

That’s no small thing…. As the history of the Church in America is written, Feb. 28, 2023 will likely be a day well-noted.

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UPDATE: I forgot to mention that McElroy was made Cardinal by Pope Francis, of course.

That is not a bombshell.