This article contains nothing new; it is old ground that I have been over many times. But every now and again, when I hear of some other ‘skullduggery’ connected with the CDF, it all comes back to me again. So, here it is:
A few days ago I met someone who wanted to hear the story of my dealings with the Vatican. Going back over it stirred up many memories, and made me realise again what a ‘shower’ I was dealing with in the CDF (known now as the Dicastery for the Congregation of the Faith).
I have followed the process of Pope Francis’ Synodal movement from the beginning. I regard it as an extremely interesting development in our Church, certainly the most interesting since the Second Vatican Council.
I find myself quite excited by the potential of synodality, though I am well aware that there are many challenges facing the process, and no certainty that it will succeed in the way Francis hopes and wishes.
The Redemptorist Congregation has elected a new Superior General. He is a Brazilian, about whom I know little or nothing, so I won’t have any expectations, one was or another, about him.
The man who has completed two terms, a total of twelve years, as Superior General, Michael Brehl, is the person who oversaw all the years of my dealing with the Vatican Congregation, the CDF. In all truth, the only thing I can say is that I do not lament his going.
