“This is total war,” Matt wrote on social media. “Francis is a clear and present danger not only to Catholics the world over but also to the whole world itself.”
This reminds me of the South Park ep where Bill Donahue steals the pontiff because the pope isn’t extreme enough.
In comments to Portuguese Jesuits in August, Francis blasted the “backwardness” of these conservative bishops, saying they had replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.
Wow, for once, I actually sorta like the pope.
Strickland backed Vigano’s conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic, and on Saturday Vigano wrote that Strickland’s ouster showed a “cowardly form of authoritarianism” by Francis. “This affair will reveal who stands with the true Church of Christ and who chooses to stand with His declared enemies,” Vigano wrote on X.
Again, this is that South Park ep.
The last time there was a major schism the nations of the day were explicitly aligned with one side of the other of the schism and the states attempted to crush the other side of the schism by force. Part of the separation of church and state in modern nations is meant to prevent church issues from becoming state issues (see the recent mainstream schism in the Methodist chuch which was completely peaceful and over similar issues).
Except in this case I think that American Catholics are more willing to resort to violence and, even if the schism doesn’t make it all the way to St. Peter’s Basilica, it could be messy in the US and parishes aligned with the Pope come under attack by members of parishes not aligned with the Pope.
It won’t be state violence, though. No side is going to have the army backing them.