I must confess that I have often wasted my time following the program “Reason and Theology” of Michael Lofton, this big man with a little beard (who would do well to hide his tattoo when he speaks like a theologian), I have been driven by curiosity to hear the hilarious non sense he says. This time, however, I saw that he was criticizing me. With great seriousness, he is scandalized that I, who insist so much on the hermeneutics of continuity, now dare to criticize the “Fiducia supplicans” (26-06-2024).
This means that Mr. Lofton does not even know how to distinguish the different value of the pronouncements that come from Rome. If I remember well, Mr. Lofton has sometimes confessed that he is not a theologian, but it seems to me that he understands the differentiated authority of the Vatican documents less than anyone of my catechumens. I speak of the hermeneutics of continuity when speaking of the Ecumenical Councils, the highest degree of authority of the Magisterium.
The Declaration “Fiducia supplicans”, instead, is obviously the work of the Most Eminent Tucho, even if rubber-stamped by Pope Francis. I dare to say rubber-stamped because a few years ago, in response to the same question about the lawfulness of blessing homosexual couples, the Pope signed a Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and there the answer was “No”, while now the answer is “Yes”. I dare to say “rubber-stamped” also because, in the “Fiducia supplicans”, as well as already in the answer to our “Dubia” before the beginning of the Synod, I cannot smell the scent of Pope Francis. I smell instead the pen of the Most Eminent Tucho, who would have done better to pursue another career (in that other gender of literature, I mean).
It will be said that Mr. Lofton is defending the Pope, and nobody can blame him for that, but I am sure his nonsense will not help the Holy Father in any way.
I am wasting these minutes of time, not to defend myself from Mr. Lofton’s accusations, but to invite those who frequent his site to stop wasting their time and perhaps also their money.