Pope Francis Replaces Conservative Cardinal On Influential Committee

Pope Francis has moved against a conservative American cardinal who has been outspoken against abortion and same-sex marriage. The replacement hasn’t been as prominent in the culture wars.

The pope’s decision to remove Cardinal Raymond L. Burke from the Congregation for Bishops was taken by church experts to be a signal that Francis is willing to disrupt the Vatican establishment in order to be more inclusive.

Even so, many saw the move less as an effort to change doctrine on specific social issues than an attempt to bring a stylistic and pastoral consistency to the church’s leadership.

“He is saying that you don’t need to be a conservative to become a bishop,” said Alberto Melloni, the director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in Bologna, Italy, a liberal Catholic research institute. “He wants good bishops, regardless of how conservative or liberal they are.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.