Grieving for Faithful Roman Catholics

I can be a bit hard on some Roman Catholics, particularly Libchurch Roman clerics and those who tolerate them.  But something I read this morning prompts me to get a bit personal and slightly less prickly.

I grieve for those Roman Catholics who are orthodox and faithful. If you are one of them, I hurt for you, brother/sister.  

What prompts me to say this is seeing this reminder of the awful appointment of Wilton Gregory as the Archbishop of Washington.

If I were a Roman Catholic, I would feel trapped, trapped by a horrible pope who is making the episcopate in his image and who is so stacking the College of Cardinals that it makes me wonder if there will ever again be a robustly orthodox pope.  Though I’m not Roman Catholic, I grieve for what is happening to such an important part of the church and for the genuinely faithful in it.

Which brings me to Roman Catholic ecclesiology.  Orthodox RCs see themselves as a True Church and other churches as less than that even if valued.  With that viewpoint, it makes leaving the Church of Rome hardly an option.

I disagree with that viewpoint, but I respect and understand it.  For at least the first millennium of the church, splitting off was considered an awful and damnable act and for good reason – can the body of Christ be split?  (But there is the question of what if a part of the body becomes cancerous or necrotic.  But that is a subject for another time.)

Having that ecclesiology, where are faithful Roman Catholics to go if their church becomes unfaithful? I would feel very much trapped.

So I want my faithful orthodox Roman Catholic friends who are resisting the predations of Pope Francis and allies to know my heart is with you.

And so are my prayers.  Regularly, everyday that I remember to do so, I pray for struggling, faithful catholics, especially Roman Catholics. 

I hope this post does not seem trite.  I don’t know what else to say.  But I am so upset over the plight of Roman Catholic faithful, I felt I should say something and let them know I am standing with them in prayer.