Yesterday the Deus Ex Machina went “inside baseball” so to speak. The post titled Numquam Ponenda est Pluralitas Sine Necessitate provided an overview of the framework by which information is selected and processed, the results of which are the posts published on this blog. Today, we will look at one example of the effectiveness of this methodology.
In the post titled the Hermeneutic of the “Paradigm of Discontinuity”, (see here) we observed the phenomenon of three separate occurrences which were independent of each other, yet appeared to be related. This phenomenon was described in the MondayVatican blog titled Pope Francis, beyond the paradigm of discontinuity, which was published on the 8th of December 2014.
The three independent yet related occurrences identified in the above mentioned MondayVatican post were:
A) the stoppage of the Curia reforms,
B) the stoppage was caused by the “agenda of the Manipulators” at the Synod of Bishops,
C) the timing of the stoppage was caused by “vote canvassing” allegations detailed in a book authored by Dr. Austen Ivereigh titled: The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope.
The observation of these three occurrences led to their analysis in the next post titled: Crisis? What Crisis!, (see here) published on the 15th of January 2015. In this post, we laid out the case that issue A) above, i.e. the stoppage of the Curia reforms was not a major concern for Francis per se.
This contrasted with what was written in the MondayVatican blog on the 15th of December 2014, titled Pope Francis beyond the crisis. Waiting to appoint new cardinals. (see here) In this post, the author at the MondayVatican writes as follows:
This crisis lies on two issues: the debate about the Synod of Bishops, and the discussion on Curia reform. In both cases, the discussion has become very lively. In both cases, the Pope is called to take a strong stance.
We labeled the above describe crisis as the “crisis that Francis was beyond” in honor of the MondayVatican post title.
The new piece of information (data point) that caught our eye was that the Stoppage of the Curia reform was elevated into the category of cause of the “crisis that Francis was beyond”. This data point caught our eye since the word “crisis” was not used by the MondayVatican blog anywhere in the preceding posts.
Next, we examined this MondayVatican post further and determined that the assumption that one of the true causes of the “crisis that Francis was beyond”, i.e. B) caused by the “agenda of the Manipulators” at the Synod of Bishops was reinforced through new information which appeared. This new information was the impact that the issuing of the Lineamenta for the Synod of Bishops of 2015 had on the Church hierarchy.
What we concluded was as follows: (emphasis added)
The conclusion that can be inferred from this information thus far is: Francis actions demonstrate that the Synod of Bishops’ agenda of the Manipulators is more important than any Curia reform process that has been undertaken thus far. Furthermore, Francis is willing to create a “crisis” in order to get the Synod of Bishops’ Manipulators agenda passed. This Synod of Bishops’ Manipulators agenda has very strong precedence over the Curia reform process, a process that was the primary reason for his election to the papacy and that he has instituted almost at the beginning of his pontificate.
So the above is the state of play on the 15th of January 2015.
Fast forward to the MondayVatican post on the 19th of January 2015, titled Pope Francis: Five Revealing Details. In this post, we read as follows: (emphasis added)
The contest over reforms is, however, still not over, and it will certainly not be completed before the end of 2015. Pope Francis – this is the fourth revealing detail from the Asian trip – does not seem too interested in the reforming process. He speaks about it, he takes part in meetings, but his priority is that the Church be in a state of permanent mission. “We need a missionary domain that brings salt and light to the world,” he writes in the Evangelii gaudium. And this is what you find in Pope Francis’ preaching, while Curia reform is not a hot topic even in his private discussions.
What we have in the above paragraph is confirmation that Francis doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about reform in general, let alone the Curia reform. Therefore, the Deus Ex Machina blog was correct when it wrote that the Curia reform is in no way a cause of the “crisis that Francis was beyond” identified in the MondayVatican blog post of the 15th of December 2014. On the 19 of January 2015, the MondayVatican blog confirmed that that which the Deus Ex Machina blog observed and wrote about on the 15th of January is in fact correct.
Concluding, the main take away from that which is written above is that we can take out our Ockham’s razor and unmercifully wield it. We have confirmation that the assumption that Curia reform is a cause of the “crisis that Francis is beyond” is false. Therefore, we have one less assumption.
Our assumptions to the hypothesis about the causes of the ongoing “crisis that Francis is beyond” can be restated as follows:
a) The Synod of Bishops’ agenda of the Manipulators is the TRUE AGENDA of Francis. For Francis, this TRUE AGENDA is more important than any reform process that has been undertaken thus far. Furthermore, Francis is willing to go to extreme lengths to force through this TRUE AGENDA, even willing to create a “crisis” in order to get the TRUE AGENDA passed.
1. Confirmation that the TRUE AGENDA of Francis is a cause of the “crisis that Francis is beyond” was provided by the additional information obtained after the release of the Lineamenta. The release of the Lineamenta reinforced this assumption since the text instructed the Synod Bishops to disregard the Catholic doctrine in the upcoming Synod. This instruction in turn created a revolt in the Church hierarchy which includes the cardinals and bishops that took part in the Secret Synod of 2015 and includes members of the Roman Curia.
b) According to the MondayVatican blog, the most important “instance” i.e. cause of the “crisis that Francis is beyond” is the allegations in the Dr. Austen Ivereigh book titled: The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope that a group of cardinals “secured Bergoglio’s assent”, which “raised of the validity of Bergoglio’s election, since ‘Universi Dominici Gregis’, the Constitution that regulates papal elections, forbids any ‘political’ agreement before a conclave.” In the opinion of the Deus Ex Machina blog, this assumption derived from the MondayVatican blog is true.
I will leave off here.
Still crazy?
Hope you are still holding that thought…