By KATE JOHNSON<\/p>\n
On April 7, a Catholic group, the \u201cFriends of Cardinal Carlo Caffarra,\u201d will be holding a conference in Rome in order to address the concerns they have about the direction the Catholic Church is heading under Pope Francis.<\/p>\n
The group is named after recently deceased Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, who opposed the new ideas expressed by the Catholic Church and the way it was being led under Pope Francis.\u00a0 The conference in April is called \u201cThe Catholic Church: Where Are You Heading?\u201d<\/p>\n
The focus of the conference is to address the confusion in the Catholic Church.\u00a0 \u201cIts subtitle, \u2018Only a blind man can deny that there is great confusion in the Church,\u2019 is taken from comments Cardinal Caffarra made in an interview with the Italian newspaper II Foglio<\/em> in January 2017,\u201d wrote the National Catholic Register.<\/p>\n A main issue that the organizers of the conference are hoping to find clarity around is interpretation of Pope Francis\u2019 exhortation Amoris Laetitia<\/em>, or \u201cJoy of love.\u201d\u00a0 The Pope broke down barriers and relaxed many of the previous principles for divorced and remarried couples within the Catholic Church in the exhortation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important that the divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the Church,\u201d wrote Pope Francis in the exhortation. \u201cThe Christian community\u2019s care of such persons is not to be considered a weakening of its faith and testimony to the indissolubility of marriage; rather, such care is a particular expression of its charity.\u201d<\/p>\n The story has been covered among an array of Christian publications, some specifically Catholic and other\u2019s nondenominational.\u00a0 The overall tone and language of the coverage of the upcoming conference varies greatly depending on if the news outlet is Catholic or nondenominational.<\/p>\n The Christian Post<\/em> gave a very factual account of the conference and the issues it is aiming to address without inserting any opinion or biased language.<\/p>\n The first line of the article on the Christian Post<\/em> reads, \u201cA group of Catholics are planning to hold a conference in Rome next month in response to concerns they have about the direction of the Church under Pope Francis.\u201d<\/p>\n The article on the Christian Post<\/em> then follows with a series of quotes from Pope Francis\u2019 exhortation and Cardinal Caffarra\u2019s letter to Francis in response to the exhortation.\u00a0 Their article concludes, with results from a research study interviewing members of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Roman conference is coming not long after Pew Research Center released a poll finding that, five years since Francis became pope, a growing number of American Catholics have concluded that he is, among other things, \u2018too liberal\u2019 and \u2018na\u00efve,\u2019\u201d wrote Michael Gryboski for the Christian Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n The National Catholic Register\u2019s coverage of the story seemed biased against Pope Francis and focused mainly on why Catholics are disillusioned by the current pope.<\/p>\n The first line of the article on the National Catholic Register reads, \u201cLay faithful as well as members of the hierarchy, clergy and religious are being invited to participate in a Rome conference aimed at helping the Church find its way after the uncertainties of the past five years of Pope Francis\u2019 pontificate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe conference was one of Cardinal Caffarra\u2019s last wishes after he had become deeply disillusioned by the crisis of confusion, most notably regarding the issue of giving the Eucharist to Catholics engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, such as remarried Catholic divorcees and cohabitating couples,\u201d wrote Edward Pentin for the National Catholic Registrar.<\/p>\n LifeSiteNews is a Christian news outlet that offers a \u201cStandard Edition\u201d and a \u201cCatholic Edition.\u201d The story of the conference was covered in the Catholic Edition and contains much biased language against Pope Francis.<\/p>\n The first line of the article on LifeSiteNews reads, \u201cIt\u2019s confirmed.\u00a0 On April 7, 2018 \u2013 the Saturday after Easter \u2013 a very special conference will be held in Rome whose aim is to indicate the path forward for the Catholic Church after the uncertain journey of the first five years of Pope Francis\u2019 pontificate.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike all nondenominational coverage of the story, the LifeSiteNews article covers and explains ways in which some Catholics are seeking to reduce and limit papal authority after the exhortations of Pope Francis.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a Church seemingly in disarray, the key issue the conference will seek to address is the redefinition of leadership roles for the \u2018people of God,\u2019 the character and limits of papal authority, and forms of consulting the faithful on matters of doctrine,\u201d according to LifeSiteNews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By KATE JOHNSON On April 7, a Catholic group, the \u201cFriends of Cardinal Carlo Caffarra,\u201d will be holding a conference in Rome in order to address the concerns they have about the direction the Catholic Church is heading under Pope … Continue reading