Francis Cancels Another Conservative.

This past Wednesday Pope Francis made a seemingly peculiar move, as reported by Crux.

ROME –  On Wednesday, the Vatican announced with no explanation that Pope Francis “had relieved” Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres “from the pastoral care” of the Diocese of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. The bishop is only 57; bishops are required to submit their resignation at 75.

Whatever for, your Tatler wonders. 57 is a young for a bishop. His grace had been asked to resign, but refused, so one would think he had committed serious wrongs. However, according to the Vatican, there were no “no formal charges against him,” so we must assume there were other reasons for Bishop Torres getting the ax and, as it turns out, there certainly were.

Bishop Torres was opposed to mandatory Covid vaccinations, in opposition to the Pope, who has called getting vaccinated an “act of love” and has mandated it for all Vatican employees (which brings up a theological question: is it possible to mandate an “act of love?” Shouldn’t it be by free will?). Another cause of offense, the bishop “freely signed religious exemptions for people who didn’t want to be vaccinated.”

More offenses:

[H]e was the only prelate not signing several statements made by the bishops’ conference, including a national ban on the Tridentine Mass following Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis custodes, that limits the use of the traditional Latin liturgy. The bishop also voiced his apposition to a bill that would have banned “conversion therapy” for homosexuals.The bishop also voiced his apposition to a bill that would have banned “conversion therapy” for homosexuals.

On the last offense, Bishop Torres might have been wiser steering clear of that hornets nest, simply letting himself be guided on the matter by the Catechism (CCC 2358).

There are seven bishops in Puerto Rico and as it turns out, Bishop Torres was the odd man out on the matters above and no doubt many other of that ilk. The other bishops simply wanted him out and the Pope was only too happy to comply. We see here though why there were no charges against the bishop. None of his offenses were matters theological, canonical, violations of teachings or moral. Every one of the six bishops’ complaints about Bishop Torres were topical and political matters, which they had no right crying to the Pope about. Even worse, the Pope not only agreed with them, but gave the Bishop Torres the heave-ho.

Thus is the sad state of the papacy in the Holy Catholic Church these days. Christ’s Vicar on Earth is a mediocrity, having little interest in magisterium or theology. Like a cue ball, he rebounds from one left-wing cause to another, while utterly ignoring the doings of heretics and innovators tearing the Church apart. St Athanasius, pray for us.