Anti-Reform Cardinals Push for Pope to Resign; State His Reforms Are Violating Catholic Dogma

A group of about a dozen cardinals who supported the election of Pope Francis are now worried about his reforms and are planning to appeal to him to step down, the Catholic News website reports today (March 2, 2017).


"A large part of the cardinals who voted for him is very worried and the curia... that organized his election and has accompanied him thus far, without ever disassociating itself from him, is cultivating the idea of a moral suasion to convince him to retire," Antonio Socci, a Vatican watcher,  wrote in the Italian newspaper "Libero."


Several Catholic cardinals believe that Pope Francis, 80, has gone "too far" in implementing reforms to the Catholic Church that violate traditional Catholic dogma. Therefore, it is imperative that he resign.


A major example of this accusation is Pope Francis' decision to allow remarried divorced Catholics to receive Holy Communion. Five cardinals -- including American Cardinal Raymond Burke -- have openly criticized Pope Francis for taking this stand, claiming it clearly violates Catholic dogma.