San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy said he agreed with the decision by Spanish Bishop Fernando Prado of San Sebastian to ban any content generated by EWTN, the conservative Catholic media conglomerate, from diocesan media publications.
“I would not have EWTN on diocesan media either,” McElroy told the Spanish magazine Vida Nueva in an interview.
“EWTN worries me because it represents a giant of economic and cultural power connected to a religious viewpoint that is fundamentally critical of the Pope,” he said.
Explaining why opposition to Pope Francis is so acute in certain US circles, McElroy said: “Francis’ attention is centred on the life of the believer in its complexity and on how the Gospel and the tradition of the Church can apply in an effective and compassionate way to the lives of those who struggle ardently to draw close to God and follow his path in the midst of so many challenges.”
The Pope’s pastoral sensibility “doesn’t have the clarity and security that many have come to trust in their understanding of the faith”.
EWTN, which owns both the Catholic News Agency and the National Catholic Register, is seen as the principal forum for opposition to the Pope.
“The main anchors of the channel constantly minimise the abilities and theological knowledge of Francis, cite Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s slander of the pope and try to move the world away from the reforms the Pope is signalling,” McElroy said.
McElroy, who was named a cardinal last year, was also asked about conservative reactions to his calls for a more inclusive Church, specifically relaxing the teaching that all sexual sins are necessarily mortal sins and, therefore, impediments to receiving the Eucharist.
One prelate, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, suggested McElroy was a “heretic” because of his views.
“This language endangers the Church even more, in breaking down the dialogue that we should maintain these days about the fundamental questions that we are confronting,” McElroy said.
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