Pledge to pray for the souls of the deceased dubia Cardinals

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Pray for the souls of Cardinal Caffarra and Cardinal Meisner

Cardinal Carlo Caffarra passed away suddenly on September 6, 2017. He was one of the four Cardinals to co-author the dubia in response to the ambiguities found in Amoris Laetitia.

A defender of the faith until the very end, Cardinal Caffarra condemned the evils of abortion and homosexuality and just this year warned that “the final battle” between God and Satan is taking place today.

Caffarra’s death means that only two of the original four Cardinals who signed the dubia remain — Cardinal Walter Brandmüller and Cardinal Raymond Burke. Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the former Archbishop of Cologne, died in July. Pope Francis has yet to respond to the dubia.

The love of God that compelled these two princes of the Church to speak the truth “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) serves as an example to us all.

While the authorities in the Church use clever language in order to justify communion for adulterers, Cardinal Caffarra and Cardinal Meisner refused to go along. In a recent interview, Caffarra said “One cannot change the age-old discipline of the Church with a footnote, and in an uncertain tone.”

Their lives call to mind Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

Storm heaven for these courageous sons of the Church, who came to the aid of the Mystical Body of Christ in her most pressing time of need.

O God, Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of Thy servants departed full remission of all their offenses, that through the help of pious supplications they may obtain the pardon which they have always been desirous, Thou who livest and reignest forever world without end. Amen.

Carlo Caffarra was born in Italy in 1938 and was ordained a priest in 1961. While he was the Archbishop of Bologna, Italy, Caffarra was named a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

Joachim Meisner was born in Germany on Christmas Day in 1933. He was ordained a priest at the age of 28 in 1962 and was named Bishop of Berlin in 1980. John Paul II elevated him to the rank of Cardinal in 1983.