If I Were Created a Cardinal

If I Were Created a Cardinal

From The Catholic Thing by The Catholic Thing

May 7, 2026 · 6 min · Episode 58

About this episode

Michael Pakaluk discusses how he would advise the Holy Father on correcting the Catechism's treatment of the death penalty.

By Michael Pakaluk If I were created a Cardinal and dispensed from the canonical requirement to be ordained a deacon or priest – my vocation is as a layperson – this is how I would counsel the Holy Father on the first anniversary of his pontificate. "Holy Father, the first thing you must do is correct Francis, because only the pope may aptly correct a pope. There is no need to judge his motives. But he often caused confusion and distress, and his attempts to unify often seemed rather to divide. "In at least one matter, you must correct him clearly, deliberately, and self-consciously. I advise that you change the Catechism's treatment of the death penalty back to where it was before. Francis's insertion of 'inadmissible' was autocratic and unhelpful. He purported, with this change, to correct his immediate predecessors, Benedict and John Paul II, who were fully satisfied with the text as it stood. Do you, then, in union with these other Pontiffs, correct Francis, and restore the Catechism to its state of unalloyed truth. "With this one change you signal, then, that you are aware of the problem, and you give the faithful confidence that, going forward, you will deal with like…

People in this episode

Guest: Michael Pakaluk

Topics covered

  • Catholic Church
  • Papal authority
  • Death penalty
  • Catechism
  • Vatican commentary

Keywords

  • Cardinal
  • Pope
  • Francis
  • death penalty
  • Catechism
  • correction
  • Catholic doctrine

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Catechism, Newman

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