There had been quite a lot of plotting….much internet chatter…preparation, one suspects, of joint letters of indignation with hints of necessary schism…emails and phone calls and texts and worry… slightly gleeful anticipation of exciting times with stand-offs and so on.
And in the end the Pope affirmed orthodox Catholic teaching and the noises wafted away and became silent. So it was all a bit disappointing, perhaps, for some. Some wistful hopes among Lefebvrists who had half-believed in renewed zeal for schismatic opportunities? All gone.
Worth reading Pope Francis’ Exhortation Querida Amazonia. And this commentary is useful. But there will be plenty of people who are unhappy, both among those who think the Church can have priestesses, and those whose dislike of the Pope is so deep-rooted that it will be annoying to discover that they can’t justify it with his latest action.