CNA Deutsch, May 23, 2025 / 11:55 am (CNA).
In an interview with the Daily Compass portal on Thursday, Cardinal William Goh, the archbishop of Singapore, said he hopes for greater doctrinal clarity from Pope Leo XIV.
“If we are not clear about what the Church teaches, it is very difficult to work together in unity. Although both the so-called ‘left’ and ‘right’ of the Church are interested in promoting the mission of evangelization, there has been an internal division on certain issues such as marriage, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender rights. These issues have divided the Church because, at a certain point, it became unclear what is right.”
The cardinal said that as an Augustinian, Pope Leo has “a solid foundation in the tradition and spirituality of St. Augustine.”
“At the same time,” Goh, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022, said that Pope Leo “has worked in Peru and is familiar with situations of poverty and suffering. He also spent several years in Rome and is therefore familiar with the challenges facing the Curia. Having been prior general of his order, he has already demonstrated his leadership qualities. In his first public appearances, he was sober and cautious in what he said and did.”
He continued: “He seems to me to be a man who is aware that a pope’s statements are taken seriously, which is why he is cautious and prudent. This is to be welcomed because it means people won’t be confused. I believe he will be able to clarify doctrine and prevent the ‘left’ and the ‘right’ from fighting each other. He will not be ambiguous and will not leave the interpretation of his words open to individual interpretation.”
According to the website, Goh said about Pope Francis: “I believe that the least pleasant aspect of his pontificate was that his teachings appeared ambiguous in his attempt to reach everyone in terms of doctrine and morality.”
Goh also addressed the issue of the traditional liturgy.
“I personally believe there is no reason to discourage people who prefer the Tridentine Mass,” the cardinal said. “They are not doing anything wrong or sinful. Of course, the unity of the Church must be preserved, but we already have different rites, such as the Syro-Malabar rite. We can accept different forms of celebrating the Eucharist, so we should not suppress those who prefer the Tridentine rite.”
Ultimately, he said, “it is not the rite or the form of celebration that matters” but rather “whether one encounters God deeply.”
Goh said he does not celebrate in the traditional form, “but I’m not against those who celebrate it. In my country, there’s a small group of about 300 people, mostly young professionals. Sometimes I ask them, ‘Why do you prefer this celebration?’ They reply that they find it more thoughtful and contemplative and that it brings them closer to God. Why should I discourage them?”
He continued: “If they reject the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, that would of course be a completely different matter, and they should be disciplined. But they don’t, and therefore I don’t think we should discriminate against them. After all, this is the Mass that has been celebrated for hundreds of years, isn’t it?”
This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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We read: “The cardinal said that as an Augustinian, Pope Leo has ‘a solid foundation in the tradition and spirituality of St. Augustine’.” From St. Augustine–as with individuals and now with parts of the Church itself, the double life:
“…it is no monstrous thing partly to will a thing and partly not to will it, but a sickness of the mind [!]. Although it is supported by truth, it does not wholly rise up, since it is heavily encumbered by habit. Therefore there are two wills, since one of them is not complete, and what is lacking in one of them is present in the other” (Confessions, Bk. 8, Ch. 9:21).
Deeper than the misnomers of “left”and “right.”
The use of the terms “left” and “right”, while sometimes used as political terms cannot be used when the reference point is the fact that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage. To deny that The Blessed Trinity Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, is apostasy.
Christ’s Teaching on the Sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to the moment of death, and the Sanctity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and thus sexual morality, is not up for debate.
Perfect Divine Eternal Love does not divide, it multiplies, as in The Miracle Of The Loaves and Fishes.
We read: “The cardinal said that as an Augustinian, Pope Leo has ‘a solid foundation in the tradition and spirituality of St. Augustine’.”
From St. Augustine, about the double life and individuals and now parts of the Church as a whole, both:
“…it is no monstrous thing partly to will a thing and partly not to will it, but a sickness of the mind [!]. Although it is supported by truth, it does not wholly rise up, since it is heavily encumbered by habit. Therefore there are two wills, since one of them is not complete, and what is lacking in one of them is present in the other” (Confessions, Bk. 8, Ch. 9:21).
Deeper than the political misnomers of “left” or “right.”
Years ago, in 1995, we attended a Mass in London. It was in English but very bland. Like a grade school play. We then attended a Mass in Germany. It was in Latin or German and we could understand the clarity of the complete Mass. I had been raised in USA serving as an Alter Boy in the Latin Mass, so I understood it and enjoyed it. I think I would still prefer the Latin Mass.
My neighbor attended a friend’s Catholic funeral a few years ago, along with several of the deceased’s local friends. One of them, who was raised Catholic, turned to the my neighbor on the way out and remarked, “That is not the Catholic church that I grew up in.”
When you ‘water down the brand,’ you give people an excuse to jump ship, further evidence that the Eucharist is irrelevant to many.
Patrick, unfortunately with all the Bergoglian bishops now in office, the closest anyone can get to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass would be any Mass said by the Ordinariate Rite. It’s said “ad orientem”, prayed respectfully and prayerfully as if offering an unbloody re-presentation of Christ’s Holy Sacrifice on the Cross (which the Mass is).
DR;
You give the impression that it is virtually impossible to find a TLM.
I disagree – Google ‘Latin Mass’ and take it from there. It might be difficult to reach it but the sacrifice is well worth it. Here in Maine I have met people at the Latin Mass in Lewiston who make a round trip of up to 200 or more miles to reach the Mass and they don’t mind it at all – it can be done and, as I have already said – the sacrifice is well worth it.
My dear Diogenes, don’t broad-brush these bishops; many are very good men who were picked by our Pope Leo!
“These issues have divided the Church because, at a certain point, it became unclear what is right.” That point would be the moment one denies God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity , In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, ipso fact separating oneself from Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church and becoming a part of The Great Apostasy.
The Truth is the truth, it is neither left nor right. Let’s stick with the Truth.
I would like to hope for great things from this new Pontificate: crystal clarity in teaching doctrine; bold proclamation of the centrality of Christ, the Redeemer; settling doubts on “synodality”, the synod of bishops, and the fundamental role of the hierarchy established by Christ, etc.
But there remains a nagging doubt that Pope Leo will be sufficiently brave enough to resist the radical leftest juggernaut that has been in control of the Vatican, the Church and Church policy for the past dozen years.
Lord have mercy!
I think I get why Cardinal Goh was on some papabile lists.
One to watch, I’d say.
God, The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Complementary Divine Eternal Love, The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Truth Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love. Love, which is always rightly ordered to the inherent personal and relational Dignity of the persons existing in a relationship of Love, is devoid of every form of lust. Let no one deceive you, the end goal of the modernist, the atheist materialistic overpopulation alarmist globalist, is the objectification of the human person.
Pope Benedict XVI warned us :
“When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being. The defence of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.” – Pope Benedict’s Christmas Address 2012
There will not be clarity in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic , and Apostolic Church until the counterfeit church is charitably anathema by a True Vicar of Christ , and those Faithful Bishops who affirm The Unity Of The Holy Ghost , and thus the fact that “it is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion”, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost ; For It Is Through Christ, With Christ, And In Christ, Oh God Almighty Father, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque), The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Son, In The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love, That Is The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us.
20 But you have the unction from the Holy One, and know all things.
Read full chapter
“Behold your Mother.” – Christ On The Cross
https://catholicism.org/heavens-icon.html
A Bridge that denies The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, is a bridge to Apostasy.
Prayers that Pope Leo XIV, is a True Vicar of Christ, validly elected by the minority of Cardinals who remain in communion with The Body of Christ, and thus Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic , And Apostolic Church, who desire to Render onto God what belongs to God, and thus whose competence it is to elect a True Vicar of Christ, will restore the Papacy by a charitable anathema of the counterfeit church with its counterfeit magisterium, who are attempting to cause chaos and confusion , which is not of The Holy Ghost, by attempting to subsist within The Body of Christ while creating a god in their own image, a god who, by denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, denies The Divinity of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, And Holy Ghost.
“Penance, Penance, Penance.”
https://catholicism.org/heavens-icon.html
“If we are not clear about what the Church teaches, it is very difficult to work together in unity…. there has been an internal division on certain issues such as marriage, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender rights. These issues have divided the Church because, at a certain point, it became unclear what is right.”
I strongly disagree!
It has always been clear what is right in Catholic theology regarding “certain issues such as marriage, LGBTQ+ rights and transgender rights.” The problem is not that we don’t know what is right. The problem is that there are those in high places within the Church who do not want to accept what is right. They want to spread doubt and confusion in moral theology in order to gain acceptance for their sinful practices.