“William Cardinal Goh integrates Truth, Charity & Clarity" - An interview with Matthew Bunson, EWTN

Cardinal William Goh of Singapore. (Credit: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore.)

This interview popped up on my YouTube feed while I was preparing to go to work.

“Oh it’s Cardi Goh on EWTN”.

I was piqued. And I listened. And the Cardinal said these words that lifted a weight off my shoulders.

“I think in his [Pope Francis’] desire to reach out to all, there is ambiguity in some of his teachings… those who try to be faithful to the gospel themselves are confused even bishops are confused including cardinals…” - Cardinal Goh

I had previously done a podcast with Totus Tuus Apostolate entitled “Pope Francis confessions of an ex-skeptic.” In that podcast, I shared my renewed appreciation of Pope Francis because of his Singapore visit. Nevertheless, I also candidly shared that I continued to be troubled by some of his remarks and openly said that those who are likewise troubled should be listened too.

I felt the need to do so because as a lay theologian, I thought that I had to give voice to many Catholics who felt the same way.

These Catholics shared how they were confused and even hurt by some of the remarks by Pope Francis.

Instead of trying to understand, they are often called ‘disobedient’.

What makes it worse is that the label was used not simply because they had a specific disagreement with the Pope.

Rather, the word ‘disobedient’ was used because these Catholics expressed confusion.

“You are not confused”, they are told. “Rather you know very clearly what the Pope taught. But you choose to say that you are confused. In reality, you disagree with the Pope. But you chose the word “confusion” as a smokescreen to hide your dissent. Simply put, you are disobedient.”

In the Singapore context, the late Pope Francis said “all religions are paths to God” on 13 September 2024, in his meeting at Catholic Junior College.

Cardinal Goh meets Pope Francis shortly after the 2022 Consistory in the Vatican, Rome.

It led to a, by then, familiar ritual of an ‘explosion of controversy’ discussing what the Pope really meant in the Catholic media space.

On 18 September 2024, a Singaporean Catholic priest attempted to discuss what the Pope meant and offered an interpretation of John 14:6 in which Jesus declared that “I am the way the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except  through me.”

No one, wrote the clergy man, meant “none of the disciples in his believing community.” He is not saying anything about how those outside of Christianity can know God.

However, in an uncannily timed homily on the 20th September, the Cardinal taught that “Jesus is the way the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through me.” The Cardinal went on to elaborate that Jesus did not die for a group of Christians. Jesus died for all.

Was this a rebuke of the Catholic priest’s interpretation? It seems so. But we can only speculate as the Cardinal named no names.

Am I being disobedient when I say that I am confused?

We now know what the Cardinal thinks with his EWTN interview (watch here).

“…in Asia we are people who have strong faith in the Lord. We want to walk the way of the Gospel. We don't want to compromise our faith. In fact, we give up the old faith in order to exchange for the true faith and now you're telling us you can also go back and adopt some of the things of the old faith? It's confusing for our people.” - Cardinal Goh

No. It was not disobedience.

It was simply a Catholic desire for the stability of the Gospel in a world with multiple options.

And we are now free to say it.