'Catholic Church, quo vadis?' -
A Roman conference by and for Catholics
concerned that the Church not lose her way
through a disoriented pontificate
March 20, 2018
It is confirmed. Next April 7, the Saturday of Easter Week, a very special conference will be held in Rome. The intention of which will be to show the Catholic Church the way to go, after the uncertain journey of the first five years of the pontificate of Pope Francis.
The reckoning of this five-year period, in fact, is rather critical, to judge from the title of the conference: “Catholic Church, where are you going?”
And even more so if one looks at the subtitle:
“Only a blind man can deny that in the Church there is great confusion.” This is taken from a statement of Cardinal Carlo Caffarra (1938-2017), not forgotten as an endorser, together with other cardinals, of those DUBIA submitted in 2016 to Pope Francis for the purpose of bringing clarity on the most controversial points of his magisterium, but which he has left without a response.
In a Church seen as being set adrift, the key question that the conference will confront will be precisely that of
redefining the leadership roles of the “people of God,” the characteristics and limitations of the authority of the pope and the bishops, AND the forms of consultation of the faithful in matters of doctrine.
These are questions that were thoroughly explored, in his time, by a great cardinal who is often cited both by progressives and by conservatives in support of their respective theses, Blessed John Henry Newman.
And there will be other cardinals and bishops who will once again confront these questions, at the conference on April 7. Their names have not been released yet, but they are expected to include the signers of the “dubia,” and others who share their outlook.
In any case, there has already been confirmation of the contributions - with “ad hoc” video messages - of two very representative cardinals: the Chinese Joseph Zen Zekiun, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, and the Nigerian Francis Arinze, former archbishop of Onitsha and then prefect of the congregation for divine worship, the same one that is headed today by Cardinal Robert Sarah.
There will also be a posthumous projection of a video interview with Cardinal Caffarra, on the controversial encyclical of Paul VI “Humanae Vitae.”
But there will also be presentations by lay scholars. Professor Valerio Gigliotti, a professor of history and of medieval and modern law at the university of Turin, will bring into focus the exercise of the
plenitudo potestatis (full powers) of the pope in the history of the Church.
Professor Renzo Puccetti, a physician and professor of bioethics at the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute, will analyze the evolution of the bioethics taught at that institute, from its first phase with Caffarra as president to its current phase, under Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.
The final and culminating moment of the conference will be, in any case, the reading of a
declaratio, a concise profession of faith on the points of doctrine and morality that are most controversial today.
Unlike the DUBIA, the declaration will not bear any specific signature, but the participants at the conference will propose it for the whole Church and for the world, as the voice of “baptized and confirmed members of the People of God.”
Of course, this
declaratio will be the polar opposite of that “Kölner Erklärung” - the declaration signed in Cologne in 1989 by German theologians now in the good graces of Francis - which concerned the principles later reaffirmed by John Paul II in the encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” of 1993, and which “attacked in a virulent manner the magisterial authority of the pope especially on questions of moral theology,” as Benedict XVI wrote in the letter to Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò that caused such an uproar last week.
The conference, with no admission fee, will be held on Saturday, April 7 beginning at three in the afternoon, at the conference center “The Church Village” at 94 Via di Torre Rossa, a couple of miles to the west of the basilica of Saint Peter.
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The ff item reminds me of a consolatory anecdote from a priest on the subject of my overwhelming objections to this pope. He told me about a Canadian nun who has been beatified, who often said that it is not a sin to wish for someone's death if the intention was for that someone to be saved from hell and go to heaven instead, that to wish someone a happy death was not a sin at all. Not that he was counseling me to wish for the pope's death, far from it, nor that I myself have been wishing for Bergoglio's death, because, as he enjoined and as I have been doing anyway, I continue to pray for the pope in my daily prayers and at the Te igitur at Mass, but also that in whatever way God wills, the Church should not continue to have a 'leader' who is misleading the People of God as Bergoglio is doing.
Polish priest on Francis:
‘I pray for his swift departure’ to heaven
if he rejects God’s wisdom
by Dorothy Cummings McLean
KRAKOW, Poland, March 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – A leading priest in Poland is making headlines after saying from the pulpit that he prays Pope Francis will die if he doesn’t do the will of the Holy Spirit.
Father Edward Staniek, 77, is a patristics scholar and rector of the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Kraków from 1993 until 2001. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1965 by Karol Wojtyła, now known as Pope Saint John Paul II, and has authored over 40 theological or catechetical books.
In his now-famous homily, given in Kraków on February 25, Father Staniek said that he prays for Pope Francis to receive wisdom, and insisted that the pope’s authority derives solely from obedience to Jesus Christ.
“I pray for wisdom for the pope, for his heart to open to the influence of the Holy Spirit, and if he doesn’t do [His will], I pray for his swift departure to the house of the Father,” he said. “We can always ask God for a happy death for him because a happy death is a great grace.”
According to
Polonia Christiana, a central theme of Staniek’s sermon was that authority in the Church and mere leadership in the Church are two different things.
“Who is the biggest authority for me? Is it Jesus?” asked the priest. He explained that authority is respect for someone reliable, someone who deserves trust for some reason, like being a specialist in a given field. However, authority is deserved only by those who are responsible.
“Respect for such an [authoritative] person results in his opinion being important. The foundation of authority is a person’s responsibility,” the theologian said.
“My God is [Himself] responsibility,” Staniek continued, “and He makes me in His image and likeness. He is Authority. And [as a priest] I have to be an authority who am myself 100% responsible for my words, thoughts and actions.”
Father Staniek warned against automatic assumptions that professional churchmen are authorities. He included the pope, the cardinals, bishops, and parish priests among those who might be powerful but not authoritative. Being able to give orders doesn’t mean that someone has true authority, Staniek explained. Meanwhile, the one-and-only authority in the church is Jesus.
“You cannot be given [real] authority,” the priest said, “you can [only] grow up into it. The only authority in the Church is Jesus.
Not the pope, not the hierarchy… It’s Jesus. And the Church lives on the basis of His authority. Whoever in the Church … acts like Jesus, then this person is radiating with His authority. A high position gives power but not authority.”
The priest then gave his opinion that Pope Francis departs from Jesus by making two erroneous interpretations of Christ’s mercy. According to Staniek, Francis is wrong both 1) to order churches and dioceses to invite Muslims in and 2) to encourage people in mortal sin to receive Holy Communion.
“In the name of mercy [Francis] calls for parishes and dioceses to open the doors to Islam,” he said. “[This is] a religion that is hostile towards the Gospel and the Church. In religious wars they have killed millions.”
Alluding to the victory of the Polish king Jan Sobieski III over the Ottoman Empire, Staniek said that the Poles understood Islam better than others.
“We, the Poles … understand better than others that there is no option of having a normal dialogue with them. We can show mercy to Muslims who are starving to death. The doors of dioceses and parishes we open only for those who believe in Jesus Christ,” he said.
“
The second instance of wrongly interpreting mercy is opening the doors to Holy Mass, the Holy Sacrament, for people who choose sin as their world. They can receive the Eucharist on the condition that they convert and atone for their sin. He who knows the holiness of communion prefers to kneel before the [Blessed Sacrament] and beat his breast [and say] ‘have mercy upon me a sinner’ than stretch out his hands or tongue for the Holy Bread.”
The priest said that true mercy is urging serious sinners to repentance, not admitting them to Holy Communion. “For the unholy, it is as deadly a food as it is a sacrilege,” Staniek said. “Allowing [hardened sinners] in Church to take part in the sacred is a profanation of the sacraments.”
“What is the pope’s motive? I don’t know,” he continued. “What is the point of his [controversial] statements? I don’t know this either. I know how these speeches are used by the media, who aim at destroying Jesus Christ and His Church.”
Then Staniek dropped the bombshell now being belatedly heard around the world.
“I pray for wisdom for the pope, for his heart to open to the influence of the Holy Spirit, and if he doesn’t do [His will], I pray for his swift departure to the house of the Father,” he said. “We can always ask God for a happy death for him because a happy death is a great grace.”
Alluding to the Gospel of the day, which told of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Staniek suggested that it is by no means certain that Pope Francis, though powerful, partakes in Christ’s authority.
“If the pope doesn’t listen to Jesus on Mount Tabor, he doesn’t take part in His authority. The Church of Christ is not built on power. It’s built on authority. Whosoever values power over authority is a foreign body in Christ’s Church. Let’s listen to Jesus as his Father told us to do on Mount Tabor.”
Father Staniek’s homily, entitled “Authority and not Power”, was initially published on the website of Catholic magazine
Ktoś Jak Bóg?(Who is Like God?). It has been removed.
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow, Marek Jędraszewski, has released a short statement saying that he felt “pain and regret” upon receiving news of Staniek’s homily and had spoken to him about it.
“I assure you that the whole Church in Krakow daily prays ardently for the intentions of the Holy Father, Francis, asking the Lord God to give him the grace he needs to fulfill the Office of Peter in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church,” the archbishop said on March 17.
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Meanwhile, there's Andrea Gagliarducci who continues to rationalize everything this pope says or does - with a few but's here and there - but in the end saying, in effect, that 'faith in Christ' is the only continuity that matters. As if Bergoglio's 'faith' were not so strangled and compromised by his insistence on preaching his own 'gospel' and setting up his own church as an improvement on Jesus and the Church he founded - which is hardly 'faith in Christ', and as hubristic and sacrilegious as any so-called Christian could be.
http://www.mondayvatican.com/vatican/pope-francis-five-years-later
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VERITATIS SPLENDOR continues
to haunt this Pontificate which
has chosen to ignore it completely
by Thomas L. Mulcahy, M.A., J.D.
CATHOLIC STRENGTH
“The encyclical on moral problems ‘Veritatis Splendor’ took many years to ripen and remains of unchanged relevance.”
- Pope Benedict XVI
The Vatican recently released a letter written by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI which was proferred as proof that the Pope Emeritus was content with the Francis Papacy. The letter didn’t even mention
Veritatis Splendor, the encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, which numerous theologians have cited in support of moral theology errors in Pope Francis’s very controversial Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
Just today I see that a prominent theologian has written an open letter to the Bishops of the world drawing attention to serious errors in Amoris Laetitia in consideration of
Veritatis Splendor.
An Open Appeal to the Catholic Bishops of the World
BUT WAIT A MINUTE!! It turns out that Pope Benedict did in fact make mention of
Veritatis Splendor in his letter, but someone at the Vatican chose to cut that portion of the letter out of the official version initially released to the public. Here is the portion of the letter of Pope Benedict which was initially omitted:
“Only as an aside I would like to note my surprise for the fact that, figuring among the authors is also Professor Hunermann, who during my pontificate came to light for having headed anti-papal initiatives. He took part significantly in the release of the “Kolner Erklarung,” which, in relation to the encyclical “Veritatis splendor,” attacked virulently the magisterial authority of the Pope, especially on questions of Moral Theology. Also the “Europaische Theologengesellschaft,” which he founded, was thought by him initially as an organization in opposition to the papal magisterium. Then the ecclesial thinking of many theologians blocked this orientation, rendering that organization a regular meeting instrument among theologians.”
In light thereof – that is, in light of the full letter, one can see that Pope Benedict XVI vigorously defends the magisterial authority of
Veritatis Splendor in his recent letter to the Vatican (the very thing the Vatican was hoping he would not do!). In fact, in the letter the Pope Emeritus singles out in a very unfavorable manner a theologian who attacked Veritatis Splendor, and Benedict seems to be chastising the Vatican for having sent him a small book by the theologian, a book apparently favorable to the Francis Papacy (Professor Hunermann).
Veritatis Splendor has been a thorn in the Vatican’s side ever since the beginning of the Pope Francis Papacy. As Father Raymond J. De Souza points out:
“The drafters of Amoris Laetitia knew that the teaching of Veritatis Splendor posed a serious challenge. That is why, astonishingly for one of the longest papal documents in history, including some 400 footnotes, there is not a single reference to Veritatis Splendor. It is the equivalent of writing an apostolic exhortation on Catholic social doctrine and never referring to Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, or on biblical studies and never referring to Divino Afflante Spiritu by Venerable Pius XII.” (From Father Raymond J. De Souza’s article, “When the Splendor of Truth is Hidden”)
[Which, of course, is entirely consistent with Bergoglianism's denial that there can be 'absolute Truth' at all, only 'relative truth' - and which is why Bergoglio unhesitatingly chooses to 'edit' as he pleases the teachings and words of Jesus, who is TRUTH himself!]
Veritatis Splendor is like the tell-tale heart in Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short story. Although hidden away,
Veritatis Splendor continues to beat louder and louder each day. It is a scary and odious noise to those in the Vatican, and it won’t go away, no matter how much they try to conceal it. The Splendor of Truth cannot be silenced.
[Or dimmed in any way, much less denied, because to do so is to reject Christ himself. It is difficult for me to understand how those intent on fostering their own 'religion' while calling it and themselves Christian can ignore that Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life".]
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And here's that open appeal to the bishops of the world, appropriately published on the Feast of St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church (his most relevant title in this case). Not that one has high hopes of a response at all, in the Bergoglian universe where 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' is, for the episcopate and the clergy, the better part of valor...
An Open Appeal to the Catholic Bishops of the World
Only fraternal episcopal interventions can now hope to avert
what is sure otherwise to be a spiritual catastrophe for the Catholic Church.
by E. Christian Brugger
March 19, 2018
After serving five years as a Catholic campus minister in the 1980s, I decided to begin graduate studies in moral theology. This was in
the heyday of proportionalism when its founding fathers still held some of the world’s most influential chairs of Catholic moral theology: Richard McCormick at the University of Notre Dame, Josef Fuchs at the Gregorian University in Rome, Louis Janssens at the University of Louvain, and Bernard Häring (emeritus) at the Alphonsianum in Rome.
In
Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II had sternly warned the Catholic Church against their moral theories.
The saintly pope’s overarching concern was that by appealing to complex circumstances, the activity of conscience and the notion that the moral law is merely an ideal, they end by justifying forms of behavior that have long been held to be contrary to the divine and natural laws (VS 56, 76, 103).
Then 25 years later comes what is now being called a “new paradigm” drawn from Amoris Laetitia.
It proposes that on the basis of complex circumstances, the activity of conscience and the notion that the moral law is merely an ideal, some Catholics are not required to submit obediently to the objective and concrete demands of the divine and natural laws.
After extensively studying this new form of moral reasoning, and discussing it with philosophers, theologians, canonists, bishops and cardinals, I am concerned that
this “new paradigm” is contrary to Catholic faith and morals; that its teaching is harmful to souls; and that its further dissemination will greatly undermine Catholic morality.
Therefore, knowing that each member of the faithful must do what he can to preserve and promote the Christian deposit of faith
(CIC 212), and believing in conscience that Jesus wants me to take this step, I address this appeal to the Catholic bishops of the world — humbly, directly, truly and resolutely — believing that
only the bishops can now prevent more and greater harms to the body of Christ and to her apostolic mission, which the “new paradigm” will surely cause if we continue on the present course.
I entrust this appeal and the response of the world’s bishops to the intercession of our humble father, St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church.
Dear Archbishops, Bishops and Brothers in Christ,
Some influential voices in the Church are using a “new paradigm” to justify forms of behavior long recognized as contrary to the precepts of the Divine and Natural Laws. As I recently wrote:
“The ‘new paradigm’ — although never explicitly saying it — allows priests and bishops simultaneously to affirm that they accept the Church’s moral teaching and yet to liberate ‘individual consciences’ that are not living by that teaching to continue not living by it, while approaching the Table of the Lord.”
We see this in places where Catholics living in objectively sinful unions are being freed to return to Holy Communion without a sincere resolution to amend their behavior. The “new paradigm” effectively makes permissible actions rejected by Christ and St. Paul in the New Testament and by the Church for 20 centuries. In Germany, Argentina, Malta, and elsewhere we now have “Catholic divorce and remarriage” and “Catholic adultery.”
Unless you intervene to prevent the “new paradigm” from being brought to bear upon the wider body of Catholic moral teaching, its logic will surely be applied to contraceptive acts (despite the Church’s ancient teaching reaffirmed in Gaudium et Spes and Humanae Vitae), to homosexual behavior (despite the teaching reaffirmed in Persona Humana and the Catechism of the Catholic Church), and to other traditionally rejected behaviors.
And defenders of the “new paradigm” will say: “All we’re doing is applying Church teaching with greater pastoral sensitivity by paying heightened attention to the complexity of concrete ‘circumstances’ and by according greater respect to the dignity of ‘conscience’; the settled moral doctrines themselves are not in question.”
The interventions of laypeople and faithful priests are important, but are unlikely to influence the decisions of the Pope. Only fraternal episcopal interventions can now hope to avert what is sure otherwise to be a spiritual catastrophe for the Catholic Church. For if the “new paradigm” is officially applied to contraceptive acts, all the norms of Catholic sexual morality will fall like dominos. Great evil will occur. And many souls will be lost. God, of course, will bring good out of it. But not without immeasurable loss.
Therefore, to all Catholic bishops — East and West — who believe that the “new paradigm” is and will continue to be used to justify forms of behavior traditionally judged contrary to the divine and natural laws, I respectfully ask that you consider taking action in the following four ways:
1. To privately write to the apostolic nuncio of your country and ask him respectfully to make known to the Holy Father your concerns about the “new paradigm” and especially to urge him to refrain from applying it to the teaching of Humanae Vitae.
2. To privately write to Pope Francis himself fraternally expressing these same concerns and respectfully asking him to teach unambiguously the moral truths of the Catholic faith, especially on matters pertaining to the Fifth and Sixth Precepts of the Decalogue, and to correct the pastoral errors to which some of his teachings have given rise.
3. To officially promulgate for your diocese a set of norms pastorally addressing the sensitive issues raised in Amoris Laetitia (especially Chapter 8), norms consistent with the teachings of John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Catholic moral and pastoral tradition.
4. To privately liaise with like-minded bishops and consider constructive ways to use your magisterium to carry out the episcopal duties affirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “It is this Magisterium’s task to preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates” (890).
When you address the “new paradigm” in your correspondences, you might consider a form similar to what John Paul II used when addressing Proportionalism in Veritatis Splendor:“Such theories [in this case ‘paradigms’] are not faithful to the Church’s teaching, when they believe they can justify, as morally good, deliberate choices of kinds of behavior contrary to the commandments of the divine and natural law. These [paradigms] cannot claim to be grounded in the Catholic moral tradition” (76).
It would be easy to say: “I’ve done all I can. It is all in God’s hands. We must be content to leave it there.” Please see that you are Jesus’s hands for addressing this very grave situation.
I am willing to assist you in any way I can — with summaries of concerns, talking points, diocesan guidelines, etc. Please do not hesitate to contact me.
Very respectfully yours in Jesus,
E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.
Moral Theologian
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
USA
ecb.assistance@gmail.com
'Not so fast!', says the damned soul
to Hell's gatekeeper. 'Amoris laetitia says...'
March 20, 2018
...At the Messa in Latino website, a wag has posted a bit of Dantesque parody about an adulterous soul in Hell.
A soul has descended to the Inferno and goes before long-tailed Minos, who is the “sorting hat” of Hell. Minos discerns the sins of the soul and then wraps his tail about himself as many times as the number of the circle to which the soul must be consigned for eternity. There’s an image of Minos in Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment.
For you
conoscitori del Poeta [connoisseurs of Dante], you will find this to be a serious stitch. I don’t have time this morning to translate it for you.
The essence is that just as Minos is about to assign the adulterous soul to its circle in Hell, the soul quotes Amoris laetitia and, channeling his inner Francis, calls Minos a “pharisee”. “
Each case has to be judged individually and in my case I’m not guilty… Who are you to judge? So, see’ya later, alligator!”...
[I will attempt to translate the take-off on Dante later]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/03/2018 03:06]