June 21, 2017 headlines
Canon212.com
PewSitter
Not that we didn't already expect this - even assume it - because heck! can you imagine 'humble' hubristic Bergoglio giving any cardinal
the slightest opening to dispute AL to his face? One might have thought that the man who is supposed to be 'the servant of the
servants of God' ought to be able to take the parrhesia of dissent in good grace and welcome the occasion to eat humble pie - even if he
just let the dissenting cardinals speak out in consistory and not deign to answer them at all on the floor, either (never mind if he
thus openly display his boorishness)... Mr Pentin charitably allows the pope some wiggle room to do something right for a change.
Pope to skip pre-consistory meeting with cardinals?
June 21, 2017
For the second time in a row, it appears Pope Francis won't be convening a meeting of cardinals ahead of next Wednesday’s consistory for the creation of five new red hats.
In a statement released today, the Vatican only gave details of the consistory for the creation of new cardinals, a courtesy visit, and Mass on the Solemnity of the Saints Apostles Peter and Paul the following day, during which he will impose the Pallia on new bishops.
The traditional pre-consistory meeting is an opportunity for the Pope to consult with members of the College of Cardinals, most of whom will be in Rome for the creation of new princes of the Church. Their role is to act as his closest advisors as well as elect his successor.
Ahead of his earlier consistories, in February 2014 and February 2015, Francis held such meetings. They took place in the Synod Hall, lasted two full days, and were an opportunity for the Pope to hear about issues and concerns from around the world, as well as to update the cardinals on Vatican-related issues and those of the universal Church.
For a pope to skip holding a pre-consistory meeting is rare. Benedict dropped such a gathering ahead of his last cardinal-making consistory in November 2012, during which he created six new cardinals, but he held them for his other four.
The Holy See Press Office has not responded to questions about whether the meeting would be going ahead, but sources say he may meet some cardinals individually.
At the previous consistory last November, the Pope is thought to have preferred to avoid a confrontation with the four DUBIA cardinals who were allegedly planning to resubmit the DUBIA at the meeting, or at least bring up the topic.
Aware that the cardinals had written again a couple of months ago requesting an audience, and having not responded, the Pope may have decided again to avoid any encounter, although as with Benedict in 2012, it may have been due to the small number of new cardinals.
In a statement issued today, the Vatican said that on June 28, at 4pm, the Holy Father will hold an Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of new cardinals, “for the imposition of the beretta, the consignment of the ring and the assignment of the title or diaconate.”
The consistory will be followed by a courtesy visit to the new cardinals from 6-8pm in the Atrium of the Paul VI Hall, during which members of the public can meet and greet the five new princes of the Church.
At 9.30am the following day, on the Solemnity of the Saints Apostles Peter and Paul, the Holy Father will bless the holy Pallia to be imposed upon the new metropolitan archbishops, and will celebrate the Holy Mass of the Solemnity of the Saints Apostles Peter and Paul.
A second blog post from Pentin today:
Monsignor Bux:
'We are in a full crisis of faith'
Theologian and former consulter to the CDF calls on the pope
to make a declaration of faith, warning that unless
the Pope safeguards doctrine, he cannot impose discipline.
June 21, 2017
To resolve the current crisis in the Church over papal teaching and authority, the Pope must make a declaration of faith, affirming what is Catholic and correcting his own “ambiguous and erroneous” words and actions that have been interpreted in a non-Catholic manner.
This is according to Monsignor Nicola Bux, a respected theologian and former consulter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during Benedict XVI’s pontificate.
In the following interview with the Register, Msgr. Bux explains that the Church is in a “full crisis of faith” and that the storms of division the Church is currently experiencing are due to apostasy — the “abandonment of Catholic thought.”
Msgr. Bux’s comments come after news that the four dubia cardinals, seeking papal clarification of his exhortation Amoris Laetitia, wrote to the Pope April 25 asking him for an audience but have yet to receive a reply.
The cardinals expressed concern over the “grave situation” of episcopal conferences and individual bishops offering widely differing interpretations of the document, some of which break with the Church's teaching. They are particularly concerned about the deep confusion this has caused, especially for priests.
“For many Catholics, it is incredible that the Pope is asking bishops to dialogue with those who think differently [i.e. non-Catholic Christians], but does not want first to face the cardinals who are his chief advisors,” Msgr. Bux says.
“If the Pope does not safeguard doctrine,” he adds, “he cannot impose discipline.”
Monsignor Bux, what are the implications of the ‘doctrinal anarchy’ that people see happening for the Church, the souls of the faithful and priests?
The first implication of doctrinal anarchy for the Church is division, caused by apostasy, which is the abandonment of Catholic thought, as defined by St. Vincent of Lerins:
quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditur (what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all).
Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, who calls Jesus Christ the “Master of unity,” had pointed out to heretics that everyone professes the same things, but not everyone means the same thing. This is the role of the Magisterium, founded on the truth of Christ: to bring everyone back to Catholic unity.
St. Paul exhorted Christians to be in agreement and to speak with unanimity. What would he say today? When cardinals are silent or accuse their confreres; when bishops who had thought, spoken and written —
scripta manent! [written words remain] — in a Catholic way, but then say the opposite for whatever reason.
When priests contest the liturgical tradition of the Church, then apostasy is established, the detachment from Catholic thought. Paul VI had foreseen that “this non-Catholic thought within Catholicism will tomorrow become the strongest [force]. But it will never represent the Church's thinking. A small flock must remain, no matter how small it is.”
(Conversation with J. Guitton, 9.IX.1977).
What implications, then, does doctrinal anarchy have for the souls of the faithful and ecclesiastics?
The Apostle exhorts us to be faithful to sure, sound and pure doctrine: that founded on Jesus Christ and not on worldly opinions (cf. Titus 1:7-11; 2:1-8). Perseverance in teaching and obedience to doctrine leads souls to eternal salvation.
The Church cannot change the faith and at the same time ask believers to remain faithful to it. She is instead intimately obliged to be oriented toward the Word of God and toward Tradition.
Therefore, the Church remembers the Lord’s judgment: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind”
(John 9:39).
Do not forget that, when one is applauded by the world, it means one belongs to it. In fact, the world loves its own and hates what does not belong to it (
cf. John 15:19).
May the Catholic Church always remember that she is made up of only those who have converted to Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; all human beings are ordained to her
(cf. Lumen gentium 13), but they are not part of her until they are converted.
How can this problem best be resolved?
The point is: what idea does the Pope have of the Petrine ministry, as described in
Lumen gentium 18 and codified in canon law?
Faced with confusion and apostasy, the Pope should make the distinction — as Benedict XVI did — between what he thinks and says as a private, learned person, and what he must say as Pope of the Catholic Church. To be clear: the Pope can express his ideas as a private learned person on disputable matters which are not defined by the Church, but he cannot make heretical claims, even privately. Otherwise it would be equally heretical.
I believe that the Pope knows that every believer — who knows the
regula fidei [the rule of faith] or dogma, which provides everyone with the criterion to know what the faith of the Church is, what everyone has to believe and who one has to listen to — can see if he is speaking and operating in a Catholic way, or has gone against the Church’s
sensus fidei [sense of the faith].
Even one believer can hold him to account. So whoever thinks that presenting doubts [dubia] to the Pope is not a sign of obedience, hasn’t understood, 50 years after Vatican II, the relationship between him [the Pope] and the whole Church.
Obedience to the Pope depends solely on the fact that he is bound by Catholic doctrine, to the faith that he must continually profess before the Church.
We are in a full crisis of faith! Therefore, in order to stop the divisions in progress, the Pope — like Paul VI in 1967, faced with the erroneous theories that were circulating shortly after the conclusion of the Council — should make a Declaration or Profession of Faith, affirming what is Catholic, and correcting those ambiguous and erroneous words and acts — his own and those of bishops — that are interpreted in a non-Catholic manner.
Otherwise, it would be grotesque that, while seeking unity with non-Catholic Christians or even understanding with non-Christians, apostasy and division is being fostered within the Catholic Church. For many Catholics, it is incredible that the Pope is asking bishops to dialogue with those who think differently, but does not want first to face the cardinals who are his chief advisors.
If the Pope does not safeguard doctrine, he cannot impose discipline. As John Paul II said, the Pope must always be converted, to be able to strengthen his brothers, according to the words of Christ to Peter: “Et tu autem conversus, confirma fratres tuos [when you are converted, strengthen your brothers].”
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/06/2017 17:14]