What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

My good friend Mr. John Allen formerly ubiquitous and still writing for the NCR presented a provocative headline:

Trautman says change on ‘pro multis’ may confuse teaching that Christ died for all

According to a press release issued by a member of the academy’s Executive Committee, Jesuit Fr. Keith Pecklers of Rome’s Gregorian University, Trautman “contended that the new translations do not adequately meet the liturgical needs of the average Catholic,” and he “expressed fears that the significant changes in the texts no longer reflect understandable English usage.”

And this reminds me of the small dog on the other side of the fence, always willing to bark a bit more:

Trautman also challenged a recent ruling from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments that the Latin phrase pro multis in the formula for the consecration of the Precious Blood should be rendered as “for many” rather than the current English phrase “for all.”

 

And here is the meat:

Trautman encouraged members of the academy to speak out in opposition to such changes.

“Bishop Trautman challenged Catholic liturgical scholars of North America to assist the bishops in promoting a liturgy that is accessible and pastorally aware,” the release said. “He urged them, in a spirit of respect and love for the Church, to be courageous in questioning those developments that would render the liturgy incomprehensible and betray the intention of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).”

I was hoping I might be able to catch a glimpse of the brightening comet McNaught last night before I had to head off to meet my peeps.   Instead, some clouds got in the way.

This morning, on the other hand, was another sunny foggy spectacle.

 

I was out with friends tonight. A lot of the discussion concerned l’affaire Wielgus. We did a full review of all the various theories floating around, of course. Some of them are particularly amusing. I especially like the one about the German/Jewish anti-Polish conspiracy: yes, what a historically successful combination that has proven to be. We spoke at length about the Radio Maria dimension as well (Radio Maria in Poland has a highly political even anti-American and pro-Russian slant, btw.). And now it seems that Cardinal Glemp, of all people, has turned on the issue. sigh….

Ironically, wielgus means "long", btw.

In any event, a good share of the discussion concerned the classical Watergate questions of "what did the Pope know, and when did he know it".

Reasonable questions, in themselves. They are not, I think, at the heart of the matter.

From a patristiblogger viewpoint, and I think a reasonable viewpoint of anyone who knows anything serious about Papa Ratzinger, what is at the heart of the matter is the fact that this Pope is steeped in Augustinianism. It might be reasonable to think that, for Pope Benedict, this is an issue of modern Donatism. What we are hashing through is, once again, the whole conflict of traditores and reconciliation. The "collaborators" are in this case like the ancient North African clergy who caved in under imperial pressure and handed over their sacred texts and/or signed the necessary documents so that they could either simply live or avoid further persecution. After the persecutions ended many wanted to be reconciled in full and people divided sharply over whether or not a compromised cleric could even confer valid sacraments. (Sounds much like some modern SSPXers and Sedevacantists, no?) The solution to the result hideous schism in the fabric of the Church was eventually found, but not until Donatists were forced to rejoin the Catholics out of fear of punishment.

In the confusing tangle of Church and politics in Poland, and their still fresh long national nightmare, let us not forget that the Pope is also steeped in St. Augustine. Politics are not to be ignored, of course, but then neither are the theological dimensions of the question.

"But Father! But Father!" you are no doubt shouting at the screen. "What is this ‘Pasta Wielgus’ title all about??!? Is that what you ate tonight? REALLY?"

No, that is just a little clerical joke going around right now. The recipe for pasta Weilgus apparently calls for really short pasta, which you have to simmer for a long time, and eat as quickly as possible because you never know when it’ll be taken away from you. I think the sauce is red, but I am not sure.