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

His Excellency Bp. Robert Finn of Kansas City, MO, spoke on the radio about the election.  The Catholic Key has the report.

KCMO 710’s Chris Stigall interviewed Bishop Finn on the subject of the election this morning. As he has in the past, Bishop Finn emphasized the priority of life and had this to say, excerpt:

Chris Stigall: There are Catholics listening right now who are thinking strongly or are convinced that they will vote for Barack Obama. What would you say to them?

Bishop Finn: I would say, give consideration to your eternal salvation.

 

For readers in central New Mexico, I need your help.

From a reader:

I am probably in the very smallest of small minorities reading your blog—I’m an atheist. However, for some reason I happen to be a bit of a social conservative, and really enjoy reading your discussions of tradition and Catholic rites. For the last few weeks I’ve had a lot of fun reading your articles as they come in through Google Reader.

For some time, I’ve been toying with the idea of finding a Church to attend. Mainly because the people that I respect tend to be religious.  [See what a good example can provoke?]

I think that abortion is obviously something evil, sex outside of marriage prevents a fulfilling life, that it’s hard work to be a moral human being, and that Good isn’t relative. Fellow atheists generally don’t feel this way, and they also tend to have silly ideas about the perfectibility of human nature. Besides, I was impressed by the Christian congregation I attended in my youth, and haven’t felt the same sort of sense of community for many years.

I tried to attend a Lutheran church a couple of years ago. I didn’t really feel like I got a great deal from it. Part of it was that I tried to be serious about what I was doing and checked out a book from the library that consisted of several arguments between Erasmus and Luther. I was much more impressed by Erasmus’ writings, and still am. [Good choice.]

I’m interested in finding out more about the Catholic Church, but am a bit worried about walking around the block to meet the pastor at local church ... I did a quick Google search for his name and don’t know anything about him beyond the fact that he’s a big fan of Andrew Greeley books, has been quoted in the newspaper saying that abortion is just one issue among a spectrum of "life issues" like capital punishment (not a particularly convincing statement to me), and has also been quoted saying that some Cardinal’s recent statement about evolution was overdoing things. I’m not sure how to put it best, but while I’m attracted to the Catholic Church’s stand on certain issues, I’m not particularly interested in half-baked 1960’s anything-goes theology (the Unitarians are better at that, and wouldn’t even mind the atheism bit).  [Well said!]

I’d appreciate your advice on what I should do, if you have the time.

First,... how very impressed I am by this fellow’s journey.  I too am a convert.  It was a combination of curiosity and the beauty of liturgy which then took me on an intellectual and affective path into the Church.  I remember distinctly knowing that the "Catholic thing" had to be confronted if I was going to be intellectually honest with myself, have a good conscience about the questions I was raising.

Second, I don’t know many priests in that area of the US.  Perhaps you readers could E-MAIL a few names of solid priests who can answer hard questions with patience and charity, (some gray hair is preferred) which I could in turn share with this guy.  DON’T POST THEM HERE.  E-MAIL them to me.

Third, I could recommend some reading, such as Fr. John Hardon’s catechism, which is what the late Msgr. Schuler used to hook my mind and keep me reading…. but I won’t give a list. 

Fourth, I am always interested in how people handle those moments when they are faced with these questions.  Remember: if Christians are at times tempted to doubt, atheists are tempted to believe.  More than tempted.  Doubts of Christians come from our weakness, our fallen nature or the flaws in our instruction, as well as the enemy of the soul.  Doubts of atheists come from the need we have written into our being, as images of God.

Fifth, I will present also the challenge presented by wiser people than I.   In one of his last public addresses 1 April 2005 in Subiaco, Italy, the day before John Paul II died, and thus shortly before being elected Pope, Joseph Card. Ratzinger issued a challenge to modern man.  He issued a paradoxical challenge to "live as if God exists" whether one believes in Him or not….velut si Deus daretur... as if God is a given fact.

in my capacity as believer, I would like to make a proposal to the secularists. At the time of the Enlightenment there was an attempt to understand and define the essential moral norms, saying that they would be valid "etsi Deus non daretur," even in the case that God did not exist. In the opposition of the confessions and in the pending crisis of the image of God, an attempt was made to keep the essential values of morality outside the contradictions and to seek for them an evidence that would render them independent of the many divisions and uncertainties of the different philosophies and confessions. In this way, they wanted to ensure the basis of coexistence and, in general, the foundations of humanity. At that time, it was thought to be possible, as the great deep convictions created by Christianity to a large extent remained. But this is no longer the case.  [As our election cycle is demonstrating.]

The search for such a reassuring certainty, which could remain uncontested beyond all differences, failed. Not even the truly grandiose effort of Kant was able to create the necessary shared certainty. Kant had denied that God could be known in the realm of pure reason, but at the same time he had represented God, freedom and immortality as postulates of practical reason, without which, coherently, for him no moral behavior was possible.

Does not today’s situation of the world make us think perhaps that he might have been right? I would like to express it in a different way: The attempt, carried to the extreme, to manage human affairs disdaining God completely leads us increasingly to the edge of the abyss, to man’s ever greater isolation from reality. We must reverse the axiom of the Enlightenment and say: Even one who does not succeed in finding the way of accepting God, should, nevertheless, seek to live and to direct his life "veluti si Deus daretur," as if God existed. This is the advice Pascal gave to his friends who did not believe. In this way, no one is limited in his freedom, but all our affairs find the support and criterion of which they are in urgent need.

Above all, that of which we are in need at this moment in history are men who, through an enlightened and lived faith, render God credible in this world. The negative testimony of Christians who speak about God and live against him, has darkened God’s image and opened the door to disbelief. We need men who have their gaze directed to God, to understand true humanity. We need men whose intellects are enlightened by the light of God, and whose hearts God opens, so that their intellects can speak to the intellects of others, and so that their hearts are able to open up to the hearts of others.

 

Intellectual and affective challenge:

Pursue these questions as if God exists… velut si Deus daretur.

UPDATE:

How about South-Central New Mexico… Soccorro area?

If you US citizens are not sure if you are going to vote tomorrow, or you don’t know form whom to vote, or your are considering … well… you know….,

then think about this on a secular level:

Supreme Court Justices.

Then think about this on a spiritual level:

Eternal Salvation.

Did a reader from a 0185 prefix in ITALY call me today?

E-mail please, or SMS me.

This is from a priest reader:

Attached is a photo of me offering an English Novus Ordo Missae at St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Peoria, AZ at 10:00 a.m. today. We are a "Reform of the Reform/Summorum Pontificum Parish" where all Masses—8 Forma Ordinaria, and 5 Forma Extraordinaria—are celebrated weekly.  Thanks be to God! You have many loyal readers from our parish. Blessings to you and your readership in all you do in Restoring the Sacred to our liturgies.

Your Servant, Fr LWG

Here is another.  This seems heavily inculturated, but hey!  It’s black!

Cincinnati vocations director Father Kyle Schnippel broke out his Sunday best for the 8:30 Mass at the Cathedral this morning:



Since the lady on the right edge of the picture is Mrs. Leonardi, you can guess who the photographer was. (For a glimpse of Padre with Clan Leonardi click here.) After Mass, we grabbed breakfast at the local Big Boy along with friend Jackie and her son. It was a great start to a beautiful day.

Another reader sends:

I am sending a picture of my NO parish priest, Father Christopher Smith in Palmyra Missouri. He wore black today! My pictures weren’t very good, since he is not one to want his picture taken I had to get them during Mass. I am sending you the best one.

He is a wonderful priest & I will still go to Mass in Palmyra, even after the Shrine of St Rose opens in Quincy next week.

Father shouldn’t be so shy.  He did a wonderful thing!

And now a brief interlude for a WHITE vestment moment for 1 November, All Saints:

First Tridentine Mass in 43 years in the UPPER Church of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston.
Fr Agustin Anda, Celebrant
Gregorian Chant and Polyphony
November 1, 2008, 7:30 pm

and on November 3, 2008, also at 7:30 pm at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, again in the UPPER Church, Fr Agustin Anda, Celebrant first Tridentine Requiem in 43 years Chant High Requiem

And from another reader, this very welcome image:

Here is Fr.Tcheou of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at the cemetery praying for the deceased on All Souls Day. This is the Catholic cemetery where the bishops and priests of the diocese are buried. Father is seen here sprinkling the graves.

Here is a great shot from a priest reader:

Father Z,
 
Father Gerald P. Carey, the pastor of St. Paul Parish in Philadelphia, was celebrating the Ordinary Form of the Mass in Latin, a first here at St. Paul.  The church was quite full and there were many younger people who had never experienced this Mass in Latin before.  Father Carey is hoping to celebrate a Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the feast of St. Paul on January 25th.

 

A very good photo.    BLACK TO THE PEOPLE!

More… here is one from a reader:

 

Here is a picture from the All Soul’s Requiem Mass in Seattle, WA Parish of the North American Martyrs. The celebrant is Father Gerard Saguto, FSSP.

Another:

 Here are pictures from tonight’s Requiem High Mass for All Souls Day at St. Lawrence Chapel in Harrisburg, PA.

 

Coo-ees From the Cloister has this fun piece (edited and with my emphases and comments).

You may – if you have a life – have missed the news that, in the latest Typical Edition in Latin of the Roman Missal, the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children have been omitted. They may appear in a separate publication at a later time. Meaning….business as usual in English.

Sydney priest Fr Daniel Donovan is deeply disturbed by this development, according to an article appearing on the acatholic Catholica website under the title "Ripping the Heart Out of Vatican II: a requiem for children’s eucharistic prayers". Oh, for heaven’s sake! I wonder when Father Donovan or indeed any priest last celebrated a Mass for pre-adolescent children using one of the Eucharistic Prayers for Children in Latin?

I can picture it now:

Father (vested in fiddleback and red plastic nose) Dóminus vobíscum.
Kiddies (sitting on the carpet in front of the altar) Et cum spíritu tuo.
Father (big smile and dramatic sweep of the hands) Sursum corda.
Kiddies (chorus-like, and with a similar sweeping movement prompted by the teacher over on the side) Habémus ad Dóminum.
Father (has to check the text for this sentence, so looses eye-contact) Grátias agámus Dómino Deo nostro.
Kiddies (loudly because they can remember this bit) Dignum et iustum est.
Father then launches into the prayer, pronouncing his Latin very slowly:
Vere, amantíssime Pater, hoc gáudium nobis praebétur, ut tibi grátias agámus et una cum Iesu Christo in Ecclésia tua exsultémus. Sic nos dilexísti, ut pro nobis cónderes hunc mundum imménsum et pulchrum.
Kiddies ( firmly convinced of the immensity and pulchritudinicity of the world) Glória tibi, Dómine, qui nos hómines amas.
Father: Sic nos díligis, ut nobis des Iesum Fílium tuum, qui ad te nos addúcat.
Kiddies (a little uncertain as to who Des is) Glória tibi, Dómine, qui nos hómines amas.
Father: Sic nos díligis, ut in Christo nos cóngreges, et per Spíritum adoptiónis uníus famíliae fílios nos fácias.
Kiddies (losing interest now that it’s the third repetition) Glória tibi, Dómine, qui nos hómines amas.
Father (putting a bit more animation into his delivery) Pro tanti amóris dono tibi grátias ágimus cum Angelis et Sanctis, qui te adórant, canéntes:
Kiddies (using "Orbis factor", which they rather prefer to "Cunctipotens genitor Deus", even though it is the feast of an apostle) Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dóminus Deus Sábaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra glória tua. Hosánna in excélsis. Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini. Hosánna in excélsis.
Father (readjusting his clown-nose) Vere benedíctus sit Iesus, missus a te, amícus parvulórum et páuperum. Ipse venit, ut nos docéret, te, Pater noster, et nosmet ipsos ad ínvicem dilígere. Ipse venit, ut a córdibus hóminum peccátum et malum auférret, quod amicítiam ímpedit, et ódium, quod non sinit esse felíces. Ipse promísit Spíritum Sanctum cunctis diébus nobis adfutúrum, ut de tua vita tamquam fílii viverémus.
Kiddies (again with "Orbis factor") Benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini. Hosánna in excélsis.
Father (again adjusting his red plastic nose) Te Deum, Patrem nostrum, rogámus mitte Spíritum tuum, ut haec dona panis et vini Corpus et Sanguis fiant Iesu Christi, Dómini nostri. Qui prídie quam paterétur infinítum tuum manifestávit amórem, in cena enim cum discípulis discúmbens, accépit panem, grátias egit, fregit dedítque eis dicens:ACCÍPITE ET MANDUCÁTE EX HOC OMNES: HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM, QUOD PRO VOBIS TRADÉTUR.
Kiddies (unsure of whether to look at the Host or the words on the screen) Iesus Christus pro nobis tráditus. (At this point one of the kiddies gives the large sanctuary gong a good whack)
Father: Item accépit cálicem vino replétum, orávit tibi, grátias agens, et porréxit eis cálicem, dicens: ACCÍPITE ET BÍBITE EX EO OMNES: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SÁNGUINIS MEI NOVI ET AETÉRNI TESTAMÉNTI, QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDÉTUR IN REMISSIÓNEM PECCATÓRUM.
Kiddies (more confidently this time): Iesus Christus pro nobis tráditus.

(One of the kiddies raises the striker to ring the gong again, but her brighter neighbour hisses “wait” as Father continues) Deínde dixit ad eos: Hoc fácite in meam commemoratiónem. (Asserting her authority the gong-girl now bashes it so hard that her neighbour glares disapprovingly)

...

 

Be sure to check out the rest!

A couple weeks ago I was at the US Naval Academy at Anapolis.  While there, I learned about John W. Ripley, USMC Ret.

My host at the Academy spoke about Col. Ripley, who lived nearby and came to Mass there.

Now I understand from the site of talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that Col. Ripley died recently.

Here is the diorama at the Academy of what Col. Ripely did.




During the Easter Offensive of 1972, he dangled for three hours under a bridge near the South Vietnamese city of Dong Ha in order to attach 500 pounds of explosives to the span, ultimately destroying it. His action, under fire while going back and forth for materials, is thought to have thwarted an onslaught by 20,000 enemy troops.

RIP

This is in from the gentlemanly Sandro Magister.

My emphases and comments.

Cardinal Martini’s Jesus Would Never Have Written "Humanae Vitae"

He is a Jesus who struggles against injustice. So he also opposes the "lies" and "damage" of the encyclical by Paul VI prohibiting artificial contraception. So writes the former archbishop of Milan in his latest book. But in the meantime, in another book, two scholars take a different approach to the spirit of that document [Go to the site for that part.]

by Sandro Magister

ROMA, November 3, 2008 – In his latest book-interview, published first in Germany and now also in Italy, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini calls himself not an anti-pope, as he is often depicted by the media, but "an ante-pope, a precursor and preparer for the Holy Father." [Interesting.  There is a tendency among some in the Church to think that older is better automatically.  They fall into both camps, conservative and progressivist.  The progressivists tend to think that the "pristine" must be recovered because it is "more authentic".  The problem is that Holy Church has grown and developed.  We know more now than was known and understood in ancient times.  Our reflection has deepened, not strayed far away from the pristine truth.]

But according to the book, there are many points on which Cardinal Martini seems fairly distant from the reigning pope and his most recent predecessors.

If one compares, for example, "Jesus of Nazareth" by Benedict XVI and the Jesus described by Cardinal Martini in this book, the distance is striking. This is expressed well by the German Jesuit interviewer, Fr. Georg Sporschill, who does not hide which side he takes:

"The pontiff’s book is a profession of faith in the good Jesus. Cardinal Martini puts us in front of Jesus from another perspective. Jesus is the friend of the publican and the sinner. He listens to the questions of young people. He stirs things up. He fights with us against injustice."  [And those are contrasting?]

That’s just it. In the words of the cardinal, the Sermon on the Mount is a charter of rights for the oppressed. [Liberation theology?] Justice is "the fundamental attribute of God," and "the criterion of distinction" by which He judges us. Hell "exists, and is already on the earth": in the preaching of Jesus, it was "a warning" not to produce too much hell down here. Purgatory is also "an image" developed by the Church, "one of the human representations that show us how it is possible to be spared from hell." The ultimate hope is "that God will welcome all of us," when justice gives way to mercy.

As always, Martini’s style is subtle and opaque, beginning with the title of his latest book: "Nighttime conversations in Jerusalem. On the risk of faith." About priestly celibacy, for example, he says and doesn’t say. [I hear the soft sound of reptile skin on marble…]  The same about women priests. And about homosexuality. And contraception. And when he criticizes the Church hierarchy, he doesn’t give names, of persons or things. [Right.  Just insinuations?]

But this time, there is an exception. In one chapter of the book, the explicit target is Paul VI’s encyclical "Humanae Vitae," on marriage and procreation. Martini accuses it of causing "serious damage" by prohibiting artificial contraception: "many people have withdrawn from the Church, and the Church from people."

Martini accuses Paul VI of deliberately concealing the truth, [WOW] leaving it to theologians and pastors to fix things by adapting precepts to practice:

"I knew Paul VI well. With the encyclical, he wanted to express consideration for human life. He explained his intention to some of his friends by using a comparison: although one must not lie, sometimes it is not possible to do otherwise; it may be necessary to conceal the truth, or it may be unavoidable to tell a lie. It is up to the moralists to explain where sin begins, [slither] especially in the cases in which there is a higher duty than the transmission of life."  [I wonder which candidate he would vote for tomorrow.]

In effect, the cardinal continues, "after the encyclical Humanae Vitae the Austrian and German bishops, and many other bishops, with their statements of concern followed a path along which we can continue today." It is a stance that expresses "a new culture of tenderness and an approach to sexuality that is more free from prejudice."

But after Paul VI came John Paul II, who "followed the path of rigorous application" of the prohibitions in the encyclical. "He didn’t want there to be any doubts on this point. It seems that he even considered a declaration that would enjoy the privilege of papal infallibility."   [Notice that that implies that Humanae vitae was not infallible.  Card. Martini is a Jesuit, btw.]

And after John Paul II came Benedict XVI. Martini does not name him, and does not seem to have much confidence in him, but he hazards this prediction:

"Probably the pope will not revoke the encyclical, but he might write one that would be its continuation. [slither] I am firmly convinced that the Church can point out a better way than it did with Humanae Vitae. Being able to admit one’s mistakes and the limitations of one’s previous viewpoints is a sign of greatness of soul and of confidence. The Church would regain credibility and competence." [Holy Father, take this man’s hat away.]

That’s Martini’s view. But those who read only his latest book will learn nothing of the letter, much less the spirit, of that highly controversial encyclical.

Much more instructive, from this point of view, is the address that Pope Joseph Ratzinger dedicated to "Humanae Vitae" on May 10 of this year. Illustrating its contents, he affirmed that "forty years after its publication this teaching not only expresses its unchanged truth but also reveals the farsightedness with which the problem is treated."

Even more interesting, for understanding the immediate and historical context in which "Humanae Vitae" took shape, is the reading of a book published in Italy shortly before the one by Cardinal Martini.

The book is entitled: "Due in una carne. Chiesa e sessualità nella storia [Two in one flesh. Church and sexuality in history]." The two authors were both militant feminists during the 1970’s and are both historians, one of them secularist, the other Catholic: Margherita Pelaja and Lucetta Scaraffia.

Scaraffia dedicates a full chapter to "Humanae Vitae," reconstructing its origin, content, and development. Here is the concluding part: [Go to the site for that part.]

Great, huh?

More on St. Mary’s in Brisbane, Australia.   More on the background here.

 

Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby has written to the administrator of St Mary’s in South Brisbane threatening to start "a formal process" to address the situation if changes are not made by December 1.

The Australian reports the parish looks set to be excommunicated after the local priest, Fr Peter Kennedy, said yesterday he would not change his ways despite being warned to do so by Church authorities.[That approach generally doesn’t produce good results.]

The archbishop wrote to the parish in September drawing attention to practices that placed St Mary’s "not in communion with the Catholic Church", and giving them until the end of the year to respond.

But in a second letter last week, Archbishop Bathersby said several undertakings had not been honoured and that "games are still being played, as they were in the past."

"I am prepared to wait until December 1, but no longer. After that I will begin a formal process to address the situation," he said.

But Fr Kennedy indicated yesterday that the local people would not be changing their practices.

He said St Mary’s had been "white-anted" [? I am guessing this is colloquial.] by people who were not regular members of the church.

"There are vigilantes who’ve come into our church and written to Rome, and Rome has put pressure on John Bathersby. Bullies never have enough of bullying, and the Vatican is a bully," he said. [Uh huh.  I think I will make popcorn and watch that that plays out.  But notice that this has nothing, really, to do with the real problem: what this priest and parish are doing is WRONG.]

"Many communities are not sticking precisely to the rules of liturgy. Our problem is that we are a public community. [A "public community"?  Sorry… but this is incomprehensible.] The archbishop has known what we’ve been doing for all these years. [That is a problem, admittedly.  But… that again doesn’t change the situation.  It must stop!] But his model of governance is hierarchical, and that’s his problem, the Church’s governance is hierarchical."

Fr Kennedy, 71, said he was making a stand on behalf of what he called "recovering Catholics".

"They walked away from the Church because they can no longer abide this institution which is so oppressive of women, of gay and lesbian people. [I think the canonical process will not take long.]

"We are one Church community that is prepared to say enough is enough."

According to the ABC, Archbishop Bathersby’s demands include an end to commitment ceremonies at St Mary’s for gay and lesbian couples and the use of non-conventional terms during baptisms.

He insists the priests wear the traditional alb and stole during the Mass and they use a Catholic Church approved eucharistic prayer, not one developed by the community.

He also wants lay people to stop giving the homily.

Power backs St Mary’s

Speaking to the Canberra Times, Canberra auxiliary, Bishop Pat Power said that St Mary’s South Brisbane was a haven to people who had been excluded from their own parishes, Catholic and otherwise. He said canon law required homilies at Mass must be preached by a deacon or priest.

‘’I have difficulty with that ruling, but that is how it is.’’ [Another winner.] He did not accept all goodness and knowledge resided in priests. Parishes such as St Mary’s pushed the Church ahead.

‘’I think the day will come when that sort of thing will happen.’’

Bishop Power described Archbishop Bathersby as Australia’s most open and accommodating archbishop, who was committed to dialogue.

‘’I would have sympathy for a parish which is reaching out to gay people,’’ Bishop Power said. ‘’So often they feel no one wants to know them. But a bishop has difficulty with those things. I recognise their desire to be part of the Church.

‘’I have a lot of sympathy and admiration for a parish like this. I know it is hard to find the middle ground.’’ [The "middle ground"?  For example, just do half of the baptisms invalidly?] The Queensland bishops were generally open and accommodating and generally progressive in terms of the second Vatican Council.

Dresser aims to "marry" theology and science

Meanwhile, Bathurst diocese priest Fr Peter Dresser who has created a worldwide storm of controversy over his claims Jesus was not God and Mary was not a virgin in his book has said he was simply trying to start a "conversation", Livenews says.  [Well… he did that!]

Fr Dresser, whose book God is Big. Real Big [O God… you are soooo big!] is being sold at Brisbane churches for $20 a copy, says he has not been disciplined since the book’s contents went public in the media.

Dresser said in an interview that his book tries to "marry" theology and science.

SOURCE

I’ll excommunicate you: archbishop (The Australian, 3/11/08)

Brisbane church faces axe over liberal practices (ABC News, 2/11/08)

‘Jesus was not God’ priest speaks to LIVENEWS.com.au (Livenews, 30/10/08)

Bishop backs gay move by parish (Canberra Times, 3/11/08

LINKS

St Mary’s, South Brisbane

Peter Dresser 

From a reader:

On November 16, Fr. Eric Flood, FSSP, North American District Superior of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, will be visiting the Latin Mass community in Dayton.  He will offer the first Solemn High Mass in almost 40 years in the Cincinnati Diocese  on that day. Those who live in the Dayton area  are encouraged to make a point of attending the Mass on that day . You are also asked to spread the word about this event. This very beautiful liturgy is filled with reverence and many other symbols not present in the typical Sunday High Mass
 
After the Solemn Mass, there will be a brunch reception for Fr. Flood at the Dayton Polish Club at 1470 Valley Street, not far from Our Lady of the Rosary Church.
 
Place:  Our Lady of the Rosary Church
           Corner of Notre Dame Ave and Hart St.
           Dayton, OH
Date:   Sunday, November 16
Time:   8:45 am

Our friends at Rorate have an intriguing rumor.

Decree for the removal of excommunications on the Pope’s desk?

From Spanish blog La Cigüeña de la Torre:

    On the Holy Father’s bureau [read=desk] stands a prepared decree which will lift that of [excommunication], of 1988, which applied to the consecrating [Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer] and consecrated bishops [Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Alfonso de Galarreta, and Richard Williamson]. I mean removing the decree, and not absolving of the excommunication. [If I understand this correctly, that would mean the Holy Father would declare that the excommunication would have been, effectively, confirmed by the Cong. for Bishop in error.]

    The thesis of the subjective element, extenuating or mitigating of fault, and, therefore, of the penalty, according to Canons 1323, 4 and 7, and 1324, 1, 8, and 3, has prevailed.  [The idea is this: in order to incur a penalty you have to have sinned.  You must know what you are doing and will it.  If there are forces working on you from outside, so that you act under compulsion, the guilt for the objective wrong act is mitigated.  If forces are acting on your will from withing, that is, you are emotionally or mentally unstable or impaired by substances, etc., that mitigates the guilt of the act.]

The information sounds highly credible, it matches recent events (including the Rosary Crusade), and Spanish conservative Catholic lawyer Francisco José Fernández de la Cigoña usually only posts on future events (such as the nomination of Bishops) when he is truly certain of the matter. Nonetheless, even if the information is accurate, there is no way of knowing when [if] the Holy Father will sign the document, or when it will be made public.

The referenced canons of the Code of Canon Law (CIC) are the following:

    Can. 1323 The following are not subject to a penalty when they have violated a law or precept:
    ...
    4/ a person who acted coerced by grave fear, even if only relatively grave, or due to necessity or grave inconvenience unless the act is intrinsically evil or tends to the harm of souls;
    ...
    7/ a person who without negligence thought that one of the circumstances mentioned in nn. 4 or 5 was present.

    Can. 1324 §1. The perpetrator of a violation is not exempt from a penalty, but the penalty established by law or precept must be tempered or a penance employed in its place if the delict was committed:
    ...
    8/ by a person who thought in culpable error that one of the circumstances mentioned in can. 1323, nn. 4 or 5 was present;
    ...
    §3. In the circumstances mentioned in §1, the accused is not bound by a latae sententiae penalty.

I am reminded of something the Holy Father said last summer during his "vacation" to a gathering of priests in N. Italy.  If my memory serves, a priest asked the Holy Father what to do about people who present their children to be baptized when there is little or no chance they will practice their Catholic faith. 

The Holy Father replied along the lines that when he was a young priest, he was far more strict in these matters.  Now that he is more than 80, however, he would be inclined to baptize.

Tangentially, last night I was watching an episode of the Forsyte Saga.  Old uncle Jolyon toward the end of his life softens about the split in his family, about which he had been quite stern years before.

 

I am not suggesting that the Holy Father is an old man, "foolish, fond", as the poet says.
 
Perhaps this rumor is too optimistic.  The Holy Father seems to move slowly and reflect for a loooong time about certain things… even dither. 

Still, there was the letter sent back by Bp. Fellay to Card. Castillon about the infamous "conditions". 

There has been a bit of a softening of rhetorics from the SSPX.

The SSPX went to Lourdes and asked or a Crusade of prayer through the Rosary for the lifting of the excommunications.

I fear this new report is overly sanguine… which is better than the opposite tack… but I hope it is true.