From 16 October 1978:
About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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Haha bravo! “Tu es Petrus . . .” It seems that God has it all under control after all.
That won’t happen today. If I had the time, I would write an article that defines the Church today as being divided by the Living Church and the Church of Power. The living Church is young, vibrant, intelligent. It is found in some dioceses, among some bishops and in orthodox and traditional communities. The Church of Power is old, ideological and, since it has little sway among the youth (it does not give life), it must rely on power to get it’s way. We see this with the appointment of bishops. There are a few ideological appointments that stand out and the rest are of fairly nice, bland administrators who will not stand up to the ideologues.
In the short term this is bad news, but since the living Church does not buy the thin theology and the ideology, the long term prognosis is more hopeful.
Wait, I’m confused. He says, “Anche non so se potrei bene spiegarmi nella vostra…(corrects himself) la nostra lingua Italiana–se mi sbaglio, mi corrigerete.” Which means loosely, “Also I don’t know if I can explain myself well in your…our Italian language–if I blunder, you must correct me.”
Isn’t he referring to the idea that if he trips over his tongue trying to speak Italian, they will correct him? Obviously we can infer a certain humility and willingness to be corrected from that, but are we reading more into this than necessary due to circumstances?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as frustrated as any over what is happening just now, but I don’t think this is really what we are making it out to be…
roma: exactly. Just a touch of Zed-ian humor. Personally I put my trust in the Petrine promise, and am not worried. The full quote, as I am sure most know below.
“Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam mean et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum”
(“You are ‘Rock’ and on this rock I will build my Church, to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Mt 16:18)
@giovanni–
Yes, I too take great solace in Christ’s promise that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against His Church. But boy, some days I can still smell the stench blowing in from there. Sigh.
It was refreshing to watch this clip, knowing what became of the papacy of which that was the incipit. The last time I heard those words being spoken, I had great hope for the future, but have experienced only heaviness of heart.
I keep praying!!!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I got a little misty eyed seeing this. Sure, he should have granted wide use of the TLM, but John Paul certainly knew where the rails were…and he was a saint!
There is an increasing number of people who would like to be supporters of this “fraternal” correction of the Pope. According to the published list of signatories of this correctio filialis there is only one bishop who is a signatory and that is +Bernard Fellay of the SSPX and he has signed for the whole of the SSPX. However, I do know at least one other bishop who wants to add his name and that is +Rene Henry Gracida DD, Bishop Emeritus of the diocese of Corpus Christi. I know that because he has sent me an email from his blog Abyssus Abyssum Invocat telling me that he has added his name.
That strikes me as being rather humble.
Is it possible for lay folk to sign on to the correction
An electrifying moment. In Italy it is remembered the way we remember “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Also, remember the context: The sudden surprise of the first non-Italian pope in centuries.
Dear Egyptian,
You can send a message to info@correctiofilialis.org. If, unlike me, you have relevant credentials, I am sure they would be happy to add your name to the signatories. Otherwise you might prefer, like me, to show your support by signing the petition at this address: https://www.change.org/p/petition-support-by-the-catholic-laity-for-the-filial-correction-of-pope-francis
I remember that day, I was living in Italy at the time. I second what donato2 said. We Italians just loved it when he addressed the crowd in our own language. What made him particularly endearing was that he made a slight mistake, corrigerete” instead of correggerete. The mistake was obviously influenced by the Latin “corrigere.”
I’m Italian, so I think I can say something here.
I remember pretty well this scene, even though in 1978 I was only 15.
I would make some points.
First, when he asked for correction, Saint John Paul was referring to the mistakes he could make expressing himself in a language that wasn’t his mother tongue (even though he spoke it really fluently). [OF COURSE HE WAS!]
Second, as pointed out above, he did make a mistake in the very sentence where he asked for such correction, as he said “corrigerete” (influenced by the Latin “corrigere”, that is “to correct”) instead of “correggerete” (from the Italian “correggere”). I have to say that I always suspected that this error, given the very good knowledge that he had of Italian, even before becoming Pope, was made on purpose, to gain some benevolence by the flock. I’m not sure, anyway.
Third, and most important, from what I know about Saint John Paul II, I have some doubt that he would have been very open to receive correction. His fame was that he would surely listen to the other people (and, I think, never deny an udience), but then decide on his own. [Quite an assumption.]
The main point, in all this discussion (and also in other discussions about what Pope Francis says and does), is not, mainly, whether he is humble and open to correction, but whether his behavior and his words are really always in line with the Gospel or not (and the thing that this may be put in discussion is, in itself, very disturbing), and, also, why doesn’t he answer explicitly certain questions (while he answers a lot of other questions on the planes).
I am pretty sure that Pope John Paul, if confronted with some discussion about what he was teaching, would have made his thought plain clear, and also explained it according to the Gospel and to the deposit of Tradition (as he did in Familiaris Consortio to explain the prohibition of receive the Eucharist for civilly remarried spouses). You could not like what he was saying… but there would not be any doubt about the contents.
Can the same be said about Pope Francis?
I have to say that I always suspected that this error, given the very good knowledge that he had of Italian, even before becoming Pope, was made on purpose, to gain some benevolence by the flock. I’m not sure, anyway.
We all can’t know, of course. But you can speak a language well if you don’t have to think about the language; just about the content of what you are going to say say. And if someone is able to do just that, and know Italian well and does of course know that the word is “corregere” or “costruzione” or whatever, then especially if one is good enough to just speak the language, without the internal translation thought process, it is rather hard not to instinctively say “corrigere” or “construzione” if one isn’t Italian. (And I wouldn’t take bets that one cannot at all hear any other consonant (cosonant?) between the u and the z.)
I see what you did there…
Great video and timeless quote.