WDTPRS: Annunciation – Lady Day

Posted on 25 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tanner AnnunciationThis is the very Feast of the Incarnation.

Today we celebrate that moment when our Lord elevated our humanity by taking our human nature into an indestructible bond with His Divinity.  In the Incarnation God opened for us the path to “divinization”, His sharing of something of His own divine glory with us in the eternal happiness of heaven.

In the sin of our First Parents, offending God and loosing so many of our gifts, the whole human race sinned.  In justice a human being had to correct the offense, but such a correction was entirely impossible for a mere mortal human.  Such a correction required the intervention of one who was both man and God.

In the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, made man, made Jesus the Lord and Savior, not only begins to save us from our sins in His earthly ministry, but begins also the mysterious revelation of man more fully to himself (cf. GS 22).

Part of the Lord’s mission was also to teach man more fully who He is in the beauty of His own Person.  However, He did not begin to do this only from the beginning of His public ministry.  He began this from the very moment of the Incarnation.

Remember: From the instant of His conception, the Word made flesh begins to teach man more fully who man is.

Light from Light sheds light on the dignity of man, God’s image, from the instant of conception, from man’s humblest beginning.

Here are the Collects for this beautiful Feast of the Annunciation, Lady Day.  Here are the “Opening Prayers” from both the older, traditional, extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and the newer, post-Conciliar, ordinary form.

You might discuss their differences, their respective strengths.

COLLECT (1962MR):

Deus, qui de beatae Mariae Virginis utero Verbum tuum, Angelo nuntiante, carnem suscipere voluisti: praesta supplicibus tuis; ut, qui vere eam Genetricem Dei credimus, eius apud te intercessionibus adiuvemur.

LITERAL VERSION:

O God, who desired Your Word to take flesh from the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary the angel announcing it: grant to your supplicants; that we who believe truly in the Mother of God, may be helped in Your sight by her intercessions.

COLLECT (2002MR):

Deus, qui Verbum tuum in utero Virginis Mariae
veritatem carnis humanae suscipere voluisti,
concede, quaesumus,
ut, qui Redemptorem nostrum
Deum et hominem confitemur,
ipsius etiam divinae naturae mereamur esse consortes.

LITERAL VERSION:

O God, who wanted Your Word to take up
the truth of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
grant, we beseech,
that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,
may also merit to be the sharers of His divine nature.

This is of new composition, though there is a reference here to Letter 123 Ad Eudociam Augustam – “De monachis Palaestinis” of St. Pope Leo I, “the Great” (+461).

“Fides enim catholica sicut damnat Nestorum, qui in uno domino nostro Iesu Christo duas ausus est praedicare personas, ita damnat etiam Eutychen cum Dioscoro, qui ab unigenito Deo Verbo negant in utero Virginis matris veritatem carnis humanae susceptam.”

NEW CORRECTED ICEL VERSION:

O God, who willed that your Word
should take on the reality of human flesh
in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
grant, we pray,
that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man,
may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, WDTPRS | Tagged , , , , ,
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Card. Cordes tackles hard the German Bishops Conference

Posted on 24 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From CNA:

German prelate breaks rank with Cardinal Marx, insists on fidelity to Rome

Munich, Germany, Mar 24, 2015 / 02:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A German cardinal has publicly opposed the words of two other German bishops who have suggested that the nation’s Church can form its own policies without direction from Rome.

Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes published a letter earlier this month objecting to the pronouncements of prominent leaders of the Church in Germany that the nation’s bishops’ conference will pursue its own program of pastoral care for marriages and family regardless of the outcome of October’s Synod on the Family.  [The sheer arrogance.  This is the fruit of a couple generations of priests raised up under the theology of Rahner and the like.]

At a Feb. 25 press conference following the German bishops’ plenary assembly, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, who is president of the conference, stated, “We are not a branch of Rome. Each conference of bishops is responsible for pastoral care in its cultural context and must preach the Gospel in its own, original way. We cannot wait for a synod to tell us how we have to shape pastoral care for marriage and family here.” [And, frankly, Synods can’t tell bishops to do boo.]

Cardinal Marx, whom the German bishops have chosen as one of their three delegates at the upcoming Synod on the Family, added that there are “certain expectations” of Germany in helping the Church to open doors and “go down new paths,” and that “in doctrine, we also learn from life.”

He was echoed by Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck – a fellow synod delegate – who called the Synod on the Family a “historically important” moment and a “paradigm shift,”urging that “the reality of men and the world” be a source for theological understanding.  [i.e., doctrine shifts with the changing times]

Cardinal Cordes – who was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Paderborn and is president emeritus of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum – published a strenuous objection to the media statements of his fellow German bishops in the form of a March 7 letter to the editor of Die Tagespost, a prominent German language Catholic newspaper. The text of the original letter was translated to English by CNA’s Jan Bentz.

“Since the words of the highest representative of Catholics in Germany have a guideline-like character, and create substantial waves in the media, it makes sense to object publicly to some of the utterances, in order to limit the confusion which they have caused,” Cardinal Cordes wrote.

The cardinal noted that the February press conference was focused on the Synod on the Family, and on particular of the proposal by Cardinal Walter Kasper – another German – to admit some among the divorced and civilly remarried to Communion.

“The problem was addressed with the beautiful words of ‘new solutions’ and ‘opening doors’,” Cardinal Cordes wrote.

He responded to Cardinal Marx’ characterization of the Church in Germany as an exemplar by saying that “if he wanted to express that Germany is example in leading the faithful to a giving oneself up to Christ, then I think the bishop is fooled by wishful thinking. The existing German ecclesial apparatus is completely unfit to work against growing secularism.”  [whew!]

“It was not without reason,” Cardinal Cordes wrote, that Benedict XVI strongly urged the Church in Germany to become less worldly during his 2011 visit there. [Do I hear an “Amen!”?]

“In themes of faith, realism counts above all,” the cardinal reflected. “Therefore one has to consider the facts.” He noted that a recent survey shows that among Catholics in western Germany, only 16 percent believe God to be personal: “all other Catholics see in God a faceless providence, an anonymous fate along the lines of a primordial power. Or they simply deny his existence flat out. What do they think of when they pray the Our Father? So there is no reason to pride ourselves on our faith if we stand in comparison to other countries.”

Cardinal Cordes then commented on Cardinal Marx’ ecclesiological statements, saying his “theological blurriness makes you wonder,” adding that statements like “we are not a branch of Rome” are more suited “to the counter of a bar.” [whoa!]

[…]

You don’t want to miss the rest of that one.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged , ,
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Brick by Brick in Greenville

Posted on 24 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 19.05.39There is a good article at greenvilleonline.com:

Old Latin past illuminates future for Catholic church [Great headline]

Tom Kelly felt like something was lost 50 years ago this month, when traditional Latin Mass was abandoned by the Roman Catholic Church with a Second Vatican Council ruling that Mass could be said in local languages with alternate choreography. [Alternate choreography.  That’s about it.  BTW… I just saw videos of the “liturgies” from the annual Three Days of Darkness in LA.]

The intention was to make the ceremony more accessible, more understandable, simpler, but connection that lasted through centuries evaporated. [The problem was, the reform that was mandated by the Council Fathers is not the reform that we received.]

Holy reverence and awe seemed to be exchanged for colloquial comfort. [I can’t think of other words… ]

Now, though, the formal worship is making a comeback in South Carolina and at Catholic churches worldwide.

The daily Latin Mass held at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Taylors – among services that also include English and Spanish Mass – led Kelly and his family to move to the area.

“It’s so very reverent,” said Kelly, a native of Long Island, New York, who moved with his wife Donna and children from Rutherfordton, North Carolina, to Taylors in 2005 to be closer to Latin Mass. “You can go to a Mass in New York, you can go in South Carolina, you can go in Rome, you can go in China and it doesn’t really matter. You’re attending the same Mass.”

“I can tell my children this is the Mass that all of the saints that they’re learning about in school would’ve been at,” said Joel Raines, a Campobello resident who travels with his wife, Marty, and four children to Prince of Peace almost weekly. “From my perspective with my kids, I try to tell them that the Catholic faith is 2,000 years old, but the Mass that we were taking them to was kind of new. It had contemporary music. It was English. It was like handing them a penny and telling them it’s a 300-year-old penny, but it looks shiny and new. It’s kind of hard to buy into that if you’re a kid.”

Now, though, as the smell of incense rises through the sound of Gregorian chants, they more easily sense that they are part of a tradition that’s been handed down from the second century.

Prince of Peace Catholic Church, with more than 2,000 families as members, is one of the few churches in the nation to celebrate a daily noon Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. It’s one of only two in the state – Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church on Sullivan’s Island is the other – to celebrate the Latin Mass on a weekly basis.

Father Christopher Smith, formally installed as the parish’s pastor just last week after three years as administrator, said it’s helping the church grow.

“I think that there are as many reasons that people come to it as there are people,” Smith said. “One of the things that we’ve found very interesting is that a lot of older people who grew up with the Latin Mass and then switched to the vernacular when they were growing up, a lot of them are just not really interested in the Latin Mass anymore. What we’ve found – and this is the case all over the world – a lot of younger people tend to be attracted to the Latin Mass.

“What they tell us is they see a great sense of beauty and reverence and devotion, and also a sense of historical continuity. You know when you come to a Mass that’s celebrated in Latin that you’re praying the same prayers that saints from 1,500 years ago were praying when they went to Mass, in the same language. There’s a great sense of connectedness, and I think a lot of young people are searching for something very concrete and very deep in their spirituality. The Latin Mass fulfills a need that many of them gravitate towards.”

[…]

This is a great development.  Kudos to all!

Posted in Brick by Brick | Tagged , ,
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New interview with Card. Burke

Posted on 24 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A new interview with His Eminence Raymond Card. Burke with LifesiteNews. Read it all there, but here is some:

Exclusive interview: Cardinal Burke says confusion spreading among Catholics ‘in an alarming way’ (full text)

Editor’s Note: Cardinal Raymond Burke spoke with LifeSiteNews Paris correspondent Jeanne Smits in Rome on January 21. We are running the interview along with an article (available here) drawing out some of the cardinal’s most significant points. Smits has also published a French version of the interview on her blog.

LifeSiteNews: Since the extraordinary synod on the family, we have entered a period of uncertainty and confusion over several “hot-button” issues: communion for divorced and “remarried” couples, a change of attitude towards homosexual unions and an apparent relaxing of attitudes towards non-married couples. Does your Eminence think that this confusion is already producing adverse effects among Catholics?

Cardinal Burke: Most certainly, it is. I hear it myself: I hear it from Catholics, I hear it from bishops. People are claiming now, for instance, that the Church has changed her teaching with regard to sexual relations outside of marriage, with regard to the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts. Or people who are within irregular matrimonial unions are demanding to receive Holy Communion, claiming that this is the will of the Holy Father. And we have astounding situations, like the declarations of the bishop of Antwerp with regard to homosexual acts, which go undisciplined, and so we can see that this confusion is spreading, really, in an alarming way.

LSN: Archbishop Bonny says Humanae vitae was disputed by many: now is the time to dispute other things. Aren’t we in a period when the Church’s teachings are being disputed more than before?

CB: Yes, I believe so. It seems now that people who before did not dispute the Church’s teaching, because it was clear that the authority of the Church prohibited certain discussions, now feel very free to dispute even the natural moral law, including a teaching like Humanae vitae which has been the constant teaching of the Church with regard to the question of contraception.

LSN: It was said after the publication of the relatio post disceptationem that there was a manipulation that consisted in putting into the synod questions that actually have nothing to do with the family. Would you accept to express yourself on how and why this “manipulation” took place? Who is benefiting?

CB: It’s clear that there was a manipulation because the actual interventions of the members of the synod were not published, and only the mid-term report, or the “relatio post disceptationem”, was given, which had really nothing to do with what was being presented in the synod. And so it’s clear to me that there were individuals who obviously had a very strong influence on the synod process who were pushing an agenda which has nothing to do with the truth about marriage as Our Lord Himself teaches it to us, as it is handed down to us in the Church. That agenda had to do with trying to justify extra-marital sexual relations and sexual acts between persons of the same sex and, in a way, clearly to relativize and even to obscure the beauty of the Church’s teaching on marriage as a faithful, indissoluble, procreative union of one man and one woman.

LSN: Who is this benefiting? As faithful Catholics, we are surprised and worried about the sudden apparition of these themes.

CB: Well, it can’t be a benefit to anyone, because it’s not true: it’s not the truth. And so it’s only doing harm to everyone. It may be perceived as a benefit, for instance, to people who for whatever reason are caught up in immoral situations. It may be seen by some as in some way to justify them. But it can’t justify them, because the acts themselves are not able to be justified.

[… SKIPPING A LOT…]

LSN: How can the Church really help all those concerned: abandoned spouses, children of legitimate marriages who are hurt by the divorce of their parents, people who are struggling with homosexual tendencies or who have in a way let themselves be “trapped” into an illegitimate union? And what should our attitude be: the attitude of the faithful?

CB: What the Church can do, and that is the greatest act of love on the part of the Church, is to present the teaching on marriage, the teaching that comes from Christ’s very words, the teaching which has been constant in the tradition, to everyone, as a sign of hope for them. And also, to help them to recognize the sinfulness of the situation in which they find themselves, and at the same time  call them to leave that sinful situation and to find a way to live in accord with the truth. And that’s the only way the Church can help. That was my great hope for the synod: that the synod would hold up to the world the great beauty of marriage, and that beauty is the truth about marriage. I always say to people: indissolubility is not a curse, it is the great beauty of the marital relationship. This is what gives beauty to the relationship between a man and a woman, that the union is indissoluble, that it is faithful, that it is procreative. But now one almost begins to get the impression that somehow the Church is ashamed of the very beautiful treasure which we have in marriage, as God made man and woman from the beginning.

[…]

There is quite a bit more.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged
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8 major studies of identital twins prove homosexuality Is NOT genetic

Posted on 24 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From OrthodoxyToday:

Identical Twin Studies Prove Homosexuality is Not Genetic

Eight major studies of identical twins in Australia, the U.S., and Scandinavia during the last two decades all arrive at the same conclusion: gays were not born that way.
“At best genetics is a minor factor,” says Dr. Neil Whitehead, PhD. Whitehead worked for the New Zealand government as a scientific researcher for 24 years, then spent four years working for the United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency. Most recently, he serves as a consultant to Japanese universities about the effects of radiation exposure. His PhD is in biochemistry and statistics.
Identical twins have the same genes or DNA. They are nurtured in equal prenatal conditions. If homosexuality is caused by genetics or prenatal conditions and one twin is gay, the co-twin should also be gay.
“Because they have identical DNA, it ought to be 100%,” Dr. Whitehead notes. But the studies reveal something else. “If an identical twin has same-sex attraction the chances the co-twin has it are only about 11% for men and 14% for women.”
Because identical twins are always genetically identical, homosexuality cannot be genetically dictated. “No-one is born gay,” he notes. “The predominant things that create homosexuality in one identical twin and not in the other have to be post-birth factors.”

[…]

Still, many misconceptions persist in the popular culture. Namely, that homosexuality is genetic – so hard-wired into one’s identity that it can’t be changed. “The academics who work in the field are not happy with the portrayals by the media on the subject,” Dr. Whitehead notes. “But they prefer to stick with their academic research and not get involved in the activist side.”

Human beings are not slaves to their appetites and impulses, as animals are.  We make choices.  Even those who have the affliction of a strong same-sex attraction can make choices to live a virtuous life, just as those who are undoubtedly heterosexual have to make choices.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , ,
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Nearly 500 faithful priests in England and Wales sign letter urging Synod to stand firm!

Posted on 24 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At the UK’s Catholic Herald, for which I write a weekly column, find the following:

Nearly 500 priests in England and Wales urge synod to stand firm on Communion for the remarried

Priests says that doctrine and practice must ‘remain firmly and inseparably in harmony’

Almost 500 priests in England and Wales have signed a letter urging those attending this year’s family synod to issue a “clear and firm proclamation” upholding Church teaching on marriage.

In the letter, published in this week’s Catholic Herald, the priests write: “We wish, as Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia.”

Last year’s extraordinary synod provoked heated debate on the question of whether remarried Catholics should be permitted to receive Holy Communion – a proposal presented by retired German Cardinal Walter Kasper.

In what is thought to be an unprecedented step, 461 priests in England and Wales have joined together to urge synod participants to resist the proposal.

[… SKIPPPING TO THE LETTER…]

Full text of the letter and list of signatories:

SIR – Following the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome in October 2014 much confusion has arisen concerning Catholic moral teaching. In this situation we wish, as Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia.

We commit ourselves anew to the task of presenting this teaching in all its fullness, while reaching out with the Lord’s compassion to those struggling to respond to the demands and challenges of the Gospel in an increasingly secular society. Furthermore we affirm the importance of upholding the Church’s traditional discipline regarding the reception of the sacraments, and that doctrine and practice remain firmly and inseparably in harmony.

We urge all those who will participate in the second Synod in October 2015 to make a clear and firm proclamation of the Church’s unchanging moral teaching, so that confusion may be removed, and faith confirmed.

Yours faithfully,

[… ALL THE SIGNATORIES…]

Fr. Z kudos to all these good priests.

Also, my friend His Hermeneuticalness Fr. Tim Finigan, PP in Margate, has a few things to say at his fine blog HERE:

There have been one or two queries. A couple of priests have asked whether they could sign it as they did not have the chance to do so. [I would have signed it, but I am not a priest of England and Wales.] I understand that the organisers of the letter did try to send a copy to every priest in England and Wales, but a database with such a large number of entries is bound to have a few mistakes. Unfortunately, I am told that there is no easy way to add signatures now. This was a competely independent undertaking of a small number of priests who are actively working in parishes.

One or two lay people have asked if a letter could be organised for laity to sign. I would recommend lay people to keep in touch with Voice of the Family and to share ideas with them because they are a specifically lay group. Priests and laity each have their own important apostolates

Anybody, priest or lay faithful, who agrees with the priests’ letter can help by using their own social media channels to publicise the letter and speak to others about the key points in it.

It is also open to every member of the Christian Faithful (clerics and laity) to manifest their concerns to the Holy See. Here are two possible addresses to write to:

HE Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri
Secretary General, Synod of Bishops
Palazzo del Bramante
Via della Conciliazione, 34
00193 Roma

HE Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller
Prefect for The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11
00193 Rome Italy
email: cdf@cfaith.va

 

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, Mail from priests, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , ,
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ASK FATHER: Extraordinary Form “Dialogue” Masses

Posted on 23 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Your post of Archbishop Sample’s remarks and the subsequent discussion in the remarks section rekindled an interest I have in the liturgical reforms instituted by Pope Pius XII, specifically encouragement of the dialogue Mass when Low Mass is celebrated. I remember there was a lot of discussion about this in the early ’60 while the Council was in session. I’d be curious to know how prevalent this practice is in communities that celebrate the Extraordinary Form.

First, let’s review.  In a nutshell here are the degrees permitted.

The parts that could be said or sung by the congregation were of two kinds: the parts to be sung at High Mass (Pontifical, Solemn, Sung), and the parts which are responses of the ministers or the server at Low Mass.  The 1958 document Musica sacra divides dialogue Masses into four degrees of outward, vocal expression.  In a nutshell,

  1. The congregation makes the shorter responses such as the Amen, Deo gratias, Et cum spiritu tuo along with the servers.
  2. Same as above but adding all the responses of the servers, including the prayers at the foot of the altar, Second Confiteor where used, etc..
  3. Same as above adding the Ordinary (e.g. Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, etc.) together with the priest and/or choir.
  4. Same as above adding even the Propers (Introit, etc.) with the priest and/or choir.

Certain texts of the Mass are reserved to the priest, and should never be said aloud by the faithful.  Period.

Of course there is the tricky dynamic of congregations comprised of those who want to respond while others do not. Sometimes the priest (wrongly, in my view) wants no responses but the congregation does.

Each community should find their way in this regard, always under the prudent and well-informed suggestions of the priest.

As far as how prevalent “dialogue” versus “silent” Masses are, I am not sure.  Most of the places were I have been (quite a few) there is “dialogue”.  People respond both speaking and singing.

Maybe some of you can chime in?

I’ll turn the moderation queue and let some comments pile up before releasing them.  That way you can all jump in without jumping on, if you get me.

Meanwhile, let’s have a poll.  If I did this right, you can choose two answers.

About Extraordinary Form "dialogue" Mass. ROUND 2

View Results

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Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged ,
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ASK FATHER: Can confessions be heard during Mass in the Extraordinary Form?

Posted on 23 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Is it appropriate for a priest to be hearing confessions while Extraordinary Form Mass has started? My priest seemed to think it was never done in the “old” days as he called it.

Yes, confessions were often heard during Mass in the “old” days.  It was fairly widespread where there were more than one priest available in a parish or at a chapel.

As a matter of fact, this last Sunday we had confessions during my Sunday Mass.  A priest was available and generously gave of his time and heard quite a few confessions for about 45 minutes.   Of course the people who attend the EF are generally pretty good at making their confessions.  They confess sins in both kind and number and they don’t ramble.

But I digress.

It is entirely appropriate that confessions be heard during Mass.

In Redemptionis Sacramentum 76 we read:

Furthermore, according to a most ancient tradition of the Roman Church, it is not permissible to unite the Sacrament of Penance to the Mass in such a way that they become a single liturgical celebration. This does not exclude, however, that Priests other than those celebrating or concelebrating the Mass might hear the confessions of the faithful who so desire, even in the same place where Mass is being celebrated, in order to meet the needs of those faithful. This should nevertheless be done in an appropriate manner.

Cf. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter (Motu Proprio), Misericordia Dei, 7 April 2002, n. 2: AAS 94 (2002) p. 455; Cf. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Response to Dubium: Notitiae 37 (2001) pp. 259-260.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, GO TO CONFESSION, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , , ,
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English translation problem on Vatican website of key paragraph of an important document

Posted on 23 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

15_03_23_DH2_screenshotFrom a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I was reading an article on the SSPX website on Religious Liberty last night. In it, they quoted Dignitatis Humanæ of the Second Vatican Council. Interestingly, the part the SSPX would particularly object to is missing on the Vatican’s website!

Here is the quote the Society gave:

“This right essentially means that all human beings must be immune from all coercion, both by individuals and by social groups and by any human authority whatsoever, so that in religious matters no one is forced to act against his conscience or prevented from acting, within just limits, according to his conscience, in private as well as in public, alone or together with others.”

And here is the Vatican’s English version of DH 2.

“This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.”

Interestingly, the German translation of DH 2 includes the highlighted bits:

“Diese Freiheit besteht darin, daß alle Menschen frei sein müssen von jedem Zwang sowohl von seiten Einzelner wie gesellschaftlicher Gruppen, wie jeglicher menschlichen Gewalt, so daß in religiösen Dingen niemand gezwungen wird, gegen sein Gewissen zu handeln, noch daran gehindert wird, privat und öffentlich, als einzelner oder in Verbindung mit anderen – innerhalb der gebührenden Grenzen – nach seinem Gewissen zu handeln.”

I assume this is yet another case of the Vatican’s website not living up to standards one would expect, but it is a very curious omission, is it not? After all, the words are intermingled in the sentence and not a separate paragraph, so one would think their omission would be conscious.

Yes, that is curious indeed.  It seems that the problem is in the rendering, or non rendering, of Latin neque impediatur.

Here is the Latin:

2. Haec Vaticana Synodus declarat personam humanam ius habere ad libertatem religiosam. Huiusmodi libertas in eo consistit, quod omnes homines debent immunes esse a coercitione ex parte sive singulorum sive coetuum socialium et cuiusvis potestatis humanae, et ita quidem ut in re religiosa neque aliquis cogatur ad agendum contra suam conscientiam neque impediatur, quominus iuxta suam conscientiam agat privatim et publice, vel solus vel aliis consociatus, intra debitos limites. Insuper declarat ius ad libertatem religiosam esse revera fundatum in ipsa dignitate personae humanae, qualis et verbo Dei revelato et ipsa ratione cognoscitur (2). Hoc ius personae humanae ad libertatem religiosam in iuridica societatis ordinatione ita est agnoscendum, ut ius civile evadat.

Here is the Italian:

2. Questo Concilio Vaticano dichiara che la persona umana ha il diritto alla libertà religiosa. Il contenuto di una tale libertà è che gli esseri umani devono essere immuni dalla coercizione da parte dei singoli individui, di gruppi sociali e di qualsivoglia potere umano, così che in materia religiosa nessuno sia forzato ad agire contro la sua coscienza né sia impedito, entro debiti limiti, di agire in conformità ad essa: privatamente o pubblicamente, in forma individuale o associata. Inoltre dichiara che il diritto alla libertà religiosa si fonda realmente sulla stessa dignità della persona umana quale l’hanno fatta conoscere la parola di Dio rivelata e la stessa ragione (2). Questo diritto della persona umana alla libertà religiosa deve essere riconosciuto e sancito come diritto civile nell’ordinamento giuridico della società.

Curious indeed.

Posted in Religious Liberty, The Drill, Vatican II | Tagged , , , ,
27 Comments

Great news!

Posted on 23 March 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I received some great news today. The Benedictine monks in Norcia, Italy have finished recording some 30 tracks for a forthcoming music CD of Gregorian Chant.

The target time for release is early June 2015.

I will post links as soon as they are ready.

Posted in The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , ,
6 Comments