Beware of posters glued to poles!

Posted on 10 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I received this from an intrepid reader:

Father, I have an interesting ‘quick hit’ possible picture post for the blog:

While walking in downtown Toronto I noticed the attached poster splashed all around. The subject matter does not match the medium given the usual moral relativistic nonsense splashed all over urban streetscapes.

I wonder who has done this? Have local traditional Catholics discovered glue and brush, taking their message to the ‘peripheries’?

I doubt it. But the poster is interesting… and… for the most part… true.

No… but …. hey!  Wait just a cotton pickin’ minute!

Take another look.

IMG_20150127_142613_edit

Walk?

Where?!?

Something about that last part nagged at me so I did some Google Fu.   Speaking of “Nag”, this is a quote from a Gnostic text from Nag Hammadi, the Asklepius.  Pretty strange stuff… unless you regularly attend meetings of the LCWR and read the Fishwrap.

Anyone else with a poster?

In the meantime, please take some time to refresh your supply of …

[CUE MUSIC]

… Mystic Monk Coffee!

When you’ve had a long hard day as a farmer digging up ancient sealed earthenware jars containing papyrus codices, ponder your newly discovered Gnostic ravings over a steaming hot Fr. Z Swag mug of Mystic Monk Coffee!

Then have your mother burn some of the papyri, because… hey… they start fires well.  It’s too krinkly to be good fishwrap.   Though I did mention starting fires.  I digress.

Did you know that the Mystic Monks right now has the coffee of the month from ancient Egypt!

Well… not exactly ancient Egypt.

More like… not ancient, and not Egypt.  But… it’s from a really old place in Africa, not too far from Egypt, insofar as, it is closer to Egypt than, say, … Borneo.  Or from Wyoming where the Carmelites need to build their new monastery.

 

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Posted in The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged ,
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Death in Belgistan

Posted on 10 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I point the readership’s attention at a blog which lead me to a piece in the Italian Il Foglio.

The situation in Belgium is described.   Belgium has nearly completely abandoned the Catholic Faith.

Giulio Meotti:
Belgium is Committing Suicide

As the capital of the European Union goes, so goes Europe. And the details are worse than you can imagine.

Belgium has the highest per capita number of Islamic terrorists gone to fight in Syria and Iraq than any other European country. Brussels is the capital of the holy war, as well as of the European Union.

The first European citizen to die on the battlefields of jihad was Muriel Degauque, a Belgian Catholic girl. Originally from Charleroi, she converted to Islam, changed her name to Myriam and died near Baghdad as a human bomb.

Two days before September 11, two Tunisians recruited in Belgium managed to kill the Afghan commander Massoud, enemy of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
And the terror cell of Madrid’s 2004 bombings came from the town of Maaseik.

How could Maaseik, the city of the Christian painter Van Eyck, become the center of Islamic terrorism in Europe?

They call it “Belgistan“, it is the sad evolution of a wealthy, bored and skeptical country, a world of cafes, theaters, municipal clubs, wine, witty conversations, carillons, libraries, prosperous cooperatives.
Brussels was destined to become, like London, Paris or Athens, the place par excellence of Europe’s national merger. Homo Belgicus should have been the highest example of synthesis of the European everyman. Yet, the country is sick.

Belgium doesn’t only hold the record for jihadists in Europe, it is also the European country with the highest suicide rate. The most notorious suicide is the Nobel Prize laureate in Medicine, Christian de Duve, who, two years ago, killed himself in front of his four children.

Six suicides a day. With a suicide rate estimated at more than 20 per 100,000 inhabitants, Belgium breaks all records in Western Europe. The world average is 14.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. Suicide is indeed the first cause of mortality among Belgians between 25-44 and the second leading cause, after vehicle accidents, between 15-24.

The tragic statistic would grow if we counted the thousands of deaths that occur under the law of euthanasia, with six deaths per day. Belgium is also the site of the first “supermarket of death.” In Flémalle, a Belgian town not far from Liege. The tombstones? In the fourth row. The crowns? In the right corner. The coffins? To the left.

A country dominated by nihilism, where Islam is already the first religion. In the schools of the capital of Europe, the teaching of the Muslim religion has exceeded that of students of Catholic faith. A full 43 percent is studying Islam, and the same figure stood at 41.4 in high schools; 27.9 percent are following courses of “secular morality” (atheism), and only 23.3 percent opted for studies in the Catholic faith.

Already today, in Brussels, one in three people is Muslim, the most common name is Mohammed, and by 2035 it will be a city with a Muslim majority.

The great moments of life, such as baptisms, weddings and funerals in Belgium are no longer tied to Christianity, this in a country whose symbols have long been the cathedral of Antwerp, the dog of St. Hubert and the University of Leuven (founded by Pope Martin V).

In Brussels today only 7.2 percent of marriages are Catholic, only 14.8 percent of children are baptized, and there only 22.6 percent of funerals were Catholic. It is the end of Catholicism.

[…]

Read and weep over the rest over there.

If they have gone down this road, can we?

So, by all means, let’s listen to advice from the bishops of Belgium about what we need to do in the face of the dictatorship of relativism, shifting/plummeting demographics, and the erosion of Catholic identity.

Posted in New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Pò sì jiù, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices, The Religion of Peace | Tagged , , , ,
22 Comments

The Last Altar Boy

Posted on 10 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The often amusing Eye of the Tiber has this:

The last male altar server in the United States has officially called it quits, the boy’s family is reporting this morning.

The 3-year altar server veteran, who remained at his post as cross bearer despite pressure from the community to wear heels or quit altogether, served his final Mass on Sunday morning.

Devin McAlister, who claims he was made fun of by friends at school for doing a “girls job” told EOTT that many in the community began to question his sexuality as the years went on.

“People used to say stuff,” McAlister said. “I could hear them saying things as I walked down the aisle. Every Mass, for instance, I would hear this guy poking fun at me, saying that the only reason I served was because I got to wear a dress. Or him saying things like ‘shouldn’t you be carrying a barbie doll?’ But it wasn’t always Father Brian who be picking on me…sometimes it was other people too.”

McAlister went on to say that he was, nevertheless, thankful for the time he spent serving the Mass, thanking his fellow servers for showing him how to be a better server and for teaching him what type of heals and sparkly makeup best complimented different cincture colors.

At press time, McAlister has joined the choir.

 

Posted in Lighter fare, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , ,
12 Comments

Card. Marx: Tradition… clear in their positions… growing populism… terrorism.

Posted on 10 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Remember a while back when Card. Marx pulled a fast one with the text of Evangelii gaudium? HERE

Over at LifeSite News, Hillary White offers another facet of Marx’s interview with Jesuit-run America Magazine. America is leading the charge in the English language in support of overturning Catholic teaching and practice about Communion for those in adulterous relationships (the divorced and civilly remarried). I suspect their goal reaches beyond mere adultery. Once you detach the marital act from proper disposition for Communion… well… anything goes.

So, what is the other point from the interview that needs some attention?

Cardinal hits young traditionalists who want to ‘be clear in their positions’: calls it ‘the beginning of terrorism’

February 9, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of Pope Francis’ closest advisors, and the leader of one of the most “liberal” Catholic hierarchies in the world, has denounced “traditional” young people for wanting “to be clear in their positions,” warning that it is a path to “terrorism.” In a related interview with the Jesuit magazine America, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German Bishops’ conference, applauded people in homosexual partnerships who want a “lifelong” relationship.

“I am astonished that most of our young people, and also Catholic homosexuals who are practicing, want a relationship that lasts forever,” Marx told America. “We must begin with the main points of the doctrine, to see the dream: the dream is to have a person say, a man and woman say, ‘You and you, forever. You and you, forever.’ And we as church say, ‘Yes, that’s absolutely OK. Your vision is right!’

“So we find the way. Then perhaps there is failure. They find the person, and it is not a great success. But life-long fidelity is right and good.”

He added, “The church says that a gay relationship is not on the same level as a relationship between a man and a woman. That is clear. But when they are faithful, when they are engaged for the poor, when they are working, it is not possible to say, ‘Everything you do, because you are a homosexual, is negative.’” [That contradicts what the Church says in the pastoral care of homosexual persons.  We don’t say that everything homosexuals do is negative.  We say that homosexual acts are sins and that homosexual tendencies are disordered.]

In his Stanford lecture, Cardinal Marx said, “I had a discussion with some of the students,” before the lecture, who asked him, “‘Cardinal is it true that the younger people are more traditional?’ And that’s true.”

“But that is not dangerous,” he said. “I have no problem with tradition. But we have also the tendencies that the people want to be clear in their positions. Black and white populism is growing in Europe. And that is the beginning, perhaps, of populism, of terrorism, that’s clear.”

“The atmosphere of reducing the complexity of the world, to give simple answers, to give black and white answers, is growing, and I think that is very dangerous,” the cardinal said.

[…]

Hoping that more people will wake up and smell the coffee.
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Tradition… clear in their positions… growing populism… terrorism.

Reducing complexity to simple answers… black and white answers… dangerous.

On the other hand, to protect ourselves from terrorism and dangerous simplicity, we need complex and nuanced views of questions, especially moral questions. We need to set aside all the simplistic answer of the past, the black and white approach of “No!” and “A is grave matter” and “B is mortal sin” and “C contradicts natural law”.

From example… from later in the America piece (via the same LifeSite piece):

He said he has consulted with “many experts,” including canon lawyers and theologians, on the subject of the indissolubility of marriage. “What can we do when a person marries, divorces and later finds a new partner? There are different positions,” the cardinal said.

“Some bishops at the synod said, ‘They are living in sin.’ But others said, ‘You cannot say that somebody is in sin every day. That is not possible.’ You see, there are questions we must speak about.” He said it is important the Synod does not have “the spirit of ‘all or nothing.’ It is not a good way.”

I turned on the moderation queue.  Try to post something I won’t ding, please.  Think before hitting the button.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, Sin That Cries To Heaven, The Drill | Tagged ,
53 Comments

Wherein Card. Burke clarifies what reasonable people already knew.

Posted on 10 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

My post and comments about what Card. Burke said in a French TV interview received some vigorous responses, some which I declined to post.  His Eminence responded to a hypothetical question … always a little dangerous … about what he might do were Pope Francis to continue on course X.  Get that?

In any event, His Eminence’s answer stirred the pot.  He said that were Pope Francis to do X (persist – quite an assumption – in driving forward Communion for the divorced and remarried) then he would have to resist such an effort:

“Resisterò.  Non posso fare altro….  I shall resist. I can do no other.”

Card. Burke has now offered a bit more on that response.  Mind you, there was nothing wrong with his response, other than the fact that he responded to a hypothetical, which, as I mentioned before, is a dicey move.

At CNA we find this:

What Cardinal Burke really said about ‘resisting’ Pope Francis

Cardinal Raymond Burke said he was “responding to a hypothetical situation” when he stated that he would resist any possible move by Pope Francis away from Catholic doctrine.

“I simply affirmed that it is always my sacred duty to defend the truth of the Church’s teaching and discipline regarding marriage,” Cardinal Burke told CNA Feb. 9.

“No authority can absolve me from that responsibility, and, therefore, if any authority, even the highest authority, were to deny that truth or act contrary to it, I would be obliged to resist, in fidelity to my responsibility before God.”

[…]

That’s it.  He has made clearer – for the less agile of mind and for the muckrackers – what he said.

I, however, am still waiting for those professional and perennial Pope resistors at Fishwrap to embrace Card. Burke as their new model.

Posted in Linking Back | Tagged
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28 FEB – NYC – Holy Innocents Church – Card. Dolan Requiem for Fr. Groeschel

Posted on 9 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of the New York, will visit the Church of the Holy Innocents on Saturday 28 February 2015.  At 10 AM, His Eminence will celebrate a Mass for the Dead (Ordinary Form) for Fr. Benedict Groeschel.

The usual volunteer/dedicated servers from Holy Innocents will serve this Mass. The volunteer choir of Holy Innocents (Vox in Rama… clever!) will provide the music.

Please, spread the word. Fr. Groeschel used to give talks at Holy Innocents.  It is fitting to have a Mass for him at Holy Innocents.

After the Mass, there will be a reception in the parish hall.

I would very much like to be there for that.

Posted in Events, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , ,
9 Comments

What on earth is Pope Francis up to and why?

Posted on 9 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

st-peters-11-years-after-michelangelos-deathOne of my go-to guys for commentary on things Vatican is now Andrea Gagliarducci at his weekly Monday Vatican post.

This week Andrea tackles the questions (my wording): What on earth is Pope Francis up to and why?

Let’s see some of his piece.  You will have to read the whole thing there.  Here are samples with my oft-imitated treatment of emphases and comments:

Pope Francis: Will It Really Be a Revolution?

The week that begins today and ends with the creation of 20 new cardinals may represent the turning point of Pope Francis’ pontificate. [HERE] The choices of the new cardinals not only show Pope Francis’ sensitivity toward the world’s peripheries and a certain pastoral approach, they also indicate a change concerning the pivotal issues at stake in this papacy. This change cannot be underestimated.

Before the arrival of Pope Francis, the main themes of discussion in the Church have had solid theological roots. But even the question concerning the pastoral care of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, as well as for homosexual couples – both of which were the object of a heated debate at the last Synod of Bishops – are in the end based on theological foundations, and deal with the application of doctrine. Moreover, even the criticisms aimed at the pope’s plan for curial reform – the other issue at currently at stake in this pontificate – are founded on theological and juridical grounds.

Nevertheless, Pope Francis demonstrates that he is moving on completely different grounds. It is not by chance that one of his favourite quotes about ecumenism is taken from the conversation between Bl. Paul VI and the Patriarch of Costantinople, Athenagoras: “If we were to close ourselves off in a room together and leave the theologians outside, we would accomplish ecumenism in one hour.” In similar fashion, leaving theological discussions aside, Pope Francis wants to propose a model of a Church that evangelizes through attraction, and not because of the strength of its concepts.  [At first glance, this seems like madness.  On the other hand, consider that, under the onslaught of the dictatorship of relativism and the destruction of education resulting in the loss of reasoning skills along with wide-spread ignorance, people can’t or don’t accept reasoned arguments anymore.  Gorgias has won.  We have to hold up shiny objects in front of people’s eyes, and rattle them as a bunch of keys before a fussing baby.  Is that too harsh?  I have to exaggerate to get my point across.  So, Francis might be on to something.]

Pope Francis’ choices in two consistories mirror this intention. Beyond choosing a few candidates with strong institutional ties, Pope Francis has selected as cardinals mainly bishops whose primary interest is not found in some or other theological position, but in pastoral practice. Pope Francis’ Church bypasses theological discussion and aims at going straight to the heart of the people.  [I think that that distinction of “theological” versus “pastoral” is flawed, but….  In any event, this is why our sacred liturgical worship of God is pivotal in any effort we undertake in evangelization or new evangelization.]

All of these new cardinals will bring their peculiar perspectives to the consistory the Pope has convened to discuss reform of the Roman Curia. The reform seems to be stuck. The first comprehensive draft was highly criticized by Vatican dicasteries, and there is a real risk that the structure will remain as it is for the moment, in expectation of a definitive change that will not take place before the end of this year – as Pope Francis has admitted. Nevertheless, another option that one insider designates “St. Peter’s option” may be explored.

[NB] It can be explained this way. During the construction of the current Basilica of St. Peter in the 16th century, the old basilica was only gradually dismantled, step by step, while it was replaced with the new building. This is the way Pope Francis works, by establishing new structures around the currently existing structure which is then removed once the new structure is complete.

Through this lens we can better understand the process by which the Vatican at first hired expensive external commissions and then followed this step with the establishment of the Secretariat for the Economy, the Council for the Economy and the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. These bodies were born without statutes and they set out to work while waiting for their specific powers and competences to be drafted.

This is way curial reform will be carried out. According to sources, during their recent ad limina visit, the Lithuanian bishops asked Pope Francis about the reform. He replied that two super-congregations, respectively, for Justice and Charity and Laity and Family will be established. How the competences of the many minor dicasteries that will be subsumed into these new Congregations will be arranged is yet to be decided. But establishing them is a first step toward the much anticipated Curia reform.  [I’m skeptical.  But…. hey!… maybe it’ll work!]

[…]

He goes on to opine about the choices he is making in curial reform and his selection of new cardinals.  Then…

[…]

Still, no theological preference seems to drive Pope Francis’ choices. Instead one finds a human touch, a peculiar instinct that guides the Pope in understanding who the prelates are with whom he feels more at ease.

[…]

Cardinal Baldisseri’s words signalled that the Synod war has already begun, and that – in spite of the slogan “We don’t turn back” which accompanied the presentation of the next Synod’s guidelines – the majority of bishops does not endorse a pastoral practice that is completely detached from doctrine.  [That’s because it can’t be!]

[NB… salutary reminders…] And Pope Francis would probably not support it either. The Pope is always very orthodox in his declarations. This fact has been demonstrated several times. The Pope backed the Slovakian bishops in their commitment to promote a referendum to defend the traditional family in their country. He invited Filipinos to be wary of the ideological colonization of the family. He expressed a strongly negative judgment over gender theory, which he also defined as ‘demonic’ during a meeting with Austrian bishop in an ad limina visit. Taken together these moments indicate that Pope Francis is anything but progressive.  [Which is what I have been pushing all along.]

[Quaeritur…] So, who is the real Pope Francis? The one who supports liberal bishops and priests, or the one who speaks in an orthodox way? The answer may be more obvious than expected. [It isn’t obvious to me.  Let’s see what Andrea has to say!]

Simply put, for Pope Francis pastoral practice is more important than any given theological debate because the latter, in the end, may be no more than a worldly exercise. Perhaps his famous declaration about preferring a “poor Church for the poor” may also be read this way: a Church light in structure with limited philosophical debates and a great deal of pastoral love. [BUT!… BUT!… Someone has to do the theology!  And I don’t think they deserve to be regularly insulted.]

But this is not new. Benedict XVI spoke in almost the same terms about the need to escape worldliness and to move beyond the self-referentiality of ecclesial structures. And he underscored the value of mercy as is evidenced in the homily he delivered at the Mass for the inauguration of his petrine ministry. Time and again Pope Benedict preached about a Church that should not be constructed on ideas, but engaged in a lively evangelization effort.

Nevertheless, between these two popes a paradigm change is taking place. Pope Benedict was convinced that a solid theological background was needed so that the Church’s pastoral practice would be correct.  [That describes my view.] In fact, the search for truth was pivotal in his pontificate. Pope Francis, on the other hand, sets aside any given theological problem in order to seek immediate, personal contact with people.  [Will that get the job done?  We’ll see.]

[…]

Read the whole thing over there.

Thought provoking.

¡Hagan lío!

Meanwhile… remember this?

 

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, Benedict XVI, Francis, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices |
46 Comments

ASK FATHER: How can I gain a plenary indulgence as fast as I can?

Posted on 9 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

purgatory indulgencesFrom a reader…

QUAERITUR:

My grandfather just passed away after a long and painful sickness. He received last rites and Viaticum last Monday. How can I gain a plenary indulgence for him as fast as I can?

First, my condolences, I am sure that all the readers here will now stop and say a prayer for him:

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. Let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Second, I am pleased that you would think to obtain an indulgence for him. All of us should be aware of indulgences and seek to obtain them as often as we can. Think of how that might change our lives and how much benefit that would have for poor souls.

Third, if your grandfather received last rites, including Viaticum, I suspect he is in pretty good shape.

That said, off the top of my head I can think of five ways to obtain a plenary indulgence at any time of the year.

From the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum (Handbook of Indulgences):

  • Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament (Adoratio Ss.mi Sacramenti – EI 7 §1. 1°)
    A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, who visit the Most Blessed Sacrament to adore it;
    A plenary indulgence is granted, if the visit lasts for at least one half an hour.
  • Recitation of the Rosary (Rosarii marialis recitatio –  EI 17 §1. 1°)
    A plenary indulgence is granted if the Rosary is recited in a church or public oratory or in a family group, a religious Community or pious Association;
    A partial indulgence is granted in other circumstances.
  • Reading Sacred Scripture (Sacrae Scripturae lectio – EI 30 §1. 1°)
    A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, who with the veneration due the divine word make a spiritual reading from Sacred Scripture.
    A plenary indulgence is granted, if this reading is continued for at least one half an hour.
  • Exercise of the Way of the Cross (Viae Crucis exercitium – EI 13 2°)A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful, who make the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross. The gaining of the plenary indulgence is regulated by the following norms:
    The pious exercise must be made before stations of the Way of the Cross legitimately erected. For the erection of the Way of the Cross fourteen crosses are required, to which it is customary to add fourteen pictures or images, which represent the stations of Jerusalem. According to the more common practice, the pious exercise consists of fourteen pious readings, to which some vocal prayers are added. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.
    A movement from one station to the next is required. But if the pious exercise is made publicly and if it is not possible for all taking part to go in an orderly way from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their place. Those who are “impeded” can gain the same indulgence, if they spend at least one half an hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ. For those belonging to Oriental rites, amongst whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ for the gaining of this indulgence.
  • Recitation of the Akathistos hymn (EI – 17 § 1, 1° and 23 § 1)
    A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who recites the hymn Akthistos in a church or oratory, in a religious community, in an association of the faithful and in a general way when more of the faithful gather for a honest motive.
    In other circumstances the indulgence is partial.

We can obtain one plenary indulgence each day.

Indulgences can be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased. They cannot be applied to other living persons.

In addition to the described work, to obtain a plenary indulgence we must fulfill the following conditions:

1) GO TO CONFESSION! A single sacramental confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences, and Communion must be received.
2) Prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff must be recited for the gaining of each plenary indulgence. This is satisfied by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary. However, we are free to recite any other prayer according to our piety and devotion.
3) All attachment to sin, even venial sin, must be absent. If you are not free from attachment to sin, even venial, or if the prescribed conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be partial only.

A confessor or the local ordinary can commute the work or conditions if a person is legitimately impeded.

The three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work. However, it is fitting that Communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Pope be recited on the same day the work is performed.  How many days is “several days”?  Traditionally, it was said 8 days.  However, in 2000 for the Jubilee, the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary said 20 days.  Later, it was asked if that applied only to the Jubilee Year.  The same SAP said that it applied to the general norms.  So, the highest authority in the Church (apart from the Pope) on indulgences says “20 days”, though you are free to stick to getting everything done within 8, as we always did before.

Reverend Fathers, teach about indulgences.  Everyone, strive to obtain them!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, ASK FATHER Question Box, Four Last Things, Fr. Z KUDOS, GO TO CONFESSION, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged , , ,
15 Comments

A thought about Card. Burke and the Fishwrap

Posted on 8 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I had a thought about what Card. Burke said. In his interview with a French TV station, His Eminence said, in answer to a question about the possibility that the Pope might persist (quite an assumption) in driving forward Communion for the divorced and remarried:

“Resisterò.  Non posso fare altro….  I shall resist. I can do no other.”

As a happy ex-Lutheran, that had a familiar ring for about a nanosecond. “Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders.”

Anyway… here’s the thought.

Will the National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap) now take Card. Burke to their bosom? Embrace him as their new hero?

After all, the Fishwrap‘s entire income and raison d’être has come from resisting every Pope since Paul VI.

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged , , ,
24 Comments

When would we have to resist the Pope? Wherein Fr. Z Rants.

Posted on 8 February 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

peter paul RiberaWhat do we do when legitimate authority gets something important wrong?

We respectfully resist legitimate authority.

Pope Francis does or doesn’t do, A, B or C. He doesn’t, for example, wear proper pontifical garb, as tradition and decorum require, in the proper moments. I think that is wrong. However, while this is important, I don’t think it is important enough to resist him. His not putting on this or that vestment is not enough to merit resistance.

However, what if Pope Francis were to say that the divorced and civilly remarried without declaration of nullity could be admitted to Holy Communion, without any other clarifications?

I have in mind a well-known text by Jesuit St. Robert Bellarmine (+1612), Doctor of the Church, in his work De Romano Pontifice:

“Just as it is lawful to resist the pope that attacks the body, it is also lawful to resist the one who attacks souls or who disturbs civil order, or, above all, who attempts to destroy the Church. I say that it is lawful to resist him by not doing what he orders and preventing his will from being executed.”

Do I think that Pope Francis would do something so grave as to merit resistance?  I don’t  think so.  I pray not.

His Eminence Raymond Card. Burke has given an interview to a French TV station. He was asked a question along these lines. The site of the SSPX has a translated partial transcript.  Excerpt on France TV Info:

Cardinal Burke: I cannot accept that Communion can be given to a person in an irregular union because it is adultery. On the question of people of the same sex, this has nothing to do with marriage. This is an affliction suffered by some people whereby they are attracted against nature sexually to people of the same sex.

Question: If perchance the pope will persist in this direction, what will you do?
Cardinal Burke: I shall resist, I can do nothing else. There is no doubt that it is a difficult time; this is clear, this is clear.

Question: Painful?
Cardinal Burke: Yes.

Question: Worrisome?
Cardinal Burke: Yes.

Question: In your opinion, can we say today that the Catholic Church as an institution is threatened?
Cardinal Burke: The Lord has assured us, as He has assured St. Peter in the Gospel, that the powers of evil will not prevail, “non praevalebunt” as we say in Latin, that the forces of evil will not have victory over the Church.

Question of the end: Is the Pope still your friend?
Cardinal Burke (with a smile): I would not want to make the pope an enemy for sure. That is fine for now. [from the context: “That is enough for this interview”].

It seems to me that Card. Burke’s response was correct and appropriate.  He didn’t say that that is what is going on now, that he is resisting the Pope now.  He was asked a hypothetical question that all Catholics should be able to answer.

This is not a new question and answers to the question are not new.  In Acts 5:29 Peter says, “We ought to obey God, rather than men.”   In Galatians 2:11 Paul says, “But when Cephas [Peter] was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” Through the centuries great Fathers and Doctors of the Church along with many prominent theologians have pondered the hypothetical situation of a Pope who goes off the rails and what the faithful ought to do in response.   They conclude that if even a Pope errs in some matter, they must be resisted for the sake of avoiding scandal, defending the Faith, and the salvation of souls.

So, in Card. Burke’s response, there is nothing terribly new.  He is merely stating what all Catholics ought to know and ought to do.

Should it happen, quod Deus avertat, that even the Holy Father try to change clear Catholic teaching founded in the clear words of Christ Himself or the clear teaching of the Magisterium rooted Scripture and Tradition, then the Catholic faithful would have to resist him in that matter.   For example, were a Pope to attempt to ordain a woman, he must be resisted.  Were a Pope to attempt to marry two men or approve of such a thing, he must be resisted.

However, I don’t believe that we will ever see such a situation.

I am with Benedict XVI on this one.  Before Joseph Ratzinger was elevated to the See of Peter he explained something about the working of the Holy Spirit in the election of a Pope.  I, like Ratzinger, do not think that the Holy Spirit directly chooses the Pope, just as I do not think that the Holy Spirit dictated word for word the Scriptures which we hold to be divinely inspired.  God leaves a lot of room for human insights and will.  What the Holy Spirit does do, however, is ensure in His providence, that the Pope who is elected isn’t going to be a total disaster for the Church.  Similarly, just as I believe that the Holy Spirit guides and works within the mind and will of Popes in their governance of the Church and in teaching, I don’t think the Holy Spirit tells them directly what to do.  Popes remain men, subject to the problems all men have.  Popes can err in judgment.  They can weaken in will.  They can become infirm, ill, and even become demented or otherwise off their rockers.  In that situation, I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit, in that role of preserving the Church against the attacks of Hell and in guaranteeing the Rule of Faith and the Magisterium, would intervene.  What might the Holy Spirit do to prevent disaster?   That’s hard to say.  However, I wouldn’t rule out that the souls of hypothetical Pope Nutcase or Pope Loonytoon would suddenly be called forth from this earthly vale of tears to their eternal reward before God’s throne, were they about to gravely damage the Church in a fundamental way.  The stakes would have to be pretty high, and only the Holy Spirit would grasp those stakes.  Moreover, just as the human body and mind can take a lot of punishment and wounds, so too the Body of Christ the Church.  A good father doesn’t stop junior from running simply because he might fall and skin a knee or, even better, just because he has fallen and skinned a knee.  So too, God the Holy Spirit.

Enough for now.  Here is a video of the interview with Card. Burke.

The moderation queue is ON.  I want a whole bunch of responses before I turn it on.  That way people won’t be reacting to each other… at first.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Drill, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , ,
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