Taking the Pope’s Thought Seriously
Posted By Russell Shaw On September 30, 2009
In Russell Shaw, The Edge
A thoughtful and not unsympathetic discussion of a papal encyclical in a secular, liberal political journal? After all, why not? David Nirenberg’s treatment of Pope Benedict XVI’s economic encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) in the September 23 New Republic is one of the best short commentaries on this papal document that I’ve read to date.
Nirenberg is a professor of history at the University of Chicago. His analysis is a temperate and thought-provoking look at the encyclical that merits consideration in its own right.
He begins by noting that although people on both the left and the right have been free in their criticism of the Pope’s document, “nobody is much interested in debating the crucial argument…the fundamental claim that economic exchange requires love.” Perhaps, he speculates, that’s because religious believers see “the economic relevance of God’s love” as “self-evident” while non-believers consider it “absurd.” In both cases, there is a tendency to dismiss the idea as a platitude.
Yet from Plato to Marx, Nirenberg points out, the competing claims of self-interest and forgetfulness of self to be the guiding principle of economic activity have been debated. Only in modern times, and preeminently in the West, has self-interest triumphed. “It is this victory that Benedict XVI is questioning,” he says.
Nor is Benedict the first pope to do that; the questioning extends back at least to Leo XIII and his classic social encyclical of 1890, Rerum Novarum, and can be found also in major teaching documents of pontiffs like Pius XI, Paul VI, and, most recently before Benedict, John Paul II, whom Nirenberg quotes at length.
The professor speaks respectfully of what he calls “the scope of Benedict’s ambition,” which, as set out in Caritas in Veritate, he describes this way: “His idea is that every act of exchange should approximate the gratuitous gift of divine love. Every coin should approximate a Eucharist.”
Nirenberg does not embrace this idea, but neither does he reject it out of hand. He holds that it should be taken seriously—far more so than it has to date—in order truly to grasp what Benedict’s encyclical fundamentally is saying.
But he does have a bone to pick with the Pope. It is that in Benedict’s estimation only Catholicism possesses intellectual and spiritual resources capable of sustaining an approach to economic life grounded in selflessness. According to Nirenberg, this is unacceptable religious exclusivism that creates an insuperable obstacle to persons of other faiths who otherwise might wish to draw upon the Pope’s thinking.
Whether this is or isn’t an accurate critique of Benedict can be left to another day. Nirenberg’s unexceptionable point is that religious teachings in these pluralistic times must be presented in “a way that seeks to transcend the boundaries of the traditions that produced them.” If “transcend” here means “reach out beyond,” his point is well taken. But if it instead means “put aside” or “abandon,” he is making an ecclesiological assertion that no self-respecting religious tradition could possibly accept.
At the very least, it seems to me, if persons of other faiths do not accept papal claims for the Catholic Church (and pretty clearly they do not, for otherwise they would become Catholics), it doesn’t follow that they are thereby prevented from drawing whatever they do find true and helpful from the thought of Benedict or any pope. In the present instance, Professor Nirenberg (whose religious affiliation I do not know) appears to have done that with success, and for that we owe him thanks.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
German press: Atheist Czechs impressed by Pope Benedict XVI
30 September 2009 - Berlin,
Pope Benedict XVI has won great respect in the atheist Czech Republic, the German daily Die Welt wrote Tuesday commenting on the Pope's visit to the country on September 26-28.
Public Czech Television's (CT) cameras followed almost every move by Benedict XVI during his three-day visit to the Czech Republic, the daily says.
The Pope managed to raise enthusiasm among young people and he even won respect of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Die Welt wrote.
"Judging by the space provided by Czech Television to the coverage of Benedict XVI's visit it could seem that the Pope visited a bastion of Catholicism in the past three days," Die Welt says.
"The head of the Catholic Church did not take any step in public without being broadcast live by CT. This was accompanied by debates with experts who tried to explain the Pope's masses and speeches," the Prague correspondent of Die Welt wrote.
However, the Pope paid his pastoral visit to one of the most secular countries in the world, it adds.
The paper points out that the Pope used his visit mainly to remember the fall of communism 20 years ago.
The Pope called on Czechs to rediscover Christian traditions which had formed their culture on the background of the religious freedom they have achieved, the daily says.
However, Benedict XVI did not only point to regained freedom but he also raised the question of what freedom actually means and said the fight for freedom should be connected with the search for truth.
"Even such purely liberal politician as Klaus could not deny respect to the Pope and he even admitted that he shares certain values with Benedict XVI," Die Welt wrote.
On the fringes of the visit, representatives of the state and the Church even expressed mutually accommodating positions in practical questions, which "people around Benedict XVI registered with a great satisfaction," the daily wrote.
The Bild.de server says the Pope's visit to the Czech Republic was also a visit to the past, back to his predecessor John Paul II.
"Because Prague was the first city of the former eastern block the Polish Pope visited after the fall of the Iron Curtain. For Benedict XVI it was an opportunity to again point to the Czech Republic's position at the crossroads of world history," the server says.
Czech News Agency
30 September 2009 - Berlin,
Pope Benedict XVI has won great respect in the atheist Czech Republic, the German daily Die Welt wrote Tuesday commenting on the Pope's visit to the country on September 26-28.
Public Czech Television's (CT) cameras followed almost every move by Benedict XVI during his three-day visit to the Czech Republic, the daily says.
The Pope managed to raise enthusiasm among young people and he even won respect of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Die Welt wrote.
"Judging by the space provided by Czech Television to the coverage of Benedict XVI's visit it could seem that the Pope visited a bastion of Catholicism in the past three days," Die Welt says.
"The head of the Catholic Church did not take any step in public without being broadcast live by CT. This was accompanied by debates with experts who tried to explain the Pope's masses and speeches," the Prague correspondent of Die Welt wrote.
However, the Pope paid his pastoral visit to one of the most secular countries in the world, it adds.
The paper points out that the Pope used his visit mainly to remember the fall of communism 20 years ago.
The Pope called on Czechs to rediscover Christian traditions which had formed their culture on the background of the religious freedom they have achieved, the daily says.
However, Benedict XVI did not only point to regained freedom but he also raised the question of what freedom actually means and said the fight for freedom should be connected with the search for truth.
"Even such purely liberal politician as Klaus could not deny respect to the Pope and he even admitted that he shares certain values with Benedict XVI," Die Welt wrote.
On the fringes of the visit, representatives of the state and the Church even expressed mutually accommodating positions in practical questions, which "people around Benedict XVI registered with a great satisfaction," the daily wrote.
The Bild.de server says the Pope's visit to the Czech Republic was also a visit to the past, back to his predecessor John Paul II.
"Because Prague was the first city of the former eastern block the Polish Pope visited after the fall of the Iron Curtain. For Benedict XVI it was an opportunity to again point to the Czech Republic's position at the crossroads of world history," the server says.
Czech News Agency
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Czech trip was low-key, but pope is 'very happy'
APSeptember 28, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI wrapped up a low-key pilgrimage to the fiercely secular Czech Republic on Monday, reaching out to nonbelievers and calling on an increasingly diverse Europe to embrace Christian teachings.
Throughout the three-day visit, the crowds were contained, and so was the pope's rhetoric.Although he often wades into contentious issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage, this time a conciliatory Benedict — apparently unwilling to antagonize already apathetic Czechs — made no direct mention of either.
But the Vatican pronounced the pontiff's 13th foreign trip a success. So did President Vaclav Klaus, a non-Catholic, who called it "extraordinarily successful."
Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the 82-year-old pope was "very happy" with the response in the ex-communist country, one of Europe's most secular nations.
While acknowledging there is little the Vatican can do to radically change the situation, Lombardi said the church must send a loud and clear appeal as a "minority" and get out its message of love and hope.
"The solution is to encourage," Lombardi told reporters.
Benedict visited less than two months before Czechs celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which peacefully toppled a communist regime that had persecuted Roman Catholics and confiscated church property.
On Monday, a national holiday honoring St. Wenceslas, the nation's martyred patron saint, the German-born pope held an open-air Mass in the town of Stara Boleslav, just northeast of Prague.
At least 40,000 faithful — some from nearby Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia — packed a meadow to hear the pope point to Wenceslas as a model for leaders and urge the world to follow the ethical principles of Christianity.
"The last century — as this land of yours can bear witness — saw the fall of a number of powerful figures who had apparently risen to almost unattainable heights," Benedict said, speaking in Italian.
"Suddenly they found themselves stripped of their power," the pope said.
Those who deny God and appear to lead a comfortable life are in reality "sad and unfulfilled" people, he added.
The pope called Wenceslas, murdered by his pagan brother in 935 A.D. at the gate to a church, "a model of holiness for all people."
"We ask ourselves: In our day, is holiness still relevant? Or is it now considered unattractive and unimportant? he said.
The Vatican said 40,000 people turned out; Czech organizers put the crowd estimate at 50,000.Some 30 people needed treatment during the Mass, mostly for dehydration and exhaustion, said Tereza Janeckova, a regional emergency services spokeswoman. Seven were hospitalized, including two who apparently suffered heart attacks.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland, who served as secretary to Benedict's predecessor, the late John Paul II, urged Europeans to heed Benedict's message.
"It is a crucial moment for the future of Europe, and Benedict speaks like a prophet," he told Sky TG24 television. "Don't abandon the roots from which you grew, because a tree without roots dies. If Europe abandons these roots, the future is uncertain."
In a special message to young people, the pope urged them not to be seduced by consumerism.
"Unfortunately, many of your contemporaries allow themselves to be led astray by illusory visions of spurious happiness, and then they find themselves sad and alone," he said.
And in his farewell before returning to Rome, Benedict quoted the great Czech writer Franz Kafka — "anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old" — and encouraged people to see beauty in God's creation and truth.
On Sunday, an open-air Mass in Brno in the southern Czech Republic, the country's Catholic heartland, drew 120,000 pilgrims.
Overall, though, the pope got a tepid response: No posters or billboards promoted his visit, and local media coverage was thin.
That came as no surprise in this nation where polls suggest half the population of 10 million don't believe in God.
Even the nation's top churchman seemed stuck in a funk.
In an astonishingly public display of self-deprecation, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk made his confession to reporters, saying: "I have achieved almost nothing during my 20 years" as archbishop.
But Lukas Jasa, 21, who trekked more than 300 kilometers (200 miles) from the country's east to glimpse the pope Monday, said he felt it was important to buck the secular trend.
"It's important for us to show that we're not just an atheist nation — that there are believers here," he said.
APSeptember 28, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI wrapped up a low-key pilgrimage to the fiercely secular Czech Republic on Monday, reaching out to nonbelievers and calling on an increasingly diverse Europe to embrace Christian teachings.
Throughout the three-day visit, the crowds were contained, and so was the pope's rhetoric.Although he often wades into contentious issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage, this time a conciliatory Benedict — apparently unwilling to antagonize already apathetic Czechs — made no direct mention of either.
But the Vatican pronounced the pontiff's 13th foreign trip a success. So did President Vaclav Klaus, a non-Catholic, who called it "extraordinarily successful."
Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the 82-year-old pope was "very happy" with the response in the ex-communist country, one of Europe's most secular nations.
While acknowledging there is little the Vatican can do to radically change the situation, Lombardi said the church must send a loud and clear appeal as a "minority" and get out its message of love and hope.
"The solution is to encourage," Lombardi told reporters.
Benedict visited less than two months before Czechs celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which peacefully toppled a communist regime that had persecuted Roman Catholics and confiscated church property.
On Monday, a national holiday honoring St. Wenceslas, the nation's martyred patron saint, the German-born pope held an open-air Mass in the town of Stara Boleslav, just northeast of Prague.
At least 40,000 faithful — some from nearby Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia — packed a meadow to hear the pope point to Wenceslas as a model for leaders and urge the world to follow the ethical principles of Christianity.
"The last century — as this land of yours can bear witness — saw the fall of a number of powerful figures who had apparently risen to almost unattainable heights," Benedict said, speaking in Italian.
"Suddenly they found themselves stripped of their power," the pope said.
Those who deny God and appear to lead a comfortable life are in reality "sad and unfulfilled" people, he added.
The pope called Wenceslas, murdered by his pagan brother in 935 A.D. at the gate to a church, "a model of holiness for all people."
"We ask ourselves: In our day, is holiness still relevant? Or is it now considered unattractive and unimportant? he said.
The Vatican said 40,000 people turned out; Czech organizers put the crowd estimate at 50,000.Some 30 people needed treatment during the Mass, mostly for dehydration and exhaustion, said Tereza Janeckova, a regional emergency services spokeswoman. Seven were hospitalized, including two who apparently suffered heart attacks.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland, who served as secretary to Benedict's predecessor, the late John Paul II, urged Europeans to heed Benedict's message.
"It is a crucial moment for the future of Europe, and Benedict speaks like a prophet," he told Sky TG24 television. "Don't abandon the roots from which you grew, because a tree without roots dies. If Europe abandons these roots, the future is uncertain."
In a special message to young people, the pope urged them not to be seduced by consumerism.
"Unfortunately, many of your contemporaries allow themselves to be led astray by illusory visions of spurious happiness, and then they find themselves sad and alone," he said.
And in his farewell before returning to Rome, Benedict quoted the great Czech writer Franz Kafka — "anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old" — and encouraged people to see beauty in God's creation and truth.
On Sunday, an open-air Mass in Brno in the southern Czech Republic, the country's Catholic heartland, drew 120,000 pilgrims.
Overall, though, the pope got a tepid response: No posters or billboards promoted his visit, and local media coverage was thin.
That came as no surprise in this nation where polls suggest half the population of 10 million don't believe in God.
Even the nation's top churchman seemed stuck in a funk.
In an astonishingly public display of self-deprecation, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk made his confession to reporters, saying: "I have achieved almost nothing during my 20 years" as archbishop.
But Lukas Jasa, 21, who trekked more than 300 kilometers (200 miles) from the country's east to glimpse the pope Monday, said he felt it was important to buck the secular trend.
"It's important for us to show that we're not just an atheist nation — that there are believers here," he said.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Pope warns of terrorists getting nuclear weapons
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his annual "state of the world" address, on Monday called on nations to make a global commitment on security in order to prevent terrorists from gaining access to nuclear weapons.
Speaking to diplomats from 176 countries accredited to the Vatican, he deplored "continual attacks" on human life, saying new frontiers in bioethics called for a "moral use of science".
He issued fresh appeals for Middle East peace, decried bloodshed in Asia and Africa, and welcomed the United Nations’ recent resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty.
The Pope re-stated the Catholic Church’s opposition to homosexual marriage and bluntly called on politicians to defend the traditional family as the basic cell of society.
"I wish to urge the international community to make a global commitment on security," he said in the speech which is sometimes referred to as a "state of the world" address because it examines aspects of the international situation.
"A joint effort on the part of states to implement all the obligations undertaken and to prevent terrorists from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction would undoubtedly strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and make it more effective," he said.
The leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics has often made appeals for nuclear and conventional disarmament but has never been so explicit on the need for governments to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear weapons.
The Pope said he welcomed North Korea’s agreement to join a nuclear dismantling programme and also called for "good faith" negotiations and diplomacy to resolve difference over Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.
GIVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE A CHANCE
Iran says its first atomic power plant will start operating in mid-2008, despite U.N. sanctions aimed at making it stop nuclear activity over concerns that it secretly seeks atomic bombs, not nuclear-generated electricity -- as it maintains.
He welcomed the pledge made last November by Israeli and Palestinian leaders at Annapolis, Maryland to try to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.
"I invite the international community to give strong support to these two peoples and to understand their respective sufferings and fears," he said.
The Pope dedicated one section of his speech to the defence of the dignity of the human person.
"I cannot but deplore once again the continual attacks perpetrated on every continent against human life," he said.
"I would like to recall, together with many men and women dedicated to research and science, that the new frontiers reached in bioethics do not require us to choose between science and morality: rather, they oblige us to a moral use of science," he said.
The Catholic Church is opposed to embryonic stem cell research if it includes destruction of an embryo but is studying recent research in the United States that has found potential ways to convert ordinary skin cells into stem cells.
Scientists hope stem cells can be used in regenerative medicine for treatment of injuries as well as diseases.
From Reutgers News Service
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his annual "state of the world" address, on Monday called on nations to make a global commitment on security in order to prevent terrorists from gaining access to nuclear weapons.
Speaking to diplomats from 176 countries accredited to the Vatican, he deplored "continual attacks" on human life, saying new frontiers in bioethics called for a "moral use of science".
He issued fresh appeals for Middle East peace, decried bloodshed in Asia and Africa, and welcomed the United Nations’ recent resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty.
The Pope re-stated the Catholic Church’s opposition to homosexual marriage and bluntly called on politicians to defend the traditional family as the basic cell of society.
"I wish to urge the international community to make a global commitment on security," he said in the speech which is sometimes referred to as a "state of the world" address because it examines aspects of the international situation.
"A joint effort on the part of states to implement all the obligations undertaken and to prevent terrorists from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction would undoubtedly strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and make it more effective," he said.
The leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics has often made appeals for nuclear and conventional disarmament but has never been so explicit on the need for governments to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear weapons.
The Pope said he welcomed North Korea’s agreement to join a nuclear dismantling programme and also called for "good faith" negotiations and diplomacy to resolve difference over Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.
GIVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE A CHANCE
Iran says its first atomic power plant will start operating in mid-2008, despite U.N. sanctions aimed at making it stop nuclear activity over concerns that it secretly seeks atomic bombs, not nuclear-generated electricity -- as it maintains.
He welcomed the pledge made last November by Israeli and Palestinian leaders at Annapolis, Maryland to try to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.
"I invite the international community to give strong support to these two peoples and to understand their respective sufferings and fears," he said.
The Pope dedicated one section of his speech to the defence of the dignity of the human person.
"I cannot but deplore once again the continual attacks perpetrated on every continent against human life," he said.
"I would like to recall, together with many men and women dedicated to research and science, that the new frontiers reached in bioethics do not require us to choose between science and morality: rather, they oblige us to a moral use of science," he said.
The Catholic Church is opposed to embryonic stem cell research if it includes destruction of an embryo but is studying recent research in the United States that has found potential ways to convert ordinary skin cells into stem cells.
Scientists hope stem cells can be used in regenerative medicine for treatment of injuries as well as diseases.
From Reutgers News Service
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Pope Benedict will visit Britain next year following an invitation from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a British government source said.The visit is expected to coincide with a beatification ceremony for Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most prominent English converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism.
Church sources in Rome confirmed a visit was likely in the spring but there were no firm details for the moment.
It would be the first visit to Britain by a pontiff since Pope John Paul came in 1982. About five million Catholics live in England.
Newman, who converted to Catholicism in 1845, was a key figure in the Oxford Movement, which tried to move the Church of England closer to its Catholic origins.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
A couple of things
Pope Benedict has denounced power-seeking bishops. But which ones did he have in mind?
Monday 14 September 2009 08.08 BST
It is not that often that a general publicly rebukes his brigade and battalion commanders. And it is equally rare for a pope to reprove his bishops.
But at a very high-profile service in St. Peter's on Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI did just that. At the consecration of five new pastors, he said: "We know how things in society, and not infrequently in the Church too, suffer because of the fact that many of those to whom a responsibility has been entrusted, work for themselves and not the community – the common good."
In another passage of his sermon which, according to Corriere della Sera, Benedict spent an entire day finessing, he declared: "Let us not bind men to us; let us not seek power, prestige and esteem for ourselves."
In general terms, it is clear that this was a warning – and a pretty frank one by the standards of pontifical utterances – addressed to bishops. But which ones? The answer is not obvious.
Corriere thought his coded message was directed at his pastors in Italy. Earlier this month, an attack by the Berlusconi family newspaper on the editor of the bishop's daily Avvenire brought into the open a rift between the Vatican secretariat of state and the Italian bishops' conference over how to deal with Silvio Berlusconi and his scandalous private life. The Vatican is all for brushing the affair under the carpet so as not to upset a conservative leader who has it in his power to deliver the Church legislation in line with its beliefs. The bishops, by contrast, are under immense pressure from ordinary Italian worshippers to speak out in defence of traditional Catholic morality. The division is made worse by personal differences between some of the bishops and Benedict's secretary of state – the bluff, less than tactful Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Bertone has also run into pretty determined resistance in the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic church, and in the Secretariat of State itself. One reason for Saturday's ceremony, indeed, was to make up to bishop a couple of senior officials in Bertone's department who are being dispatched abroad as nuncios to give the cardinal a freer hand.
It was very much a Curial affair. So might the pope's message, then, have been that from now on we should all row in the same direction? Maybe.
But the much-respected Catholic author, Vittorio Messori, interviewed in La Stampa, had an entirely different idea: that the pope's rebuke was aimed, not at any church leader in Europe let alone the Vatican, but at bishops with sharp elbows and rather too high self-esteem in the developing world "above all [in] Africa and Latin America where the status of priest, and especially of bishop, is a dream for many poor, young local men who, for that reason, crowd into the seminaries."
So there is the puzzle. Answers, please, below in the space for comments – or on a postcard to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Palace, St Peter's Square ... etc.
Pope to renegades: Respect Judaism, other religions
September 14, 2009 ROME (JTA) -- Respect for Judaism and other religions is mandatory for readmission into the mainstream Catholic fold, Pope Benedict XVI will tell a renegade traditionalist Catholic group.
In a weekend interview with a newspaper in Passau, Germany, Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said doctrinal talks between the Vatican and the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X would begin soon.
"The SSPX will be told very clearly what is not negotiable for the Holy See," Schoenborn said. "This includes such fundamental conclusions of the Second Vatican Council as its positions on Judaism, other non-Christian religions, other Christian churches and on religious freedom as a basic human right."
Led by its founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the SSPX broke with the Vatican over the reforms of the Vatican II conference, which among other things lifted anti-Jewish dogma and opened the way to Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
Lefebvre and his followers were excommunicated in 1988.
Pope Benedict wants to bring them back into the fold of the mainstream church. He sparked controversy in January by revoking the excommunication order against four SSPX bishops, including British-born Richard Williamson, who had made statements denying the extent of the Holocaust.
Monday 14 September 2009 08.08 BST
It is not that often that a general publicly rebukes his brigade and battalion commanders. And it is equally rare for a pope to reprove his bishops.
But at a very high-profile service in St. Peter's on Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI did just that. At the consecration of five new pastors, he said: "We know how things in society, and not infrequently in the Church too, suffer because of the fact that many of those to whom a responsibility has been entrusted, work for themselves and not the community – the common good."
In another passage of his sermon which, according to Corriere della Sera, Benedict spent an entire day finessing, he declared: "Let us not bind men to us; let us not seek power, prestige and esteem for ourselves."
In general terms, it is clear that this was a warning – and a pretty frank one by the standards of pontifical utterances – addressed to bishops. But which ones? The answer is not obvious.
Corriere thought his coded message was directed at his pastors in Italy. Earlier this month, an attack by the Berlusconi family newspaper on the editor of the bishop's daily Avvenire brought into the open a rift between the Vatican secretariat of state and the Italian bishops' conference over how to deal with Silvio Berlusconi and his scandalous private life. The Vatican is all for brushing the affair under the carpet so as not to upset a conservative leader who has it in his power to deliver the Church legislation in line with its beliefs. The bishops, by contrast, are under immense pressure from ordinary Italian worshippers to speak out in defence of traditional Catholic morality. The division is made worse by personal differences between some of the bishops and Benedict's secretary of state – the bluff, less than tactful Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Bertone has also run into pretty determined resistance in the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic church, and in the Secretariat of State itself. One reason for Saturday's ceremony, indeed, was to make up to bishop a couple of senior officials in Bertone's department who are being dispatched abroad as nuncios to give the cardinal a freer hand.
It was very much a Curial affair. So might the pope's message, then, have been that from now on we should all row in the same direction? Maybe.
But the much-respected Catholic author, Vittorio Messori, interviewed in La Stampa, had an entirely different idea: that the pope's rebuke was aimed, not at any church leader in Europe let alone the Vatican, but at bishops with sharp elbows and rather too high self-esteem in the developing world "above all [in] Africa and Latin America where the status of priest, and especially of bishop, is a dream for many poor, young local men who, for that reason, crowd into the seminaries."
So there is the puzzle. Answers, please, below in the space for comments – or on a postcard to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Palace, St Peter's Square ... etc.
Pope to renegades: Respect Judaism, other religions
September 14, 2009 ROME (JTA) -- Respect for Judaism and other religions is mandatory for readmission into the mainstream Catholic fold, Pope Benedict XVI will tell a renegade traditionalist Catholic group.
In a weekend interview with a newspaper in Passau, Germany, Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said doctrinal talks between the Vatican and the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X would begin soon.
"The SSPX will be told very clearly what is not negotiable for the Holy See," Schoenborn said. "This includes such fundamental conclusions of the Second Vatican Council as its positions on Judaism, other non-Christian religions, other Christian churches and on religious freedom as a basic human right."
Led by its founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the SSPX broke with the Vatican over the reforms of the Vatican II conference, which among other things lifted anti-Jewish dogma and opened the way to Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
Lefebvre and his followers were excommunicated in 1988.
Pope Benedict wants to bring them back into the fold of the mainstream church. He sparked controversy in January by revoking the excommunication order against four SSPX bishops, including British-born Richard Williamson, who had made statements denying the extent of the Holocaust.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
News Briefs
Pope sees St. Augustine as bridge between Eastern, Western churches
In a message to an ecumenical conference taking place in Rome this week, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that the study of St. Augustine's works could be an important route to reunion between Eastern and Western Christianity. The Pontiff noted that St. Augustine is one of the most important intellectual founders of the European Christian tradition, but "the reception of his ideas in Orthodox theology has proved to be somewhat problematic." If Eastern theologians come to a better understanding of St. Augustine's work, he said, the result could be the discovery of "common doctrinal and spiritual ground which may help to build the City of God."
Source(s): this link will take you to other sites, in a new window.
St. Augustine in Eastern and Western tradition (VIS
In a message to an ecumenical conference taking place in Rome this week, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that the study of St. Augustine's works could be an important route to reunion between Eastern and Western Christianity. The Pontiff noted that St. Augustine is one of the most important intellectual founders of the European Christian tradition, but "the reception of his ideas in Orthodox theology has proved to be somewhat problematic." If Eastern theologians come to a better understanding of St. Augustine's work, he said, the result could be the discovery of "common doctrinal and spiritual ground which may help to build the City of God."
Source(s): this link will take you to other sites, in a new window.
St. Augustine in Eastern and Western tradition (VIS
Friday, September 04, 2009
Learning Eastern, Western spirituality aids Christian unity, says pope
By Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A better understanding of Western and Eastern Christian spirituality and doctrine will aid in promoting Christian unity, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Common ground in Eastern and Western spirituality "is the valuable lifeblood for a broader relationship between Catholics and Orthodox," he said.
The pope's remarks came in a written message to Catholic and Orthodox participants in an inter-Christian symposium Sept. 3-5 in Rome. The message, addressed to Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was released by the Vatican Sept. 3.
The pope said the symposium's focus this year on St. Augustine in Eastern and Western traditions was important for learning more about Christian theology and spirituality in the West and East and how they developed.
While the fourth-century saint and theologian was of fundamental importance in influencing theology and culture in the West, "the reception of his thinking by orthodox theology turned out to be rather problematic," said the pope in his written message, which was read at the symposium's opening session.
He added that a better understanding of "the doctrinal and spiritual riches that make up the East and West's Christian heritage becomes indispensable not only for enhancing their importance, but also for promoting a better, reciprocal appreciation among all Christians."
The inter-Christian symposium was sponsored by the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality of Rome's Antonianum University and the department of theology at Aristotle University in Salonika, Greece. The symposiums, which began in 1992, are held alternatively in Italy and Greece.
By Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A better understanding of Western and Eastern Christian spirituality and doctrine will aid in promoting Christian unity, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Common ground in Eastern and Western spirituality "is the valuable lifeblood for a broader relationship between Catholics and Orthodox," he said.
The pope's remarks came in a written message to Catholic and Orthodox participants in an inter-Christian symposium Sept. 3-5 in Rome. The message, addressed to Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was released by the Vatican Sept. 3.
The pope said the symposium's focus this year on St. Augustine in Eastern and Western traditions was important for learning more about Christian theology and spirituality in the West and East and how they developed.
While the fourth-century saint and theologian was of fundamental importance in influencing theology and culture in the West, "the reception of his thinking by orthodox theology turned out to be rather problematic," said the pope in his written message, which was read at the symposium's opening session.
He added that a better understanding of "the doctrinal and spiritual riches that make up the East and West's Christian heritage becomes indispensable not only for enhancing their importance, but also for promoting a better, reciprocal appreciation among all Christians."
The inter-Christian symposium was sponsored by the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality of Rome's Antonianum University and the department of theology at Aristotle University in Salonika, Greece. The symposiums, which began in 1992, are held alternatively in Italy and Greece.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
An imperfect man
By TIM McDONALD
“Tho’ much is taken much abides, and though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; one equal temper of heroic hearts
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
The passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy last week was the personification of the imperfection and redemption in all of us. None of us are perfect and must work assiduously to overcome our flaws. The challenge is to recognize those flaws in fact exist in us.
In his last weeks of life, Sen. Kennedy wrote to Pope Benedict XVI stating in that letter: “I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.”
Whatever you thought of Ted Kennedy, be it good or ill; his letter to Pope Benedict should cause some reflection upon one’s own life journey. Each of us surely has lived imperfect lives with mistakes and misjudgments.
Kennedy was the youngest of nine children and the youngest of four brothers who were exceedingly competitive. He saw two brothers killed by assassin’s bullets. He took on their children as his own responsibility. Kennedy’s imperfections were many; from abuse of alcohol to womanizing and of course the tragedy of Chappaquiddick. He endured a plethora of public scrutiny for all of his mistakes while enduring his own familial tragedies along the way, including the death of brothers, two children who suffered cancer and a third who dealt with substance abuse.
Often an imperfect man meets that less imperfect woman who nurtures and guides him along life’s path. Such was with Kennedy. He began to overcome personal challenges that have forever stained an outstanding legislative career. It is not our place to judge others lest we judge ourselves by taking a moral inventory of our own lives. (My Emphasis)
As Tennyson said, “much is taken, much abides.” Our lives are the sum total of what we have failed to do, failed to learn, our accomplishments and of course our treatment of one another. “What we are, we are.”
We cannot possibly change the events and actions of our past, but we can attempt to make amends for past deeds and straighten our paths. I do not pretend to pontificate or advise others what to do. I am speaking as one sinner among billions of sinners on the planet. I am also an imperfect human. We are all imperfect humans. Would we wish to be remembered only for our mistakes?
. . . . .Despise Kennedy for his mistakes and misjudgments if you will, but credit him — as do his adversaries across the political aisle — for his commitment to the causes of health care and education. Though Sen. Kennedy was made weak by time and fate, he was strong in will and strove, to seek, to find and not to yield. May we all have a strong faith to guide as Sen. Kennedy clung to his faith, and strive to serve the public in some fashion to make life better for others.
“Tho’ much is taken much abides, and though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; one equal temper of heroic hearts
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
— Alfred Lord Tennyson (from Ulysses)
The passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy last week was the personification of the imperfection and redemption in all of us. None of us are perfect and must work assiduously to overcome our flaws. The challenge is to recognize those flaws in fact exist in us.
In his last weeks of life, Sen. Kennedy wrote to Pope Benedict XVI stating in that letter: “I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.”
Whatever you thought of Ted Kennedy, be it good or ill; his letter to Pope Benedict should cause some reflection upon one’s own life journey. Each of us surely has lived imperfect lives with mistakes and misjudgments.
Kennedy was the youngest of nine children and the youngest of four brothers who were exceedingly competitive. He saw two brothers killed by assassin’s bullets. He took on their children as his own responsibility. Kennedy’s imperfections were many; from abuse of alcohol to womanizing and of course the tragedy of Chappaquiddick. He endured a plethora of public scrutiny for all of his mistakes while enduring his own familial tragedies along the way, including the death of brothers, two children who suffered cancer and a third who dealt with substance abuse.
Often an imperfect man meets that less imperfect woman who nurtures and guides him along life’s path. Such was with Kennedy. He began to overcome personal challenges that have forever stained an outstanding legislative career. It is not our place to judge others lest we judge ourselves by taking a moral inventory of our own lives. (My Emphasis)
As Tennyson said, “much is taken, much abides.” Our lives are the sum total of what we have failed to do, failed to learn, our accomplishments and of course our treatment of one another. “What we are, we are.”
We cannot possibly change the events and actions of our past, but we can attempt to make amends for past deeds and straighten our paths. I do not pretend to pontificate or advise others what to do. I am speaking as one sinner among billions of sinners on the planet. I am also an imperfect human. We are all imperfect humans. Would we wish to be remembered only for our mistakes?
. . . . .Despise Kennedy for his mistakes and misjudgments if you will, but credit him — as do his adversaries across the political aisle — for his commitment to the causes of health care and education. Though Sen. Kennedy was made weak by time and fate, he was strong in will and strove, to seek, to find and not to yield. May we all have a strong faith to guide as Sen. Kennedy clung to his faith, and strive to serve the public in some fashion to make life better for others.
Tim McDonald can be reached at timothy.mcdonald@agsfaculty.indwes.edu
Food for Thought
Cardinal defends presiding over Kennedy's funeral
BOSTON — The Archdiocese of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley has defended his decision to preside over the funeral Mass for Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose support for abortion rights clashed with Catholic teachings.
O'Malley wrote on his blog Wednesday he strongly disagrees with his critics. He notes Kennedy had written to Pope Benedict XVI to acknowledge his failure to always be a faithful Catholic and ask for prayers as he faced brain cancer.
Kennedy died last week at age 77.
O'Malley says it was appropriate for him to represent the church at the funeral service out of respect for Kennedy, his family, those who attended the Mass and those who were praying for the senator.
He reminds critics Catholics are people of faith who "believe in a loving and forgiving God."
BOSTON — The Archdiocese of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley has defended his decision to preside over the funeral Mass for Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose support for abortion rights clashed with Catholic teachings.
O'Malley wrote on his blog Wednesday he strongly disagrees with his critics. He notes Kennedy had written to Pope Benedict XVI to acknowledge his failure to always be a faithful Catholic and ask for prayers as he faced brain cancer.
Kennedy died last week at age 77.
O'Malley says it was appropriate for him to represent the church at the funeral service out of respect for Kennedy, his family, those who attended the Mass and those who were praying for the senator.
He reminds critics Catholics are people of faith who "believe in a loving and forgiving God."
US bishops issue Labor Day statement, renew call for healthcare, immigration reform
Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued a Labor Day statement that reviews the teaching of Pope Benedict’s latest encyclical, celebrates an agreement between Catholic hospitals and unions, and renews calls for healthcare and immigration reform.
In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict “revisits the traditional teachings of his predecessors on the value of the human person, the dignity of every human being, and the integral development of human society to promote human flourishing. His reflections reaffirm the teachings of Leo XIII on labor and Pius XI on subsidiarity. With John XXIII and John Paul II, he insists on the value of solidarity and focuses with a special emphasis on Paul VI’s passionate commitment to the Third World and the development of peoples.”
“In the new encyclical, the Holy Father affirms and extends traditional Catholic teaching on the centrality of work to the whole human experience,” Bishop Murphy continues.
Decent work, according to the encyclical, “means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for children, without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for re-discovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.”(#63)
Bishop Murphy then recalled an agreement among four parties-- the Catholic Health Association, the AFL/CIO, the Service Employees International Union, and the USCCB-- that “offers guidance and options on how workers can make a free decision about whether or not they want to be represented by a union.” He concluded by calling for healthcare and immigration reform:
I urge you to join the bishops in advocating for health care reform that is truly universal and protects human life at every stage of development. We must remain resolute in urging the federal government to continue its essential and longstanding prohibitions on abortion funding and abortion mandates. Our government and laws must also retain explicit protection for the freedom of conscience of health care workers and health care institutions …
As a nation we have to be concerned about the integrity and safety of our borders. But that cannot overwhelm issues of respect for the dignity of immigrants who come to our country for so many varying political and economic reasons. We are a nation of laws. We as a people respect the laws of our country and state and local municipality. New peoples also are expected to do the same as good citizens or as good people desirous of becoming citizens. Most immigrants work hard, pay taxes, contribute to social security, and are valuable members of our society. Yet too often these same immigrants, including legal immigrants, are denied access to health care services. This should not happen in a society that respects the rights and dignity of every person.
In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict “revisits the traditional teachings of his predecessors on the value of the human person, the dignity of every human being, and the integral development of human society to promote human flourishing. His reflections reaffirm the teachings of Leo XIII on labor and Pius XI on subsidiarity. With John XXIII and John Paul II, he insists on the value of solidarity and focuses with a special emphasis on Paul VI’s passionate commitment to the Third World and the development of peoples.”
“In the new encyclical, the Holy Father affirms and extends traditional Catholic teaching on the centrality of work to the whole human experience,” Bishop Murphy continues.
Decent work, according to the encyclical, “means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for children, without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for re-discovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.”(#63)
Bishop Murphy then recalled an agreement among four parties-- the Catholic Health Association, the AFL/CIO, the Service Employees International Union, and the USCCB-- that “offers guidance and options on how workers can make a free decision about whether or not they want to be represented by a union.” He concluded by calling for healthcare and immigration reform:
I urge you to join the bishops in advocating for health care reform that is truly universal and protects human life at every stage of development. We must remain resolute in urging the federal government to continue its essential and longstanding prohibitions on abortion funding and abortion mandates. Our government and laws must also retain explicit protection for the freedom of conscience of health care workers and health care institutions …
As a nation we have to be concerned about the integrity and safety of our borders. But that cannot overwhelm issues of respect for the dignity of immigrants who come to our country for so many varying political and economic reasons. We are a nation of laws. We as a people respect the laws of our country and state and local municipality. New peoples also are expected to do the same as good citizens or as good people desirous of becoming citizens. Most immigrants work hard, pay taxes, contribute to social security, and are valuable members of our society. Yet too often these same immigrants, including legal immigrants, are denied access to health care services. This should not happen in a society that respects the rights and dignity of every person.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Scientist: Pope Was Right About AIDS
Says Abstinence, Fidelity More Effective than Condoms
RIMINI, Italy, AUG. 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Project is affirming that Benedict XVI's position was right in the debate on AIDS and condoms.
Edward Green stated this in an address at the 30th annual Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples in Rimini, sponsored by the lay movement, Communion and Liberation. Green, an expert on AIDS prevention, said that "as a scientist he was amazed to see the closeness between what the Pope said last March in Cameroon and the results of the most recent scientific discoveries."
He affirmed: "The condom does not prevent AIDS. Only responsible sexual behavior can address the pandemic." Green continued, "When Benedict XVI said that different sexual behavior should be adopted in Africa, because to put trust in condoms does not serve to fight against AIDS, the international press was scandalized."
The Pope made this statement in a meeting with journalists en route to Africa last March. The scientist affirmed that the Holy Father spoke the truth. He noted, "The condom can work for particular individuals, but it will not serve to address the situation of a continent."
Change habits
Green added: "To propose the regular use of the condom as prevention in Africa could have the opposite effect."He explained the phenomenon of human behavior called "risk compensation," whereby a person "feels protected and thus exposes himself more." The researcher and medical anthropologist asked: "Why has an attempt not been made to change people's customs?"
"The world industry has taken many years to understand that measures of a technical and medical character are of no use to solve the problem," he added.
Green highlighted the successful policies that have been implemented in Uganda to battle AIDS, programs based in the "ABC" strategy: "Abstain, Be faithful, and, as a last resource, use a Condom."
He reported: "In the case of Uganda, an impressive result has been obtained in the fight against AIDS.
"The president was able to tell the truth to his people, to young people, that on occasions some sacrifice, abstinence and fidelity are necessary. "
RIMINI, Italy, AUG. 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Project is affirming that Benedict XVI's position was right in the debate on AIDS and condoms.
Edward Green stated this in an address at the 30th annual Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples in Rimini, sponsored by the lay movement, Communion and Liberation. Green, an expert on AIDS prevention, said that "as a scientist he was amazed to see the closeness between what the Pope said last March in Cameroon and the results of the most recent scientific discoveries."
He affirmed: "The condom does not prevent AIDS. Only responsible sexual behavior can address the pandemic." Green continued, "When Benedict XVI said that different sexual behavior should be adopted in Africa, because to put trust in condoms does not serve to fight against AIDS, the international press was scandalized."
The Pope made this statement in a meeting with journalists en route to Africa last March. The scientist affirmed that the Holy Father spoke the truth. He noted, "The condom can work for particular individuals, but it will not serve to address the situation of a continent."
Change habits
Green added: "To propose the regular use of the condom as prevention in Africa could have the opposite effect."He explained the phenomenon of human behavior called "risk compensation," whereby a person "feels protected and thus exposes himself more." The researcher and medical anthropologist asked: "Why has an attempt not been made to change people's customs?"
"The world industry has taken many years to understand that measures of a technical and medical character are of no use to solve the problem," he added.
Green highlighted the successful policies that have been implemented in Uganda to battle AIDS, programs based in the "ABC" strategy: "Abstain, Be faithful, and, as a last resource, use a Condom."
He reported: "In the case of Uganda, an impressive result has been obtained in the fight against AIDS.
"The president was able to tell the truth to his people, to young people, that on occasions some sacrifice, abstinence and fidelity are necessary. "
© Innovative Media, Inc.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Holy Father's letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy
Two weeks after President Obama hand delivered a letter to Holy Father from Sen. Kennedy, the Pope responded, writing, as usual, through a senior Vatcan official:
"The Holy Father has read the letter which you entrusted to President Barack Obama, who kindly presented it to him during their recent meeting. He was saddened to know of your illness, and has asked me to assure you of his concern and his spiritual closeness.
He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him and for the needs of the universal Church. "His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God our merciful Father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the Risen Savior to all who share in His sufferings and trust in His promise of eternal life."
Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort and strength in the Lord."
Pope Benedict wisely, and predictably, rendered no judgment on Kennedy's public record. . . . but [offered] his charitable and heartfelt expressions of support and prayer . . .
"The Holy Father has read the letter which you entrusted to President Barack Obama, who kindly presented it to him during their recent meeting. He was saddened to know of your illness, and has asked me to assure you of his concern and his spiritual closeness.
He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him and for the needs of the universal Church. "His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God our merciful Father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the Risen Savior to all who share in His sufferings and trust in His promise of eternal life."
Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort and strength in the Lord."
Pope Benedict wisely, and predictably, rendered no judgment on Kennedy's public record. . . . but [offered] his charitable and heartfelt expressions of support and prayer . . .
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Reality Check
Top Vatican official dismisses talk of rollback on Vatican II
By John Thavis
Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS) --
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has dismissed fears that Pope Benedict XVI plans to roll back major ecclesial changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council.
On the contrary, the German pontiff has demonstrated his commitment to the council during his more than four years as pope, Cardinal Bertone told the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in an interview published Aug. 27.
In the wake of recent reports about a planned move to reverse liturgical changes made since Vatican II, Cardinal Bertone said reporters and observers should stick to the actual actions undertaken by the pope since his election.
"The other ruminations and whispers about presumed documents of reversal are pure invention, following a standard and stubbornly re-proposed formula," he said.
A week earlier, an Italian newspaper reported that the Vatican's worship congregation had given the pope a document with proposed liturgical modifications, including a curb on the practice of receiving Communion in the hand. A Vatican spokesman later said that, at present, there were "no institutional proposals for a modification of the liturgical books."
Cardinal Bertone pointed to several areas in which he said Pope Benedict had promoted the teaching of Vatican II "with intelligence and depth of thought," including relations with Eastern and Orthodox churches and dialogue with Judaism and Islam.
He said the pope has also favored an increasingly direct and fraternal relationship with the world's bishops, as evidenced during their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican and in the freer discussions during synods of bishops.
Likewise, the cardinal said, the pope has had more direct contact with top Roman Curia officials and has restored the practice of regular meetings with them.
Cardinal Bertone said the pope does have a plan for "reform of the church," but it's one that focuses on personal holiness and fundamental questions of faith. In a similar way, the pope's messages to the wider world have made it clear that his main priority is to restore a sense of awareness of God in the world and in society, he said.
By John Thavis
Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS) --
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has dismissed fears that Pope Benedict XVI plans to roll back major ecclesial changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council.
On the contrary, the German pontiff has demonstrated his commitment to the council during his more than four years as pope, Cardinal Bertone told the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in an interview published Aug. 27.
In the wake of recent reports about a planned move to reverse liturgical changes made since Vatican II, Cardinal Bertone said reporters and observers should stick to the actual actions undertaken by the pope since his election.
"The other ruminations and whispers about presumed documents of reversal are pure invention, following a standard and stubbornly re-proposed formula," he said.
A week earlier, an Italian newspaper reported that the Vatican's worship congregation had given the pope a document with proposed liturgical modifications, including a curb on the practice of receiving Communion in the hand. A Vatican spokesman later said that, at present, there were "no institutional proposals for a modification of the liturgical books."
Cardinal Bertone pointed to several areas in which he said Pope Benedict had promoted the teaching of Vatican II "with intelligence and depth of thought," including relations with Eastern and Orthodox churches and dialogue with Judaism and Islam.
He said the pope has also favored an increasingly direct and fraternal relationship with the world's bishops, as evidenced during their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican and in the freer discussions during synods of bishops.
Likewise, the cardinal said, the pope has had more direct contact with top Roman Curia officials and has restored the practice of regular meetings with them.
Cardinal Bertone said the pope does have a plan for "reform of the church," but it's one that focuses on personal holiness and fundamental questions of faith. In a similar way, the pope's messages to the wider world have made it clear that his main priority is to restore a sense of awareness of God in the world and in society, he said.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
From theTrumpet.com
The Pope’s Challenge to the Faithful
Joel Hilliker, Columnist
August 26, 2009
“This saying is hard,” he says as he marches forward with his conservative agenda. “Will you also go away?”
Catholic priests are now encouraged to perform mass ad orientem—facing east, with their back to the people. The change, approved by the pope this past weekend, is the latest step in the Vatican’s march toward traditionalist, conservative Catholicism.
Pope Benedict xvi is leading the way, his back to the people, challenging them to keep up. Inside the church, he is continuing his decades-long campaign to expel liberals and stack the deck with conservatives. In Europe, he is working to reestablish a Catholic continent. Among non-Catholic Christians, he seeks to draw worshippers under papal authority. In the world, he is leveling a strong attack against secularism and godlessness. And to Islam, he has unmistakably shown a resistance, a toughness, that promises to grow stronger. He has repeatedly spoken out against those who would stand in his way, unafraid to offend, unafraid to turn opponents into enemies.
In March 2006, Ratzinger lashed out against European secularism—and Islam—with his book, Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam. Co-authored with the president of the Italian Senate, it addressed the “advance of Islam” and stated that Europe is now “paralyzed because it does not believe that there are good reasons to say it is better than Islam. And it is paralyzed because it believes that, if such reasons do indeed exist, then the West would have to fight Islam.”
In September, Pope Benedict traveled to his home state of Bavaria for a six-day visit where, among other things, he spoke with German President Horst Kohler about the dangers of Islamic penetration into German society. His most famous speech on that trip was a lecture at the University of Regensburg, where he quoted Catholic Byzantine Emperor Manuel ii Paleologus: “Show me just what Mohammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
In March 2006, Pope Benedict xvi chose to drop “patriarch of the West” from his lengthy list of official titles and became merely “Bishop of Rome, vicar of Jesus Christ, successor of the prince of the apostles, supreme pontiff of the universal church, primate of Italy, archbishop and metropolitan of the province of Rome, sovereign of Vatican City State and servant of the servants of God, his holiness Benedict xvi.” Why bother with the change? The message was not lost on the Eastern Orthodox Church. It meant the Catholic Church still sought “universal jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome over the entire church,” the Eastern Orthodox synod said, adding that it makes it so that their status as “‘sister churches’ between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox church becomes hard to use.” The non-Catholics the pope was targeting knew: He dropped “patriarch of the West” not because it gave him too much jurisdiction, but not enough.
In July 2007, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith restated the doctrines of Dominus Iesus, a document the pope—then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—had signed in 2000 to proclaim that non-Catholics were “gravely deficient” and that Protestant churches are “not churches in the proper sense.” The restatement added that Orthodox churches suffer from a “wound” because they do not accept the pope’s authority, a wound “still more profound” in Protestants. The document, approved by Pope Benedict, said that denominations outside Roman Catholicism are defective or not full churches. “Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress … it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of ‘church’ could possibly be attributed to them,” it said.
Mid-May that year, the pope traveled to Brazil to open an assembly of the Latin American bishops’ conference—not by invitation, but by personal choice. There he challenged the bishops to galvanize a continent-wide crusade against competing non-Catholic religions (“sects,” he called them), such as North-American evangelicals. Latino bishops jumped on board and began lobbying national governments for legislation to ban and obstruct non-Catholics’ operation in Latin America. The visit illuminated Benedict’s aims to re-energize Catholicism not only in Europe, but across the whole globe.
The pope has also resurrected the Tridentine Mass, a Latin-language ceremony codified in 1570. In the 1960s, the church restricted the use of the ultra-conservative Tridentine prayer book, which is peppered with references that make Jews and non-Catholics bristle (asking God to “lift the veil from [their] eyes,” and that Jews “be delivered from their darkness” and converted to Catholicism). The more inclusive, modern mass the church adopted in its place was scorned by hard-core Catholics, one of whom was a younger Joseph Ratzinger. In July of 2006, Pope Benedict reversed that restriction, reconnecting the church to its medieval past.
The offense to Jews grew worse when, in February of 2008, the pope revised the “Good Friday Prayer for the Jews” portion of the Tridentine Mass. The new version reads: “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men.” German rabbi Walter Homolka said, “This kind of signal has an extremely provocative effect on anti-Semitic groups. The Catholic Church does not have its anti-Semitic tendencies under control.”
The offense to Jews grew worse when, in February of 2008, the pope revised the “Good Friday Prayer for the Jews” portion of the Tridentine Mass. The new version reads: “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men.” German rabbi Walter Homolka said, “This kind of signal has an extremely provocative effect on anti-Semitic groups. The Catholic Church does not have its anti-Semitic tendencies under control.”
Conservative Roman Catholics see nothing to balk at in praying that Jews would emerge from darkness. They see no problem with labeling non-Catholics gravely deficient. Catholicism, after all, is universalism. The church can never attain its universal potential—more are coming to believe—unless it stops pretending that those outside of it have access to God.
While some take offense at the pope’s political incorrectness, an increasing number find it refreshing in a world sick with moral relativism. They appreciate his courage in turning his back to lead the congregation into a stricter, more orthodox, less accommodating future. (Read Brad Macdonald’s column from last year, “Benedict’s Strategy for Expanding Vatican Power,” for more on this trend.)
This was the message of Pope Benedict’s sermon this past Sunday. He spoke of how Jesus’s saying offended many, who responded, “This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?” The pope then said, “And from that moment on, many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him. Jesus, however, does not lessen His claim. Indeed, He directly addresses the 12 saying, ‘Will you also go away?’”
This is the pope’s challenge to the faithful. “Jesus in fact is not satisfied with a superficial and formal following,” he said. Total devotion—even in opposition to non-believers—is required.
It appears they are accepting the challenge—and that, remarkably, their numbers are swelling. It’s been said that crowds came to see Pope John Paul ii, but they come to hear Benedict xvi. Over his pontificate, Benedict has consistently attracted larger audiences to witness his weekly homilies in St. Peter’s Square than did his predecessor.
As their devotion grows, so does the indignation of the pope’s growing list of opponents. And so too does the inevitability of a violent clash—prophesied in the Bible—between the church and its fiercest enemies, which are becoming more polarized before our eyes. •
Joel Hilliker’s column appears every Wednesday.To e-mail Joel Hilliker, click here.Please note that, unless you request otherwise, your comment may appear on our feedback page.To read more articles by this author, click here.
This content was printed online at: http://www.theTrumpet.com/index.php?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Benedict XVI and Bonaventure
The Pope's Trip to the Saint's Birthplace Is More Significant Than It Seems
By Robert Moynihan
ROME, AUG. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Sometimes, there is more to a papal trip than meets the eye.
And that is the case with an upcoming trip of Benedict XVI to the small Italian town of Bagnoreggio, the birthplace of St. Bonaventure.
In two weeks, on Sept. 6, the Pope will go out of Rome to visit Bagnoreggio and Viterbo.
Viterbo, about 65 miles north of Rome, or just an hour by car, is well-known as the place where papal conclaves were born.
Until 1271, the gathering of cardinals for the election was not called a "conclave" ("con" meaning "with" and "clavis" meaning "a key") -- a closed meeting in a place locked "with a key."
After the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268, the cardinals meeting in Viterbo did not elect anyone for almost three years. Finally, the city officials locked all of them in a meeting room and gave them only bread and water to eat. Soon after, they elected Pope Gregory X. He then made it Church law that papal elections would take place in a conclave.
Benedict XVI will travel to Viterbo by helicopter from the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
But on his way home, he will stop in Bagnoreggio.
Why stop in such a little, seemingly unimportant town?
Because St. Bonaventure was born there in 1217.
Still, the Pope does not stop in the birthplace of every important saint. He would not have time to do so. So, why is he taking time to stop in Bonaventure's place of birth?
For the answer, we have to look into the Pope's own past, and there we find something rather interesting.
We find that Bonaventure was one of the two major intellectual influences on Pope Benedict's entire theological formation. (The other influence? St. Augustine.)
In Germany, scholars must write two dissertations. The first, as in the United States, is to receive a doctoral degree (a Ph.D.). The second, called the "Habilitationsschrift," is to qualify for a professorial post.
And the young Joseph Ratzinger, in the mid-1950s, wrote this second, postdoctoral thesis, on ... St. Bonaventure, and his understanding of history.
Press accounts will say that the Pope is "scheduled to venerate the 'holy arm' of the saint, which is kept in Bagnoreggio's cathedral" (the rest of St. Bonaventure's body is buried in France).
But Benedict is venerating also the deep wisdom of Bonaventure's vision of Christian revelation, and in so doing "making contact" with one of the central concerns of his own personal theological vision.
In this sense, if we can understand what Benedict learned from Bonaventure, we can understand more clearly what Benedict is trying to do now, in his pontificate, to lead the Church through this complicated period in history.
Benedict XVI himself gave us an idea of this intellectual background in a speech he gave to a group of scholars several years ago, before he was Pope.
He said this: "My doctoral dissertation was about the notion of the people of God in St. Augustine. ... Augustine was in dialogue with Roman ideology, especially after the occupation of Rome by the Goths in 410, and so it was very fascinating for me to see how in these different dialogues and cultures he defines the essence of the Christian religion. He saw Christian faith, not in continuity with earlier religions, but rather in continuity with philosophy as a victory of reason over superstition. ..."
So, we might argue that one major step in Ratzinger's own theological formation was to understand Christianity as "in continuity with philosophy" and as "a victory of reason over superstition."
Then Ratzinger took a second step. He studied Bonaventure.
"My postdoctoral work was about St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan theologian of the 13th century," Ratzinger continued. "I discovered an aspect of Bonaventure's theology not found in the previous literature, namely, his relation with the new idea of history conceived by Joachim of Fiore in the 12th century. Joachim saw history as progression from the period of the Father (a difficult time for human beings under the law), to a second period of history, that of the Son (with more freedom, more openness, more brotherhood), to a third period of history, the definitive period of history, the time of the Holy Spirit.
"According to Joachim, this was to be a time of universal reconciliation, reconciliation between east and west, between Christians and Jews, a time without the law (in the Pauline sense), a time of real brotherhood in the world.
"The interesting idea which I discovered was that a significant current among the Franciscans was convinced that St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan Order marked the beginning of this third period of history, and it was their ambition to actualize it; Bonaventure was in critical dialogue with this current."
So, we might argue, Ratzinger drew from Bonaventure a conception of human history as unfolding in a purposeful way, toward a specific goal, a time of deepened spiritual insight, an "age of the Holy Spirit."
Where classical philosophy spoke of the eternity of the world, and therefore of the cyclical "eternal return" of all reality, Bonaventure, following Joachim, condemned the concept of the eternity of the world, and defended the idea that history was a unique and purposeful unfolding of events which would never return, but which would come to a conclusion.
History had meaning.
History was related to, and oriented toward, meaning -- toward the Logos ... toward Christ.
This is not to say that Ratzinger -- or Bonaventure -- made any of the specific interpretations of Joachim his own. It is to say that Ratzinger, like Bonaventure, entered into "critical dialogue" with his overall conception -- that history had a shape and a meaning -- that he, like Bonaventure, took it quite seriously.
I have some personal insight into how seriously Ratzinger took these matters.
My own doctoral research was on the influence of the thought of Joachim on the early Franciscans.
When I first met Joseph Ratzinger, in the fall of 1984, I told him I was studying his book on St. Bonaventure with interest, and he replied: "Ah! You're the only one in Rome who has read that book of mine."
Then, later, he commented to me that the liberation theology of the Brazilian Franciscan Father Leonardo Boff was a "modern form" of Joachimism -- a desire to see within history a new ordering of human society.
So I am persuaded that Ratzinger took his research into Bonaventure quite seriously.
Ratzinger received his degree on Feb. 21, 1957, at nearly 30 years of age, but not without controversy.
The academic committee judging his work actually rejected the "critical" part of his thesis, so he was obliged to cut and edit it, and present the "historical" part only, centered on the analysis of the relation between St. Bonaventure and Joachim of Flora.
Ratzinger's professor, Michael Schmaus, thought Ratzinger's interpretation of Bonaventure's concept of revelation showed "a dangerous modernism that had to lead to the subjectivization of the concept of revelation," as Ratzinger himself recalls in his autobiography, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977. (Ratzinger felt, and still feels, that Schmaus's criticisms were not valid.)
What was it that Ratzinger found in Bonaventure that aroused such controversy?
For Ratzinger, Bonaventure's concept of revelation did not mean what it does for us today, that is, "all the revealed contents of the faith."
In Ratzinger's view, for Bonaventure, "revelation" always connoted the idea of action -- that is, revelation means the act by which God reveals himself, and not simply the result of this act.
Why is this important?
Ratzinger wrote in Milestones: "Because this is so, the concept of 'revelation' always implies a receiving subject: where there is no one to perceive 'revelation,' no re-vel-ation has occurred, because no veil has been removed. By definition, revelation requires a someone who apprehends it."
And why does this matter?
"These insights," Ratzinger continued, "gained through my reading of Bonaventure, were later on very important for me at the time of the conciliar discussion on revelation, Scripture, and tradition. Because, if Bonaventure is right, then revelation precedes Scripture and becomes deposited in Scripture but is not simply identical with it. This in turn means that revelation is always something greater than what is merely written down. And this again means that there can be no such thing as pure sola scriptura ["by Scripture alone"], because an essential element of Scripture is the Church as understanding subject, and with this the fundamental sense of tradition is already given."
In essence, what Ratzinger drew from Bonaventure modified and completed what he had drawn from Augustine.
If Augustine's thought emphasized the continuity of Christianity with classical philosophy, and the "reasonableness" of Christian faith over against pagan superstition, Bonaventure's thought emphasized the contrast between Christianity and classical philosophy, indeed, condemned the futility of classical philosophy, with its embrace of the concept of the eternity of the world and the "eternal return" of all things, because it lacked the revealed truth of a divine "actor."
Ratzinger suggested this in the forward to his work on Bonaventure: "Has not the ‘Hellenization' of Christianity, which attempted to overcome the scandal of the particular by a blending of faith and metaphysics, led to a development in a false direction? Has it not created a static style of thought which cannot do justices to the dynamism of the biblical style?"
Even today, if we go to the last chapter of the Pope's recent book, "Jesus of Nazareth," we find the metaphysical terminology that presupposes an ontology of "person as relation" that I believe is the "golden thread" throughout all of Ratzinger's work, from his first book on Augustine, begun in 1953, through his "habilitation thesis" on Bonaventure (1956) to his recent Jesus of Nazareth (2007).
Ratzinger is saying that Christian revelation must always transcend reason, though it does not, and must not, contradict it.
When Benedict XVI visits Bagnoreggio, then, he will be, in a sense, returning to the source of his own deepest intellectual struggles, to the place where he came fully to understand the newness of the Christian faith, and how that faith, that revealed truth, is at one and the same time in harmony with, and at total opposition to, the "reason" which was the highest good of classical philosophy.
This makes the trip to Bagnoreggio far more than another papal trip; it is a trip into Ratzinger's own intellectual and spiritual past, and into the core of his intellectual and spiritual vision.
* * *
Robert Moynihan is founder and editor of the monthly magazine Inside the Vatican. He is the author of the book "Let God's Light Shine Forth: the Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI" (2005, Doubleday). Moynihan's blog can be found at www.insidethevatican.com. He can be reached at: editor@insidethevatican.com
© Innovative Media, Inc.
By Robert Moynihan
ROME, AUG. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Sometimes, there is more to a papal trip than meets the eye.
And that is the case with an upcoming trip of Benedict XVI to the small Italian town of Bagnoreggio, the birthplace of St. Bonaventure.
In two weeks, on Sept. 6, the Pope will go out of Rome to visit Bagnoreggio and Viterbo.
Viterbo, about 65 miles north of Rome, or just an hour by car, is well-known as the place where papal conclaves were born.
Until 1271, the gathering of cardinals for the election was not called a "conclave" ("con" meaning "with" and "clavis" meaning "a key") -- a closed meeting in a place locked "with a key."
After the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268, the cardinals meeting in Viterbo did not elect anyone for almost three years. Finally, the city officials locked all of them in a meeting room and gave them only bread and water to eat. Soon after, they elected Pope Gregory X. He then made it Church law that papal elections would take place in a conclave.
Benedict XVI will travel to Viterbo by helicopter from the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
But on his way home, he will stop in Bagnoreggio.
Why stop in such a little, seemingly unimportant town?
Because St. Bonaventure was born there in 1217.
Still, the Pope does not stop in the birthplace of every important saint. He would not have time to do so. So, why is he taking time to stop in Bonaventure's place of birth?
For the answer, we have to look into the Pope's own past, and there we find something rather interesting.
We find that Bonaventure was one of the two major intellectual influences on Pope Benedict's entire theological formation. (The other influence? St. Augustine.)
In Germany, scholars must write two dissertations. The first, as in the United States, is to receive a doctoral degree (a Ph.D.). The second, called the "Habilitationsschrift," is to qualify for a professorial post.
And the young Joseph Ratzinger, in the mid-1950s, wrote this second, postdoctoral thesis, on ... St. Bonaventure, and his understanding of history.
Press accounts will say that the Pope is "scheduled to venerate the 'holy arm' of the saint, which is kept in Bagnoreggio's cathedral" (the rest of St. Bonaventure's body is buried in France).
But Benedict is venerating also the deep wisdom of Bonaventure's vision of Christian revelation, and in so doing "making contact" with one of the central concerns of his own personal theological vision.
In this sense, if we can understand what Benedict learned from Bonaventure, we can understand more clearly what Benedict is trying to do now, in his pontificate, to lead the Church through this complicated period in history.
Benedict XVI himself gave us an idea of this intellectual background in a speech he gave to a group of scholars several years ago, before he was Pope.
He said this: "My doctoral dissertation was about the notion of the people of God in St. Augustine. ... Augustine was in dialogue with Roman ideology, especially after the occupation of Rome by the Goths in 410, and so it was very fascinating for me to see how in these different dialogues and cultures he defines the essence of the Christian religion. He saw Christian faith, not in continuity with earlier religions, but rather in continuity with philosophy as a victory of reason over superstition. ..."
So, we might argue that one major step in Ratzinger's own theological formation was to understand Christianity as "in continuity with philosophy" and as "a victory of reason over superstition."
Then Ratzinger took a second step. He studied Bonaventure.
"My postdoctoral work was about St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan theologian of the 13th century," Ratzinger continued. "I discovered an aspect of Bonaventure's theology not found in the previous literature, namely, his relation with the new idea of history conceived by Joachim of Fiore in the 12th century. Joachim saw history as progression from the period of the Father (a difficult time for human beings under the law), to a second period of history, that of the Son (with more freedom, more openness, more brotherhood), to a third period of history, the definitive period of history, the time of the Holy Spirit.
"According to Joachim, this was to be a time of universal reconciliation, reconciliation between east and west, between Christians and Jews, a time without the law (in the Pauline sense), a time of real brotherhood in the world.
"The interesting idea which I discovered was that a significant current among the Franciscans was convinced that St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan Order marked the beginning of this third period of history, and it was their ambition to actualize it; Bonaventure was in critical dialogue with this current."
So, we might argue, Ratzinger drew from Bonaventure a conception of human history as unfolding in a purposeful way, toward a specific goal, a time of deepened spiritual insight, an "age of the Holy Spirit."
Where classical philosophy spoke of the eternity of the world, and therefore of the cyclical "eternal return" of all reality, Bonaventure, following Joachim, condemned the concept of the eternity of the world, and defended the idea that history was a unique and purposeful unfolding of events which would never return, but which would come to a conclusion.
History had meaning.
History was related to, and oriented toward, meaning -- toward the Logos ... toward Christ.
This is not to say that Ratzinger -- or Bonaventure -- made any of the specific interpretations of Joachim his own. It is to say that Ratzinger, like Bonaventure, entered into "critical dialogue" with his overall conception -- that history had a shape and a meaning -- that he, like Bonaventure, took it quite seriously.
I have some personal insight into how seriously Ratzinger took these matters.
My own doctoral research was on the influence of the thought of Joachim on the early Franciscans.
When I first met Joseph Ratzinger, in the fall of 1984, I told him I was studying his book on St. Bonaventure with interest, and he replied: "Ah! You're the only one in Rome who has read that book of mine."
Then, later, he commented to me that the liberation theology of the Brazilian Franciscan Father Leonardo Boff was a "modern form" of Joachimism -- a desire to see within history a new ordering of human society.
So I am persuaded that Ratzinger took his research into Bonaventure quite seriously.
Ratzinger received his degree on Feb. 21, 1957, at nearly 30 years of age, but not without controversy.
The academic committee judging his work actually rejected the "critical" part of his thesis, so he was obliged to cut and edit it, and present the "historical" part only, centered on the analysis of the relation between St. Bonaventure and Joachim of Flora.
Ratzinger's professor, Michael Schmaus, thought Ratzinger's interpretation of Bonaventure's concept of revelation showed "a dangerous modernism that had to lead to the subjectivization of the concept of revelation," as Ratzinger himself recalls in his autobiography, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977. (Ratzinger felt, and still feels, that Schmaus's criticisms were not valid.)
What was it that Ratzinger found in Bonaventure that aroused such controversy?
For Ratzinger, Bonaventure's concept of revelation did not mean what it does for us today, that is, "all the revealed contents of the faith."
In Ratzinger's view, for Bonaventure, "revelation" always connoted the idea of action -- that is, revelation means the act by which God reveals himself, and not simply the result of this act.
Why is this important?
Ratzinger wrote in Milestones: "Because this is so, the concept of 'revelation' always implies a receiving subject: where there is no one to perceive 'revelation,' no re-vel-ation has occurred, because no veil has been removed. By definition, revelation requires a someone who apprehends it."
And why does this matter?
"These insights," Ratzinger continued, "gained through my reading of Bonaventure, were later on very important for me at the time of the conciliar discussion on revelation, Scripture, and tradition. Because, if Bonaventure is right, then revelation precedes Scripture and becomes deposited in Scripture but is not simply identical with it. This in turn means that revelation is always something greater than what is merely written down. And this again means that there can be no such thing as pure sola scriptura ["by Scripture alone"], because an essential element of Scripture is the Church as understanding subject, and with this the fundamental sense of tradition is already given."
In essence, what Ratzinger drew from Bonaventure modified and completed what he had drawn from Augustine.
If Augustine's thought emphasized the continuity of Christianity with classical philosophy, and the "reasonableness" of Christian faith over against pagan superstition, Bonaventure's thought emphasized the contrast between Christianity and classical philosophy, indeed, condemned the futility of classical philosophy, with its embrace of the concept of the eternity of the world and the "eternal return" of all things, because it lacked the revealed truth of a divine "actor."
Ratzinger suggested this in the forward to his work on Bonaventure: "Has not the ‘Hellenization' of Christianity, which attempted to overcome the scandal of the particular by a blending of faith and metaphysics, led to a development in a false direction? Has it not created a static style of thought which cannot do justices to the dynamism of the biblical style?"
Even today, if we go to the last chapter of the Pope's recent book, "Jesus of Nazareth," we find the metaphysical terminology that presupposes an ontology of "person as relation" that I believe is the "golden thread" throughout all of Ratzinger's work, from his first book on Augustine, begun in 1953, through his "habilitation thesis" on Bonaventure (1956) to his recent Jesus of Nazareth (2007).
Ratzinger is saying that Christian revelation must always transcend reason, though it does not, and must not, contradict it.
When Benedict XVI visits Bagnoreggio, then, he will be, in a sense, returning to the source of his own deepest intellectual struggles, to the place where he came fully to understand the newness of the Christian faith, and how that faith, that revealed truth, is at one and the same time in harmony with, and at total opposition to, the "reason" which was the highest good of classical philosophy.
This makes the trip to Bagnoreggio far more than another papal trip; it is a trip into Ratzinger's own intellectual and spiritual past, and into the core of his intellectual and spiritual vision.
* * *
Robert Moynihan is founder and editor of the monthly magazine Inside the Vatican. He is the author of the book "Let God's Light Shine Forth: the Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI" (2005, Doubleday). Moynihan's blog can be found at www.insidethevatican.com. He can be reached at: editor@insidethevatican.com
© Innovative Media, Inc.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
PLANNED PARENTHOOD RIPS BISHOPS
August 19, 2009
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments today on remarks made yesterday by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood:
Planned Parenthood is getting restless knowing that its abortion-happy health care reforms are on the skids. Cecile Richards is now accusing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops of seeking to make “American women second-class citizens.” And that’s just the danger they are doing at home. Abroad, “their hard-line opposition to women’s rights also endangers millions of women around the globe.” Why they haven’t been locked up, she does not say.
Richards was recently summoned to the White House to discuss health care reform. Is this the kind of advice she was given—to lash out at Catholic bishops? If not, then someone needs to rein her in before the whole health care package blows up in their face.
Richards is either ignorant or lying when she says “comprehensive reproductive health care [is] supported by the majority of Americans.” In fact, nearly two in three Americans (63 percent) favor laws preventing the use of taxpayer funds for abortions. But no matter, data never convince ideologues.
This is great. The American people are called fascists by U.S. Congressmen because they oppose the health care bills now on the table, and Catholic bishops are told by one of the leading proponents of health care reform that they are a threat to human rights. This is the politics of self-destruction on steroids.
August 19, 2009
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments today on remarks made yesterday by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood:
Planned Parenthood is getting restless knowing that its abortion-happy health care reforms are on the skids. Cecile Richards is now accusing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops of seeking to make “American women second-class citizens.” And that’s just the danger they are doing at home. Abroad, “their hard-line opposition to women’s rights also endangers millions of women around the globe.” Why they haven’t been locked up, she does not say.
Richards was recently summoned to the White House to discuss health care reform. Is this the kind of advice she was given—to lash out at Catholic bishops? If not, then someone needs to rein her in before the whole health care package blows up in their face.
Richards is either ignorant or lying when she says “comprehensive reproductive health care [is] supported by the majority of Americans.” In fact, nearly two in three Americans (63 percent) favor laws preventing the use of taxpayer funds for abortions. But no matter, data never convince ideologues.
This is great. The American people are called fascists by U.S. Congressmen because they oppose the health care bills now on the table, and Catholic bishops are told by one of the leading proponents of health care reform that they are a threat to human rights. This is the politics of self-destruction on steroids.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
