April 16, 2008
A Pope for the Internet Age?
(Jimmy Akin)
Pope Benedict's trip to the United States is obviously a focus of attention right now.
I'd like to CHT the reader who e-mailed a link to THIS STORY by Peggy Noonan.
In it, she reflects on the personal styles of JP2 and B16, and offers a number of insights, among them this:
A Vatican reporter last week said John Paul was the perfect pope for the television age, "a man of images." Think of the pictures of him storm-tossed, tempest-tossed, standing somewhere and leaning into a heavy wind, his robes whipping behind him, holding on to his crosier, the staff bearing the image of a crucified Christ, with both hands, for dear life, as if consciously giving Christians a picture of what it is to be alive.
Benedict, the reporter noted, is the perfect pope for the Internet age. He is a man of the word. You download the text of what he said, print it, ponder it.
Actually, I don't print it. I have my text-to-speech engine read it to me and then ponder it, but I get the idea.
Now if the Holy See would only get the perfect web site for the Internet age.
Unfortunately, not everyone is as appreciative of B16 as Mrs. Noonan.
Stephen Prothero, the Chair of the Department of Religion for Jesuit-run Boston College, for example, ISN'T:
Young American Catholics treated John Paul II like a rock star. Yes, he was socially and theologically conservative, but at least they could relate to the guy with the "Popemobile" and the smile and the energy to travel to some 130 countries during his 26 years at the Holy See. But can they relate to Benedict XVI? And can he relate to them? What can a pope who is an academic theologian first and foremost offer young Americans, save for dogmas they don't believe in and rituals they do not understand? Is he coming to scold us? Or to hug us?
We are about to find out.
Actually, someone should scold Stephen Prothero, but it should be someone other than B16.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, there's LOTS OF COVERAGE OF THE PAPAL VISIT FROM EWTN.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (57)
April 09, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI . . . Now In English!
(Jimmy Akin)
It's really cool being able to put the pope directly on your blog, so here goes: B16 as guest blogger.
Here is a video from Pope Benedict introducing his forthcoming visit to the United States.
What's ultra cool about this, to me anyway, is that I'm hearing the pope speaking in English. I've read I don't know how many documents he's written, but there is nothing like hearing someone speaking your native language to give you a sense of them on a personal level (even if they are reading from a prepared text, as is the case here).
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December 03, 2007
Approved Translations
(Jimmy Akin)
I read Spe Salvi the first day it came out, and I'm still digesting it. It's longer by more than 3,000 words than its predecessor, Deus Caritas Est and takes more than two hours to read (unless you're speed reading, of course).
I'll try to blog some about its contents, and the first thing I thought I'd note is something that lept out at me when I was making my way through it the very first time.
You see, I'm not a big fan of the New American Bible. It's a squishy, lame, tin-eared translation. Even the people who worked on the translation (like Raymond Brown) complained about what the stylistic editors did to their work (though that applies more to the original edition than the current one).
The NAB also happens to be approved by the U.S. bishops for use in liturgy, and so occasionally I get someone who is more-bishopier-than-thou looking down his nose at me for finding fault with the translation, as if the U.S. bishops personally translated the document--as a body--under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. (Instead of approving as a conference the work of a set of interlocking committees of iconoclastic translators who were determined to desacralize the language of Scripture. Under those circumstances, an individual bishop had virtually no chance of getting substantive changes made in the document, especially in the heady atmosphere of the early 1970s, when the first edition came out.)
Well, in Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict is very diplomatic about it--in keeping with his position as pope--but he finds fault with a translation approved by the conference of bishops of his homeland, Germany.
Discussing, Hebrews, 11:1, he writes:
To Luther, who was not particularly fond of the Letter to the Hebrews, the concept of “substance”, in the context of his view of faith, meant nothing. For this reason he understood the term hypostasis/substance not in the objective sense (of a reality present within us), but in the subjective sense, as an expression of an interior attitude, and so, naturally, he also had to understand the term argumentum as a disposition of the subject. In the twentieth century this interpretation became prevalent—at least in Germany—in Catholic exegesis too, so that the ecumenical translation into German of the New Testament, approved by the Bishops, reads as follows: Glaube aber ist: Feststehen in dem, was man erhofft, Überzeugtsein von dem, was man nicht sieht (faith is: standing firm in what one hopes, being convinced of what one does not see). This in itself is not incorrect, but it is not the meaning of the text, because the Greek term used (elenchos) does not have the subjective sense of “conviction” but the objective sense of “proof”. Rightly, therefore, recent Protestant exegesis has arrived at a different interpretation: “Yet there can be no question but that this classical Protestant understanding is untenable.”5 Faith is not merely a personal reaching out towards things to come that are still totally absent: it gives us something. It gives us even now something of the reality we are waiting for, and this present reality constitutes for us a “proof” of the things that are still unseen. Faith draws the future into the present, so that it is no longer simply a “not yet”. The fact that this future exists changes the present; the present is touched by the future reality, and thus the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future (Spe Salvi 7).
Ultimately, it's about what translation best captures what's in the original, not who produced it or who approved it.
This is not to discount the importance of episcopal approval of Scripture translations. I'm not in the least suggesting we do away with that. But it is to note that even when we have episcopal approval of a translation, that doesn't mean that the translation is infallible or the best one that could have been produced.
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November 30, 2007
Spe Salvi
(Jimmy Akin)
SOME ANALYSIS FROM JOHN ALLEN.
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November 28, 2007
New Encyclical
(Jimmy Akin)
There's been a rumor for some time that B16 has been working on a new encyclical on social issues . . . perhaps globalization.
However the Holy See has confirmed that a new and different encyclical will be signed--and apparently released--this Friday.
The new encyclical--Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope" or "Saved in Hope"; from St. Paul's phrase)--is a theological meditation on hope and a companion to B16's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, which was a meditation on love.
This signals that the pontiff means to do an encyclical on each of the theological virtues, so in a year or two we should look for one on the virtue of faith to complete the trilogy.
I especially look forward to what the Pope will have to say in the third one!
It is also notable that he is doing the theological virtues in the reverse order that they are normally given in. This may be a deliberate strategy on his part to play against the stereotype of him as a stern doctrinal enforcer.
What I'm particularly struck by, though, is the claim that the new encyclical will be signed and released the same day. To my mind, that's the way it ought to be, though so often the Holy See will sign something and then not release it for a long time. I haven't followed lately how often they've been doing that, but if there's a move to sign and release the same day, that's a good thing.
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October 19, 2007
No Respect! No Respect?
(Jimmy Akin)
A few years ago on a Catholic Answers cruise we were joined by Archbishop John P. Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
He was a riot!
The guy has a very open demeanor and a terrific sense of humor. He talks always had the attendees in stitches.
As the head of a relatively minor dicastery in Rome, the Archbishop described himself atone point as "the Rodney Dangerfield of the Vatican," calling to mind the late commedian's signature complaint "No respect! No respect!"
But now that's changed.
B16 has just announced that Archbishop Foley will soon become Cardinal Foley.
John Allen comments:
Benedict XVI also showed his appreciation for loyalty today by at long last naming Archbishop John Foley to the College of Cardinals. Foley served as the President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications since 1984 until he resigned in June, and during those 23 years, Foley watched eight consistories in which 214 other men became cardinals. Each time he endured speculation about why he had not been inducted into the college with good humor and without complaint. One of the most universally popular figures in the Vatican, it's not difficult to anticipate that his line of well-wishers during the receptions following the Nov. 24 consistory should be especially long.
LIST OF ALL THE NEW CARDINALS.
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October 02, 2007
Vatican's Top Liturgical Liberal Steps Down
(Jimmy Akin)
It's been predicted for some time that B16 would remove Marini from his office as the papal master of ceremonies.
And now he has.
His replacement is . . . Marini!
That is, Archbishop Piero Marini is being replaced by Fr. Guido Marini.
Same last name. Two different guys.
In case you haven't been aware of who Piero Marini is or what the papal master of ceremonies is, basically he (Piero Marini) is the guy who, as master of ceremonies, plans the pope's celebration of the liturgy.
Want to know why there were Aztec dancers gyrating all over the place at the canonization of Juan Diego?
Piero Marini.
Want to know why John Paul II's vestments for the Third Millennium celebration looked like a costume from Star Trek Voyager?
Piero Marini.
Want to know why liturgical law was disregarded regularly at John Paul II's major celebrations of the liturgy?
Piero Marini.
I don't know why JP2 kept him around, particularly as he started tightening up on liturgical abuses through the latter part of his reign.
I mean, if you're trying to tighten up the celebration of the liturgy for Catholics all over the world, not using one's authority as pope to authorize deviations from the norms at your own liturgies would seem to be a good first step.
Otherwise, it's easy for liturgical dissidents the world over to say, "Well, the pope had this (e.g., dancing) at his own Mass, so it's obviously okay for us to have it, too."
But for whatever reason, Pope John Paul decided to retain the services of Piero Marini.
Once B16 was elected, it was widely expected that he would replace Marini, though not immediately lest it look like a slap.
Some have thought that the case of Benedict's tie-dyed vestments in Austria (more on those later) might have precipitated the replacement.
So who's the new Marini?
EXCERPT:
The new Marini, according to Italian observers, does not bring a sharply defined ideological profile into his new position. Though he served as the master of ceremonies in the Genoa archdiocese for both Cardinals Dionigi Tettamanzi and Tarcisio Bertone (today the Vatican’s Secretary of State), Guido Marini, 46, has an academic background in canon law and spirituality rather than liturgy.
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July 13, 2007
Ex-Catholic Anti-Catholic Bigot at CNN
(Jimmy Akin)
UNBELIEVABLE. ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE.
Can't even get the facts straight.
How do I contact someone at CNN to see about writing a response editorial?
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (365)
July 10, 2007
New Curial Document on the Church
(Jimmy Akin)
Analysis later.
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July 07, 2007
Motu Proprio! Motu Proprio! Motu Proprio! For Real This Time!
(Jimmy Akin)
Pope Benedict XVI has released the long-awaited document granting permission for the older form of Mass, which was in general use in Catholic churches before the Second Vatican Council.
This move will prove controversial in some quarters, and the pope refers to the controvery that has already been generated in a letter he issued that accompanies the document.
The pope comments:
News reports and judgments made without sufficient information have created no little confusion. There have been very divergent reactions ranging from joyful acceptance to harsh opposition, about a plan whose contents were in reality unknown.
Here are links to the document itself (the "motu proprio"--a document issued by the pope's "own initiative"), the accompanying letter from the pope, and analysis by others.
TEXT OF THE MOTU PROPRIO. (AND IN LATIN.)
TEXT OF THE ACCOMPANYING LETTER.
UPDATE: AND STILL YET MORE ANALYSIS (THIS TIME FROM FR. Z--CHT TO THE READER WHO COMMENTED).
HOW THE CONTROVERSY MAY PLAY OUT.
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June 29, 2007
Motu Proprio "Within a Few Days"
(Jimmy Akin)
A statement from the Vatican press office confirms the meeting B16 had with various bishops on the Tridentine rite Mass:
"The publication of the document -- which will be accompanied by an extensive personal letter from the Holy Father to individual bishops -- is expected within a few days, when the document itself will be sent to all the bishops with an indication for its implementation," the statement said.
SO WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TWO RITES OF MASS, ANYWAY?
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June 28, 2007
Happy Year of St. Paul!
(Jimmy Akin)
It starts a year from now. (Sorry for the boo-boo. Misread the date.)
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June 27, 2007
Motu Proprio 777?
(Jimmy Akin)
Word on the street is that B16 will release the moto proprio on the Tridentine rite of Mass on 7/7/07--so just nine days from now.
I'd very much like to have the motu proprio released then--or sooner--but even though I'm not from Missouri, I'll believe it when I see it.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (51)
June 26, 2007
Motu Proprio! Motu Proprio! Motu Proprio!
(Jimmy Akin)
POPE BENEDICT XVI HAS JUST RELEASED HIS NEW MOTU PROPRIO!!! WOO-HOO!!!
AND HE'S TURNED BACK THE CLOCK!!!
In it, he orders the Church to revert to a traditional practice that had been changed in the years following Vatican II! And it's not just an "if the bishop doesn't object" reversal! It's a complete and total reversal!
The only thing is . . .
It doesn't concern the Mass.
It's not that motu proprio. It's a different one.
What it does deal with is how the next pope will be elected. In times past, the election of a new pope required a supermajority of the cardinals to agree on the new pontiff, but John Paul II changed that so that--if they were unable to agree after an extended period of time--only a simple majority would do.
That innovation was introduced, no doubt, because of concerns John Paul II had about the amount of polarization in the Church and the difficulties this might conceivably create in getting to the required supermajority.
But B16 apparently feels that getting the buy-in of more than half of the cardinals is more important.
In fact, it may motivate deeper scrutiny on the part of the cardinals of what the Church really needs. It will prevent a bare majority of the cardinals from knowing that they can just run out the clock and get who they would like. By forcing the supermajority the cardinals will be forced to think through who really can best govern the Church given the differing viewpoints of the cardinals.
And it prevents any future pope from being confronted with a George Bush-like situation where he wins in a squeaker election and is then permanently hobbled by resentment and debates and perhaps even doubts (due to the secrecy of the conclave) over the legitimacy of the election.
What do I think of the change?
I don't know. I haven't yet read an English version of the document, and I've only skimmed in it Latin, so at this point I don't have a strong opinion. It's also a decision I'm glad I don't have to make.
GET THE STORY.
HERE'S THE ORIGINAL IN LATIN.
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June 07, 2007
Okay, I'm Glad This Came To Nothing
(Jimmy Akin)
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May 24, 2007
Woo-Hoo! New Pope Book!
(Jimmy Akin)
The English edition of the pope's new book came out while I was gone, and I came home to find a copy waiting for me.
I'm reading it now.
You can guess how good it is!
It's also available on CD for those who prefer audiobooks.
THAT VERSION IS HERE.
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May 10, 2007
B16 Heads South
(Jimmy Akin)
Well, while I'm in Italy right now, Pope Benedict has gone to Brazil. (There is no causal connection between those two as far as I know.)
What's he doing down there?
JOHN ALLEN HAS THE SCOOP.
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May 07, 2007
A Look At The Pope's New Book
(Jimmy Akin)
The English edition of the Pope's new book on Jesus will be out in a few days (unfortunately, while I'll be in Italy, so I won't be able to get it--or have time to read it--till I get back), but
JOHN ALLEN HAS AN INTERESTING PREVIEW.
He also has some interesting thoughts on how the press tends to miss the point of books like this.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (15)
April 24, 2007
JA: Motu Proprio Soon
(Jimmy Akin)
John Allen maintains that the motu proprio liberalizing the use of the Tridentine rite of Mass is real and should be out soon.
EXCERPT:
An April 3 letter from Cardinal Walter Kasper, who among other things heads the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, responds to concerns from the International Council of Christians and Jews about the pre-Vatican II Mass, in light of controversial passages it contains regarding Judaism. The last sentence of Kasper's letter, the text of which I have, is the key line: "While I do not know what the pope intends to state in his final text, it is clear that the decision that has been made cannot now be changed."
Kasper's language clearly indicates that something definitive has happened. It adds to the confirmation given by the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on March 31 that a motu proprio from Benedict XVI, meaning a document under the pope's personal authority, on the pre-Vatican II Mass is coming.
But when will it appear?
The hot tip now is April 30, the feast of St. Pius V on the Roman calendar, or May 5, the feast of Pius V on the older calendar.
Allen's story points out that certain prayers in the Tridentine rite may offend interreligious sensibilities, and it will be interestng to see what, if anything, is done regarding them. While one of the most troublesome passages was removed by John XXIII, if the Holy See were to take swift action to alter more passages, it would undercut the effect of liberalizing the rite before it could have its impact.
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April 02, 2007
More On That Motu Proprio
(Jimmy Akin)
A while back I conjectured that now that the apostolic exhortation is out, we might begin to hear more about the motu proprio liberalzing the use of the Tridentine rite of Mass, buliding up to its release.
It appears that there are now signs of that.
Roman Catholic Blog has a post on two related stories that deal with this.
The first comes from Rorate Caeli, where an excerpt is given from a French publication (Le Figaro) in which Cardinal Bertone discusses the matter. Here's the money quote:
Is a Decree widening the possibility of celebrating the Latin Mass according to the rite from before Vatican II (the so-called Mass of Saint Pius V) still expected?
[Secretary of State] Cardinal Bertone: The merit of the conciliar liturgical reform is intact. But both [for reasons of] not losing the great liturgical heritage left by Saint Pius V and for granting the wish of those faithful who desire to attend Masses according to this rite, within the framework of the Missal published in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, with its own calendar, there is no valid reason not to grant to every priest in the world* the right to celebrate according to this form. The authorization of the Supreme Pontiff would evidently preserve the validity of the rite of Paul VI. The publication of the motu proprio which specifies this authorisation will take place, but it will be the pope himself who will explain his motivations and the framework of his decision. The Sovereign Pontiff will personally explain his vision for the use of the ancient Missal to the Christian people, and particularly to the Bishops.
*au prêtre du monde entier: literally, to the priest of the whole world
Now, I have a little note of caution here, because the interview in question hasn't yet appeared on Le Figaro's web site, raising a tiny question in my mind about the provenance of the story. However, I think it's most likely accurate.
Here's the French group that originally put it online.
There's also this story from Catholic News Service, which is well worth reading. It cites a bunch of unnamed Vatican sources, but it nevertheless conveys the expectation that the motu proprio will soon be released. What's interesting, though, is that it provides a plausible understanding of Benedict's rationale in issuing it: that it's not just a gesture to the SSPX but is instead an effort on his part to harmonize elements in the Church's recent liturgical history.
EXCERPT:
More than making peace with Archbishop Lefebvre's followers, they said, the pope is trying to make peace with the church's own tradition.
One big clue to the pope's thinking came in his 1997 book, titled "Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977" and written when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in which he sharply criticized the drastic manner in which Pope Paul VI reformed the Mass in 1969.
The almost total prohibition of the old missal, which had been used for 400 years, was unprecedented in the history of the liturgy, he said in the book.
In effect, he said, "the old building was demolished" and a new one put in its place. Thus the liturgy ceased to be a living development and was treated as something manufactured by experts, which has caused the church "enormous harm," he said.
This is something that Cardinal Ratzinger said on more than one occasion, and in more than one way. In one of Peter Seewald's interviews with him, he expressed the thought that for 400 years the Tridentine rite of Mass had been the Church's most sacred possession, and it was problematic to then suddenly turn around and treat it as forbidden.
In any event, after a long dormancy of hearing anything about the motu proprio, it now sounds as if things are in motion again.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (189)
March 21, 2007
About That Motu Proprio
(Jimmy Akin)
Of course a lot of people have been wondering where the Tridentine Mass liberalization motu proprio is and why it hasn't come out.
We know with a high degree of confidence that the documents was drafted--in fact, that it's been through several drafts--and that B16 has been favorably disposed to issuing it (or it wouldn't have been drafted in the first place).
But where is it?
Some have speculated that it was delayed by the negative reaction of the French episcopate--or other episcopates--and that this negative reaction may derail it altogether.
Maybe.
Although maybe B16 is just letting the bishops have their say before he does what he planned to do all along.
Myself, I have a different speculation about why it hasn't come out. The desire for greater consultation with the bishops may be part of it, but I suspect that there is a different factor that has been delaying the motu proprio: the delay of the apostolic exhortation.
The Holy See sequences the release of major documents so that each one can make an impact in the press and then be absorbed by the public (or at least the relevant sections of the public). They don't want the impact of major documents diluted by having them step on each other.
You could see a bit of that happening last week when--although the big news was the release of the apostolic exhortation--the headlines in many places were stolen by attention to a document of much lesser importance: the warning about some books by an individual theologian.
The latter--because it involved controversy--got more press in some circles, though it was much less important in and of itself.
Now you can imagine what would happen if they released the motu proprio before or (as some suggested) at the same time as the apostolic exhortation. Since the motu proprio will be controversial, the press surrounding it would totally overwhelm the apostolic exhortation.
The smart things for B16 to do--and he is a very smart man--would be to issue the apostolic exhortation first, to lead with the document that clearly shows he is in harmony with the liturgical renewal that followed the Second Vatican Council (even if it needs some course corrections) and then issue the motu proprio liberalizing the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
The inordinate delays with the apostolic exhortation (which B16 complained about himself, albeit politely) thus strikes me as a likely reason for the delay in the release of the motu proprio.
Or that's my theory.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (353)
January 04, 2007
B16's Schedule For '07
(Jimmy Akin)
CNS has a nice piece on what B16 will be doing in the coming year.
Incidentally, the story had a bit of Vatican lore that I wasn't previously aware of:
The "ad limina" visits [that bishops make to see the pope] have undergone a quiet revolution in recent years, and it's evident in the pope's 2007 schedule. Canon law says the visits, by heads of dioceses to report on the status of their dioceses, should take place every five years, but that interval is now anywhere from six to nine years; many of the bishops coming in 2007 made their last visits eight years ago.
There are several reasons for the change. One is the simple fact that the number of the world's bishops has approximately doubled over the last 50 years. Another is that when Pope John Paul II was ill during the last years of his pontificate, he was unable to keep up the pace of "ad limina" meetings, and a backlog developed.
Today, even with a healthy pope, it's doubtful the Vatican can get back to the five-year schedule, one Vatican source said. The pope would have to meet with 540 bishops a year; last year, he met with 360.
Interesting!
So. What are your hopes for what B16 will do in 2007?
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (38)
December 18, 2006
Timing Rumors
(Jimmy Akin)
Catholic News Agency is reporting:
Sources close to the Vatican have told Catholic News Agency that the Motu Propio by which Pope Benedict XVI would allow for the universal use of the Missal of St. Pius V may be published after Christmas, while the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist could come in mid-January 2007.
MORE . . .
The Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist, according to the same sources, has already been finished by Pope Benedict XVI and is being translated into the different languages in which it will be presented.
The document, which sources say will be issued after January 15, reaffirms the Church’s commitment to a celibate priesthood, encourages the use of Latin in liturgical celebrations, and even requests that seminarians learn the language as part of their formation.
It will also promote the recovery of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphonic music as a replacement to modern music, which would result in a gradual elimination of musical instruments that are “inappropriate” for the solemnity and reverence of the Eucharistic celebration.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (55)
B16 On Christmas Presents
(Jimmy Akin)
A while back ago, SDG did a post in which he quoted Pre-16 on Christmas in which the predestined-to-be-pontiff took something other than the usual dour, scolding tone that priests and preachers are expected to take toward the way that Christmas is celebrated.
To be sure, he did say that "The hectic commercialism is repugnant to us, and rightly so," but he went on to say, "And yet, underneath it all, does it not originate in the notion of giving and thus the inner urgency of love, with its compulsion to share, to give of oneself to the other? And does not the notion of giving transport us directly into the core of the mystery that is Christmas?"
He went on to reflect more concretely on the custom of giving Christmas presents, saying:
In the offertory prayer of the Christmas Vigil liturgy, we ask God for the grace to receive with joy his everlasting gifts that come to us in the celebration of Christ’s birth. Thus the concept of gift-giving is squarely anchored in this liturgy of the Church and, at the same time, we are made aware of the primal mode of all giving at Christmas: that God, on this holy night, desired to make himself into a gift to mankind, that he turned himself over to us.
The one genuine Christmas gift to mankind, to history, to each one of us, is none other than Jesus Christ himself. Even those who do not believe him to be God incarnate will have to admit that he has enriched and gifted the inner existence of generations upon generations.
This year Post-Pre-16, which is to say, B16 himself, took up this theme again in an address to college students , telling them:
"Christmas gifts remind us of the most perfect gift that the Son of God gave us of himself in the Incarnation,” Pope Benedict told the youth. “Christmas is the day in which God has given himself to human persons and this gift is made perfect, so to speak, in the Eucharist." (SOURCE.)
I don't have the full text of his address, but I hope it appears on the web soon, because I'd like to read more about what he has to say on this subject.
In former days, I myself expected pastors to take the scolding attitude toward the commercialization of Christmas, not that this ever stopped me from giving Christmas presents to others.
To this day any talk that suggests a horizontalization of Christmas--that good will among men is the "real meaning" of Christmas--turns my stomach, and I am no fan of the endless holiday movies and TV shows that make this point, including remakes of Charles Dickens' secular fairy-tale A Christmas Carol.
The real meaning of Christmas is Christ, and to convey the idea that it is anything else, whether commercialistic or sentimentalistic is to confuse the epiphenomena for the Phenomenon that occasions them.
Yet I find myself agreeing with B16, too.
It's natural to give gifts as part of a celebration. When the Jewish people were saved from Haman's plot against them in the book of Esther, they exchanged presents of food with each other (9:22). There's a certain naturalness to that, particularly in an age when food was not as cheap and easily available as it is today. But even apart from the biblical precedent, the exchange of gifts as a sign of joy is a human universal.
There is a familiar pattern that shows up across cultures whenever something is being celebrated. The details may vary, and not every element may be present in each celebration or in each culture, but in the main, whenever humans celebrate something you're going to find a familiar cluster: eating, drinking, singing, dancing, gift-giving, and decorating. It doesn't matter whether it's Christmas or Purim or Eid al-Fitr or Diwali or Chinese New Year. There's going to be a substantial presence of what we might call the human "celebration pattern" present.
Why does the pattern exist?
I haven't reflected on the matter until recently, but it seems to me that there are likely to be at least two main reasons:
1) Humans are tangible creatures and we need to externalize our feelings through physical actions. Vulcans might be able to commemorate an event of joy just by meditating on it (assuming they weren't wrong-headedly repressing their joy), but not humans. We've got ants in our pants, and we need to do something.
2) This blends into the second reason, which is that we need to externalize joy not just to express it but to promote it as well. All of the things in the human celebration pattern promote joy--they (when done well) make us happy, and so it's natural to use them to promote joy over the thing we are celebrating. If you will, they are the occasion of natural happiness that, in religious contexts, becomes supernaturalized by pointing us to something beyond themselves.
Let's look at gratitude for a moment. Suppose that you had come down with a horrible disease that was going to kill you or otherwise ruin your life. Then a doctor shows up and tells you that there's a cure, and he gives it to you. In the moments of joy and relief that follow, you would not need any elements of the human celebration pattern to get you to feel joy and gratitude. You'd just feel it. Immediately. Hugely. Without any assistance.
But what about ten years later? The feelings wouldn't be the same at that point, and while they'd still be there, latent, it would require more effort to bring them to the surface.
Something similar happens in religious contexts.
If you were one of the Israelites who came through the Red Sea, you wouldn't have needed special celebrations to evoke feelings of awe and joy and thanksgiving to God. But 3500 years later? It's a different story.
In the same way, if we were there at the manger on the night of the first Christmas--in Bethlehem--knowing the significance of the night, we wouldn't need special assistance in evoking feelings of awe and joy and thanksgiving. But 2000 years later, it's a different story.
Because of the distance that exists between us and the events we are celebrating, and given the way the human psyche works--at least in its fallen form--we need assistance to help evoke the feelings that we recognize are appropriate for the event we are celebrating. And so we employ elements of the human celebration pattern to help raise us to the level where--at least in a fallen, partial, incomplete way that doesn't compare to what we would feel if we could go back and be in Bethlehem on that first Christmas--we feel some of what is appropriate.
We use the epiphenomena (the external elements of celebration) to help us appreciate the Phenomenon that occasions them.
That's just the way humans work.
And so the celebration pattern not only allows us to express joy but to create joy as well.
The danger, in a religious setting, is that we will let the party become an end for its own sake. Parties are fine, and you don't need a special occasion for them. My square dance club has one every month (that is, a special "Party Night," in addition to its weekly dances). But if you are having a party imbued with religious meaning, that meaning needs to be kept in sight.
This is something that we have to work at at times. It's easy--when we are children--to focus exclusively on presents--or other elements of the celebration pattern (e.g., decorating Easter eggs, Halloween costumes, Halloween candy)--and we need our parents to help us keep a spiritual perspective in view.
But it is not wrong to use elements of celebration to evoke religious feeling. God knows how we're made, and he expects us to do this, receiving and blessing the pattern. One of the purposes toward which the tithe was put in the Old Testament was to throw a party in thanksgiving for what God had given you. This was a matter of divine command at the time, and it shows the divine reception of external, joyful celebrations oriented toward the spiritual.
If we then ask: How much celebration is appropriate on a particular occasion, the answer will depend in part on what it is we are celebrating. If it's the feast day of St. Paul well, as awesome as St. Paul is, that ain't nothing compared to the birth of the Messiah. The joy occasioned by the latter should far outstrip the former--and St. Paul would say so himself. (Indeed, he would be positively insistent on the matter.)
The birth of God in human form--together with the rising of God from the dead for our salvation--should occasion the greatest joy and the greatest celebrations. One can argue that our culture doesn't have the respective proportions between Christmas and Easter right, or that it allows other holidays to compete with them that shouldn't, but at least among Christians they are recognized as the two most important religious holidays.
If we leave off comparing one holiday to another, though, and just ask ourselves "How much celebration is warranted for the birth of God in human form?" it seems to me that there is no intrinsic maximum to how much joy or how much celebration we should have. This is an event of such transcendant importance that the answer to how much joy you should feel or how big a celebration you should have, the answer is "As much as you can."
God doesn't want you to exceed your means in these matters. He doesn't want you to get so joyful that you become blind to your surroundings and rush out into the street shouting praises and get hit by a bus. Neither does he want you to ruin your family finances buying Christmas presents that you can't afford. But within your means, it's warranted to throw Christ a tremendous birthday party.
What counts as a tremendous birthday party depends on the means of the family and the culture throwing it. On the principle of the widow's mite, a family or a culture that has very modest means will throw an externally modest party that is just as tremendous in God's eyes as a family or culture with larger means which throws an externally larger party.
The key is not the size of the party but that it seeks to reflect the joy that is due the Event, within the means we have available, and that the party not lose sight of the purpose for which it is being celebrated.
I thus find my own reaction to the contemporary celebration of Christmas taking a somewhat different shape than it used to. It's not the size of the party that our culture throws or all the economic activity that Christmas generates. My concern is more directed to orienting the celebration toward Christ rather than complaining about the excesses of the celebration (though there are certainly those in individual cases).
Which is why I was very pleased Friday night at my square dance club when our new caller confessed himself unashamed to wish people Merry Christmas. This not only drew immediate applause from the dancers but occasioned extensive Merry Christmassing for the rest of the evening.
I don't know how religious everyone at the event is (it's not a specifically Christian square dance club), but it helped keep Christ in Christmas--not to say keep Christmas in Christmas--and that made me happy.
Merry Christmas, one and all!
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (10)
December 14, 2006
B16's Book Out Spring 2007
(Jimmy Akin)
A press release from Doubleday:
DOUBLEDAY ACQUIRES POPE BENEDICT XVI’S
FIRST BOOK AS HOLY FATHER
December 12, 2006, New York, NY—Pope Benedict XVI’s first book as the Holy Father has been acquired by Doubleday, it was announced today by Bill Barry, Vice President and Publisher of the company’s religious publishing division. Entitled JESUS OF NAZARETH: From His Baptism to His Transfiguration, the book, which will be written for the general reader, will be published in Spring 2007. Barry acquired world English, first serial, audio and exclusive Spanish language rights in North America from the Italian publisher Rizzoli, which licensed international rights to the book at the behest of Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), the publishing arm of the Vatican.
“Having previously published works by Popes John XXIII and John Paul II,” said Barry, “we are especially honored by the Holy Father’s confidence in Doubleday in entrusting to us the English language publication of his book. His scores of books written as the theologian Joseph Ratzinger demonstrate His Holiness’s erudition, but the appeal of this work will be in the personal passion he means to share about the intimate friendship with Jesus as the central figure of Christianity. It is truly a gift for all believers and sure to be an instant spiritual classic.”
JESUS OF NAZARETH represents the culmination of Pope Benedict’s lifelong quest to defend historical Christianity in the modern world. It is, he writes in the book’s preface, the result of a “long interior journey,” and “an expression of [his] personal search for the face of the Lord.” He began work on the project in the summer of 2003 and because, as he explains, “I don’t know how much time and how much strength I will still be given, I have decided to publish the first 10 chapters [from Baptism to Transfiguration] as volume one.” In the book, Pope Benedict paints a vivid portrait of Jesus as depicted in the Gospels and asserts that “only if something extraordinary happened, if the figure and words of Jesus radically exceeded all the hopes and expectations of his age, can his crucifixion and his effectiveness be explained.”
The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group is a division of Random House Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG.
###
No word if Ignatius will also be publishing an edition.
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Tridentine Mass Liberalization News/Rumors
(Jimmy Akin)
Catholic World News reports:
At a December 12 meeting, the Ecclesia Dei commission discussed a papal document that will broaden access to the traditional Latin Mass, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez confirmed after the Tuesday-morning session. The Chilean cardinal said that he expects Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) to release the document in the near future.
Cardinal Medina Estevez, the former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, is a member of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, which was set up in 1988 to supervise Vatican relations with traditionalist Catholics. He confirmed that the group’s December 12 meeting was dedicated entirely to a discussion of a papal initiative that will allow more liberal use of the Tridentine rite.
The cardinal told the Roman news agency I Media that the results of today’s discussions would be presented to the Holy Father by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos (bio - news), the chairman of the Ecclesia Dei commission. He suggested that the Pope might then schedule publication of the document. Cardinal Medina Estevez indicated that he did not anticipate further discussion of the matter by the Ecclesia Dei commission.
Vatican insiders expect that the papal document, widely expected to take the form of a motu proprio, will give priests permission to use the Tridentine rite-- the liturgical form used throughout the Roman Catholic Church prior to Vatican II-- without requiring the explicit permission of the local bishop.
CHT: Roman Catholic Blog.
MORE . . .
Rorate Caeli, quoting Il Giornale, reports:
Benedict XVI intends to extend the indult of his predecessor, in fact withdrawing from the bishops discretionary power on the matter: the Missal of Saint Pius V is no longer abolished, and even if the ordinary Roman Rite is that originated from the post-conciliar liturgical reform, the old one -- used by centuries in the Church -- can subsist as an "extraordinary rite".
The bishops, therefore, will not be able to deny the ancient mass anymore, but only regulate its eventual celebration, together with the parish priests, harmonising it with the need of the community. The corrections included would have reduced from 50 to 30 the minimal number of faithful who ask for the celebration according to the old rite. As for the readmission of the Lefebvrists, once the rite of Saint Pius V is liberalized, the deal should be easier.
GET THE STORY.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed!)
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December 12, 2006
About That Blue Mosque Visit
(Jimmy Akin)
B16's visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Constantinople, New Rome, Augusta Antonina, Byzantium (oh, heck, SEE HERE) raised a lot of eyebrows. More specifically, the fact that the pope prayed in the mosque did.
I was surprised when press reports emerged--initially reports that were unclear as to whether he'd actually prayed or just meditated quietly for a moment. Given Pre-16's disapproval of the interreligious meetings at Assisi and his authorship of Dominus Iesus, it wasn't something that I predicted.
But it wasn't something that I thought totally out of character for him. He has articulated principles in the past that would allow him to do something like this, and I could see him saying to himself, "Like Jews and Christians, Muslims do worship God, and in view of the grave world crisis we are presently in and my own obligation as the Vicar of Christ not to inflame it, I should go as far as I possibly can to settle the situation down."
This was a way that was possible given the principles he has articulated before, and so he did it.
Not everyone, though, is familiar with what Pre-16 wrote on this subject, and I was glad to see that John Allen provied a nice column on how to view the event in light of what B16 said before he was B16--as well as the fact that the pope felt is was possible for him to do this without loading it up with theological explanations and qualifiers that would have killed the effect.
Why did he feel that he could handle the matter in that way?
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December 07, 2006
Congratulations, John!
(Jimmy Akin)
I was delighted yesterday when word hit the Catholic wires that His Awesomeness B16 has appointed Dr. John Haas to the Pontifical Academy of Life.
Dr. Haas is (among other things) head of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, which is an orthodox Catholic organization devoted to bioethics. They're very sharp and very faithful to the Magisterium, and at Catholic Answers we regularly point people their way.
Dr. Haas is a stand-up guy who has made time to discuss bioethical questions with me on the phone, and I was delighted to see his work being honored with this new appointment.
Congrats!
HERE'S AN ARTICLE BY DR. JOHN HAAS.
ABOUT THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF LIFE.
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December 01, 2006
B16 In Ephesus
(Jimmy Akin)
Here's some video from the Mass that Pope Benedict celebrated at Mary's House in Ephesus (the Vatican guidebook for the trip notes that there is no archaeological evidence for Mary having lived there, but it is a traditional site of Marian veneration, including for Muslims).
The video covers the presentation of the gifts, and the song being sung at this point is reportedly Nearer, My God, To Thee, though my German isn't good enough to tell (the tune sounds right, though).
I'm interested in this Mass because of the peaceful, open-air setting and the fact that there were apparently only three hundred or so people there due to the remote area and the low population of Christians in Turkey, making this a far more intimate papal celebration of the Mass than ususally occurs on an apostolic voyage.
I would have loved to be there.
HERE'S JOHN ALLEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE EVENT.
AND JOHN ALLEN'S ACCOUNT OF ONE OF THEIR MEETINGS.
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November 28, 2006
Ratzinger Roundup
(Jimmy Akin)
For those wanting to check the latest on what's happening with Pope Benedict in Turkey, Christopher over at Against the Grain has a running roundup, including his upcoming schedule day-by-day.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (7)
Pope Benedict Day: The Book
(Jimmy Akin)
Last week I blogged about Pope Benedict's forthcoming book about Jesus. The story I referenced had some brief excerpts from the introduction to the book.
Now Zenit has posted all of the preface (or as much of it has been made public).
It's also posted an excerpt from the book's introduction (it apparently has both an preface and an introduction).
One of the interesting things to me about the book is that B16 appears to wish to read the gospels in light of both historical criticism and faith. Too often these approaches have been seen as mutually exclusive, so that one must either accept historical criticism and reject the perspective of faith in Christ or one must accept faith in Christ and therefore reject historical criticism. Pope Benedict proposes to reject this either/or solution in favor of a both/and solution, and I for one am interested in seeing the model that he proposes for how the two approaches can be harmonized.
Here's a taste of his approach, from a passage in the Preface:
I believe, in fact, that this Jesus -- the one of the Gospels -- is a historically honest and convincing figure. The Crucifixion and its efficacy can only be explained if something extraordinary happened, if Jesus' figure and words radically exceeded all the hopes and expectations of the age.
Approximately twenty years after Jesus' death, we find fully displayed in the great hymn to Christ that is the Letter to the Philippians (2:6-8) a Christology which says that Jesus was equal to God but that he stripped himself, became man, humbled himself unto death on the cross and that to him is owed the homage of creation, the adoration that in the prophet Isaiah (45:23) God proclaimed is owed only to Him.
With good judgment, critical research asks the question: What happened in the twenty years after Jesus' Crucifixion? How was this Christology arrived at?
The action of anonymous community formations, of which attempts are made to find exponents, in fact does not explain anything. How would it be possible for groups of unknowns to be so creative, so convincing to the point of imposing themselves in this way? Is it not more logical, also from the historical point of view, that greatness be found in the origin and that the figure of Jesus break all available categories and thus be understood only from the mystery of God?
Of course, to believe that though being man He "was" God and to make this known shrouding it in parables and in an ever clearer way, goes beyond the possibilities of the historical method. On the contrary, if from this conviction of faith the texts are read with the historical method and the opening is greater, the texts open to reveal a path and a figure that are worthy of faith. Also clarified then is the struggle at other levels present in the writings of the New Testament around the figure of Jesus and despite all the differences, one comes to profound agreement with these writings.
Of course with this vision of the figure of Jesus I go beyond what, for example, Schnackenburg says in representation of the greater part of contemporary exegesis. I hope, on the contrary, that the reader will understand that this book has not been written against modern exegesis, but with great recognition of all that it continues to give us.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (24)
Pope Benedict Day: The Trip
(Jimmy Akin)
John Allen ("The Other JA") is in the papal entourage for the trip to Turkey and has been blogging extensively about it (allowing for the fact that NCR doesn't actually seem to call his blog what it is . . . a blog).
HERE'S A GENERAL BACKGROUNDER ON THE CHALLENGES FACING THE POPE.
And there are many updates as well.
CHECK HERE FOR DAILY UPDATES DURING THE TRIP.
I REALLY hope that the pro-papal safety parts of the following quotation from this piece prove to be accurate:
Security experts said that while the pope’s physical safety can almost certainly be assured, it’s much more difficult to protect other Christian targets in the country – churches, Christian-owned businesses and private homes, which could be placed in harm’s way if there is significant negative reaction to the pope’s presence, or his message.
Ely Karmon, an anti-terrorism expert in Herzliya, Israel, said, “I don’t expect threats against the person of the pope. The real risk is actions on the part of Islamic extremists against churches, religious institutes or other significant sites. It would ruin the trip, striking the pope and replying to what these groups considered anti-Islamic declarations at Regensburg.”
Let's also pray for the safety of other Christians and their churches in Turkey during the trip!
And here's a non-endorsement endorsement that the Vatican has apparently settled on regarding Turkey's admission to the EU:
Without the pope having left Rome, the Vatican on Sunday took an enormous step towards making the Turkey trip a success, effectively neutralizing the issue of Turkey’s candidacy to join the European Union.
The ANSA news agency quoted Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as saying, “I hope that Turkey can fulfill the conditions for entry into the EU and integration into Europe.”
Bertone added that the question of EU membership is a political matter, and that the Vatican will remain neutral.
Suggesting that the Vatican has crafted a corporate response on the EU question, spokesperson Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said much the same thing in an interview with the Turkish news ageny Anatolia.
"Turkey's membership in the EU depends on its ability to meet the EU criteria. If Turkey fulfils its obligations and meets the requirements of the EU criteria, why shouldn't it become a full member of the EU?" Lombardi said.
That strikes a significantly different stance from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s opposition to Turkey’s admission prior to his election as pope. Ratzinger told Le Figaro in 2004, “Making the two continents identical would be a mistake. It would mean a loss of richness, the disappearance of the cultural to the benefit of economics.”
I recognize the good diplomatic effects of this announcement, though I don't think it really signals that the Holy Father is warm to the idea of Turkey joining the EU.
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I'm heartened to see the Holy See not weighing in on a political issue for once; on the other hand, I think this is one where (due to the religious dimension of the situation) it could do so with significant legitimacy. I don't know what the effects of including Turkey in the European Union would be, but I could see the presence of a populous Muslim country in the Union serving an advocacy role that would prevent other European countries from doing what they need to in order to deal with the problem of radical Islam in Europe.
That's something that'll have to be left in God's hands. In the meantime,
GET THE STORIES.
MORE ON TURKEY JOINING THE EU.
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Pope Benedict Day: Prayer
(Jimmy Akin)
Yesterday was Torture Day, but today is Pope Benedict Today. As folks likely know, His Most Awesomeness B16 is embarking on a trip to Turkey--which has a lot of folks (me included) nervous. I hope that you will take time to pray for him during this trip, using whatever form of prayer you feel led to use.
In that regard, a reader has a suggestion and writes:
I am extremely concerned about Pope Benedict's trip to Turkey, especially amid the vast number of fanatical Muslims protesting. And since the Pope said that he is releasing the first 10 chapters of his book since he isn't sure how much energy or time he has left has only added to my uneasy feeling. Attached is a beautiful prayer (Novena from 11/28 - 12/1) by Bishop Lori. Would yo please post this on your website or blog. Today I stood outside church and handed out about 100 and people were so pleased to be able to pray the novena for the Pope. And it is such a beautiful prayer.
Here's the prayer:
SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE WITH HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI ON HIS PASTORAL VISIT TO TURKEY
NOV. 28 – DEC. 1, 2006
Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, we humbly ask that you sustain, inspire, and protect your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, as he goes on pilgrimage to Turkey – a land to which St. Paul brought the Gospel of your Son; a land where once the Mother of your Son, the Seat of Wisdom, dwelt; a land where faith in your Son’s true divinity was definitively professed. Bless our Holy Father, who comes as a messenger of truth and love to all people of faith and good will dwelling in this land so rich in history. In the power of the Holy Spirit, may this visit of the Holy Father bring about deeper ties of understanding, cooperation, and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and those who profess Islam. May the prayers and events of these historic days greatly contribute both to greater accord among those who worship you, the living and true God, and also to peace in our world so often torn apart by war and sectarian violence. We also ask, O Heavenly Father, that you watch over and protect Pope Benedict and entrust him to the loving care of Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, a title cherished both by Catholics and Muslims. Through her prayers and maternal love, may Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer composed by Bishop William E. Lori,
Knights of Columbus Supreme Chaplain
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November 21, 2006
New Book By Post-Pre-16 On Jesus Soon
(Jimmy Akin)
For some time it has been known that the pope was working on a book, and now the book's publication has been announced:
Pope Benedict XVI has completed the first volume of a major scholarly and spiritual book on Jesus of Nazareth, a work he began several years before being elected pope.
"Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration" is scheduled for a March release in Italian by the Rizzoli publishing house and in German by Herder Verlag.
Announcing the publication Nov. 21, Rizzoli and the Vatican gave reporters copies of the book's preface and a portion of its introduction.
In the preface, signed "Joseph Ratzinger -- Benedict XVI," the pope wrote that for decades he had noticed a growing scholarly distinction between the "historical Jesus" and the "Christ of faith," a distinction that many Christians now accept as accurate.
But, he wrote, if the human Jesus was totally different from the Jesus depicted in the Gospels and proclaimed by the church, what does it mean to have faith in him?
"I trust the Gospels," the pope wrote.
This book is intended to be the first part of a longer work, which apparently would have been published in one volume but is now envisioned for three. The pope wrote:
"Because I do not know how much time and how much strength I will still be given, I have decided to publish the first 10 chapters" as Volume One of "Jesus of Nazareth."
But the book is not an act of the papal magisterium, despite its author's election to the papal see:
In a Nov. 21 statement, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said, "The pope says clearly, with his usual simplicity and humility, that this is not a 'magisterial act,' but a fruit of his personal research and, as such, can be freely discussed and critiqued.
"It is not a long encyclical on Jesus, but a personal presentation of the figure of Jesus by the theologian Joseph Ratzinger," who was elected pope after beginning the work, Father Lombardi said.
This says volumes about the personal humility of the man who is now pope. To have the spiritual authority to mandate that every sentence in the book be believed by Catholics and to refuse to use it--to refuse to put forward one's own ideas authoritatively--and to instead openly say that people are free to discuss those ideas and critique them--knowing even that they will meet hostility in many scholarly circles--is the mark of an extraordinarily humble man.
Which is one of the things that makes His Most Awesomeness B16 so most awesome.
Which is why B16 was the right man for the job. It shows that he takes the role of being the servant of the servants of God seriously and does not wish to use the position as a platform for merely advancing his personal preferences and ideas.
What I want to know is how soon Ignatius Press will have an English translation out.
In the meantime,
GET THE STORY.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (28)
November 17, 2006
The Mad Archbishop Speaks
(Jimmy Akin)
You may encounter some news stories that mention a letter Archbishop Milingo sent to His Most Awesomeness B16.
The press accounts I've seen, as usual, tend only to give snippets and their own summaries of what it said and do not provide links to the original source. (The press is notiously bad about showing its work. They want us to trust them to get it right, y'see.)
So I tracked down the original.
Here 'tis (below the fold).
An Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on Freeing Celibacy
From the Married Priests Now! Prelature
November 4, 2006
Your Holiness,
The Archbishops, Bishops and Priests of the Married Priests Now! Prelature send their cordial greetings to you and to the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops of the Church.
As you know, the Church throughout the world is in dire straits because of the shortage of priests. Churches are closing, priests are serving two and three parishes, the Mass and the Eucharist is not available to hundreds of thousands of Catholics. Lay men and women are being appointed as canonical pastors of parishes. The Church-at-Large has become a Mission Territory .
In the face of this crisis, there are 150,000 married priests who are ready and willing to serve. And there are married men who have prepared themselves for ordination who can also be called to the priesthood. Some of them are currently married deacons but others have never been ordained at all.
The Married Priests Now! Prelature with its archbishops, bishops and priests considers itself to be a Roman Catholic Personal Prelature in Communion with your Holiness and is part of the Roman Catholic Church. We are Roman Catholic bishops and do not want to fracture the Communion of the Church. Our cause is great because it is for the survival of the Church. We are mature adults, not children, so threats, penalties and punishments are out of place in our conversation and will not work. What will work is an honest discussion about the married priesthood of the New Testament and of the primitive Church. The faithful are already reaching out daily to married priests for weddings, baptisms and funerals on a continuing basis. It is time to free the priesthood from the obligation of celibacy.
This is what needs to be done without delay:
1. Married priests and married bishops need to be immediately but gradually reinstated into the fabric of our Church. A vicariate or prelature can be established for married priests (and there was a precedent for this in progress under John Paul II) or they can be recalled through our Married Priests Now! Prelature, or recalled by the local bishops. All penalties need to be waived.
2. Married deacons who are trained in theology and ministry ought to be ordained to the priesthood within a year or two.
3. Married men who are not ordained need to be welcomed into the seminaries or other training programs for the priesthood within the year.
4. Married priests should be able to serve in full time positions with salary, health care plans and pensions or in part time positions. Credit towards pensions should be given for past service to the Church.
5. Marriage is a sacrament of the Church. It cannot be said that celibacy is higher or greater than the sacrament of marriage. Marriage is the higher calling and is more difficult than celibacy because it is naturally centered on the spouse and children. Marriage creates great holiness in the husband and wife and in the family. Married Priests families are a model of the Christian family for the other families in the parish.
Marriage does not diminish the priest’s dedication to Christ but enhances it.
6. We wish to keep the avenues of communication and contact with you open, Your Holiness, and with the other bishops for our Married Priests Now! Prelature.
The priests and bishops of the Married Priests Now! Prelature stand ready and willing to work with you. The Faithful of the Church are now already reaching out to married priests in an enormous way. A new Catholic Church is forming with or without your blessing. There is great urgency in this matter. If you sanction this approach to reinstating married priests and bishops, you will be preserving the unity of the church. The right time is now.
We ask your cordial blessing on all married priests and bishops.
With filial love and devotion,
Emmanuel Milingo
Peter Paul Brennan
Joseph J. Gouthro
Patrick E. Trujillo
George Augustus Stallings
Roman Catholic Archbishops
The Married Priests Now! Prelature
SOURCE.
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Readmission To The Priesthood?
(Jimmy Akin)
A reader writes:
I understand that Pope Benedict XVI presided today at a top-level consultation to discuss questions related to Catholic priests of the Latin rite who have married. One of the points on the agenda reportedly relates to requests for readmission of priests who left the ministry to marry:
"It seems that while many seek permission to return to active ministry, some requests come from priests who are now old and would like at least to be allowed to celebrate Mass once again, even if they cannot return to public ministry (SOURCE.)
I left the Priesthood during a debilitating struggle with Obsessive Compulsive disorder. It was only a few years later that I received effective treatment. I was civilly married also, was dispensed from priestly celebacy recently, and my wife and I have convalidated our marriage.
Here's my question: is there any basis for me to hope that one day I might be allowed to exercise my Priesthood again? Perhaps in old age if I were a widower (my wife is older than I am)? I would be willing to go to the missions, a quiet monastery, or anything to be able to celebrate Mass and minister again.
God bless you, you are a top-notch Canon Lawyer and Apologist!
Thanks very much, only I should point out that while I do my best to answer canon law questions on occasion, I am not a canon lawyer. Just a simple, country apologist.
I also extend my sympathies regarding your debilitating bout with OCD, and I'll do my best to answer your question, as well as try to answer questions that I know others are wondering about concerning the meeting Pope Benedict had.
First, let's review the situation: The pope called a meeting for Thursday (yesterday) of the heads of the Vatican dicasteries (departments). This was the third such meeting he had called. The first one was sooper sekrit, but it is commonly reported that the subject was the possibility of reconciling the SSPX. The second, apparently, was about religious life. And an Italian news agency reported that this week's was to be about the liberalization of permission for celebrating the Tridentine rite of Mass.
This was not the case, and to clear up confusion on this point, the Vatican press office released the following communique:
The Holy Father has convened for Thursday, November 16, a meeting of the heads of offices of the Roman Curia to examine [a] the situation created following the disobedience of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, and to undertake a reflection on [b] requests for dispensation from celibacy as well as [c] requests for readmission to priestly ministry presented by married priests in the course of the most recent years. Other topics are not anticipated on the schedule [SOURCE].
I've added the blue (a), (b), and (c) so that folks can see more clearly what the agenda items were.
The reason that these three items are grouped together--as many will surmize--is that excommunicated Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo (a.k.a. "the Mad Archbishop"--at least to me) has not only formed an organization called Married Priests Now! but he has also attempted the ordination of several married men as bishops, meaning that they could ordain other bishops and priests. This creates the basis of a potential schism, like that of the SSPX.
Milingo has denied the intention of creating a schism, but he's not called "the Mad Archbishop" (by me) for nothing. You can't trust that he won't change his mind, especially if things don't go his way. Then there's the issue of the men he attempted to consecrate as bishops, which we won't even go into right now.
The potential for schism here is great, particularly in light of this bit of information from the story that the reader links (which is one of the more insightful stories I have read):
The archbishop plans to hold a convention in the New York City area Dec. 8-10 with 1,000 married priests and their wives.
Now, if there's one thing that popes hate worse than almost anything, it's schisms. The pope's job description involves being the ecumenical center of the Church that holds it together, and from the perspective of the occupant of Peter's see, schisms are a Very Bad Thing. Popes--or conscientious popes--will go to extreme lengths to avoid them. Pre-16 watched in horror as the Lefebvrists went into schism (he was personally involved in the negotiations with them) and as B16, he certainly doesn't want a new schism on his watch.
So it's not surprising that he would hold consultations of how to solve the problem of Milingo. It's a little surprising that they would release the agenda of this consultation given that it includes the eye-opening elements [b] and [c], and I suspect that if they hadn't been blindsided by the Italian press that they might have kept the topic of this meeting sooper sekrit as well.
But given the sensitivity of the liberalization of the Tridentine rite (which they've been having trouble with the French bishops over lately), I guess they felt that it was the lesser of two evils to announce what they were really talking about, rather than let this meeting be portrayed in the press as the final consultation regarding the Mass (which would inflame the situation in France).
Also--and this could have been an even bigger factor in the decision to announce the agenda--they may have been trying to send Milingo a signal that he shouldn't do anything precipitous (like announcing the creation of a new church--i.e., a schism) at his New York conference next month. More on that in a moment.
They thus had a three-hour meeting on Thursday, following which they released the following (in hindsight) entirely predictable communique:
COMUNICATO
PRESS OFFICE OF THE HOLY SEEThis morning, Nov. 16, in the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father presided over one of the periodic meetings of the Heads of Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, for a common reflection.
The participants in the meeting received detailed information about [b] the requests for dispensation from the obligation of celibacy received in recent years, as well as [c] the possibility of readmission to the exercise of ministry from priests who at present find themselves in the conditions prescribed by the Church [i.e., for readmission].
[d] The value of the choice of priestly celibacy according to Catholic tradition was reaffirmed, and the exigency of a solid human and Christian formation was underlined, both for seminarians and for priests already ordained [SOURCE].
You'll note that we have no mention here of item (a)--the situation created by Milingo--but we do have mention of (b) and (c), which are very important to Milingo and his Married Priests Now! group.
This combination (the removal of [a] but the inclusion of [b] and [c]) is a diplomatic move meant to not inflame the Milingo situation (by not mentioning him) and to calm it down if possible (by indicating that the Holy See is at least willing to think about changes regarding dispensations from celibacy and the readmission of priests who have attempted marriage).
We also have the addition of a fourth element--(d)--which is meant to keep the press from going completely hog wild and announcing that the pope is considering chucking the requirement of celibacy altogether (which he's not).
So what to make of all this?
Well, B16 has always been more open to dialogue than JPTG (John Paul the Great) was. I suspect that this is partly due to their personal dispositions and partly due to the fact that JP2 came into office when the Church was in freefall. In 1978, everything was going to hell in a handbasket, and JP2's pontificate played an enormous stabilizing role. One of the ways that happened was by him forcefully removing certain topics from discussion. Now that things have stabilized more, B16 feels more liberty to allow them to be cautiously discussed.
Thus during the pontificate of JP2 the question of clerical celibacy was most definitely off the table (because there were so many clamoring for it to be done away with en toto), but during last year's Synod on the Eucharist, B16 allowed the bishops to take up the question and discuss it.
As the article the reader linked notes:
Even though the synod fathers heard a lot about the great shortage of priests in many countries, they still voted overwhelmingly (202 in favor, 28 against and 10 abstentions) to "affirm the importance of the inestimable gift of ecclesiastical celibacy" for priests in the Latin-rite church.
They also agreed that the proposal to have recourse to the ordination of mature married men "was considered a path not to be followed," a position Pope Benedict is expected to reaffirm in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, which he will promulgate in the coming months [maybe the next two weeks--ja].
Now, here's the bottom line regarding Thursday's discussions: If you're pope, you don't call a meeting to discuss things of this nature if you aren't open at least in principle to making some kind of change. If you have absolutely no willingness to modify present discipline on these points, it makes no sense at all to call a meeting to discuss them--particularly in the present circumstances. Doing so would only raise hopes for a change that you have no willingness to make, and that's always a Bad Thing (look at what happened with the commission Paul VI called on contraception).
I can only conclude, therefore, that B16 has at least some willingness--enough for him to think it worthwhile to consult with the dicastery heads and ask their opinion--to modify the Church's current practices regarding requests for dispensations from celibacy and readmission to the priesthood of priests who have attempted marriage.
This is not surprising. He always showed more willingness as Pre-16 to consider questions of this sort. As John Allen (a.k.a. "The Other JA") notes,
In the 1997 interview that became Salt of the Earth, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger discussed the issue of celibacy at length. At that time, he said he did not anticipate married priests in the Catholic Church, “at least not in the foreseeable future,” as anything other than exceptional cases (such as converts from Anglicanism or Lutheranism).
“One ought not to declare that any custom of the Church’s life, no matter how deeply anchored and well founded, is wholly absolute,” Ratzinger said then.
“To be sure, the church will have to ask herself the question again and again … But I think that given the whole history of Western Christianity and the inner vision that lies at the basis of this whole, the church should not believe that she will easily gain much by resorting to this uncoupling [of priesthood and celibacy]; rather in any case she will lose if she does so.”
He said all this, mind you, during the reign of his predecessor, when the topic was most definitely off the table, which says something about his own willingness to reconsider the matter, as does the fact he allowed it to be discussed at the Synod on the Eucharist before the Milingo crisis even happened.
So, if B16 is willing to consider making changes in these matters, what might those changes be?
There's zero chance that he'd chuck the whole system of celibacy. But what about nibbling around its edges?
Regarding dispensations from celibacy, what is most likely being referred to is the laicization of priests who wish to marry--not giving priests who are still functioning as priests permission to marry.
According to the article the reader linked:
Vatican sources calculate that an average of 300 such requests have arrived annually in recent years, almost one a day. But the same sources reckon that the number of priests who actually leave the ministry each year is much higher than 300, as many do not bother to seek dispensation.
Pope Benedict is well aware of the history and the actual procedure for the granting of such dispensations, because the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he headed as prefect for 24 years until his election as pope in April 2005, had responsibility for this up to February 1989.
After that, the task was handed over to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, until the responsibility was transferred again on Aug. 1 last year to the Congregation for the Clergy.
The consultation provides an opportunity for top Vatican officials to reflect together on the current situation regarding requests for dispensations from celibacy, and could lead to proposals for changing the procedure or even decentralizing it, as some bishops have suggested in recent years.
Note that B16 has already made one change in the handling of laicizations--charging the Congregation for Clergy with handling them rather than the CDW (HERE, scroll down). That of itself may speak of a mindset that views the granting of these dispensations as a more pastoral matter concerning individual members of the clergy rather than a matter that needs to be handled by the CDF or the CDW. He might be willing to go further, either streamlining the process or allowing them to be handled outside the Vatican, such as by the local bishops.
What about the question that most interests Milingo--the readmission of priests who have attempted marriage to some form of priestly service? The article states:
Vatican sources say the number of such requests for readmission has increased in recent times, and some suggest it has even reached an average of approximately 1,200 over the past few years.
It seems that while many seek permission to return to active ministry, some requests come from priests who are now old and would like at least to be allowed to celebrate Mass once again, even if they cannot return to public ministry.
Permission to celebrate Mass privately might be among the things the pope is considering allowing--a return to private ministry could be the kind of "readmission to the exercise of ministry" that B16 is considering--but this isn't what Milingo and his associates are after: They want the ability to return to public ministry after having left the priesthood and attempted marriage.
If the pope were to start granting their requests, there would no doubt be significant conditions attached--such as the priests either separating from their spouses or regularizing their marriages via convalidation (most such priests are only civilly married)--and the granting of the request would not be automatic. Some of the individuals who left to attempt marriage are so problematic theologically and pastorally that they should never be allowed in public ministry again.
To prevent scandal or the wonderment of the faithful, they also likely would be required to be placed in positions other than the pastor of a parish--the way that married ministers from Anglicanism and Lutheranism who are ordained are generally assigned to administrative, educational, or similar roles as priests.
At a minimum, there would need to be a bishop willing to vouch for such candidates to the extent of incardinating them. If a priest couldn't find a bishop willing to accept him in the diocese then the priest would not be returned to public ministry. The situation would thus be like that of ministers converted from Anglicanism or Lutheranism, who need to find such a bishop.
But it wouldn't be quite the same.
A very real problem that bishops willing to sponsor a priest in making his peition--and a problem that is certainly on the pope's mind right now--is the fact that returning a priest to public ministry could be seen as a reward for bad behavior. The message that could be sent to his brother priests in the diocese could be "Break the rules and we'll reward you by letting you be both married and a priest"--a message that would not be good for morale or discipline.
Consequently, only a comparatively small number of priests would likely be admitted to public ministry--certainly not enough to help in any appreciable way with the priest shortage.
But maybe enough to head off a schism.
That's what B16 is wondering right now.
To deal directly with the question that the reader asks, whether there is hope that he might one day be allowed to exercise his priesthood again (apart from emergency circumstances, such as when someone is dying), I can only say that the answer is yes.
The reader asks specifically about exercising his priesthood should his wife pass on before he does. Actually, canon law already provides for that possibility. Canon 293 states:
A cleric who loses the clerical state cannot be enrolled among clerics again except through a rescript of the Apostolic See.
The Holy See does allow for the potential readmission to the clerical state of priests who have been laicized, which explains the 1,200 applications that the article mentioned. In fact, a lot more than 1,200 priests have been readmitted under canon 293 over the years. According to Zenit:
According to data from the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, every year about 1,000 priests leave the priestly ministry.
The congregation also published data on priests who have returned to priestly ministry between 1970 and 1995. They undergo a rigorous procedure, carried out case by case. Their number varies greatly from one year to another. In those years, a total of 9,551 returned 9that's an average of 367 a year--ja].
Under present praxis, a return would be possible (conceivable) in the case of a laicized priest whose spouse had died.
At present the Holy See seems to be handling these cases on an ad hoc basis. It had not, as of the year 2000 (the most recent info I have) established a formal procedure for handling such cases, but they have talked about doing so, and an informal procedure has already developed, whereby one finds a bishop or religious superior willing to accept the priest, following which there are a whole bunch of documents and interviews and, if the Holy See is favorable to the readmission, the priest spends a period of formation in an institution such as a monastery or religious house in preparation for his return to ministry, following which a rescript may be granted.
If you'd like to read more about this, see pp. 292-293 of the green CLSA commentary (i.e., New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, edited by Beal, Coridan, and Green [Paulist Press, 2000]) or the article "Return to Ministry of Dispensed Priests" by M. Souckar in The Jurist 54[1994], 605-616.
I would urge the reader to be careful about how he regards this possibility, however. As a married man, his duty is to wish for and strive for the good of his wife. Also, women live longer than men. They may not be as physically strong (on average), but in compensation they have longer lifespans (on average, which to my mind means that they're getting the better side of the deal on this one).
I would therefore counsel the reader to view the possibility that he might one day be able to again exercise his priestly ministry as a potential gift--something to be grateful for if it happens but not something to be anguished about if it doesn't.
That gift also might come if B16 decides to broaden the cases in which canon 293 is applied, in which case it should--again--be regarded as a potential gift.
Like the priesthood itself.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (88)
October 27, 2006
Not Quite Done Yet
(Jimmy Akin)
It looks like B16 isn't quite done yet with his series of audiences on the apostles. He's finished with The Twelve, but now he's moved to to St. Paul. Given St. Paul's stature, he might even do more than one on him, like he did on John.
I wonder if he'll also do one on Barnabas and on other figures sometimes regarded as apostles.
GET THE STORY.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Benedict XVI | Permalink | Comments (7)
October 24, 2006
B16 On The 12
(Jimmy Akin)
Pope Benedict recently completed a series of audiences on the Twelve apostles. I thought these were particularly interesting and well done. He covers what we know about them, what is speculated about them, what their writings contain, and what their example says to us today.
Now that the whole series is finished, I thought I'd provide links to the audiences so that you can read through them as a group if you wish.
Enjoy!
Apostles as Envoys of Christ
Profile of St. Peter
On Peter, the Apostle
Peter, the Rock
St. Andrew, the First Called
James the Greater
James the Less
John, Son of Zebedee