Crisis Magazine: Pope Francis is Only Partly Right on the Lord’s Prayer by Lionel Yaceczko
Plus, Anthony Esolen at First Things.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Friday, December 29, 2017
Pope Francis, “diaconal primacy”, and decentralization of the curia
Decentralization by no means guarantees better governance, but is much more theologically, historically, and practically defensible than the Roman centralization and personality cult of the pope we have been enduring for more than a century now.
December 28, 2017 Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille
Decentralization by no means guarantees better governance, but is much more theologically, historically, and practically defensible than the Roman centralization and personality cult of the pope we have been enduring for more than a century now.
December 28, 2017 Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Monday, December 25, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
The Laying on of Hands
In the ordination of priests, what is the significance of the laying on of hands on the ordinandi by other priests? (In the Roman rite -- but I think it is also the custom in the Byzantine rite?) What does it mean, if priests do not have the power to ordain priests, only bishops do? Is it merely symbolic? Or does it signify something that has been forgotten?
How far back does the custom go? Is the custom possibly a legacy of the ecclesial order that existed before the development of the monoepiscopate?
How far back does the custom go? Is the custom possibly a legacy of the ecclesial order that existed before the development of the monoepiscopate?
Strong Claims
Linking the Roman Curia to the Petrine ministry of the bishop of Rome to the Church Universal and beyond. But where is the foundation in Sacred Tradition for this?
Pope Francis exhorts Curia to avoid “unbalanced and debased mindset of plots and small cliques”
“The universal nature of the Curia’s service,” the Holy Father told Curia members in the annual pre-Christmas address, “… wells up and flows out from the catholicity of the Petrine ministry.”
(original: CNA)
Pope Francis exhorts Curia to avoid “unbalanced and debased mindset of plots and small cliques”
“The universal nature of the Curia’s service,” the Holy Father told Curia members in the annual pre-Christmas address, “… wells up and flows out from the catholicity of the Petrine ministry.”
(original: CNA)
Friday, December 22, 2017
The Roman Curia
Fr. Hunwicke: Pope and Curia, The Curia Romana (1), The Curia Romana (2), and The Curia Romana (3)
The Roman Curia exists primarily to assist a bishop with the local Church. Why should its role extend beyond this? Perhaps it can be a concession that it should play a role with respect to the patriarchate (instead of proper synodality/collegiality), but with respect to the Church Universal? Wouldn't it be better to have certain priests or bishops as recognized advisors or eminent clergy to the synod of Latin bishops?
The Roman Curia exists primarily to assist a bishop with the local Church. Why should its role extend beyond this? Perhaps it can be a concession that it should play a role with respect to the patriarchate (instead of proper synodality/collegiality), but with respect to the Church Universal? Wouldn't it be better to have certain priests or bishops as recognized advisors or eminent clergy to the synod of Latin bishops?
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
It Won't Be the Last
Why St. Gregory’s University Is Closing Its Doors by Anthony P. Stine
What have Latin Catholics done to uphold the state of Oklahoma and to evangelize and inculturate there?
What have Latin Catholics done to uphold the state of Oklahoma and to evangelize and inculturate there?
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
CWR: Pope Francis’ “open and incomplete” leadership and the puzzling “reform” of the Curia by Christopher R. Altieri
Monday, December 18, 2017
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Adam DeVille on Reconciliation of the Chalcedonian Churches
CWR: Questioning the prospects of Catholic-Orthodox unity by Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille
The latest statement of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation (NAOCTC) begins and ends with questions, and these are both more valuable and certainly more interesting than what is found in many ecumenical statements.
The latest statement of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation (NAOCTC) begins and ends with questions, and these are both more valuable and certainly more interesting than what is found in many ecumenical statements.
Decentralization, the virtues of which the North American dialogue says we must continue to contemplate, is much more theologically, historically, and practically defensible than the Roman centralization and personality cult of the pope we have been enduring for decades. Perhaps all the novelties and peculiarities of this Franciscan papacy will finally bring us to reconsider papal centralization and begin to rid ourselves of it both for the good of the Catholic Church and also the cause of Christian unity.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Friday, December 15, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Pledge of Fidelity
Pro-life leaders pledge fidelity to Catholic faith, refuse to follow ‘erring pastors’
website
Catholics here = Roman Catholics. What would be another term that could be used, instead of "Catholics"? Latin Christians?
website
Catholics here = Roman Catholics. What would be another term that could be used, instead of "Catholics"? Latin Christians?
On Translating the Lord's Prayer
Should the sixth petition of the Our Father be translated as “Do not let us fall”? by Jason Bermender
And is the English rendering “do not lead us into temptation” bad theology? Here’s why the answer to both questions is “no”.
The complicated context of Pope Francis’ confusing remarks about the “Our Father” by Christopher R. Altieri
The Holy Father’s remarks, made to the Italian bishops’ TV magazine program, invoked a drawn-out and at times acrimonious controversy under the tent of French […]
Fr. Hunwicke: 1 and 2
Dr. Fleming has some remarks:
And is the English rendering “do not lead us into temptation” bad theology? Here’s why the answer to both questions is “no”.
The complicated context of Pope Francis’ confusing remarks about the “Our Father” by Christopher R. Altieri
The Holy Father’s remarks, made to the Italian bishops’ TV magazine program, invoked a drawn-out and at times acrimonious controversy under the tent of French […]
Fr. Hunwicke: 1 and 2
Dr. Fleming has some remarks:
The problem does not like in the perfectly correct translation of the Greek into Latin “inducas,” and English “lead into,” but with the word “temptation,” which no longer should be used to translate the Latin tentatio.
....
There are many temptations in the NT and a careful examination of a few passage would convince any serious reader that conventional interpretations of the sentence in the Lord's prayer are erroneous.
[In Luke 10] The nomikos (not a professional lawyer but a man learned in Jewish law) wants to put Jesus to the test—the verb ekpeirazein reminds us of the tests to which Satan subjected Him. This requires a bit of explanation. The verb—and its simpler uncompounded form (peirazein)—are typically translated by the English “tempt,” but the meaning of that word has changed so much since the early 17th century that it is quite misleading. To “tempt,” in this and other passages including the Lord’s Prayer, is not to entice or trap but to put something or someone to the test in order to find out what they are. A closer English word might be “assay,” as in “The chemist assayed the ore to determine whether it was gold or iron pyrite.”
I can only just summarize the argument of what I have written in the past on the Lord’s Prayer. As in all uses of the word peira (temptation) and the related verbs peirazein and ekpeirazein, the context is not to be sought in instances of temptation—the diabetic in the candy store, the married man in the single’s bar—but in the testing of Job and in Jesus’ own “temptations” in the wilderness, which are nothing but Satan’s attempt to find out who and what he is.......
By not recognizing the meaning of “temptation.” we then fail to connect the passages in which our Lord is “tried” by his adversaries both human and diabolical. We compound the error by thinking that the “evil” we pray to be delivered from is either misfortune or sin, when in fact the Evil One is the devil himself. The result is that we do not understand the final two clauses of the Lord’s prayer, which might be summed up as something like: “Do not expose us to the trials that Job and Jesus were put by the Adversary and deliver us from the Evil one that seeks out destruction.”
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Saturday, December 09, 2017
Friday, December 08, 2017
Teaching the Nicomachean Ethics
The text is still used by some philosophy departments of the "new, small, Catholic liberal arts colleges" -- however the ethics course is usually co-ed. Is this use of the Nicomachean Ethics, or the teaching of ethics in general, in a "gender-neutral" way appropriate, if we admit the existence of sex differences? It should be clear from the text itself that it is addressed to young men (of a certain educational background), and not to young women. Is the text useful for women who have a similar background? Perhaps some parts, like the discussion of happiness and friendship. But the discussion of the virtues may not be, as those virtues would be different for men and women in so far as their general virtue is also different.
As the teaching of ethics is part of moral education, and not just a component of a "liberal education" (which in turn must be judged in accordance with moral standards and requirements), ethics above all should not be taught to a mixed-sex class. What would be required for a proper ethics course for women, besides acknowledging the existence of sex differences? More on that another time.
As the teaching of ethics is part of moral education, and not just a component of a "liberal education" (which in turn must be judged in accordance with moral standards and requirements), ethics above all should not be taught to a mixed-sex class. What would be required for a proper ethics course for women, besides acknowledging the existence of sex differences? More on that another time.
Thursday, December 07, 2017
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
What is the problem?
Sandro Magister: Orthodox Churches in Decline, Except in Ethiopia. A Survey
Too much clericalism, along with not enough Christians understanding the "universal call to holiness"? Instead, they believe erroneously that the pursuit of holiness belongs to the religious elites, the monks? Despite having what may be an aesthetically pleasing liturgy, has an authentic liturgical spirituality been lost? And has asceticism been identified too much with keeping the fast and external observances, rather than the correction of disordered self-love? And then there is the broader crisis of the laity, which is not limited to the crisis of men, but this last issue nonetheless must be addressed posthaste for any possibility of a long-lasting "solution."
It is the 21st century after the birth of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and His Church, primarily the Apostolic churches, does not seem to be faring well, thanks to external enemies but also internal weaknesses.
What will address this problem? Not a modern pan-Orthodox synod that just releases documents, in imitation of Latin councils. Not a liturgical reform that aims to make liturgy relevant and relatable to modern sensibilities (as some like Nicholas Denysenko would suggest). But a renewal at all levels, with real leadership being exercised by bishops and their brother priests, and this renewal requires that the clergy repudiate all modern errors including liberalism and egalitarianism. (And the clergy also need to realize the limits of their authority.)
The Holy Mysteries provide us with the divine life, but to assimilate it through proper living we need the true doctrine of Christ. The bishops have been entrusted with teaching the primary precepts, but what is at stake and needs to be continually defended are the secondary precepts which have not been explicitly revealed but only known through reflection on the natural law and the life in and of the Church.
Too much clericalism, along with not enough Christians understanding the "universal call to holiness"? Instead, they believe erroneously that the pursuit of holiness belongs to the religious elites, the monks? Despite having what may be an aesthetically pleasing liturgy, has an authentic liturgical spirituality been lost? And has asceticism been identified too much with keeping the fast and external observances, rather than the correction of disordered self-love? And then there is the broader crisis of the laity, which is not limited to the crisis of men, but this last issue nonetheless must be addressed posthaste for any possibility of a long-lasting "solution."
It is the 21st century after the birth of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and His Church, primarily the Apostolic churches, does not seem to be faring well, thanks to external enemies but also internal weaknesses.
What will address this problem? Not a modern pan-Orthodox synod that just releases documents, in imitation of Latin councils. Not a liturgical reform that aims to make liturgy relevant and relatable to modern sensibilities (as some like Nicholas Denysenko would suggest). But a renewal at all levels, with real leadership being exercised by bishops and their brother priests, and this renewal requires that the clergy repudiate all modern errors including liberalism and egalitarianism. (And the clergy also need to realize the limits of their authority.)
The Holy Mysteries provide us with the divine life, but to assimilate it through proper living we need the true doctrine of Christ. The bishops have been entrusted with teaching the primary precepts, but what is at stake and needs to be continually defended are the secondary precepts which have not been explicitly revealed but only known through reflection on the natural law and the life in and of the Church.
Tuesday, December 05, 2017
Monday, December 04, 2017
Canon 915
Pope Francis’ letter to the Argentine bishops is in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Now what? by Edward N. Peters
Canon 915 and the fundamental sacramental and moral values behind it might be forgotten, ignored, or ridiculed, but unless and until that law is revoked or modified by papal legislative action or is effectively neutered by pontifically approved “authentic interpretation” (1983 CIC 16), it binds ministers of holy Communion.
(original)
Canon 915 and the fundamental sacramental and moral values behind it might be forgotten, ignored, or ridiculed, but unless and until that law is revoked or modified by papal legislative action or is effectively neutered by pontifically approved “authentic interpretation” (1983 CIC 16), it binds ministers of holy Communion.
(original)
Sunday, December 03, 2017
Supersessionism!
CWR: Divinely Planned Obsolescence by Thomas J. Nash
Why the Temple in Jerusalem will never be rebuilt and how the Sacrifice of the Mass is “the source and summit of evangelization”.
Why the Temple in Jerusalem will never be rebuilt and how the Sacrifice of the Mass is “the source and summit of evangelization”.
St. John the Forerunner
The first guide for Advent: St. John the Baptist by Peter M.J. Stravinskas
Silence bespeaks expediency, complicity, and cowardice, and John the Baptist never kept silent, for even in the womb he announced the truth of Christ (cf. Lk 1:44).
Silence bespeaks expediency, complicity, and cowardice, and John the Baptist never kept silent, for even in the womb he announced the truth of Christ (cf. Lk 1:44).
Saturday, December 02, 2017
CWR: Moral theology should make saints—not excuses by Nicholas Senz
Moral theologians should pursue research and reflection in order to bring forth and multiply the Church’s rich tradition on spiritual growth and holiness. They should avoid rationalizations and sophistic excuses, lest they be caught in their own craftiness.
I suspected she had a connection with New Wine, New Wineskins and she did -- she was the invited scholar for their 15th Annual Symposium. Ludicrous.
Moral theologians should pursue research and reflection in order to bring forth and multiply the Church’s rich tradition on spiritual growth and holiness. They should avoid rationalizations and sophistic excuses, lest they be caught in their own craftiness.
I suspected she had a connection with New Wine, New Wineskins and she did -- she was the invited scholar for their 15th Annual Symposium. Ludicrous.
Friday, December 01, 2017
Regarding this post on the purpose of the Incarnation, it is not a good sign if the patriarchate of Rome has been talking about preaching the kerygma for more than half a century and its bishops are unable to do so correctly.
Re: kerygma -- Can we ignore the fruits of the reflections of the Church Fathers upon the purpose of the Incarnation and the salvation of mankind? Is it enough to say that the Son of God became man so that we might be saved, without explained how we are saved or from what?
Re: kerygma -- Can we ignore the fruits of the reflections of the Church Fathers upon the purpose of the Incarnation and the salvation of mankind? Is it enough to say that the Son of God became man so that we might be saved, without explained how we are saved or from what?
Thursday, November 30, 2017
We Are Special Snowflakes
Are they passing out purple (and red) zuchettos in Cracker Jack boxes these days? Re: De Incarnatione, Latin Christianity goes from one extreme (certain Western theories of atonement) to the other (an absolutist humanism/anthropocentricism).
Go read the Church Fathers on the Divine exchange and deification.
Archbishop José H. Gomez:
Go read the Church Fathers on the Divine exchange and deification.
Archbishop José H. Gomez:
The archbishop explained that Advent is a time of waiting for the coming of Christ at Christmas, but it is also an opportunity for God to draw closer to his people in relationship, noting this desire of God to be close to creation is a unique aspect of Christianity.
“And we believe that our God comes to be with us, that he loves us so much that he makes himself one of us – sharing in the whole experience of our humanity, beginning as a little child in a mother’s womb.”
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Fr. Schall on Moral Action by Fr. Sokolowski
On the Creases of Being by James V. Schall, S.J.
Monsignor Robert Sokolowski’s insightful Moral Action is, in a sense, is a polemic against the subjectivizing of moral action as if the word or act we put into the world itself had no significance.
Monsignor Robert Sokolowski’s insightful Moral Action is, in a sense, is a polemic against the subjectivizing of moral action as if the word or act we put into the world itself had no significance.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Friday, November 24, 2017
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
CWR: Is opposition to the death penalty Thomistic? by Joseph G. Trabbic
Given Pope Francis’s own high regard for St. Thomas (together with the historical papal approbation he has enjoyed) when it comes to doctrinal issues, we might ask how the opposition to the death penalty articulated by the Pope compares with the teaching of the Doctor Communis.
Given Pope Francis’s own high regard for St. Thomas (together with the historical papal approbation he has enjoyed) when it comes to doctrinal issues, we might ask how the opposition to the death penalty articulated by the Pope compares with the teaching of the Doctor Communis.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Secretary of State
Cardinal Parolin: Dialogue of Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches to help them feel unity
Source: TASS Russian News Agency
Cardinal Pietro Parolin | 20 August 2017
Source: TASS Russian News Agency
Cardinal Pietro Parolin | 20 August 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Local Liturgical Translations
Cardinal Sarah may be admirable in his defense of the prerogatives of the CDW and a traditional understanding of the authority and role of the Roman Curia, but is he right? Meanwhile even if it is proper to entrust local liturgical translations to local ordinaries, is now the right time for it? And is there a way to embrace liturgical translations without accepting modern nationalism and its fruits? That is what the recognition of national episcopal conferences does, at least -- they are not approving different local translations for a region, but a single uniform one for that region, regardless of the diversity of peoples and cultures in that region.
This problem should have been forestalled in the first millenium, had the Latins and Franks permitted the official use of liturgical texts translated from Latin into hieratic versions of the local tongues.
This problem should have been forestalled in the first millenium, had the Latins and Franks permitted the official use of liturgical texts translated from Latin into hieratic versions of the local tongues.
A Good Resource for Roman Documents
But it is not the well-developed theological treatise on political life that Roman Catholics need.
CST at its present stage of development is more likely to mislead and confuse than to clarify political questions. (Like the legitimacy of the modern nation-state.)
Newly published Reader in Catholic Social Teaching emphasizes traditional doctrine
CST at its present stage of development is more likely to mislead and confuse than to clarify political questions. (Like the legitimacy of the modern nation-state.)
Newly published Reader in Catholic Social Teaching emphasizes traditional doctrine
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Missed This in 2015
Byzantine Empire—or Republic?
The Byzantine Republic: People and Power in New Rome, Anthony Kaldellis, Harvard University Press, 312 pages
By Brian Patrick Mitchell
The Byzantine Republic: People and Power in New Rome, Anthony Kaldellis, Harvard University Press, 312 pages
By Brian Patrick Mitchell
Monday, November 13, 2017
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Friday, November 10, 2017
Thursday, November 09, 2017
Wednesday, November 08, 2017
Tuesday, November 07, 2017
Joy
Christian joy cannot be faked or forced; it is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the exercise of agape, ascesis, and suffering in Christ. It is certainly not the same as niceness.
Monday, November 06, 2017
CWR: Superstition, Dissent, and Scandal? by Dr. Michael Sirilla
A brief defense of Fr. Thomas Weinandy Some pundits from both progressive and orthodox quarters have been quick to criticize and even condemn Fr. Weinandy and his missive to the Pope. Thus, a brief defense of Fr. Weinandy is in order.
A brief defense of Fr. Thomas Weinandy Some pundits from both progressive and orthodox quarters have been quick to criticize and even condemn Fr. Weinandy and his missive to the Pope. Thus, a brief defense of Fr. Weinandy is in order.
Sunday, November 05, 2017
Saturday, November 04, 2017
Friday, November 03, 2017
CWR: Fr. Weinandy was clear and direct. The USCCB was not. by Christopher Altieri
The Bishops had the right – perhaps the duty – to require Fr. Weinandy’s resignation. Nevertheless, the Catholic faithful in every state of life in […]
The Bishops had the right – perhaps the duty – to require Fr. Weinandy’s resignation. Nevertheless, the Catholic faithful in every state of life in […]
Thursday, November 02, 2017
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
A Sacred Kingdom
The Frankish churches exercising authority over the secular realm: standard from erroneous principles? Looking mistakenly at OT antecedents?
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Holy Jonah
CWR Dispatch: In Defense of Jonah by Alan L. Anderson
In the Reluctant Prophet we have the classic (and beautiful) case of God ‘choosing a crooked pencil to draw a straight line’, for Jonah is the perfect ‘crooked pencil’ with which to draw that perfectly straight line.
In the Reluctant Prophet we have the classic (and beautiful) case of God ‘choosing a crooked pencil to draw a straight line’, for Jonah is the perfect ‘crooked pencil’ with which to draw that perfectly straight line.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Cardinal Koch on the Protestant Reformation
CWR: Cardinal Koch: “The commemoration of the Reformation reminded us of what unites us”
“In the commemoration of the Reformation,” says the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, “the emphasis was above all on what we have in common; but open questions still remain, as before.”
“In the commemoration of the Reformation,” says the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, “the emphasis was above all on what we have in common; but open questions still remain, as before.”
Echeverria Responds to Faggioli
A Critique of Faggioli’s interpretation of early Ratzinger’s view of Scripture, Tradition, and Authority by Eduardo Echeverria
Massimo Faggioli’s naïve biblicism cannot account for different levels of authoritative Church teachings in Catholicism, with some being foundational, irreformable, and definitive, and others being […]
Massimo Faggioli’s naïve biblicism cannot account for different levels of authoritative Church teachings in Catholicism, with some being foundational, irreformable, and definitive, and others being […]
Friday, October 27, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Exactly.
Byz, TX:
If we're going to restore the order of deaconesses let us also restore strict sex divisions in and outside of the temple.
ORTHODOX LITURGISTS ISSUED A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE REVIVAL OF THE ORDER OF DEACONESS BY THE PATRIARCHATE OF ALEXANDRIA
Do we have naked women needing to be baptized by deaconesses? Do we have priests unable to go to widows homes lest they scandalize the village? Do we have male and female sides to our parishes that need deaconesses to keep the women in order during services? No? Then what role will they play as that's the role they filled 600+ years ago? Helping people through Christian charity? Does that need an ordained ministry?
If we're going to restore the order of deaconesses let us also restore strict sex divisions in and outside of the temple.
ORTHODOX LITURGISTS ISSUED A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE REVIVAL OF THE ORDER OF DEACONESS BY THE PATRIARCHATE OF ALEXANDRIA
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
The New Ritual or the Old?
Catholic Herald: US Bishops Publish English Language Translation of Exorcism Ritual
Of course the new ritual...
Of course the new ritual...
A Response to Fastiggi
Link to the article here.
The implication of Fastiggi's defense is that the Church's teaching on capital punishment is neither of the deposit of faith nor is it an obvious precept (or permission) of the Natural Law. In which case, then no mere affirmation or denial of the liceity of capital punishment as being of the Gospel (or of Sacred Tradition) now suffices, as it must be given a justification through moral theology and evaluated accordingly.
I have no real difficulty with the claim that the teaching on the liceity of capital punishment is not a revealed datum. But that it is not of the Natural Law, I need to see an actual argument for that.
The implication of Fastiggi's defense is that the Church's teaching on capital punishment is neither of the deposit of faith nor is it an obvious precept (or permission) of the Natural Law. In which case, then no mere affirmation or denial of the liceity of capital punishment as being of the Gospel (or of Sacred Tradition) now suffices, as it must be given a justification through moral theology and evaluated accordingly.
I have no real difficulty with the claim that the teaching on the liceity of capital punishment is not a revealed datum. But that it is not of the Natural Law, I need to see an actual argument for that.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Fastiggi Responds to Feser
Capital Punishment and the Papal Magisterium: A Response to Dr. Edward Feser by Robert Fastiggi
The issue is not so much whether prior popes were in error in their scriptural citations. The issue is whether their scriptural appeals qualify as definitive and infallible judgments of the papal Magisterium.
The issue is not so much whether prior popes were in error in their scriptural citations. The issue is whether their scriptural appeals qualify as definitive and infallible judgments of the papal Magisterium.
Monday, October 23, 2017
CWR: Liturgy, Authority, and Postmodernity by Dom Alcuin Reid
As our self-consciously modern liturgical rites approach their fiftieth birthdays we would do well not to cling to them uncritically. Nor can we follow postmodernity down paths of ecclesial and liturgical subjectivism.
As our self-consciously modern liturgical rites approach their fiftieth birthdays we would do well not to cling to them uncritically. Nor can we follow postmodernity down paths of ecclesial and liturgical subjectivism.
CWR: On capital punishment, even the pope’s defenders are confused by Dr. Edward Feser
There simply is no way to make an absolute condemnation of capital punishment consistent with past scriptural and papal teaching. The only way out of the mess is for Pope Francis to issue a clarification that reaffirms traditional teaching.
There simply is no way to make an absolute condemnation of capital punishment consistent with past scriptural and papal teaching. The only way out of the mess is for Pope Francis to issue a clarification that reaffirms traditional teaching.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Christ, Mediator and Priest
From Hugo Rahner's A Theology of Proclamation (Herder and Herder, 1968):
(65-68)
Has any Byzantine theologian/liturgist responded to Jungmann's comments on Byzantine Christology and the development of the Byzantine rite? I suppose I need to read The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer: Trinity, Christology, and Liturgical Theology edited by Bryan D. Spinks.
Fr. Rahner goes on to talk about the mediatorship of Christ in the following pages; is the account he presents that of St. Paul and the Apostolic Fathers? Or is it more Latin that he recognizes?
It is not a historical reality of great import that there has been a radical change in the way that the divinity of Christ is preached. The dogmatic conviction has not been touched in any way. Rather, it is the way that the dogmatic data are tied together and preached by J. A. Jungmann. In his work The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer, he brings this idea out quite well, as is also true in Die Frohbotschaft und unsere Glaubensverkündigung, where we find the following basic section: "The doctrine of grace in the apostolic belief in faith and catechetics." Due to the attack that Arianism made on the revealed and--in the early times of Christianity--rigidly adhered to and carefully pondered teaching on the divinity of Christ, great emphasis was placed on the fact of the divinity. The result was that in their kerygma the relationship which this outline had with Paul and the Fathers of the early Church was almost entirely overlooked. The heresy which showed how Christ became God had to be highlighted. From this came the danger that Christ would not longer be presented as the bringer of salvation, but that he would be presented to a certain extent as being empty handed so that people saw in him only the appearance of God, the visible, who has come into the world in order to receive our homage, or perhaps in order to instruct us through word and example. One does not pray any longer so much "through Christ" the mediator to the Father but "to Christ, God." Church and grace are much more readily conceived as the effected work of the Trinitarian God, in whose inaccessible light the God-man as the second person appeared to advance. Here lie the roots for the direction which prayer took in the Eastern piety, to pray to Christ. The typical way in the non-Roman liturgies (the French and Mozarabic, which grew from the bottom up and from which the last hot war against the Arians was led, is to pray to Christ as our God. One need merely refer to the daily prime to find the prayer stemming from the French: "Directly and sanctify. . . Saviour of the world." Here are also found the piety for Jesus which was so prevalent in the Middle Ages. It concerned itself almost exclusively with the love fostered interest in the deep authenticity which comprises the humanity of Jesus who is worthy of our love. So it was that they came to speak of the "Body of God," the "Corpse of God," and this was carried on to the notion of the "loving Father of heaven in the tabernacle." Even today one can find such references in very pious books.
Opposed to this notion the Roman liturgy contained (as Jungmann shows) the treasures of the prayer of a time in which the inner relationships of the early Christian kerygma were still vital. So there grew up in our time, when prayer life and dogmatic thinking are more and more formed in the law of praying of the Church, the desire for a preaching of Christ in the way that it was preached in the kerygma of revelation and the early Church. That is not a revival of the ancient pristine forms, not "an early Christian" playing of games (although they may frequently be played with), but the "today" of the lasting and timeless coming of the Word of God. Even today we can say, "Do not harden your hearts"! Our kerygmatic structure and restructuring must handle that which deals with the divinity of Christ, not so much following the path of the anti-Arian movement, nor even the patterns of the Eastern Christology (which people today prize as a continuing form of the Christology of the early Church, which it certainly is not), but rather the divinity of Christ ought to be viewed as it was contained in the structure of the apostolic symbols and in the sources of revelation, in Scripture, and in Tradition.
In a word, the fundamental thoughts that the early Church held in her preaching of Christ are as follows: the Logos became man, not so much in order to receive the adoration which we owe him, who is of the same essence as the Father (the trembling proskenesis, the veiled leiturgia, of which the Byzantine kontakien and hymns speak so joyfully) but rather, that through him each life becomes transformed in the Holy Trinity, which was lavished upon us when we became members of the race of Adam, and finds its fulfillment in the return to the Father through Christ, who is the source of life. It is Christ who is joined to humanity "eis ton patera" in the Spirit of the Anointed.
Jesus is the man, God, in order that his brothers might become deified. That implies two relationships: the divinity of Christ is the invisible mysterious shimmering fundament for his role as mediator which comes through the visibility of his human presence and so, therefore, that relationship with which he transposes humanity in the Father, "at the right hand of the Father," "always interceding for us." And further: the divinity of Christ is the prototype and basic reason for the manner and way that we received the previously mentioned dispensing of the new life, which proceeds from and returns to the Father. It is also the way that we achieve the sonship of grace, as the completion of the metaphysical sonship of the Logos. The divine birth of grace is the fulfillment of the special way to the Logos, the participation in the divine nature, and the spiritual fulfillment of this "spiritual life" both of the Church and the individual sou. It is the fruit of this completion, this birth from the Father, the communal love in God, and the breathing for of the Spirit. Only in the mystery of the divinity of Christ does one find the key for the whole and entire understanding of his mediatorship and at the same time the Trinitarian structure of our individual sanctification.
(65-68)
Has any Byzantine theologian/liturgist responded to Jungmann's comments on Byzantine Christology and the development of the Byzantine rite? I suppose I need to read The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer: Trinity, Christology, and Liturgical Theology edited by Bryan D. Spinks.
Fr. Rahner goes on to talk about the mediatorship of Christ in the following pages; is the account he presents that of St. Paul and the Apostolic Fathers? Or is it more Latin that he recognizes?
Friday, October 20, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
The Missionaries of Christ the Redeemer.
I had not heard of the Institute Id of Christ the Redeemer and its charism before until last night at Theology on Tap. I'll have to look into it and its founder, Fernando Rielo, more and see how they fits in with the history of Latin spirituality. (Or Spanish spirituality and theology, for that matter -- quite a few appeals to San Juan de la Cruz last night.) What work are they doing in Spain?
Galatians 1:8
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
And this includes bishop or patriarch, especially now with the Gospel being replaced by the heresy of liberalism. Pick one: nature and natural law or liberalism and some version of blank slate. You can't have both.
And this includes bishop or patriarch, especially now with the Gospel being replaced by the heresy of liberalism. Pick one: nature and natural law or liberalism and some version of blank slate. You can't have both.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Monday, October 16, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Putting the Local Church in Charge of Liturgical Translations
The wrong time for decentralization and liturgical reform -- especially if no Latin bishop is prepared to excommunicate other bishops for heterodoxy or to bring them to trial for malfeasance. Otherwise I would be sympathetic to having translations of the liturgy into hierartic versions of the local language, instead of the national language, which lends credence to the claims of the modern nation-state and modern nationalism. If bishops are do not have a localist mindset or have not been inculturated into the local culture and language, why bother?
Pray Tell: On Things Liturgical, The Gap Between Francis and Cardinal Sarah Just Got Wider October 14, 2017 by Anthony Ruff, OSB
Pray Tell: On Things Liturgical, The Gap Between Francis and Cardinal Sarah Just Got Wider October 14, 2017 by Anthony Ruff, OSB
Friday, October 13, 2017
Pope Francis is the Continuation of Vatican II
In his words and in his actions he is a living demonstration of the limits of the papal office.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Localist conception of authority can be summed up as follows: "If you don't truly live with them, why are you trying to make
decisions for them?"
That is the truth to the American conservative or libertarian mantra, "Live and let live." (As opposed to being an endorsement of tolerance at the individual or family level.)
decisions for them?"
That is the truth to the American conservative or libertarian mantra, "Live and let live." (As opposed to being an endorsement of tolerance at the individual or family level.)
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Papabile?
Sandro Magister: Conclave Trials, with Parolin in Pole Position
Any possibility of a bishop of a small Italian diocese becoming pope?
Any possibility of a bishop of a small Italian diocese becoming pope?
Monday, October 09, 2017
Only a Latin Traditionalist Who Is a Thomist Could Have Written This?
Would non-traditionalist Thomists or Dominicans agree?
At any rate, the essay deserves a longer response, but I will say that charity has priority and primacy over all else. The problem may lie in St. Thomas's treatment of the virtue of religion, which may need to be reconsidered. (Can we say that religion is concerned with what is directed to the God as end, while the theological virtues are concerned with God as object, if religion is concerned with what we owe to God but charity is also owed to God?)
Sunday, October 08, 2017
Saturday, October 07, 2017
Renewal of the Liturgy
The preface Joseph Ratzinger wrote for the Russian edition of volume XI of his Opera Omnia --
Ratzinger: “Il rinnovamento della liturgia è fondamentale per il rinnovamento della Chiesa”
Pubblichiamo la prefazione di Benedetto XVI alla edizione russa del volume XI dell’«Opera omnia», edito dalla Casa editrice del Patriarcato di Mosca Nihil Operi Dei praeponatur
Zenit article
Ratzinger Foudnation
Ratzinger: “Il rinnovamento della liturgia è fondamentale per il rinnovamento della Chiesa”
Pubblichiamo la prefazione di Benedetto XVI alla edizione russa del volume XI dell’«Opera omnia», edito dalla Casa editrice del Patriarcato di Mosca Nihil Operi Dei praeponatur
Zenit article
Ratzinger Foudnation
Friday, October 06, 2017
Thursday, October 05, 2017
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Tuesday, October 03, 2017
Monday, October 02, 2017
Baroque or Monastic?
Are they mutually exclusive, especially with the disappearance and revival of Benedictine monasticism in France after the French Revolution?
Sunday, October 01, 2017
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Roman Catholic Social Teaching Unlikely to Address This Point Any Time Soon
Crisis Magazine: Contemporary Tyranny and Catholic Social Doctrine by James Kalb
The usual view among Catholics is that public authority should look after all aspects of the common good. As a result, the social encyclicals have proposed a variety of responsibilities
The usual view among Catholics is that public authority should look after all aspects of the common good. As a result, the social encyclicals have proposed a variety of responsibilities
Friday, September 29, 2017
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
CWR: A Conversation with a Traditional Catholic
“After our first Traditional Latin Mass,” says Matthew Arnold, author of Confessions of a Traditional Catholic, “I asked Betty, a cradle Catholic, her opinion. She said, ‘I feel like I’ve just been to Mass for the first time.'”
“After our first Traditional Latin Mass,” says Matthew Arnold, author of Confessions of a Traditional Catholic, “I asked Betty, a cradle Catholic, her opinion. She said, ‘I feel like I’ve just been to Mass for the first time.'”
Monday, September 25, 2017
LifeTeen No Good?
What is paramount in worship? Emotion or reason? "Both" is just a way to weasel out of answering the question.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Friday, September 22, 2017
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Cardinal Caffarra's Final Testimony
CWR: “The Restoration of Man”: Cardinal Carlo Caffarra’s Final Testimony CWR Staff
The full text of a scheduled address by the late archbishop emeritus of Bologna, in which he provocatively states, “Everything that makes up what we call […]
The full text of a scheduled address by the late archbishop emeritus of Bologna, in which he provocatively states, “Everything that makes up what we call […]
Fr. Charles J. McCarthy
CWR: The Last Jesuit in China
CWR Staff
Dr. Amanda C. R. Clark’s book China’s Last Jesuit tells the little known story of Fr. Charles J. McCarthy and the end of the mission
CWR Staff
Dr. Amanda C. R. Clark’s book China’s Last Jesuit tells the little known story of Fr. Charles J. McCarthy and the end of the mission
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Friday, September 15, 2017
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Too Much Mind, Not Enough Heart?
Rod Dreher believes there are some similarities in the spirituality of Byzantine Christianity and Buddhism: Robert Wright’s Buddhism. Would Syriac Christianity have the same similarities? Byzantine monks are often the first to reject any sort of similarity as being only superficial.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
CWR Dispatch: Eastern and Western liturgy: Natural harmony or unnatural dissonance? by Ines Angeli Murzaku
Pope Francis’ speech on the liturgical reform delivered on August 24, 2017 raises questions about both liturgy and ecumenism.
Pope Francis’ speech on the liturgical reform delivered on August 24, 2017 raises questions about both liturgy and ecumenism.
Monday, September 11, 2017
Before Church and State by Andrew Willard Jones
Crisis Magazine: A Brilliant Defense of Christendom by John Horvat II
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Saturday, September 09, 2017
Friday, September 08, 2017
Benedict XVI on Vatican 2
From Last Testament, the interview by Peter Seewald, p. 142:
Some thoughts on the renewal soon.
Peter Seewald: Was it a mistake to convoke the council at all?
No it was right for sure. One can ask whether it was necessary or not, ok. But in itself it was a moment in the Church
when you were simply waiting on something new, on a renewal, a renewal of the whole. That wasn't to be something coming on from Rome, but a new encounter with the whole worldwide Church. In that respect, the time was simply nigh.
Some thoughts on the renewal soon.
Thursday, September 07, 2017
CWR: Contemporary Tyranny and Catholic Social Doctrine by James Kalb
The current situation of growing soft totalitarianism is too recent and too disturbing for its implications for Catholic social action to have been adequately understood and articulated.
The current situation of growing soft totalitarianism is too recent and too disturbing for its implications for Catholic social action to have been adequately understood and articulated.
Wednesday, September 06, 2017
Tuesday, September 05, 2017
Monday, September 04, 2017
A False Opposition Between Commandment and Love?
I hope the podcast is better than the summary. Law or commandment pertains to reason, love to the will, and God Himself gives us a commandment to love Him and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Sunday, September 03, 2017
Saturday, September 02, 2017
CWR Dispatch: The Catholic Church recognizes most of the world’s ‘civil marriages’ by Edward N. Peters
Catholics should not be misled by thinking that “civil marriage” is not usually real marriage or think that any approval of “same-sex marriage” is consistent with Church teaching—because it isn’t.
(original)
Catholics should not be misled by thinking that “civil marriage” is not usually real marriage or think that any approval of “same-sex marriage” is consistent with Church teaching—because it isn’t.
(original)
Friday, September 01, 2017
CWR: “Amoris Laetitia” and the chasm in modern moral theology by Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, SVD
Can the apostolic exhortation help bridge the chasm that, since 1968, has divided moral theologians in matters of sexual morality?
Can the apostolic exhortation help bridge the chasm that, since 1968, has divided moral theologians in matters of sexual morality?
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Two Jesuits Respond to the Nashville Statement
CWR: When some Christians affirm traditional moral teaching, other Christians freak out by Carl E. Olson
The angry responses to the Nashville Statement reflect the sort of “moral therapeutic deism” that has increasingly dominated the public square in recent years.
The angry responses to the Nashville Statement reflect the sort of “moral therapeutic deism” that has increasingly dominated the public square in recent years.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
CWR Dispatch: Recalling the the prophetic embrace of Athenagoras I and Paul VI by Ines Angeli Murzaku
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Monday, August 28, 2017
Yes, the train is fine.
This is how a Jesuit spins the loss of vocations and decline in numbers and the corresponding reduction in need for administrative support and consequent downsizing.
"Our new province is part of the Society of Jesus' worldwide effort to restructure its administrative model, cutting down the number of geographic provinces throughout the world to foster greater collaboration amongst our works while enabling us to be more nimble to meet emerging demands in service to God's people."
-Fr. Scott Santarosa, SJ, Provincial Jesuits West
https://jesuitswest.org/Assets/Publications/File/Mission_2017_Fall.pdf
"Our new province is part of the Society of Jesus' worldwide effort to restructure its administrative model, cutting down the number of geographic provinces throughout the world to foster greater collaboration amongst our works while enabling us to be more nimble to meet emerging demands in service to God's people."
-Fr. Scott Santarosa, SJ, Provincial Jesuits West
https://jesuitswest.org/Assets/Publications/File/Mission_2017_Fall.pdf
Aquinas and the Greek Fathers
Ave Maria University: Upcoming Conference on Aquinas and the Greek Fathers
Includes a short Q&A with Fr. Andrew Hofer, OP.
Includes a short Q&A with Fr. Andrew Hofer, OP.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Pertinacious Papist: Sammons and Lawler: why we pretend nothing went wrong after Vatican II
Three articles were published recently revisiting the confusion following Vatican II and suggesting how to make sense of it: - Martin Mosebach, "Pope Benedict's Red Thread," *First Things* (August 10, 2017) - Eric Sammons, "Evangelization, Vatican II, and Censorship," *Crisis* (August 15, 2017) - Phil Lawler, "Let's stop pretending: something DID go wrong after Vatican II," *CatholicCulture.org* (August 23, 2017) The last article by Lawler draws the three together by summarizing points made by Mosebach and Sammons. Mosebach's and Sammons' articles, however, sh...
Three articles were published recently revisiting the confusion following Vatican II and suggesting how to make sense of it: - Martin Mosebach, "Pope Benedict's Red Thread," *First Things* (August 10, 2017) - Eric Sammons, "Evangelization, Vatican II, and Censorship," *Crisis* (August 15, 2017) - Phil Lawler, "Let's stop pretending: something DID go wrong after Vatican II," *CatholicCulture.org* (August 23, 2017) The last article by Lawler draws the three together by summarizing points made by Mosebach and Sammons. Mosebach's and Sammons' articles, however, sh...
The Church is More than the Patriarchate of Rome
The knowledge of Roman Catholics remains abysmal on this point.
Making sense of Pope Francis’ statement about “the liturgical reform” by Christopher R. Altieri
The Holy Father is focusing his (and our) attention on the rational substance of the reform process.
Making sense of Pope Francis’ statement about “the liturgical reform” by Christopher R. Altieri
The Holy Father is focusing his (and our) attention on the rational substance of the reform process.
Friday, August 25, 2017
The Current Occupant of the See of Rome Needs a Primer on Papal Authority
CWR Dispatch: Liturgy, papal infallibility, and terminology by Edward N. Peters
In what way can a pope declare that “liturgical reform” is “irreversible”?
(original)
In what way can a pope declare that “liturgical reform” is “irreversible”?
(original)
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
"Sure thing, Boss."
It is interesting how "boss" has replaced "sir" as a colloquial way of showing respect (to a man). (I have not yet heard a woman use this form of address yet.)
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Monday, August 21, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
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