Monte Ransome Johnson

Monte Ransome Johnson, an academic specialists missing the point?

Ed Feser: Johnson on Aristotle’s Revenge

Monte's book: Aristotle on Teleology

Should Have Guessed This Would Be on the Way

1P5

Une Nuit au Monastère : Olivier Lejeune

Solesmes

EWTN Theology Round Table - The Sacraments of the East

Mediator Dei on Sacrifice

James Chastek: Translation of Mediator Dei

Not interested in the use of the word "symbol" here but on other aspects --

[A]ccording to the plan of divine wisdom, the sacrifice of our Redeemer is shown forth in an admirable manner by external signs which are the symbols of His death. For by the “transubstantiation” of bread into the body of Christ and of wine into His blood, His body and blood are both really present: now the eucharistic species under which He is present symbolize the actual separation of His body and blood. Thus the commemorative representation of His death, which actually took place on Calvary, is repeated in every sacrifice of the altar, seeing that Jesus Christ is symbolically shown by separate symbols to be in a state of victimhood.

Sacrifice here is linked to death, or involve death. But is that always the case for the sacrifices of the Israelites? And if death is a component, how is it a component?

This Will Upset Traditional Eastern Catholics

Cardinal Sarah, fFrom Sandro Magister's post:

We must listen to the testimonies that emanate from the Eastern Catholic Churches. Several members of these Churches have clearly emphasized that the priestly state enters into tension with the conjugal state. […] The Eastern married clergy is in crisis. The divorce of priests has become an area of ​​ecumenical tension among Orthodox patriarchies. […] Why does the Catholic Church accept the presence of a married clergy in some united Eastern Churches? In the light of the affirmation of the recent magisterium on the ontological link between the priesthood and celibacy, I think that this acceptance has the aim of promoting a gradual evolution towards the practice of celibacy, which would take place not by disciplinary means but for properly spiritual and pastoral reasons.

I appreciate Cardinal Sarah as a voice for traditional Latin Christianity, but this is just Latin chauvinism, even if Cardinal Sarah thinks that it is well-grounded in (Latin) theology and the papal magisterium. His mistake, which is a consequence of Latin ecclesiology, is to attribute to these theologoumena a greater weight than they warrant, simply because they are opinions that have been held and repeated by men who have been bishops of Rome.

More on "THE Book"

Edward Pentin: Unpacking the Benedict XVI-Cardinal Sarah Book Fiasco
The book’s rollout caused a backlash against Benedict appearing as co-author of the book, even though it appears the Pope Emeritus had given at least tacit prior approval for the full manuscript.
Edward Pentin

Fr. Z: Summary of FACTS about the controversial new book by BOTH Card. Sarah and Benedict XVI
Rorate Caeli: Socci: The Backstory: here is what went on behind the scenes. The rage of the despot against the Catholic Pope
Sandro Magister: More From the Bombshell Book of Ratzinger and Sarah. A Little Anthology on Celibacy
First Things: Sex, Celibacy, and the Latest Curiosity From Rome by Francis X. Maier

Chicago Manual of Style

Ignatius Press to keep Benedict XVI listed as coauthor of new celibacy book

Related: What does Benedict XVI actually say in new book on priestly celibacy? by Michelle La Rosa

Synodality at Work!

Rorate Caeli: Vatican - Bishops, Get Ready: The Amazon Fake-Synod Bomb is Coming Up! (Confidential Letter)

An Oddity of Latin Ecclesiology

Ignatius Press to keep Benedict XVI listed as coauthor of new celibacy book

On Jan. 13, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Vatican’s communications office, praised the book.

“Ratzinger and Sarah — who describe themselves as two Bishops ‘in filial obedience to Pope Francis’ who ‘are seeking the truth’ in ‘a spirit of love for the unity of the Church’ — defend the discipline of celibacy and put forth the reasons that they feel counsel against changing it,” Tornielli wrote.

Would any other ecclesial tradition say this about a retired bishop with reference to his successor?

Clerical Continence

From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy, and the Crisis of the Catholic Church by

Pope Emeritus Benedict, Cardinal Sarah author new book on priesthood, celibacy
“The priesthood is going through a dark time,” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sarah say in their new book. “Wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy, many priests are tempted by the thought of giving up and abandoning everything.”

Vatican: Pope Francis not in favor of optional priestly celibacy
The statement by Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni was issued Jan. 13 and was said to be in response to questions from journalists “regarding a recent editorial initiative.”

Ignoring the controversy generated by the "progressive" Roman Catholics in response to the announcement of the book. There needs to be some pushback against these people, though.
America: Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sarah coauthor book on celibacy, opposing the ordination of married men

Fr. Z: Lib reactions to the new book from Card. Sarah and Benedict XVI – ORDER SOON
Fr. Z: FIRST REMARKS about the new book by Card. Sarah and Benedict XVI
Analysis: On celibacy, what Benedict cannot say and Francis mustn’t hear


I'm going to focus on the sacramental theology instead.

Ignatius Press: Claim that Benedict XVI did not co-author book on celibacy is false

Some sort of ontology in which the priest is "another Christ" or acts "in persona Christi" -- can this be consistent if the sacraments of initiation, namely Baptism/Confirmation, makes us other Christs as well? Can a woman become another Christ, or act in persona Christi? Yes to the former question, and arguably yes to the latter, though it may be possible that some Latin has elaborated "in persona Christi" to show how that is different from merely being another Christ. (For example, those in Holy Orders somehow participate to a greater degree in Christ and His life, and this is linked to the mission of the Holy Spirit, as well.)

In the book, Benedict examines the history of the priesthood in the Old and New Testaments, saying that a proper understanding of the nature of the priesthood is crucial in answering contemporary questions about the priesthood.

“At the foundation of the serious situation in which the priesthood finds itself today, we find a methodological flaw in the reception of Scripture as Word of God,” Benedict said.

Abandoning a Christological interpretation of the Old Testament has led to a “deficient theology of worship” among many modern scholars, who fail to recognize that Jesus fulfilled the worship owed to God, rather than abolishing it, he continued.

Looking at the history of the priesthood in the Old Testament, Benedict said that “the relation between sexual abstinence and divine worship was absolutely clear in the common awareness of Israel.”

He noted that the priests of Israel were required to observe sexual abstinence during their time that they spend leading worship, when they were “in contact with the divine mystery.”

“Given that the priests of the Old Testament had to dedicate themselves to worship only during set times, marriage and the priesthood were compatible,” he said. “But because of the regular and often even daily celebration of the Eucharist, the situation of the priests of the Church of Jesus Christ has changed radically.”

But does the Levitical priesthood really correspond to the New Testament presbyterate? Or to the priesthood of Christ, which is shared by the Christian faithful?

Since the entire life of the priest in the New Covenant is “in contact with the divine mystery,” he said, it demands “exclusivity with regard to God” and becomes incompatible with marriage, which also requires one’s whole life.

“From the daily celebration of the Eucharist, which implies a permanent state of service to God, was born spontaneously the impossibility of a matrimonial bond. We can say that the sexual abstinence that was functional was transformed automatically into an ontological abstinence. Thus its motivation and its significance were changed from within and profoundly.”

The pope emeritus rejected the idea that priestly celibacy is based on a contempt for human sexuality within the Church. He noted that this claim was also dismissed by the Church Fathers, and that the Church has always viewed marriage as a gift from God.

“However, the married state involves a man in his totality, and since serving the Lord likewise requires the total gift of a man, it does not seem possible to carry on the two vocations simultaneously,” he said. “Thus, the ability to renounce marriage so as to place oneself totally at the Lord’s disposition became a criterion for priestly ministry.”

Just as the priests from the Tribe of Levi renounced ownership of land, priests in the New Covenant renounce marriage and family, as a sign of their radical commitment to God, he said.

This is seen in the Psalm prayed when a man entered the clergy before the Second Vatican Council, he said: “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a goodly heritage.”

What does exclusivity with regard to God mean? Can a secular priest take care of his aged parents? If so, how is he being "exclusive"? God does not command that we love only Him, just that we love Him above all others. Does a married priest place his wife or children on the same priority as God? No. The claim is, rather, that a priest should not put his wife and family on the same level as his community, but is there necessarily a conflict between the two in all circumstances? Should those rare circumstances in which there is a conflict be enough to lay down an absolute rule?

Benedict’s theological reflection is followed in the book by a set of pastoral considerations from Sarah.

“My bishop’s heart is worried. I have met with many priests who are disoriented, disturbed and wounded in the very depths of their spiritual life by the violent challenges to the Church’s doctrine,” Sarah said.

“I speak up so that everywhere in the Church, in a spirit of true synodality, a calm, prayerful reflection on the spiritual reality of the sacrament of Holy Orders can commence and be renewed.”

The cardinal called priestly celibacy “the expression of the intention to place oneself at the disposal of the Lord and of men and women,” adding that “Priestly celibacy, far from being merely an ascetical discipline, is necessary to the identity of the Church.”

Ordaining married men would create a “pastoral catastrophe,” risking the Church’s understanding of both the priesthood and itself, Sarah warned. “If we reduce priestly celibacy to a question of discipline, of adaptation to customs and cultures, we isolate the priesthood from its foundation.”

“This total delivering of himself in Christ is the condition for a total gift of self to all men and women,” he said. “He who has not given himself totally to God is not given perfectly to his brethren.”

While some exceptions exist – such as when some married Protestant pastors become Catholic and are able to be ordained priests – the shortage of priests in isolated areas is not such an exception, he said. Ordaining married men in these communities “would prevent them from giving rise to priestly vocations of celibate priests,” which would create “a permanent state detrimental to the correct understanding of the priesthood.”

Is a secular priest required to become a religious, that is to say, to give up all family priorities and duties so that he may be free to minister to others? As for the protest that being a presbyter cannot be reduced to being a mere functionary or "profession" it is ironic that in the Latin churches, presbyters, who are celibate, are treated precisely as such, both by themselves and by the bishops. With the size of the typical American parish numbering more than a thousand families, there is no way a pastor or a parochial vicar can be a spiritual father to all of them. A presbyter becomes merely a rather impersonal minister of the sacraments to a mostly unfamiliar or even anonymous flock. (Is this true of Europe as well? It may be that the relationship between the pastor and his flock is rather loose even there, especially in major urban areas.) On the other hand, with the smaller size of Byzantine parishes, a married priest can become familiar enough with his flock so that he can serve as a spiritual father.

The End of Quantum Reality

CWR Dispatch: Nowhere to go but up: A review of The End of Quantum Reality by Dr. Edmund J. Mazza
Wolfgang Smith’s solution to both Cartesian “schizophrenia” and from a Multiverse which threatens to render individual human existence meaningless is a return to Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics.

A Year of Anniversaries

OCA: The Holy Synod Proclaims 2020 as a Year of Anniversaries for the Orthodox Church in America

More of Maximos Constans on St. Maximos the Confessor

Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism

Baptized into Christ - Rev. Deacon Daniel Dozier from God With Us Online on Vimeo.

Maximos Constans on St. Maximos the Confessor

Guilt and Shame

Thomas Aquinas and Church Fathers, 2019 - Dominic Legge O.P.

St. Theophan the Recluse on Prayer

Antimension

Fr. Patrick Reardon

St. Tatiane of Rome

A Necessary Healing

CWR: Abuse, Trauma, and the Body of Christ by Dr. Adam DeVille
Absent an honest and truthful admission of our brokenness, and the telling of the whole story, we can never find freedom and healing—let alone restore the Church’s bella figura.

While I am usually wary about DeVille's posts on psychotherapy, I think there is probably much of value here, though it would still be go if someone could analyze it from "Thomistic" principles, as Conrad Baars did.

Cicero

François Mauriac

A Bureaucrat's Fantasy

Short Video of Benedict XVI in Retirement

Fr. Z: New video documentary about Benedict XVI from German TV - video

Edit.

Theology of Orders

Sandro Magister: The Other Side of the McCarrick Case. The Vatican Supreme Court Against Trials Without Guarantees and Without Theology

Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca has written something on whether a bishop can be removed from the "clerical state": Note sulla dimissione del vescovo dallo stato clericale

From Magister's article

In the meantime, however, a prominent representative of the Vatican supreme court - very close to Benedict XVI but not devoid of criticism toward him - has raised very serious objections against the exclusion from the clerical state of the former cardinal archbishop of Washington, not for the reasons that led to this condemnation - which remain very grave, and this is a matter of sexual abuse committed over decades - but because of the dubious canonical and ecclesiological legitimacy, and in any case of the “overwhelming inadvisability,” of the reduction of a bishop to the lay state.

Raising the objections is the bishop Giuseppe Sciacca (in the photo), secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, in the essay that opens the latest issue of “Jus - On Line,” the scholarly journal of legal studies of the faculty of jurisprudence of the Catholic University of Milan:

The fundamental objection from which Sciacca sets out is that the “clerical state” is strictly connected to the sacred order. While the former is typically used to indicate an essentially juridical condition, of belonging to a group, to a category, the latter is a sacrament which impresses on those who receive it an indelible, ontological character, like baptism and confirmation. So much so that even if a sacred minister were forbidden the exercise of sacramental acts, such as for example the celebration of Mass, such acts would still remain valid even if they were performed in contempt of the ban.

But that’s just it, Sciacca points out, especially for bishops “the discordance between ontological status and legal status induced by this situation is a manifest symptom of a pathology.”

In the Church, the awareness of this “pathology” has grown above all thanks to Vatican Council II, which powerfully brought to light the sacramentality of episcopal ordination - which confers the fullness of the sacrament of orders - and therefore also the theological and sacramental root of the bishop's power of jurisdiction. One indication of this heightened awareness is in the new postconciliar code of canon law, which in canon 290 prescribes that dismissal from the clerical state can be granted “to deacons only for grave reasons” and “to priests only for the gravest of reasons,” without mentioning bishops.

It is the relationship between the order of presbyterate and the order of episcopate that continues to interest me. Are there alternative explanations of the relationship between jurisdiction and sacramental power?

How Should Churches of an Ecclesial Rite Be Organized?

Under the leadership of one "patriarch"? Or should they be organized synodally with one protos? Or a different way entirely, or not at all?

If the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian (or "Oriental") Orthodox ever reconcile, can the patriarch of Constantinople continue to make this claim about Constantinople being the Mother Church of the Orthodox world? It won't be true if that reconciliation happens.

Asia News: Bartholomew: Constantinople, the Mother Church of the Orthodox world by NAT da Polis

One year ago the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Makarios: the division from Moscow stems from the refusal to be subject to the political will of others and of not to being able to serve the Ukrainian people.

Jonathan Pageau on Christian Iconography

via Byz TX

The Synaxis of the Holy Forerunner John the Baptist

link

The Evidence for Christ

The Family Tree of Our Lord

The Feast of Theophany

St. Paul

The Gnostic Impulse

St. Eugenia of Rome

The Use of Analogy

CWR: Fatima to Vatican II: Mary, ‘Mother of the Church’ and Our Loving Mother by Matthew Tsakanikas, STD
Called to be the God-bearer, Mother to the Head of the Church, Mary was commissioned and called implicitly to be mother of every member born of the virginal womb of the Church in baptism.

Who among the Fathers of the Church called the Theotokos the "Mother of the Church," other than St. Ambrose? If Mary is the Mother of the Church, who is the Father? God the Father, presumably.

Is it better to understand this title primarily as referring to her spiritual maternity of all Christians, rather than anything ontological? The essay and others have attempted to link the two, but would a confusion of the meanings of the word "mother" result? Mother is not used univocally, as it is used of a human mother with reference to her children. And was it prudent or right for Paul VI to declare this title without consulting the separated apostolic churches?

Becoming a Matushka

Medieval Variants of the Saints in the Canon

NLM

The Use of Drone in the Roman Rite

NLM

Someone will complain that this is a Byzantinization.

Psalm Inscriptions

Sacraments

Creeping Towards Schism?

Rod Dreher: Is US Orthodoxy Going Pro-Gay?

Dionisius the Wise

Liturgical Colors

Good Advice?

Co-Redemptrix?

Sandro Magister: The Revolution of Francis Doesn’t Even Spare Our Lady. Here’s What He Would Make of Her

Mary as Co-Redemptrix: God’s Foolishness by Christopher Malloy

St. Peter in Rome

The Point of a Fast

Sure to Scandalize Some

Andrei Rublev

Interview with Peter Bouteneff

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

The Genealogy of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Changing or Updating the Roman Canon?

The unilateral decision by the bishop of Rome for all of his patriarchate, without consultation with the bishops of his patriarchate, an the endorsement of the development in Latin piety towards St. Joseph. Did St. John the Baptist ever hold second place to the Theotokos in the Roman tradition?

From 2013: “With Blessed Joseph, Her Spouse”

Archpriest Sergy Baranov on Prayer

“When Christ Comes, Questions Disappear.” Part 1
A talk on acquiring a taste for prayer

Part 2

Reading the Old Testament

Music of the Mozarabic Rite

NLM

Theophanes the Greek

More Drama in Rome?

Sandro Magister: The Pope's Latest Speech To the Cardinals Has a Backstory. That Was Supposed To Stay Secret

A Latin Essay, Through and Through

From content to its sources of authority. But still worth a read.

Fatima to Vatican II: Mary, ‘Mother of the Church’ and Our Loving Mother by Matthew Tsakanikas, STD
Called to be the God-bearer, Mother to the Head of the Church, Mary was commissioned and called implicitly to be mother of every member born of the virginal womb of the Church in baptism.

The Gift of God

The Gift of God: Preparing for the Nativity of the Lord from God With Us Online on Vimeo.

Byzantine Advent

Language as a Proof for God's Existence

The O Antiphons

Joseph Ratzinger on the Meaning of Christmas

The undefeated light: Joseph Ratzinger on the true meaning of Christmas

The Gift of God

Questionable Biblical Anthropology?

Rorate Caeli: On Pontifical Biblical Commission document and homosexuality, better not to rush to judgment

Some Posts from NLM

Charle Marge

David Clayton on One of Feingold's Books

The Septuagint

Holy Barbara

Theotokos of the Sign

Don't Be an Accidental Iconoclast

Byzantine chant (Cyprus)

The Book of Psalms

Ratzinger on the ITC

Sandro Magister: From Ratzinger’s Diary, Deeds and Misdeeds of the International Theological Commission

Eastern Christian Publications: Updated: Nicholas Denysenko on His Superb New and now Award-Winning Book

Eastern Christian Publications: Updated: Nicholas Denysenko on His Superb New and now Award-Winning Book

Not Getting It

Latin traditionalists still failing to grasp that the problem is not Vatican I or Vatican II or even the Council of Florence; it is Latin ecclesiology concerning the primacy of the bishop of Rome, as Latin pretensions concerning the primacy of the bishop of Rome arguably go back to the first millenium. Did any other Apostolic Church accept them? Would it have even made sense for them to, in an age of limited communication and an already multiethnic and multicultural Church? Perhaps the claim could have been sustained when the whole Church still understood and spoke Greek, including the bishop of Rome, but once that linguistic unity passed? How could the bishop of Rome possibly be competent to teach Christianity in any other language except his own? No man can be fluent in every single human language, and there is no special divine gift or charism that makes the bishop of Rome such a panglot.

What sort of rationalist apologetics for such an exaggerated notion of primacy can Latins pull out of their hats now?

1P5: The Second Vatican Council Is Now Far Spent by Peter Kwasniewski

What Is the End of Political Life?

CWR: Thomism and Political Liberalism, Part 3 by Joseph G. Trabbic
St. Thomas says that “the whole of political life seems to be ordered to contemplative happiness.” What would a life ordered to divine contemplation look like? And how would politics support it?

A take on this comment.

Is Thomism too rationalist in its conception of eudaimonia? More and more I think that it is unsatisfying, as it is usually presented, and perhaps Pinckaers' modification may not be sufficient. A political life should have sufficient members and organized in such a way that it makes a local ecclesia possible, including the selection of men to become presbyters/episkopos to minister the Holy Mysteries. Through the Holy Mysteries and the Christian life is the ultimate end attained, the encounter of God and man in love, and this Christian life includes prayer and "contemplation." While the
he political community is ordered to human happiness, which according to Christianity is supernatural, a Divine gift of friendship with God, its immediate end is political friendship, and it is on this point primarily that liberalism, which serves the state and statism, differs from Aristotelianism and arguably Thomistic political theology. It is also a first principles that is obscured in Roman Catholic social teaching, written mostly or wholly by men who have no experience living in an authentic political community. It is because of this that RC social doctrine is easily exploited to serve the purposes of the state, and I expect more to be written about obedience to the secular authority in the future.

50 Years of the Pauline Reform

NLM

[Active] Participation

NLM

What is done in the liturgy is done by Christ, not by us. For the liturgy is the worship offered by Christ in His Church through the power of the Holy Spirit to God the Father. It is not something primarily that we do. We certainly, by right of our baptism, are able to participate in that offering. Indeed, it is our baptismal duty to do so to the best of our ability and according to our particular vocation. But the liturgy is first and foremost Christ acting in the world today through the rites of His Church. Because of this, through this, we are able to share in His saving acts—the Redemption He wrought for our sins on the cross, and the hope of eternal life made manifest in His glorious resurrection. In short, the sacred liturgy is Christ’s saving action in our world today. ...

The understanding that the liturgy is an action, not a text, and indeed that it is first and foremost the action of Christ Himself, is crucial if I am to participate in any liturgical rite, if I am truly to engage consciously and actually in that action, if I am in fact to pray the sacred liturgy. Otherwise I shall be a mere spectator, possibly a bored one, or maybe even a well-entertained one. But the liturgy is not a spectacle or entertainment to be watched. It is an action in which I must be engaged. It is worship. And it is prayer. ...

Therefore praying the liturgy, which is simply true or actual (sometimes called ‘active’) participation in the liturgy, is not so much saying the right words, ‘making the responses’ or ‘joining in the singing’ (these are means, not ends) as it is immersing myself in, losing myself in, allowing myself to be caught up in, the action of the liturgy.”

What is it to immerse one's self or to be caught up in the action of the liturgy if there is no act on my part? Is it simply comprehension and the proper will act? On the other hand, does this not undermine the traditionalist case against the reform if the main or essential acts of participation are to be found in the intellect and will? So long as these are present, what difference does it make if one says the "right words" or "makes the responses" or uses the EF? And who is to say that the subjective experience of the typical participant in the OF, in the vernacular and with contemporary worship music, cannot be ordered by these essential of participation? If those fundamental acts are present and sustained, then what difference do the means make? Would Reid argue that the some means are more proportioned to the end?

More importantly, what are these fundamental acts, if not the Son's knowledge and love of the Father, in which we participate thanks to Baptism and Confirmation/Chrismation? And is worship to be identified with these acts? A Thomist might respond that worship or prayer are acts of religio, not acts of the theological virtues but acts ordered by the theological virtues. I wouldn't disagree with that, though I would emphasize that Christian worship, our participation in the Son's praise of and thanksgiving to the Father, are secondary acts motivated by filial knowledge and love of the Father, and so Reid is incorrect on this point. However, if he does argue that the texts, singing, etc. are important in so far as they serve these secondary and some forms are more better suited than others (and at this point I don't have any reason to think that this is not his position, though I would disagree with him as to which forms are better suited, at least some of them), I think that part can be retained.

Miracles of Elder Porphyrios

Eternal Memory!

Magnificat

We are children of God in Christ, sharers in the eternal filiation of the Only-begotten Son of God the Father!

Opus Dei: "The freedom and trust of being God's children"
Homily of Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz for the liturgical memorial of Saint Josemaria, given in the basilica of Saint Eugene in Rome on 26 June 2018.

Holy Nicholas, Pray for Us!

Hans Boersma on Supersessionism

First Things

Another Conundrum

Are Latin traditionalists in communion with the bishop of Rome or not? And if they are, then who has the proper authority to authorize such modifications to the Extraordinary Form, if not the pope, according to their ecclesiology and canons?

Breaking News: Optional commemoration of seven new Saints addded to "Extraordinary Form" Calendar?

St. Sabbas

Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition

CWR: The ancient roots of deification in the Latin tradition by Carl E. Olson

Dr. Jared Ortiz is Associate Professor of Religion at Hope College, author of You Made Us for Yourself: Creation in St Augustine’s Confessions (Fortress Press, 2016), founder and executive director of the Saint Benedict Institute, [...]

ἱερεύς v. πρεσβύτερος

Ordinations at Clear Creek Abbey

Rorate Caeli: Video of Ordinations at Clear Creek Abbey (a Fontgombault foundation)

"Apostolic Tradition"

Sandro Magister: A Missionary Writes After the Synod For the Amazon. Married Priests Perhaps, But In Perfect Continence

Lay Leadership?

Church Life Journal: Taking the Role of All the Baptized in Church Leadership Seriously by John Cavadini

Does the proposal or will the conference properly address the clericalist structure of the institutional church and the limits to the authority of the bishop? It doesn't seem likely.

Louis Tofari: Mediator Dei and the Liturgical Movement

No reform, not even a reset, just a return to 1951 before the reform of Holy Week rites or 1911, before Pius X reformed the Roman office?

Elder Sophrony and Elder Ieronymos of Simenopetra Canonized

OrthoChristian: Elder Sophrony officially canonized together with Elder Ieronymos of Simenopetra

Plus: The Theology and Memory of Elder Sophrony (Sakharov)

Message of Benedict XVI to the ITC

text

CWR Dispatch: Benedict XVI reflects on 50 years of the International Theological Commission
Joseph Ratzinger served as president of the International Theological Commission from 1982-2005 as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith under St. John Paul II.


Related: