Does the Patriarchate of Rome Still Need Latin?

Traditionis Custodes vs. St John XXIII: Guest Article by Dr Nancy Llewellyn https://t.co/jPYih9Rojh pic.twitter.com/OTKmFafwNU

— NLM (@NLMblog) July 29, 2021

Keeping Up Appearances

Nothing problematic in the recent history of the patriarchate of Rome at all... John XXIII probably doesn't deserve all of the criticisms he gets from some Latin traditionalists but I'd still like an impartial review of his life and pontificate.

St. John XXIII, the Good Pope who opened the Second Vatican Council, pray for us! pic.twitter.com/zQPisDA9FN

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) October 11, 2020

C.C. Pecknold on R. Hittinger and RCST

First Things: Defend Us From Ideology by C. C. Pecknold

“To guard ourselves against ideology...we need to strengthen principles through coherent philosophical definition and reflection. Hittinger concludes, ‘it is not only rigid thinking...but also weak thinking is vulnerable to ideology.’

My latest. https://t.co/fZ3x6aVQNw

— C.C. Pecknold (@ccpecknold) May 8, 2020

"Some might take this as a counsel of despair, but I take Hittinger to be issuing an invigorating challenge... we need to strengthen principles through coherent philosophical definition & reflection."https://t.co/EjweJOEHKh

— Josh Hochschild (@JoshHochschild) May 8, 2020

Yet Hittinger sees “warning signs” beginning with Pope Pius XII. Pius was well-schooled in the same philosophical infrastructure, yet issued no social encyclicals from 1940 until his death in 1958. Pope John XXIII began writing social encyclicals again, but no longer “to all bishops,” as was the Leonine custom. Rather, he addressed them “to all men of good will.” This shift of address drastically changed the scope and coherence of social doctrine, since it no longer assumed the shared philosophical infrastructure and distinctions that had been essential to the tradition.

Should a bishop be preaching moral theology to non-believers or Christ instead?

Does Rome have the authority to promulgate principles of moral theology, other than precepts of the Divine Law, as definitive? By what competence? Rome can only affirm that such principles (and conclusions of moral theology) are free from heresy but Rome cannot guarantee that their formulation is true or sound as they stand, at least not with the authority of the pope as defined so far. Not only that, but the Compendium does not include an exhaustive list of the precepts of Divine Law regarding political communities and political life.

Some might take this as a counsel of despair, but I take Hittinger to be issuing an invigorating challenge. If we want to guard ourselves against ideology and corruptions of our traditions, we need to strengthen principles through coherent philosophical definition and reflection. Hittinger concludes, “it is not only rigid thinking that’s vulnerable to ideology, but also weak thinking is vulnerable to ideology.” 

This is true for the political common good as well as the ecclesial common good. Skepticism that eschews a strong, coherent public philosophy will not help us. Only a philosophically coherent account of the American common good will save us from our descent into ideological incoherence.

Preaching the "common good" never transformed a tyranny to a just regime. While we need to critically examine the principles of RCST, I do not think that Latins will have the courage to take such an examination that far, as it may run contrary to accepted beliefs about the state and other beliefs taken from liberalism, egalitarianism, and other political ideologies.

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”

Weigel's Narrative

First Things: The Ideological Hijacking of Pope St. John XXIII by George Weigel

And as those excerpts from Gaudet Mater Ecclesia in the Divine Office make clear, John XXIII knew that that evangelical mission would only meet the needs of the day if it were anchored in the ancient, abiding truths bequeathed to the Church by divine revelation: truths manifested in the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus himself, and developed through the Church’s doctrinal reflection as guided by the Holy Spirit.

To be sure, John XXIII understood that evangelization was not an exercise in logic-chopping; most modern men and women were unlikely to be converted by the proclamation of syllogistic proofs. So the Church needed a contemporary way of expressing ancient truths. But as Pope John insisted in Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, those truths must be expressed “with the same meaning and the same judgment” (in some translations, “with the same meaning and import”). That was a direct quote from St. Vincent of Lerins, a 5th-century monk who wrote an important treatise on what we know as the “development of doctrine.” And it stands in sharp contrast to, and critique of, the bogus image of John XXIII as a pope unconcerned with doctrinal solidity and continuity.

The Patriarchate of Rome (not the "Church") has its structural issues which have come to light with the sex abuse scandal -- clericalism is still alive and bishops are unable to deal with the challenges confronting the "institutional Church." No council or synod will be able to fix this, as it requires leadership but also collaboration with the laity, and very few Latin bishops have what is required for either. John XXIII, nor have his successors, did not realize that the Church lost to the modern nation-state, and attempts at greater centralization and the fake alternative of fake "synodality" (which is still attempting a top-down solution) will fail. There can be no sustained and effective effort at evangelization until the local Church is revitalized, and this includes a reform of liturgical praxis. No matter how many times Mr. Weigel attempts to turn this failure into a triumphalistic narrative he cannot tell us our "lying eyes" are wrong.

Letters from the Amazon Synod Part 4

First Things: Letters From the Synod–2019: #4 by Xavier Rynne II

We honor the memory of John Henry Newman, this newest of God’s saints, by imitating his courage, and the conviction that underwrote it.

October 11

Rorate Caeli: Feast of the Divine Maternity — or of Papa Roncalli? by Peter Kwasniewski

Another Opponent of Ostpolitik

Rorate Caeli: De Mattei: opponents of Ostpolitik: Monsignor Pavol Maria Hnilica (1921-2006)

Will fears of a new ostpolitik, an ostpolitik chiński, prove to be justified?

Important Dates

But is one council the same in historical and ecclesial importance as the other?

1P5: Archbishop Lefebvre's Eyewitness Testimony to a Church Revolution (via Fr. Z)

55 Years Later, What Progress?

On December 2nd, 55 years ago, Pope John XXIII had a private audience with the Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher,...

Posted by Vatican Radio - English Section on Wednesday, December 2, 2015

At least we have the Anglican Ordinariates.

Who Are the Real Traditionalists?

Everyone has an opinion about what is to be done or retained or recovered or changed...

Binary Barrier: Sacra Liturgia Conference and Sacra Liturgia Neo-Eboracus - Recapitulatio (via Pertinacious Papist)


Related:
Dr. Jeff Mirus: Wrong About Latin by Steve Skojec

About that Canonization of John XXIII: Just a Minute, Now by Christopher A. Ferrara

Mr. Ferrera quotes Cardinal Amato:

For such a canonization, according to the teaching of Benedict XIV, three elements are required: an ancient tradition of devotion, the constant and common attestation of trustworthy historians on the virtues or martyrdom, and the uninterrupted fame of miracle.

If these conditions are satisfied—again according to the teaching of pope Prospero Lambertini [Benedict XIV]—the supreme pontiff, by his authority, can proceed with the “canonization equivalent”… without any definitive formal sentence, without any preliminary juridical process, without having carried out the usual ceremonies.

This would certainly be a better justification for canonizing someone; but is infallibility involved if the pope does not have the authority on his own to declare someone a saint for the Church Universal but only for his patriarchate? Rather, he could only recognizing someone to be a saint for the Church Universal if such a cult existed universally? And do patriarchs of particular churches participate in the charism of infallibility when they declare someone to be a saint for their church?

Upholding the Legacy of Vatican II

The Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on Tuesday attended a conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University...

Posted by Vatican Radio - English Section on Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Ressourcement

While in the past I may have been wary of the nouvelle théologie to one degree or another, their attempt to re-engage with the Church Fathers was praiseworth in intent, if not in execution. In the last year I've gradually drifted away from "Thomism of Strict Observance," not that I ever really considered myself a member of that school of Thomistic theology, though I was willing to read its texts. Having had a chance to delve into the Church Fathers more in the last year, it may be time for me to re-evaluate nouvelle théologie the 20th century Ressourcement movement and its members. (I have been a fan of Fr. Bouyer for quite some time, so I am thinking more of the Jesuits.)

Ressourcement theology, aggiornamento, and the hermeneutics of tradition by Marcellino D'Ambrosio

“Ressourcement,” “Aggiornamento,” and Vatican II in Ecumenical Perspective by Eduardo Echeverria

Related:
A Theologian for Our Times – Rediscovering Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange

I didn't know the Salve Regina website is associated with the FSSP, though I had been aware of the website's existence not too long after it was created. "It figures."

Some Interesting Photos

NLM: A New Book on Cardinal Dante, with Great Pictures of Papal Ceremonies by Gregory DiPippo

Dulia, Roman Propaganda, or Both?

Post by abouna.org.

Still Skeptical

Post by Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology.

Chiesa: The Last Pope-King by Sandro Magister
Two of his predecessors made saints instead of only one. The Italian episcopal conference annihilated. The men of the old guard still at the helm of the IOR. All as Francis commands

April 27 for Canonizations of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II

Edward Pentin

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