Friday, September 06, 2019
Thursday, September 05, 2019
The Latin Traditionalists React
Just as they can't admit that maybe the Ressourcement movement might have had a point.
NLM
Latin traditionalists can't concede anything. "Everything was A-ok with the Church [i.e. the patriarchate of Rome] before the Pian reform of Holy Week in 1955 [or choose some earlier liturgical reform]." As if they were alive at the time and had the omniscience to know that this was true. "Vatican 2 ruined everything!"
Did Ressourcement fade because of the hard-headedness of some of the Latin clergy and religious and the ignoring of Ressourcement by "progressives"? Or maybe the patriarchate of Rome didn't deserve such a gift and God withdrew it.
Kwasniewski writes this howler:
Would he concede such pluralism on the question of ecclesiastical divorce? I am doubting it, even if he begrudgingly grants it with respect to the Eastern discipline of ordaining married men to the presbyterate. Show me a Latin author who justified the delay of Confirmation on the basis of "the role of reason and free will" rather than ecclesiological considerations centered on the office of the bishop.
Except it is arguable that theology in general did not have that place in the life of the Church that the Latins have given to theologians. Perhaps the Orthodox would here claim that it is the reception of a theological opinion, its incorporation in the liturgical and prayer life of the Church, that matters, rather than what the majority of theologians might say. And anyways, Aquinas is not the end-all, be-all of Latin theology, even if Thomists and Latin traditionalists like Kwasniewski would like to think that his theology holds this primacy of place.
I bet Kwasniewski rejects Bouyer's claims about the separation of Latin spirituality from Latin liturgical experience. But this is not a theological claim but a historical claim that must be evaluated accordingly, not in accordance with some a priori position that is taken to be a truth of Divine Faith -- "The Holy Ghost has not abandoned any of the apostolic-sacramental churches, since all of them give abundant evidence of the operations of the Spirit: faith, hope, charity, the gifts and fruits, miracles." Just because the Holy Spirit sanctifies does not mean that a church or group of churches does not have defects which the Holy Spirit must remedy.
I posted a link to the English translation of the original here.
NLM
Latin traditionalists can't concede anything. "Everything was A-ok with the Church [i.e. the patriarchate of Rome] before the Pian reform of Holy Week in 1955 [or choose some earlier liturgical reform]." As if they were alive at the time and had the omniscience to know that this was true. "Vatican 2 ruined everything!"
Did Ressourcement fade because of the hard-headedness of some of the Latin clergy and religious and the ignoring of Ressourcement by "progressives"? Or maybe the patriarchate of Rome didn't deserve such a gift and God withdrew it.
Kwasniewski writes this howler:
"Many more examples can be given in the realms of clerical vestments, church architecture, and liturgical hymns and orations. And then there will be simply issues of pluralism: some churches give the sacraments of initiation all at once to infants, while others spread them out in acknowledgment of the role of reason and free will. Is one necessarily right and the other wrong? Couldn’t they both be right, because they’re looking from different legitimate angles?"
Would he concede such pluralism on the question of ecclesiastical divorce? I am doubting it, even if he begrudgingly grants it with respect to the Eastern discipline of ordaining married men to the presbyterate. Show me a Latin author who justified the delay of Confirmation on the basis of "the role of reason and free will" rather than ecclesiological considerations centered on the office of the bishop.
Like the West, the East has its “black boxes” into which people are not supposed to look too closely, lest they find tensions, contradictions, reversals, laxities, and other odds and ends. Above all, their systematic theology and moral theology are a mess, because they have no authoritative framework for interpreting the Fathers. Their own version of scholasticism, a bit like Islam’s, imploded and fell apart, unlike the West’s, which with figures like Bonaventure and Thomas attained a rare perfection and magnificence. Above all, there is no one in the East who is as biblical, patristic, ecumenical, synthetic, broad-minded, and comprehensive as the Angelic Doctor. Aquinas makes frequent, sympathetic, incisive use of dozens of Western and Eastern Fathers — indeed, more Eastern authors than Western — so it’s a bit silly to say our theology starts in the 12th century.
Except it is arguable that theology in general did not have that place in the life of the Church that the Latins have given to theologians. Perhaps the Orthodox would here claim that it is the reception of a theological opinion, its incorporation in the liturgical and prayer life of the Church, that matters, rather than what the majority of theologians might say. And anyways, Aquinas is not the end-all, be-all of Latin theology, even if Thomists and Latin traditionalists like Kwasniewski would like to think that his theology holds this primacy of place.
Moreover, what the hieromonk doesn’t seem to grasp, or perhaps doesn’t wish to acknowledge, is the many great spiritual figures the West has always had, and still has. He does not mention figures like St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Bd. Charles de Foucauld, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and Bd. Columba Marmion, let alone countless martyrs and saints of every state in life. He mentions St. Pio of Pietrelcina only to suggest that he was opposed by the Church, which is only partially true. The writings of Fr. Jacques Philippe are every bit the equal of many contemporary books published by the Orthodox. One might also take a look at the pre-Reformation volumes of the Classics of Western Spirituality series from Paulist Press to get a rough sense of the richness of our mystical tradition.
I bet Kwasniewski rejects Bouyer's claims about the separation of Latin spirituality from Latin liturgical experience. But this is not a theological claim but a historical claim that must be evaluated accordingly, not in accordance with some a priori position that is taken to be a truth of Divine Faith -- "The Holy Ghost has not abandoned any of the apostolic-sacramental churches, since all of them give abundant evidence of the operations of the Spirit: faith, hope, charity, the gifts and fruits, miracles." Just because the Holy Spirit sanctifies does not mean that a church or group of churches does not have defects which the Holy Spirit must remedy.
I posted a link to the English translation of the original here.
On the Suppression of the Society of Jesus: A contemporary account.
by Guilo Cesare Cordara, SJ, from Loyola Press (out of print - Google Books)
Fr. Z: Jesuits. Corruptio optimi pessima.
The Institute of Jesuit Sources is now associated with Boston College.
Fr. Z: Jesuits. Corruptio optimi pessima.
The Institute of Jesuit Sources is now associated with Boston College.
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
Eastern Christian Books: The Poison of Papal Centralization
Eastern Christian Books: The Poison of Papal Centralization
A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop by Rembert Weakland
A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop by Rembert Weakland
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Is There an Ur Tradition?
Had time to look up something that I had been considering but had put aside.
Latin polemics against Orthodox tradition on divorce and remarriage generally focus exclusively on the Byzantines, arguing that the tradition was a human innovation arising from capitulation to human weakness and state pressure or accomodation. Those polemicists do not look at divorce and remarriage within the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches.
So I took a quick look -- it appears that there is ecclesiastical divorce (and remarriage) in at least the Assyrian, Armenian, Syro-Malankara/Syriac Orthodox, and Coptic Churches. So how would the Latins respond to that? Most likely: "Only Rome has maintained the purity of the Apostolic Tradition, because the pope is the sucessor of St. Peter!"
Is the origin of the Latin tradition on divorce and remarriage linked to the origin of the Latin tradition on clerical continence/celibacy? Latin polemicists, again: "Apostolic Tradition!"
Related: NEW BOOK – Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition
Oikonomia, Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Rev. Dr. Kevin Schembri (an article published in Melita Theologica)
Related: Divorce and Remarriage of Orthodox Copts in Egypt: The 2008 State Council Ruling and the Amendment of the 1938 Personal Status Regulations by Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron
Latin polemics against Orthodox tradition on divorce and remarriage generally focus exclusively on the Byzantines, arguing that the tradition was a human innovation arising from capitulation to human weakness and state pressure or accomodation. Those polemicists do not look at divorce and remarriage within the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches.
So I took a quick look -- it appears that there is ecclesiastical divorce (and remarriage) in at least the Assyrian, Armenian, Syro-Malankara/Syriac Orthodox, and Coptic Churches. So how would the Latins respond to that? Most likely: "Only Rome has maintained the purity of the Apostolic Tradition, because the pope is the sucessor of St. Peter!"
Is the origin of the Latin tradition on divorce and remarriage linked to the origin of the Latin tradition on clerical continence/celibacy? Latin polemicists, again: "Apostolic Tradition!"
Related: NEW BOOK – Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition
Oikonomia, Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Rev. Dr. Kevin Schembri (an article published in Melita Theologica)
Related: Divorce and Remarriage of Orthodox Copts in Egypt: The 2008 State Council Ruling and the Amendment of the 1938 Personal Status Regulations by Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron
Monday, September 02, 2019
Sunday, September 01, 2019
Fr. David Anderson on the Theotokos
Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help: Listen To Father David Anderson's Inspiring Talks On Holy Mary, Virgin, Disciple and Mother
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Friday, August 30, 2019
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Christopher Altieri Calls out Archbishop Viganò, Again
CWR: “Team Viganò” versus “Team Francis” one year on by Christopher R. Altieri
We are seeing the worst ecclesiastical leadership crisis in at least five hundred years play out as a popularity contest.
Meanwhile...
Will Rome finally intervene in the troubled Diocese of Buffalo?
Pressure mounts on Buffalo bishop after two seminarians resign over scandal
From the latter: "Malone is widely considered to be a test case for Vos Estis Lux Mundi, the Vatican’s newly enacted norms for bishop accountability, and Buffalo is now viewed by many Church observers as the new epicenter for the U.S. Church’s abuse crisis."
We are seeing the worst ecclesiastical leadership crisis in at least five hundred years play out as a popularity contest.
Meanwhile...
Will Rome finally intervene in the troubled Diocese of Buffalo?
Pressure mounts on Buffalo bishop after two seminarians resign over scandal
From the latter: "Malone is widely considered to be a test case for Vos Estis Lux Mundi, the Vatican’s newly enacted norms for bishop accountability, and Buffalo is now viewed by many Church observers as the new epicenter for the U.S. Church’s abuse crisis."
27th International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality
Monastero di Bose: 27th International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality
CALLED TO LIFE IN CHRIST
In the Church, in the world, in the present time
September 4-6, 2019
(via Panorthodox Synod)
CALLED TO LIFE IN CHRIST
In the Church, in the world, in the present time
September 4-6, 2019
(via Panorthodox Synod)
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Fr. Thomas Loya on the Married Priesthood
CWR: Married priesthood, celibacy, and the Amazon Synod: An Eastern Catholic priest’s perspective
The tradition of the Eastern Churches reminds us that the mutually exclusive dichotomy is not between marriage and priesthood but between marriage and monasticism.
One of the combox commentators recommended the work of Fr. Laurent Touze. From what is available on the internet, it would seem that Laurent Touze's L’avenir du celibat sacerdotal is more a work of theology than of history, relying instead on Stickler, Cochini and Heid, both of which are disputed by non-Latin historians. Does the author recognize that it was not always the case that bishops were celibate and unmarried, despite the preference of most Apostolic Churches now for such episcopal candidates? One article records his claim that that married priests in "Oriental rites" (not the Oriental Churches as they should be recognized) would eventually disappear [sic] as people slowly return to the "Tradition" of the "Church." Such a Latin chauvinism should not be unsurprising from an Opus Dei priest-academic.
The old Latin canard regarding Trullo/Quinisext has mentioned in the combox as well by those who are ignorant of the fact that the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church (as well as the Maronites) were not present at Trullo but nonetheless maintain the option of a married presbyters as being part of their received tradition, a fact Anthony Dragani points out in his review of Stickler.
Regardless of the theology to justify the current Latin discipline, Rome recognizes that the discipline is not a divinely-given precept but one that is ecclesial. As such, its non-observance by those priests who are not obligated to follow it is not a sin, nor is the belief that the discipline is mutable heretical. Latin theologians may justify their preference for the discipline through theological arguments, but theological arguments do not create a new divinely-revealed precept, and the judgment based on such arguments that the current discipline is better for the Church, that is the patriarchate of Rome, does not fall under any hitherto accepted Latin notion of infallibility. At worse such theologians, when denigrating the legitimate discipline of other Apostolic Churches in favor of their own ecclesial tradition, give the appearance of being like those whom our Lord criticized as elevating the customs of men over the Divine Law.
Related:
It is claimed that Roman Cholij has not renounced his work/historical scholarship on the question of the observance of clerical continence but he does accept the Byzantine discipline. Has the historical data been made definitively clear regarding the discipline?
The Council in TruIlo: Monogamy and the Ordained Priesthood - what does the author think of the recent decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, then?
Mandated Celibacy Among US Eastern Catholic Priests Theme of Seminar in Rome
I see the St. Paul Center has a new apologetic for the Latin discipline: Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest by Fr. Carter Griffin
The tradition of the Eastern Churches reminds us that the mutually exclusive dichotomy is not between marriage and priesthood but between marriage and monasticism.
One of the combox commentators recommended the work of Fr. Laurent Touze. From what is available on the internet, it would seem that Laurent Touze's L’avenir du celibat sacerdotal is more a work of theology than of history, relying instead on Stickler, Cochini and Heid, both of which are disputed by non-Latin historians. Does the author recognize that it was not always the case that bishops were celibate and unmarried, despite the preference of most Apostolic Churches now for such episcopal candidates? One article records his claim that that married priests in "Oriental rites" (not the Oriental Churches as they should be recognized) would eventually disappear [sic] as people slowly return to the "Tradition" of the "Church." Such a Latin chauvinism should not be unsurprising from an Opus Dei priest-academic.
The old Latin canard regarding Trullo/Quinisext has mentioned in the combox as well by those who are ignorant of the fact that the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church (as well as the Maronites) were not present at Trullo but nonetheless maintain the option of a married presbyters as being part of their received tradition, a fact Anthony Dragani points out in his review of Stickler.
Regardless of the theology to justify the current Latin discipline, Rome recognizes that the discipline is not a divinely-given precept but one that is ecclesial. As such, its non-observance by those priests who are not obligated to follow it is not a sin, nor is the belief that the discipline is mutable heretical. Latin theologians may justify their preference for the discipline through theological arguments, but theological arguments do not create a new divinely-revealed precept, and the judgment based on such arguments that the current discipline is better for the Church, that is the patriarchate of Rome, does not fall under any hitherto accepted Latin notion of infallibility. At worse such theologians, when denigrating the legitimate discipline of other Apostolic Churches in favor of their own ecclesial tradition, give the appearance of being like those whom our Lord criticized as elevating the customs of men over the Divine Law.
Related:
It is claimed that Roman Cholij has not renounced his work/historical scholarship on the question of the observance of clerical continence but he does accept the Byzantine discipline. Has the historical data been made definitively clear regarding the discipline?
The Council in TruIlo: Monogamy and the Ordained Priesthood - what does the author think of the recent decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, then?
Mandated Celibacy Among US Eastern Catholic Priests Theme of Seminar in Rome
I see the St. Paul Center has a new apologetic for the Latin discipline: Why Celibacy?: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest by Fr. Carter Griffin
Friday, August 23, 2019
What Would Fr. Sosa Say in Response?
They are engaged in a bit of make-believer? Or that their truth is subjectively true?
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
What Language for the Liturgy?
America: The liturgy was made for all people and languages, not just Latin. by Joseph P. Amar
Should Latin be retained at all, at least for those peoples who speak Romance languages? And even then, just for certain unchangeable parts of the Mass, like the Creed or the Our Father?
Are current translations of the Roman Missal sufficiently hieratic?
Should Latin be retained at all, at least for those peoples who speak Romance languages? And even then, just for certain unchangeable parts of the Mass, like the Creed or the Our Father?
Are current translations of the Roman Missal sufficiently hieratic?
Monday, August 19, 2019
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Friday, August 16, 2019
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Adam DeVille's Response to the Pew Survey
CWR Dispatch: Belief in the Real Presence: Thoughts from the East by Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille
We must not forget that, for all its problems, the Christian East, which largely eschews talk of “transubstantiation” and similar Western terms, has never really experienced a major crisis of Eucharistic faith.
We must not forget that, for all its problems, the Christian East, which largely eschews talk of “transubstantiation” and similar Western terms, has never really experienced a major crisis of Eucharistic faith.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
More from Christopher R. Altieri on the JP2 Institute
CWR Dispatch: JPII Institute purge a case of Vatican types refusing to be honest, transparent by Christopher R. Altieri
What should have been a reasonably straightforward reorganization has become a protracted struggle. It didn’t have to be this way.
What should have been a reasonably straightforward reorganization has become a protracted struggle. It didn’t have to be this way.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
AL and the JP2 Institute
CWR: “Amoris laetitia” is at the center of the controversy over the John Paul II Theological Institute by Christopher R. Altieri
The architects and executors of the new Institute want the place to have a more sympathetic focus on the much-debated Apostolic Exhortation than they believe it has heretofore received from former faculty and administrators.
The architects and executors of the new Institute want the place to have a more sympathetic focus on the much-debated Apostolic Exhortation than they believe it has heretofore received from former faculty and administrators.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Christopher R. Altieri on the JPII Institute
CWR Dispatch: The “renewal” of the JPII Institute is a purge—and everyone knows it by Christopher R. Altieri
It’s tough to say whether the powers at the JPII Institute are trying too hard, or hardly trying.
It’s tough to say whether the powers at the JPII Institute are trying too hard, or hardly trying.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
An Interview with Stephen Bullivant
CWR: Why have Catholics in the UK and US been leaving the Church since Vatican II? by Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille
Theologian and sociologist Stephen Bullivant says a big part of his argument in Mass Exodus is “that the ‘social architecture’ that had sustained and strengthened Catholic life and identity was well on the road to passing away by the time the Council came along.”
Theologian and sociologist Stephen Bullivant says a big part of his argument in Mass Exodus is “that the ‘social architecture’ that had sustained and strengthened Catholic life and identity was well on the road to passing away by the time the Council came along.”
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Friday, August 09, 2019
Thursday, August 08, 2019
Upholding the Monoepiscopate: One City, One Bishop
What powers does a bishop have that a presbyter doesn't, and why should the bishop have those powers instead of the presbyter? What about scale? (Or "subsidiarity"?) Does unity of Christians in a geographical area require the monoepiscopacy, or can it be achieved through synodality with a limited primacy for one?
Wednesday, August 07, 2019
The People of God
It goes on to recognize an ecclesiology that sees the sacrament of Baptism as the foundation of the vocation and ministry of every Christian, clergy and laity alike. Thus all the People of God together constitute a single community.
And what of chrismation? No one wants to touch that question - why not? Byzantines and others could easily become polemical with respect to Latin pastoral practice regrading confirmation.
the document
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
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