OUR LADY OF FATIMA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
|
|
OUR LADY OF FATIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH |
|
Not What We Expected or Did We ?
November 19, 2005
|
Having discovered the accompanying graphic a few weeks ago I suppose now would be a good time to introduce a theme that has been on my mind for a while: Benedict XVI's papacy so far. The graphic illustrates the general perceptions that were held in the liberal camp prior and immediately subsequent to the conclave earlier this year. Ratzinger the "enforcer" or "God's rottweiller" were terms frequently in the news. The Pope has turned out to be very different than the media expected. It is interesting to recall that at the funeral for John Paul II and then at the Mass opening the conclave, Cardinal Ratzinger referred to the crisis in the Church and the problem of relativism. After paying the usual lip-service to the "greatness" of John Paul II, he warned of dangers ahead and the many problems that have beset the Church in the last 30 years. How one of the most calamitous periods in Church history can be presided over by a Pope who the world calls "great" is beyond me. In similar fashion another pontificate was replaced by a Benedict, that of Pope St Pius X. In my opinion, and I have long held this to be true, the Pontificate of St Pius X left the Church bitterly divided and polarized in much the same way as John Paul II but for opposite reasons. One a staunch conservative, the other a confirmed liberal with some conservative overtones especially where life issues, clerical celibacy and women priests were concerned. St Pius X's problem was that in seeking to root out from the Church the infestation of "modernism" (itself born among the German liberal protestants of the late nineteenth century), he allowed an awful witch hunt to be set in place by Raphael Cardinal Merry del Val which destroyed the unity of the Church at the expense of charity causing rival priests and bishops to denounce their opponents as "modernists" thereby enabling their own "careers" to proceed at the cost of their neighbor's reputation. |
The surprise election of Benedict XV upset Merry del Val's hopes of succeeding his former boss and of continuing the hunt for infiltrators within the Church. All that Pius X succeeded in doing with the issuance of the anti-modernist oath was forcing the scoundrels to perjure themselves and drove them underground awaiting a more favorable climate for them to re-emerge and infect the Church with their heresies. Don't misunderstand me, I am not suggesting there is anything wrong with the content of the oath, I am questioning only the wisdom of the methodology employed to achieve the extirpation of modernism. The famous interchange between Merry del Val and the newly elected Benedict XV has been mentioned here before but bears repeating again:
There is a very amusing story told about the first obedience the Cardinals made to the newly elected Pope Benedict XV: Cardinal Della Chiesa (Benedict XV) had been exiled from Rome under the previous pontificate of Pius X because he was suspected of being a liberal by Cardinal Merry del Val. Merry del Val who had been charged by Pius X of rousting out suspected modernists. When Della Chiesa was elected to replace the dead Pontiff it was now time for Merry del Val to eat (as Americans say so beautifully) some “humble pie”. As Merry del Val embraced the new Pope - and back then they kissed the foot of the pope (literally) – Benedict XV recited in Latin a portion of one of the psalms: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner-stone”. Not to be outdone, Merry del Val came right back with the second portion of the very same verse (in Latin): “and it is a wonder in our eyes !”
| I said in an earlier column
(in April): "one thing is clear, this papacy will not be a continuation of the last despite the fact that some Church hierarchs are trying to say that it will."
Clearly in the choice of a name: Benedict, the new Pope signaled that it
would not be business as usual. Just as Benedict XV replaced the
authoritarian Pius X with a papacy that was conciliatory and reached out
to the opposing factions that Pius X had unwittingly created, he was a
voice of moderation not of liberalism as he is so often caricatured
especially by extremist Tradi types, so Benedict XVI is proceeding in a
similar fashion to open doors which remained firmly closed under the
authoritarian regime of the late Pontiff.
Who can forget the video footage of liberal theologian Ernesto Cardenal receiving a public dressing down at an airport in Nicaragua moments after John Paul II's plane touched down for one of his foreign expeditionary visits ? It is clear from the now famous Raymond Arroyo interview two years ago that Cardinal Ratzinger was an increasingly uncomfortable accomplice of the late Pope's policies. Since it was his task to confront the major theological problems of the last pontificate, he unfortunately was cast in the role of papal "hit-man". Ratzinger is said to be a shy and retiring man, but a deep intellectual, the likes of which the papacy rarely enjoys. There will be less charisma than the last Pope, but a lot more skillful diplomacy and intellectual reasoning. As St Francis de Sales wisely observed "You catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than a barrel of vinegar". Some prelates who profess themselves enamored of this school would do well to profit from this sage advice. The most compelling evidence that this pontificate is not business as usual is the number of praises the new Pope is garnering from the liberals. After initially criticizing the election of Ratzinger, the dissident German theologian Hans Kung emerged from his one and a half hour meeting with Pope Benedict and was surprisingly upbeat about his visit as John Cornwill in the London Sunday Times recently observed:
|
|
Lest the Pope's numerous detractors leap on this as a sign of his liberal leanings the same columnist went on (correctly in my judgment) to say:
"None of this means Benedict is about to throw traditional Catholic doctrine to the wind. But it demonstrates a decisive change of style that could help heal the growing breach between liberals and conservatives in the church. Austen Ivereigh, director for public affairs in the office of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, characterises Benedict’s style as that of a monk rather than a crusader.
Benedict’s papacy has been called one of “words and substance” in contrast to John Paul’s one of “gestures”, but that fails to acknowledge Benedict’s talent for the significant, if unobtrusive, gesture."
 |
 |
 |
| Fr Hans Kung | Fr Richard McBrien | Fr Leonardo Boff |
In his own words describing his visit to the Pope, Kung reflected that the audience had been a ''very constructive and even a friendly conversation.'' Concerning how others would view the visit he said: ''I am sure that this will be seen in the Catholic world, and even more than that, as a hopeful sign because it shows that he has more positive intentions than maybe what was seen at the beginning.''
Since that time Fr Richard McBrien from Notre-Dame's theology department and Liberation Theologian Leonardo Boff have also had surprisingly positive remarks about the current Pope's attempts at reaching out.
In a recent Newsweek article, the papal biographer George Weigel had an interesting insight into the pontificate so far:
"Interpreting the coming papacy accurately is going to require a determined effort to get beyond the "liberal/conservative" taxonomy of all issues Catholic. (...) In his first seven months, though, the man who never wanted to be pope has shown the unflappability which comes from a deeply spiritual life. That suggests that the quiet surprises of Benedict XVI will continue."
Perhaps the most interesting recent development was revealed by Sandro Magister on his chiesa website concerning the Pope's snap decision to attend the CELAM conference next May in Brazil which came as a total surprise to the cardinals he had assembled to discuss the topic. The CELAM conference is the gathering of all the bishops of South America, a key battleground where the Church is daily losing Catholic faithful to Protestant denominations (chiefly Pentecostalists and Evangelicals). In a reverse from the expected - John Paul II waited to be invited - the new Pope simply invited himself. As Magister tells the story:
The conference was already set for 2007, but the place and the exact date remained to be determined. The four bishops were prepared to hold it in Rome, in order to ensure the pope’s participation in the work.
But Benedict XVI said to them all of a sudden: “It will be held in Brazil,” and immediately asked what the country’s most venerated Marian shrine is. “The Aparecida,” they replied. And the pope: “In Brazil, at the Aparecida, in May. I’ll be there.”
The four cardinals were taken completely by surprise. And so were the leaders of the Roman curia – the pope hadn’t discussed the matter with any of them.
|
|
The choice of venue is of no
less significance to Traditionalists as well it will be at Brazil's
national Marian shrine the Aparecida. It will be remembered that this was
the site of Bishop Rifan's unfortunate simulation of the Novus Ordo
Mass in September last year, which was meant to be his gesture of
unity with his Novus Ordo bishop counterparts, but constituted the
mortal sin of the simulation of a sacrament by pretending to concelebrate
but withholding the words of consecration.What
the significance of that is is anybody's guess.
A columnist from Brazil on an indult e-mail list suggested in September last year that the annual ceremonies at the shrine are an abomination with all sorts of liturgical travesties and that this was known throughout Brazil. Rifan went and added his sacrilege to the sacrilege but one thing is sure, this Pope chooses his visits differently from his predecessor and usually makes them count. He will take on the entire Latin American episcopate and tackle the problem in its home territory directly and, again, with thoughtfulness and well chosen reasoning. |
As the Pope said himself in his first address Urbi et orbi:
Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side.
As the Latin axiom has it Servus Mariae numquam peribit - the servant of Mary will never perish.
+TF
  
|
Copyright© Our Lady of Fatima Spring Hill, |
|
