Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

The Pastoral and Moral Crises That Lie Ahead

(Image: us.fotolia.com/eugenesergeev)

The Pastoral and Moral Crises That Lie Ahead | Fr. Mark Pilon | CWR

What we are witnessing today, following the publication of "Amoris Laetitia", is a radical adoption of the absolutizing principle of subjective judgments of conscience and private interpretation of all moral norms.

There has been a moral and pastoral crisis for the last half century in the Church, but I honestly think we haven’t yet seen anything like what might lie ahead. The 4 Cardinals—I like to call them "The Four Just Men" (coined by the prolfiic Edgar Wallace a century ago)—have nailed the roots of this threat in their five questions related to the apparent undermining of Church doctrine on intrinsically evil acts and the objective formation of conscience in Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia (AL). In fact, we are already seeing the very divisive effects of this document’s confusion.

For instance, we are witnessing the very different implementations of AL in different local Churches. Some continue to follow the traditional pastoral practice of the Church which denies Holy Communion to couples living as husband and wife in invalid second unions following divorce. Others call for a case by case resolution where the Catholics involved are encouraged to decide whether this second [adulterous] union is God’s will for them and whether they are allowed to receive Communion.  Thus one American bishop has now encouraged divorced and remarried Catholics to “utilize the internal forum of conscience” in making their decision as to whether they should receive Communion or refrain. In other words, private conscience now trumps the canon law of the Church and the moral law of God.

Another division arises when an American bishop, now a Cardinal, openly criticizes an American Archbishop’s directives regarding Communion for the divorced and remarried as being out of step with the Church. Then there was the unseemly attack of the Dean of the Roman Rota, bitterly criticizing the 4 Cardinals for their supposed betrayal of their office, which evidently requires that they never asks clarification from a pope, never mind question the actions of a pope. 

Following that divisive incident, an Australian Archbishop demeaned the 4 Cardinals by asserting thatthey are seeking a “false clarity that comes because you don’t address reality.” He went on to say that during the Synod he himself “heard voices that sounded very clear and certain but only because they never grappled with the real question or never dealt with the real facts.”

So much for the intelligence, integrity and pastoral experience of 4 distinguished Cardinals and their supporters! 

In another part of the world, an Archbishop in Ireland joined the chorus of criticism with this bit of ecclesial wisdom:

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

The Four Cardinals and the Encyclical in the Room

Top left: Cardinal Raymond Burke; bottom left: Cardinal Carlo Caffarra; top right: Cardinal Walter Brandmüller; bottom right: Cardinal Joachim Meisner; middle: St. John Paul II and "Veritatis Splendor" (Images: CNS and Wikipedia)

The Four Cardinals and the Encyclical in the Room | Carl E. Olson | Catholic World Report

The essential questions remain what they have always been: "what is freedom and what is its relationship to the truth contained in God's law? what is the role of conscience in man's moral development?"

How to make sense of the current situation? There is no single answer, for the ongoing saga—encompassing Synods and stratagems, debates and dubia, Exhortations and excoriations, posturings and pontifications—is about a wide range of questions. Some of them are obvious and capture the headlines, especially: does Pope Francis want to allow those Catholics who have been divorced and civilly remarried access to Holy Communion, even while they continue to live as though married?

But beneath that question are other, very fundamental questions often not voiced or discussed. In the words of one pastor:

What is good and what is sin? What origin and purpose do sufferings have? What is the way to attaining true happiness? What are death, judgment and retribution after death? Lastly, what is that final, unutterable mystery which embraces our lives and from which we take our origin and towards which we tend? ... These and other questions, such as: what is freedom and what is its relationship to the truth contained in God's law? what is the role of conscience in man's moral development? how do we determine, in accordance with the truth about the good, the specific rights and duties of the human person?

That pastor was St. John Paul II, and he posed those questions in Veritatis Splendor (par 30), his great encyclical on the Church's moral theology, released in 1993. While mindful, again, of the many issues involved, I am increasingly convinced that Veritatis Splendor, nearly a quarter century old now, is the elepha—er, encyclical in the living room. Of course, it does not stand alone, since John Paul II spoke often and wrote in detail about mercy, marriage, freedom, conscience, and a host of related matters over the course of his lengthy pontificate. In fact, every single issue relating to family, marriage, divorce, Holy Communion, culpability, subjective experience, and objective truth that Pope Francis has sought to address, analyze, explore, and grapple with since he announced the Extraordinary Synod of 2014 had already been addressed, analyzed, explored, and grappled with by John Paul II in the 1980s and 1990s.

Which is not to say that these pressing and often complicated matters should not be raised again or discussed further. Of course not. Rather, it is to wonder at how little attention has been paid in recent years to what John Paul II said and wrote over the course of his long and brilliant pontificate about family, marriage, divorce, Holy Communion, and all the rest. 

The 2014 Extraordinary Synod and the 2015 Ordinary Synod were held in order to address, as the USCCB site states, "topics related to the family and evangelization." This was followed by the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which is (at nearly 60,000 words) the longest official papal text in history. What has been the result of all of this time, labor, discussion, and ink? Judging by events of recent weeks and months, it has been much discord, confusion, and frustration, quite a bit of it revolving around that one question: "Are divorced and civilly remarried Catholics now able to receive Holy Communion?" Prior to the current pontificate the answer was "No", as it was understood—if not always accepted or practiced—that those Catholics who had entered into a second "marriage" without addressing the validity or nullity of their first marriage were, in fact, committing adultery.

Now, in short, that clear answer has been called into question, since Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia, entitled “Accompanying, Discerning and Integrating Weakness”) allows, as moral theologian Dr. E. Christian Brugger observed on this site earlier this year, "and seems intentionally [to allow]—for interpretations that pose serious problems for Catholic faith and practice." 

Proof of the contention over the now famous chapter is easy to find.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Second volume of Fr. Henri de Lubac’s Vatican Council Notebooks now available

Notebooks provide a glimpse into the inner workings of Vatican II

San Francisco, October 10, 2016 – “Surprising news!” With these words, Fr. Henri de Lubac, S.J., whose orthodoxy had been so vigorously attacked, responded to the announcement of his selection to participate in the Second Vatican Council. His participation as a theologian and expert would make a lasting impact on the Council, and his insights and comments are recorded in this long-awaited series of books, the Vatican Council Notebooks.

Now, Volume Two of the Vatican Council Notebooks is available. These Notebooks trace the two years of preparation, the four conciliar sessions, and the three periods between sessions. They give us the opportunity to assist at the discussion of the schemas (initial drafts of conciliar texts), but also, during the meetings of the theological commission and the sub-commissions, at the elaboration and correction of the texts submitted to the Council fathers. The eminent theologian de Lubac is a sure guide for the reader, introducing us to the theological ferment of the Council and helping us to grasp what was at stake in the often animated debates.
 
De Lubac does not hesitate to express clearly what he thinks of the theologians around him, of the new concepts appearing because of the Council, or of the problems he judges to be most serious for the Christian faith. These Notebooks invite us to a greater historical and theological understanding of the Council.
 
Besides information about the numerous aspects of the conciliar assembly, what makes the testimony of these notebooks so captivating is the strongly rendered presence of men and their psychology. De Lubac excels in sketching the portrait of the participants with only a few words.  Among the many interesting encounters, he tells of deepening his acquaintance with Josef Ratzinger, whom he describes as a “theologian as peaceable and kindly as he is competent”. In the same way, during the long discussion over the drafting of the constitution Gaudium et Spes, he observed the assertiveness of Karol Wojtyła, whose interventions struck him because of the seriousness, the rigor, and the solidity of his faith, which created in him a lively sense of  spiritual friendship, which was reciprocated.

In the preface to the Vatican Council Notebooks, Jacques Prevotat, Professor of Modern History at the University of Lille-III, writes, “These Notebooks bear witness to the difficulties Fr. de Lubac experienced in the years following the publication of Surnaturel (Supernatural, 1946), very much in evidence within the Theological Commission, in the preparatory period during which the theologian, just recently named to the commission by John XXIII, was confronted with future conciliar schemas prepared by his adversaries. Nevertheless, it was his theology that prevailed in Lumen Gentium and also in Dei Verbum.”

Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Editor of Ignatius Press, says, “Fr. de Lubac has a historian’s keen eye as well as a theologian’s familiarity with the issues. As a participant at the Council, he described what really happened in the corridors and trattorie at Vatican II.”

About the Author:
Henri Cardinal de Lubac was a French Jesuit priest, theologian and expert at Vatican II. He wrote numerous theological and spiritual works including Splendor of the Church, Catholicism, Motherhood of the Church, and The Drama of Atheist Humanism.

Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Editor of Ignatius Press, is available for interviews about this book. To request a review copy or an interview with Fr. Joseph Fessio, please contact: Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Ignatius Press at (239) 867-4180 or rose@ignatius.com

Product Facts:
Title: VATICAN COUNCIL NOTEBOOKS
Volume Two
Author: Henri Cardinal de Lubac
Release Date: October 2016
Length: 536 pages
Price: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-62164-012-7 • Softcover
Order: 1-800-651-1531 • www.ignatius.com

"On the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II, what are the positive and negative results of this Council?"

 

Questions Answered | Fr. Brian Mullady, OP | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

Question: On the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II, what are the positive and negative results of this Council?

Answer: The Second Vatican Council is the watershed event of the Catholic Church in the 20th Century. Though 50 years have passed since it was concluded, the optimistic fruit of this Council, which John XXIII had in mind when calling it, have yet to be fully realized. John XXIII stated that the text: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Th 4:3) should be written over the doors of the Council. John Paul II, who wrote a study of the document on the Church, immediately on his return after the Council, instructed his diocese that it was clear that the purpose of the Council was to answer the question: “Ecclesia, quid dicis de teipsa (“Church, what do you have to say for yourself?”) Academic reflection on the nature of this Council has termed it: “The Council of the Church.” The answer was that the Church is a mystery, which is the Greek term for “sacrament” and means “a physical sign joining us to eternity.” This fact is clear in the document on the Church which quotes an ancient Father of the Church, St. Cyprian:

The Church is seen to be “a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Lumen Gentium, 4)

The hope was that a vigorous and sober examination of the means used by the Church to proclaim the Gospel would lead to a deeper and more spiritual appreciation of the Church as an institution which transcended time and space. This appreciation would, in turn, initiate a flowering of spiritual life for the laity responding to grace.

John XXIII basically regarded the Council as the prolongation of the First Vatican Council, which was never formally closed because of the political situation in Europe. In fact, the bishops had meant to discuss 50 schema, which included the topics dealt with by Vatican II in 1870, and they only discussed two. John XXIII wanted these other topics examined with very specific goals in mind. They were:

Continue reading at HPRweb.com.

New: "Vatican Council Notebooks: Volume Two" by Henri de Lubac

Now available from Ignatius Press:

Vatican Council Notebooks: Volume Two

by Henri de Lubac

"Surprising news!" With these words, Fr. Henri de Lubac,S.J., whose orthodoxy had been so vigorously attacked, responded to the announcement of his selection to participate in the 2nd Vatican Council. His participation as a theologian and expert would make a lasting impact on the Council, and his insights and comments are recorded in these long-awaited volumes.

This is the second Volume of De Lubac's Notebooks, which trace the two years of preparation, the four conciliar sessions, and the three periods between sessions. The eminent theologian de Lubac is a sure guide for the reader, introducing us to the theological ferment of the Council and helping us to grasp what was at stake in the often animated debates.

De Lubac does not hesitate to express clearly what he thinks of the theologians around him, of the new concepts appearing because of the Council, or of the problems he judges to be most serious for the Christian faith. These Notebooks invite us to a greater historical and theological understanding of the Council.

Besides information about the numerous aspects of the conciliar assembly, what makes the testimony of these notebooks so captivating is the strongly rendered presence of men and their psychology. De Lubac excels in sketching the portrait of the participants with only a few words. Among the many interesting encounters, he tells of deepening his acquaintance with Josef Ratzinger, whom he describes as a "theologian as peaceable and kindly as he is competent". In the same way, during the long discussion over the drafting of the constitution Gaudium et Spes, he observed the assertiveness of Karol Wojtyla, whose interventions struck him because of the seriousness, the rigor, and the solidity of his faith, which created in him a lively sense of spiritual friendship, which was reciprocated.

Henri de Lubac, S. J., was considered as one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century. Together with the works of other towering modern theologians (and friends) Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Hans Urs von Balthasar, the writings of de Lubac stand out as crucial to twentieth-century Catholicism. Among his other famous books are Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man, The Splendor of the Church, The Christian Faith, The Drama of Atheist Humanism, and The Motherhood of the Church.

"Fr. de Lubac has a historian's keen eye as well as a theologian's familiarity with the issues. As a participant at the Council, his notes describe what really happened in the corridors and trattoria at Vatican II."
—Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Editor, Ignatius Press

"These Notebooks bear witness to the difficulties Fr. de Lubac experienced in the years following the publication of Surnaturel (Supernatural,1946), very much in evidence within the Theological Commission, in the preparatory period during which the theologian, just recently named to the commission by John XXIII, was confronted with future conciliar schemas prepared by his adversaries. Nevertheless, it was his theology that prevailed in Lumen Gentium and also in Dei Verbum."
—Jacques Prevotat, Professor of Modern History, University of Lille-III, From the Preface

The Catholic Conscience, the Argentine Bishops, and "Amoris Laetitia"

(Photo: us.fotolia.com/andriychuk)

The Catholic Conscience, the Argentine Bishops, and "Amoris Laetitia" | E. Christian Brugger | Catholic World Report

Chapter 8 of Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation is characterized by a false dichotomy between the objective and subjective realms of morality, contrary to Vatican II and St. John Paul II.

A group of Argentine bishops (ABs) recently published pastoral guidelines for implementing Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia (AL). The ABs tell their clergy that under certain circumstances divorced Catholics in sexually active second unions may receive the Holy Eucharist, even without receiving an annulment.

The ABs sent their guidelines to Pope Francis to ask whether their pastoral approach was consistent with the meaning of AL. Pope Francis replied in a letter on papal stationary saying that their “document is very good and completely explains the meaning of chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia”; he then stated, “There are no other interpretations.” The authenticity of the pope’s letter was verified on Sept. 12 by the Italian edition of L’Osservatore Romano and reprinted later by Vatican Radio. There no longer seems to be any doubt about where Pope Francis stands on the disputed “Kasper Proposal”.

Other authors have commented and reported on the papal reply, so I will not do so here. The purpose of this article rather is to critique the account of moral conscience implicit in the reasoning of the AB’s and AL as defended in a recent article in National Catholic Reporter by Michael Lawler and Todd Salzman entitled: “In Amoris Laetitia, Francis’ model of conscience empowers Catholic”. The Salzman-Lawler (SL) duet made fame in 2008 for its publication of the book, “The Sexual Person”, which set forth a fulsome defense of same-sex genital acts from Scripture, tradition, and natural reason, and which was censured by the Committee on Doctrine of the USCCB in 2010.

In the NCR article, the authors consider what they refer to as two “diametrically opposed” understandings of conscience, one which they say overly emphasizes the “objective realm” of moral truth, and the other which, in their opinion, rightfully emphasizes the “subjective realm” of freedom and individuality. Let’s call these the “objectivist” and “subjectivist” models.

SL say that St. John Paul II,¹ Archbishop Charles Chaput (“Pastoral Guidelines for Implementing Amoris Laetitia”) and Germain Grisez² represent the objectivist model; and Pope Francis (in Evangelii Gaudium 231-232 and Amoris Laetitia Ch. 8), the German Jesuit theologian Josef Fuchs, and German Redemptorist theologian Bernard Häring represent the subjectivist school.

In what follows I will show that SL have set up a false dichotomy between the objective and subjective realms of morality; then demonstrate how that false dichotomy characterizes the account of conscience found in the ABs and Ch. 8 of AL; and finally offer a fair explanation of the John Paul II-Chaput-Grisez (and Vatican II) account of conscience. I end with some remarks on the question of whether Catholics are obliged in conscience to accept the papal prescriptions taught in AL, Ch. 8.

Proportionalism: “no intrinsically wrongful actions”

Before summarizing SL’s account, it’s important to understand a presupposition of their theory. They follow the reasoning of Fuchs and Häring, who in the years after Vatican II became Europe’s foremost defenders of the moral theory known as “Proportionalism”.³ Although it comes in different flavors, common to all proportionalists is the insistence that intending evil as an end or means (what defenders refer to variously as “premoral evil”, “ontic evil”, “disvalue”, etc.) does not by that fact make an action morally wrong. If there are “morally relevant circumstances” justifying the commission of the evil—what they call “proportionate reasons” (not to be confused with proportionate reason as used in the classical Principle of Double Effect)—then it can rightly be chosen.

Why do I say this is important to understand?

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Cardinal Raymond Burke on Life, Truth, Mother Teresa, Islam, and Cardinal Sarah

U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, patron of the Knights and Dames of Malta, and Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, walk in the 6th annual March for Life in Rome May 8, 2016. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

by Carl E. Olson | Catholic World Report

Speaking to reporters from Rome about his new book, the American prelate goes on record about Christians and Muslims (they don't worship the same God) and Cardinal Sarah (“I agree with him completely...").

In a wide-ranging international teleconference call on Monday with media members, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke spoke in detail about many timely topics, including the priority of standing up for life in addressing poverty and other social ills, the witness and message of Mother Teresa, essential differences between Christianity and Islam, and the recent controversy over remarks by Cardinal Robert Sarah about liturgical orientation. The occasion of the call was Cardinal Burke's recent book Hope For the World: To Unite All Things in Christ (Ignatius Press), an interview given to French author Guillaume d'Alançon in 2015, and translated by Michael J. Miller for Ignatius Press.

 

Since being named a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1994, Cardinal Burke has become one of more well-known prelates in the English-speaking world, known for his willingness to address controversial topics forthrightly, despite often being criticized. Noted as a canon lawyer, Cardinal Burke was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, and then called to Rome to become Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. During the two recent Synods on the Family, Cardinal Burke spoke out often about his concerns, telling CWR during the October 2014 gathering that he thought the Synod's mid-term report "lacks a solid foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium", a remark made a month after he was removed from his position as Prefect and named chaplain to the Order of Malta by Pope Francis.

Cardinal Burke, conversing from Rome, told reporters that his new book was motivated by a desire to reflect on his upbringing and how he discerned his vocation as priest, and also "to reflect as a pastor, as a bishop, on certain on certain critical issues of the day". As such, he noted, the book is a "kind of testimony of faith on my part", and the hope is that the book, in keeping with its title, will "give hope" to readers.

Asked about an apparent shifting of priorities among American bishops since the beginning of Francis' pontificate, Cardinal Burke pointed out that while the issues of abortion, poverty, immigration, and global warming all have "moral importance", the Church's tradition and philosophical reason both indicate that "the fundamental question has to be the question of human life itself, the respect for the inviolable dignity of human life and of its Creator, of its Source, and the union of a man and a woman in marriage, which according to God's plan is the place where new human life is welcomed and nurtured."

He expressed concern that the matter of human life and the issues of abortion, artificial insemination, contraception, and euthanasia be placed somehow on the same level as "questions regarding immigration and poverty." The first priority, he emphasized, must be given to proper respect for human life and for the family in order to have "the right orientations in addressing all of the other questions" and challenges faced by people in daily life. It makes no sense, he pointed out, to be concerned with immigration or poverty "if human life itself is not protected in society ... The first justice accorded to any human being is to respect life itself, which is received from God..." Cardinal Burke observed there are some who advocate an elimination of certain parts of the population in order to fight poverty, or who adhere to a "contraceptive mentality" in order to pursue a sort of "social engineering" harmful to society and to individuals.

The former Archbishop of St. Louis emphasized that bishops have a responsibility to proclaim the truth of Christ in love within the Church, following the example of Christ himself, knowing that the love that will "best serve society is the truth, a truth that respects God's plan for us from the moment of creation..." When he travels, the cardinal said, he finds that people want to hear "the truth of the faith" from priests, bishops, and cardinals—"they aren't interested in my personal opinions about things, which won't save their souls, and I am as aware of that as they are; they look to me to reflect very deeply on the truths of the Faith and their application on society today, and to speak to that truth with love and care for society." The fundamental mission of Catholics in the world is to be united to Christ and to "give witness to the truth", a witness that is "very much needed in our time".

Asked how it was that he, as a young seminarian in the Sixties, avoided falling into the "craziness" of that era, Cardinal Burke credited his parents and his upbringing. He acknowledged he was not unaffected by the "tumultuous" times, especially after going to Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, in 1968 to study philosophy. He credits the "stable and good" discipline, prayer life, and formation he experienced in minor seminary, which he entered at the age of fourteen. He lamented that so many seminarians, seminary professors, and priests at CUA abandoned their vocations and ministry during that time. But he "simply couldn't be convinced that this so-called 'new way', this 'new Church'" was a good and right path, as if what he had been taught growing up was now "wrong and needed to be abandoned". He expressed, however, "great sympathy" for many of those who lost their way, saying that it was a "very tumultuous time and we were young".

Reflecting on the upcoming canonization of Mother Teresa by Pope Francis on Sunday, September 4th, Cardinal Burke expressed his happiness that the famous nun will be named a saint, saying "she has been an inspiration to me from my years in the seminary when I first came to know her".

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

"Amoris Laetitia" and Vatican II’s Project of Inculturation

(Original photo: CNS)

Amoris Laetitia and Vatican II’s Project of Inculturation | Dr. R. Jared Staudt | CWR

Vatican II sought to initiate a dialogue with the modern world, meant to be an extension of the Church’s evangelizing mission. But things have not gone as hoped and planned.

Pope St. John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council amid great optimism. Pope John called for aggiornamento and an opening of the windows of the Church, but we know that the 1960s were not a time of fresh air. In fact, I would argue it was the breaking forth into daily life of a long trajectory of radical individualism. The Council sought a renewed encounter with the modern world after 450 years of conflict, but wading into the muddied waters of modern culture came with a cost.

We can point to many external indicators of crisis in the Church which followed from misinterpretations and misapplications of the Council. I would point underneath the surface to an underlying disposition as the source of this crisis. The engagement with modern culture, which Pope John rightly sought, led many—mostly unwittingly—to accept the fundamental precept of modern culture: radical individualism and autonomy. This individualism then led many to reinterpret their faith and practice as something which conforms to them (a more anthropocentric view of religion), rather than something to which they must conform (a theocentric view).

We see this individualism coming out in numerous and varied ways, but a few large trends emerged. First, the reinterpretation of revelation not as an objective deposit but as something that comes to us subjectively through experience. Next, we saw the effect of this reinterpretation on catechesis and education, which no longer sought to impart doctrine but to affirm the experience of the individual. Finally, this led to a relativizing and marginalization of the Catholic tradition and magisterial authority as constraints on direct experience. The crisis following the Council was brought about in large part by accepting the ethos of the age, which is made clear by the almost unanimous rejection of Humanae Vitae by laity and clergy alike in 1968. This rejection was in the name of conscience and individual freedom.

I would place the year 1968 alongside of another: 1517. As we approach the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation next year, it may be helpful to look to at the subtle and not so subtle ways that the Reformation has impacted the way contemporary Catholics view their faith and the Church’s authority. Luther’s view of the primacy of conscience and the individuality of faith, epitomized by his appeal to conscience before the Emperor Charles V, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise,” have come to shape the way many Catholics view and practice their own faith. Like Luther, many Catholics view their conscience as authoritative while the authority of the Church must appeal to it for credence, rather than allowing their conscience to be shaped by the authority of the Church.

Vatican II and inculturation

Vatican II sought to initiate a dialogue with the modern world. This dialogue was meant to be an extension of the Church’s evangelizing mission. No more would the Church anathematize, but would engage the world in a brotherly exchange. Gaudium et Spes calls for this dialogue and then asks that the Church herself be marked by dialogue:

By virtue of her mission to shed on the whole world the radiance of the Gospel message, and to unify under one Spirit all men of whatever nation, race or culture, the Church stands forth as a sign of that brotherhood which allows honest dialogue and gives it vigor.

Such a mission requires in the first place that we foster within the Church herself mutual esteem, reverence and harmony, through the full recognition of lawful diversity.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Five Serious Problems with Chapter 8 of "Amoris Laetitia"

(CNS Photo)

Five Serious Problems with Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia | Dr. E. Christian Brugger | CWR

The most controversial section of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation is fraught with problematic arguments and dubious moral theology—and gives the German bishops all they want.

For Catholics who feel weary about the abuse that the Christian family has lately suffered at the hands of militant secularism, Pope Francis’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (AL) has many encouraging things to say: e.g., its forthright assertion that “no genital act of husband and wife can refuse” the truth that “the conjugal union is ordered to procreation ‘by its very nature’” (AL, 80; cf. 222); its ardent rejection of the killing of the unborn (no. 83); its unapologetic affirmation that every child has “a natural right” to have a mother and a father (no. 172), and its needed treatment—the lengthiest in any papal document of the last 50 years—of the importance of fathers for children (175).

But though the text says many true and beautiful things about “love in the family,” Chapter 8 (entitled “Accompanying, Discerning and Integrating Weakness”) allows—and seems intentionally so—for interpretations thatpose serious problems for Catholic faith and practice.

I focus here on five such problems:

1) The way it presents the role that mitigated culpability should play in pastoral care

2) Its inconsistent notion of “not judging” others

3) Its account of the role of conscience in acquitting persons in objectively sinful situations

4) Its treatment of moral absolutes as “rules” articulating the demands of an “ideal” rather than binding moral duties on everyone in every situation.

5) Its inconsistency with the teaching of Trent

1. AL’s treatment of subjective factors limiting responsibility

Catholic moral theology has spoken about the importance of pastors being sensitive to factors limiting a penitent’s subjective guilt in order to help penitents assess their true guilt retrospectively, i.e., to help them look at what they’ve already done to assist them to judge rightly about their culpability, so they can repent and be forgiven and deal with those factors and begin freely to choose rightly.

Chapter 8 introduces a significant change in the role that mitigating factors play in pastoral care. Pastors are directed to assess subjective culpability as a way of “discerning” what kinds of ecclesial participation, including sacramental participation, are appropriate for people who are going forth from the confessional. It focuses on assessing mitigated guilt for directing prospective action leaving in place the factors that mitigate guilt, so people may continue to sin without ever becoming responsible enough to sin mortally.

Example 1:

300. If we consider the immense variety of concrete situations such as those I have mentioned, it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases, one which would recognize that, since “the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases”, the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same. [note 336]¹”

The term “pastoral discernment” is used throughout chapter 8, but its meaning is not consistent. Here it refers to the “personal discernment” of the divorced and civilly remarried. They are encouraged to assess their own subjective culpability in order to determine what kinds of ecclesial participation are appropriate. The text says that since “the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases”, the consequences of the “rule”—meaning consequences of violating the rule— may apply differently in different cases. “Rule” is AL’s term of choice for the objective demands of the Gospel for marriage.² “Consequences” refer to the moral and ecclesial implications of violating the norm against adultery, namely, that one is guilty of grave sin and should not go to Holy Communion.³

The text will be read by many “remarried” spouses as meaning that they themselves can “discern” that, because of the complexity of their “concrete situations” (e.g., it is wrong to leave the kids and/or the new “spouse” and stressful to live as brother and sister, etc.), they themselves lack such a “degree of responsibility” as would have the consequence that they are guilty of grave sin and ought not to communicate.

The text goes on to speak about the ‘accompanying’ role of pastors:

300. Priests have the duty to ‘accompany the divorced and remarried in helping them to understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the bishop’.… What we are speaking of is a process of accompaniment and discernment which ‘guides the faithful to an awareness of their situation before God. Conversation with the priest, in the internal forum, contributes to the formation of a correct judgment on what hinders the possibility of a fuller participation in the life of the Church.’ (emphasis added; internal quote from Relatio Synodi, 2014)

Pastors are encouraged to assist individuals, who are objectively committing adultery, to judge what hinders their fuller participation in the sacraments.

Pastors will interpret this in conflicting ways. Those who are committed to traditional Catholic doctrine and practice will interpret it to mean accompanying remarried divorcees in their process of repenting for their sins, ordering their relationships according to the Gospel (at very least, ceasing to engage in non-marital intercourse), and reintegrating into the sacramental life of the Church. Others, however, will interpret it to mean assisting remarried divorcees to arrive at the judgment that since they lack sufficient responsibility, nothing hinders the possibility of fuller participation, provided they go through the formality of getting their pastors to agree with their judgment.

Example 2:

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

New: "Called to Be the Children of God: The Catholic Theology of Human Deification"

Now available from Ignatius Press:

Called to Be the Children of God: The Catholic Theology of Human Deification

Edited by Fr. David Vincent Meconi, S.J. and Carl E. Olson

The first generations of Christians saw in their new lives in Jesus Christ a way to transcend all the limitations of sin and death and become new creatures. St. Peter expressed this as "participating in the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4), while St. Athanasius stated it succinctly 300 years later: "God became a human, so humans could become God." This is the heart of the Christian faith and the pledge of the Christian promise: that those baptized in Christ become "divine" through their partaking in God's own life and love. This is why Christians can live forever, this is the source of their charity and their holiness, this is why we do not need to live in a world ruled by fallen instinct and sinful desires. We have been made for more, for infinitely more.

This book gathers more than a dozen Catholic scholars and theologians to examine what this process of "deification" means in their respective areas of study. It offers fifteen chapters showing what "becoming God" meant for the early Church, for St. Thomas Aquinas and the greatest Dominicans, the significance it played in the thinking of St. Francis and the early Franciscans. It shows how such an understanding of salvation played out during the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent, as well as in French School of Spirituality, in various Thomist thinkers, in John Henry Newman and John Paul II, at the Vatican Councils, and where such thinking can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church today.

No other book has gathered such an array of scholars or provided such a deep study into how humanity's divinized life in Christ has received many rich and various perspectives over the past two thousand years. This book therefore hopes to bring readers into the central mystery of Christianity by allowing the Church's greatest thinkers and texts to speak for themselves, showing how becoming Christ-like, becoming truly the Body of Christ on earth, is the only ultimate purpose of the Christian faith.

"Rescue from sin and death is indeed a wonderful thing—but the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ is incomparably greater. And that is the subject of this book. In all its parts, this book, like Christianity in all its parts, is about salvation. But that means it's about everything that fills our lives, on earth and in heaven."
— Dr. Scott Hahn, Author, Rome Sweet Home

About the Editors:

Fr. David Vincent Meconi, S.J., a professor of theology at Saint Louis University, is the editor of Homiletic and Pastoral Review. He has published widely in early Church theology and broader Catholic issues, most recently the Annotated Confessions of Saint Augustine, andThe One Christ: St. Augustine's Theology of Deification.

Carl E. Olson, MTS, is the editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight. He is the author of two best-selling books, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"? and The Da Vinci Hoax, and the author of hundreds of articles on theology, Scripture, current events, and apologetics.

Praise for the book:

"Theologians, pastors, students and laity alike would benefit immensely from reading this book, not only for developing their theological knowledge but also for deepening their love for the divine life they already live here on earth."
— Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap., Member of the International Theological Commission 

"The richness of Catholicism is on full display in these marvelous essays as they show how Scripture's revelation of theosis is both taught and embodied throughout the Church's history. I loved reading, pondering, and praying with this marvelous book."
— Dr. Timothy Gray, President of the Augustine Institute and Senior Fellow at St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

"At last, we have an up-to-date, comprehensive, and readable introduction to the classical doctrine of divinization. Called to Be the Children of God is a must read for any serious student of Catholic theology."
— Dr. Brant Pitre, Professor of Sacred Scripture, Notre Dame Seminary, Graduate School of Theology

"This is an important book, full of surprises for the expert yet written in an attractive style that makes it accessible to a broad readership."
— Norman Russell, St. Stephen's House, Oxford; author of The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford University Press)

"In the explanations of the historical developments of this doctrine, the reader discovers openings into Christian literature that will enrich the spiritual life and theological understanding through deepening our understanding of the effects of God's grace and indwelling, particular through Baptism, the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments."
— Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., EWTN and Ignatius Productions

"To follow the history and meaning of what it means that we exist to be adopted into the trinitarian life of God is the exact purpose of this most welcome and well presented text."
— Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

"The importance of this publication, which is a major contribution to the study of Catholic soteriology, can hardly be exaggerated."
— Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D., Author of Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age

"This is a wonderful collection of essays on an issue that has been largely ignored by Western Christianity, which has focused far too much attention on how you get into heaven rather than how heaven gets into you."
— Dr. Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Baylor University.

And the Two Become One Flesh

by Veronica A. Arntz | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

A Model for Marriage and the Universal Church

The world is facing a crisis: the family, seen as the fundamental unit of society since the days of Cicero and Aristotle, is now crumbling at its very foundations. But this is not only a crisis for the world, as the secularization of the family unit has also entered into the Church, not necessarily in her teachings, but into the young couples who are seeking marriage and even, one might say, into the pastoral praxis within the Church. I do not mean here only in reference to the potential for the divorced and remarried to receive Communion, but also in the way couples understand the sacrament of matrimony, and how it is preached from the pulpit. Therefore, it is clear that we need a renewal in how we, as Catholics, teach the sacrament of matrimony.

How we proceed in that task is a difficult question, for many couples do not even know the basics of the Catholic faith. As a beginning for a resolution, I propose that we need to look to the very root of the problem in our misunderstandings of marriage. While we certainly cannot deny the modern world’s influences on how even Catholics view marriage, where do our misunderstandings originate? I argue that the fundamental reason we misunderstand the sacrament of matrimony lies in our misunderstanding of the Church as the universalChurch, the Mystical Body of Christ. If we can regain a proper understanding of the Church, based upon Christ’s words in the Gospels, and the teachings of our recent popes, then we will also regain a proper understanding of marriage.

To pursue this thesis to its end, we shall look at the first letter to the Corinthians, and the letter to the Ephesians, to ground ourselves in a Scriptural understanding of the Catholic Church. On that basis, we shall look to see what our findings from these letters mean for both the Church herself, and the sacrament of matrimony today. We shall conclude with a practical application for pastors and educators of what we have discussed about the relationship between marriage and the Church.

The Church at Corinth
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians points to a problem within the Church at Corinth. There is dissension within the Church there, for the people are not “united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). He then points to quarreling among the members: “Each one of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ’” (1 Corinthians 1:12). The problem is that the newly baptized Christians adhere to one particular teacher of the faith as the “only” true teacher, creating division within the people themselves. If a certain group will only listen to Cephas, and another group says they are the ones who listen to Christ directly, then there is no real unity within the body of believers. While it is true that these teachers all teach the same faith, the Christians believed they were receiving a “better” or “truer” form from one teacher as opposed to another.

Moreover, St. Paul notes three major sins that have crept into the Church at Corinth, in addition to the division among the teachers.

Continue reading at HPRweb.com.

Fr. C.J. McCloskey: "Behold the Man" is timely, readable, practical, sobering, and recommended

From Fr. McCloskey's recent review in National Catholic Register of Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers book Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality (Ignatius Press, 2016):

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers — a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who holds a graduate degree from the University of Dallas; he is considered by many to be one of the best Catholic preachers from the pulpit, as well as on radio and television, including EWTN — has written a highly readable and very practical book for men seeking an authentically Catholic male spirituality. As a bonus, Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Portland (Ore.) Archdiocese has contributed a long and excellent foreword.

Deacon Burke-Sivers draws from Scripture and the teaching of the Church to encourage men both to “man up” as the heads of their families and share their faith in their households and in their marketplaces. ...

This book should most certainly be read by those approaching marriage, as well as those already married. Women should also want to place this book in the hands of the husbands, brothers and sons in their lives, because it provides them with the roadmap to become the men they should be (and reminds them to stop and ask for directions if they become lost along the way!).

Read the entire review.

More praise for the book:

"This is a theological and anthropological tour de force that champions authentic male spirituality for the men of our times."
— Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C, Author, No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy

"I know of no better presentation of masculine spirituality that balances authentic theology with practical application for the lives of real Catholic men."
— Tim Staples, Catholic Answers

"A highly readable book. A marvelous work for any man striving to live an authentic spirituality, which also addresses the major hot button issues of today."
— Father Brian Mullady, O.P., Author, Preacher, EWTN Host

"The biggest crisis facing the Church today is the crisis of authentic manhood. This book addresses virtually every issue that a Catholic man will face, especially the interior life."
— Jesse Romero, Catholic Evangelist and Radio Host

Francis' sprawling Exhortation a marriage of profound and muddled

Copies of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on the family, "Amoris Laetitia" ("The Joy of Love"), are seen during the document's release at the Vatican April 8. The exhortation is the concluding document of the 2014 and 2015 synods of bishops on the family. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Francis' sprawling Exhortation a marriage of profound and muddled | Carl E. Olson | Catholic World Report

The much anticipated 255-page long post-synodal reflection is surprisingly dogmatic in places and morally incoherent in others

In recently musing about what Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis' much anticipated post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, might (or might not) contain, I wrote: 

I don't think Francis is going to try to change doctrine. Even if he wanted to—and I know there is evidence he has been open to a range of possible changes in some way or another—the Final Report of last October's Synod effectively put all of that to rest. I could be wrong. Perhaps the Apostolic Exhortation really is going to be filled with wide-ranging and revolutionary calls for X, Y, and Z. But, again, I think any hopes of that were effectively ended at the Synod. ... Yes, Francis clearly wants to see changes in pastoral approaches, but he and others have surely seen there are limits to all such approaches.

Having now read the document, I think I was about 95% correct. Francis reaffirms (very strongly, in fact) many of the basic tenets of Catholic teaching about marriage: it is between a man and a woman, it is ordered toward procreation, it is an "icon" of the Triune nature of God, it is indissoluble, it must be open to life. There is a strong denunciation of gender ideology: "It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality. Let us not fall into the sin of trying to replace the Creator. We are creatures, and not omnipotent. Creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift" (#56). 

The dogmatic underpinnings
The opening chapters, which provide a Scriptural and theological reflection on the nature of marriage and family, is often powerful and poetic in equal measure. Francis draws often upon John Paul II, as when he states that the "couple that loves and begets life is a true, living icon - not an idol like those of stone or gold prohibited by the Decalogue - capable of revealing God the Creator and Saviour" (#11). There is a repeated emphasis on the Trinitarian foundations of reality in general and of marriage in particular, as when the Holy Father states "the couple's fruitful relationship becomes an image for understanding and describing the mystery of God himself, for in the Christian vision of the Trinity, God is contemplated as Father, Son and Spirit of love" (#11).

This is taken up again as Francis situates marriage within the drama of salvation history: "Marriage and the family have been redeemed by Christ (cf. Eph 5:21-32) and restored in the image of the Holy Trinity, the mystery from which all true love flows. ... The Gospel of the family spans the history of the world, from the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27), to the fulfilment of the mystery of the covenant in Christ at the end of time with the marriage of the Lamb (cf. Rev 19:9)” (#63). Near the end of the document, Francis writes: "Today we can add that the Trinity is present in the temple of marital communion. Just as God dwells in the praises of his people (cf. Ps 22:3), so he dwells deep within the marital love that gives him glory" (#314).

This is not merely theological shop talk; it is foundational truth. It is, it should be emphasized, dogmatic. Because dogma, as the Catechism notes, are not merely laws and rules, but revealed truth about God, man, and the many relationships that exist in the world: "There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith" (par 89). 

However, the word "dogma" does not appear in the document, and I see that already some secular sophists are penning misleading headlines such as "On Divorce, Contraception, Pope Calls For More Grace, Less Dogma" (NPR). Of course, such folks don't know what dogma is, nor do they really care. For them it is all about changing the Church and her teachings. Which is why the opening line of the NPR piece states: "In a major document released Friday, Pope Francis addressed divisive elements of Catholic doctrine — including how to treat couples who remarry after a divorce that wasn't annulled by the church, and the church's stance on contraception." Funny that the Church's divisive doctrine on the Trinity and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ are not also mentioned; after all, I have it on good account that many Muslims, Hindus, atheists, Buddhists, Jews, and freethinkers reject those particular doctrines. While Francis, NPR opines, has not issued "any new top-down doctrine .... [he says] that priests should focus on providing pastoral care for Catholic couples, rather than sitting in judgment of them, and that individual conscience should be emphasized, rather than dogmatic rules."

Because, you see, dogma is supposedly about rules, and usually have little or nothing to do with reality. Sad, but predictable. "Man can be defined as an animal that makes dogmas," quipped Chesterton in Heretics, "Trees have no dogmas." And, as Dorothy Sayers pointed out many decades ago, dogma is the drama. In Creed or Chaos, she wrote:

Let us, in heaven’s name, drag out the divine drama from under the dreadful accumulation of slipshod thinking and trashy sentiment heaped upon it, and set it on an open stage to startle the world into some sort of vigorous reaction. If the pious are the first to be shocked, so much the worse for the pious––others will enter the kingdom of heaven before them. If all men are offended because of Christ, let them be offended; but where is the sense of their being offended at something that is not Christ and is nothing like him? We do him singularly little honor by watering down till it could not offend a fly. Surely it is not the business of the Church to adapt Christ to men, but to adapt men to Christ.

The fact is, objective truth does exist, and there are real limits to what man can do, or can be.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

St. Giuseppe Moscati and the Vocation of the Laity

Left: Giuseppe Moscati in undated photo (Wikipedia); right: Bedroom of St. Giuseppe Moscati, including the chair in which he died at age 47 (© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro/Wikipedia)

St. Giuseppe Moscati and the Vocation of the Laity | KV Turley | Catholic World Report

The life of Giuseppe Moscati was, in many ways, a fusion of the secular and the spiritual, of the professional scientist and the believer, of the earthly and of that which belongs to another realm.

On 14 April 1927, the following passage appeared in the newspaper Il Mattino:

On few occasions has Naples witnessed a spectacle so impressive in its boundless sorrow, which goes to show how much affection, esteem and admiration had been won by the man who was able to turn his profession into a very noble apostolate…with the aid of his teaching, to lavish his unparalleled goodness on all who were suffering, and who was able to demonstrate how, marvellously, religion and science can be reconciled.

Those were the words of a secular newspaper about a man who belonged very much to this world by virtue of how he lived and the profession he practiced, but whose life also spoke of a very different world. The life of Giuseppe Moscati was, in many ways, a fusion of the secular and the spiritual, of the professional scientist and the believer, of the earthly and of that which belongs to another realm. In his life, however, there was no dichotomy to be found; it was of a whole that, eventually, grew into holiness. The crowds that bid Giuseppe Moscati farewell that April day in 1927 recognised this quality; soon the wider world would come to recognize it too.

Many in the English-speaking world, I suspect, will not have heard of Moscati. The publication by Ignatius Press of Saint Giuseppe Moscati: Doctor of the Poor by Antonio Tripodoro will help introduce him to a wider, English-speaking audience. The book is an English translation of the original Italian text published in 2004. It is a relatively short book (under 200 pages), but it tells its story well, in an understated and yet inspiring fashion, with just the right amount of fact, detail, and anecdote to allow for the saint to emerge from its pages.

In many respects, the life of the man who was to become a saint is unremarkable. It could be summed up in a few lines: he was devoted to his family and his friends, he was an excellent practitioner of his chosen profession of medicine, and he lived and died devoutly. One feels that that is where the subject of the biography would have preferred matters to rest. All his life, no matter how influential or important in the eyes of the world he became, he was nothing if not self-effacing—one of the qualities that one notices in the biographies of saints. They shun the limelight; their eyes are upon another light, one the world has difficulty seeing. So it was with Moscati.

That said, saints rarely live alone.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Behind the Scenes at Vatican II

Behind the Scenes at Vatican II | Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas | Catholic World Report

The first volume of Henri de Lubac's Vatican Council Notebooks (Ignatius Press, 2015) is filled with detailed and often surprising accounts of conversations, disputes, and key figures at the Council

On January 29, 1959, Pope John XXIII shocked the Church and the world with his announcement at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls in Rome that he was convoking the first ecumenical council in nearly a century.  In fifth grade, Sister Regina Rose began to inform us of the impending council, noting that we would be living through a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  With that in mind, she also assigned us the task of compiling a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about the Council – which project I dutifully fulfilled until the completion of the Second Vatican Council during my sophomore year of high school (unfortunately, that relic was lost in a family move).  From 1962 to 1965, the first item on the evening news was the day’s proceedings at the Council, with the NBC reporter signing off with his signature line: “Reporting from St. Peter’s, Irving R Levine, Rome!”

It was with such historical reminiscences that I picked up the notes of Henri de Lubac, the Jesuit peritus at Vatican II who lived under a cloud prior to the Council and eventually was named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.  At the same time that I was reading this work, I was also moving through Father Louis Bouyer’s memoirs, tracing his life from infancy through his stellar theological career (with a strong emphasis on the lead-up to Vatican II and its aftermath).  I link the two for two reasons: First, the amazing capacity of both men to recall in astonishing detail (with no tape recorders or other such devices) word-for-word conversations.  Second, because both men had reputations (rightly or wrongly) before Vatican II as rather “progressive” – with both becoming totally disillusioned with the post-conciliar life of the Church.

This first volume out covers the preparatory work of the Council, the first session, and the period between the first and second sessions.  De Lubac must have had a recessive gene for stenography, given the nearly verbatim citations from private and official meetings, as well as interventions from the hundreds of Council Fathers, with direct quotations from their Latin presentations and de Lubac’s vernacular commentary on them.  From time to time, his recollections of speeches fail (amazingly few times, however), but the editor does a superb job of correcting those errors and of giving background information on every bishop cited.

The documents debated during the first session included those on the Sacred Liturgy, the Church, Divine Revelation, and Social Communications.  From the outset, it is clear that there were: mutually exclusive theologies vying for the ascendancy; lobbies of every kind; appeals to secrecy; cloak and dagger maneuvers.  Indeed, the title of Father Ralph Wiltgen’s “post mortem” on the Council got it right: The Rhine certainly flowed into the Tiber.  The bête noir of the “progressives” was Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, and de Lubac identifies with those opponents in no uncertain terms.  There is no doubt that Ottaviani was heavy-handed in his planning of the Council and in the proceedings themselves, however, there is likewise no doubt that his intuitions about heterodoxy were on-target.  Interestingly, although de Lubac had a strong animus against Ottaviani, he also expressed concern about danger signs: “a path of ‘progress’ that is dubious and dangerous”; that further development of episcopal conferences would foster nationalism; Cardinal Siri being observed on more than one occasion “weeping, feeling the Church endangered.” 

De Lubac mentions a lecture tour of Hans Küng encompassing Notre Dame University, Boston and Chicago during which he “launched a sort of radical program of reforms.”

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Fatima at 100: The message of Our Lady for today

Fatima at 100: The message of Our Lady for today | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report

An interview with Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., author of "Fatima for Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope"

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of the Fatima apparitions. In spring 1916, the Angel of Peace appeared to three small children—Lucia Dos Santos, nine, and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, ages eight and six—for first of three times that year in preparation for six apparitions of the Blessed Mother in 1917, beginning on May 13 of that year. Francisco and Jacinta died shortly after and have since been declared Blessed; Sr. Lucia died at age 97 in 2005.

Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., is one of the world’s leading experts on Fatima. He has spoken and written extensively, and in 2010 his book Fatima for Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope was published by Ignatius Press.

Father was ordained a priest by Bishop Fulton Sheen in 1967. In 1987, he joined with Fr. Benedict Groeschel and six other Capuchin friars to found the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. The two great focuses of his life, he said, are to see Bishop Sheen canonized (he serves as vice postulator for the cause) and to promote the message of Fatima. He recently spoke with CWR.

CWR: Why are the Fatima apparitions of such great interest to you personally?

Fr. Apostoli: When I was young, I heard a lot of talk about the requests Our Lady made at Fatima. I remember the release of the 1952 movie The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, which made a great impression on me. I grew up praying the family rosary, as Fr. Patrick Peyton advised. He was the one who said “The family that prays together stays together.” And, I think it was while saying those rosaries that there was a stirring in my heart to become a priest.

So, as I looked into the message of Our Lady of Fatima, I began to think it must be important if Our Lady wanted it. Over the years my interest has grown immensely, especially considering the sad state of our world today. It was Pope St. John Paul who said that the Church was facing her greatest spiritual struggle in her history, and most Catholics are not even aware that there is a struggle going on. There is an evil out there that desires the total destruction of Christian civilization; that’s why the message of Fatima is so important.

Also, I’m very devoted to Bishop Fulton Sheen. He was a great opponent of communism, and took great note of what Our Lady of Fatima said about the spread of communism. [“Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer and various nations will be annihilated.”]

CWR: What are your thoughts as we approach the 100^th anniversary of Fatima?

Fr. Apostoli: I do quite a bit of preaching on Fatima. I want people to know about it, and to understand the urgency of it. The Judeo-Christian beliefs on which our country was founded are being undermined. Doing what Mary has asked of us is the only thing that can reverse the decline in our civilization. She’s saying, “I’m the only one who can help you.”

While we may not be threatened by Soviet communism as we once were, we’re threatened by a new kind of communism, atheistic secularism.

CWR: Do you believe that the message of Fatima is widely known today?

Continue reading on the CWR site.

How the Synod of 2015 Ignored the Real Problem, 50 Years in the Making

How the Synod of 2015 Ignored the Real Problem, 50 Years in the Making | Fr. Regis Scanlon, O.F.M. Cap. | HPR

It’s hard to believe now, but at the beginning of the year, Synod 2015 was predicted to be a possible game changer for the Church. According to various media reports, the Synod promised to be: “stormy,” “intense,” a time of “great expectations,” and (the ultimate, irresistible comparison), “the equivalent of the Super Bowl.”¹ Instead—to continue the game analogy—it may be more accurate to say the Synod ended in a draw.

Yes, it did result in some direct exchanges, even challenges, and produced an acceptable document. The bishops who were so eager to raise the “red flag” questions about the irregularly married being able to receive communion, have returned to their cathedrals and universities, apparently satisfied that they were able to make their case. While they did not convince the majority of the bishops, they continued to voice words of dissent about the decisions of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.² In other words, it appears that we’re back to business as usual.

It’s probably too much to ask that sophisticated, self-confident bishops, who feel secure in their theological positions would change their minds about anything. No, the real danger to the Faith is the likelihood that “ordinary” Catholics around the world are still confused about the truth when it comes to divorce, remarriage, and communion. If you doubt that this is the case, here’s a test: round up a small group of Catholics and ask them: “What was the main message of the Synod? What did the Synod finally say about Church teachings about the Eucharist, and Catholics who had divorced and remarried outside the Church?”

I think you’ll find that everybody believes exactly what they believed before the Synod—and that the Synod’s final document didn’t do a thing to change their “opinion.” That’s because the Synod failed to inspire. The Synod should have been a rousing defense of the Catholic faith. It should have strengthened Catholics, and focused their minds on the truths of the faith, so they could stand up and defend the Church’s teachings on faith and morals in the midst of a degenerate society—in fact, in a degenerate world. But most of all, the Synod should have resulted in strong, unambiguous, concrete action by the Pope and the bishops, aimed at solving the faith and moral divisions occurring within the Church. Yes, that’s right—within the Church.

The bishops knew this—at least, we can assume most of them did—but for some reason they drew back from engaging in the fight for truth. They sorely needed the famous reminder from St. John Paul II: “Be not afraid.”

Perhaps, fear is the real problem in the Catholic Church today. It certainly looks like that. There is a fear that the world will hate us. There is a fear of ridicule. There is a fear that to stand up against modern ideas will produce a backlash that cannot be contained. Fear is a powerful force, and when it’s combined with a pride that is rooted in the desire to be loved and accepted by the world, the result is that the Church appears to be powerless. (We know the Church isn’t truly powerless—“The gates of hell will not prevail” (Matt. 16:18)—but at this point in history, she is appearing that way to the world, and sadly, to many Catholics.)

This problem—fear, combined with a pride that seeks the love of the world—is as old as the human race. But when it invades the heart of the Church, it becomes like a cancer. It goes to the core of our Catholic faith. In other words, it’s unhealthy that so many bishops and pastors are worrying about winning approval from the world, and from each other, as if they were members of a stuffy country club. Whether it’s caused by fear, ambition, or “political correctness” doesn’t matter. It would be healthier if they would have a roll-up-the-sleeves, knock-down, drag-out fight about what they really believe.

Could it be that the desire to get the fight started, and to bring it out in the open, was what Pope Francis had in mind when he chose Cardinal Walter Kasper (a key radical) to give one of the initial talks at Synod 2015? It certainly seems to fit with Pope Francis’ advice to the young on July 25, 2013, at World Youth Day. He told them to go back to their dioceses, and make a “mess.” He said: “I want trouble in the dioceses.”³ Even though the official Vatican translation of the Pope’s words toned down his speech, everyone knows this Pope has come to stir things up.⁴

It’s my belief that, yes, the Holy Father is trying to breathe some fight into the Church by showcasing what we’re up against, as for example, by clearly showing the desire by some powerful bishops (like Cardinal Kasper) to transform the Church into the world’s “buddy.” The Holy Father’s tactics have caused many Catholics (I hear from them all the time) to think that this Pope is weak. I do not agree. I am persuaded that, in his own clever way, Pope Francis is drawing out all the opponents into the open, onto the battlefield. It’s as if he’s silently encouraging the Church: “It’s time to fight back!”

But fighting back takes strength, and right now the Church appears to be weak because fear, worldly ambition, and pride have resulted in a sickness of leadership called “dissent.” I believe the sickness of dissent can be traced to three very specific moments in history: when numbers of bishops, theologians and teachers decided to reject three Church documents. This rejection, on a worldwide scale since the mid-20th century, has resulted in a growing sickness in the Church, whose main symptom is a lack of will. This sickness has led to a widespread, institutionalized dissent which now has come out into the open, most recently in the events surrounding Synod 2015.

I would like to explore, in detail, the effects of dissent from these three core documents. They are:

Continue reading on the Homiletic & Pastoral Review site.

Bestselling author provides invaluable guide toward embracing Divine Mercy

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2015 – The Jubilee Year of Mercy begins today on the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Francis has called us to “live lives shaped by mercy,” and benefit greatly from the Year of Mercy.
 
The ideal resource for the Year of Mercy is bestselling author Vinny Flynn’s soon-to-be-released book 7 SECRETS OF DIVINE MERCY, which draws from Scripture, the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Diary of St. Faustina — Flynn was one of the original editors of the official English edition of the diary — to reveal the heart of Divine Mercy. Flynn offers an inspirational road map to help us experience the overflow of transforming love from the Holy Spirit during the Year of Mercy.
 
“It is absolutely essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that she herself live and testify to mercy,” said Pope Francis. Mercy, he says, is “the beating heart of the Gospel” To live mercy, we must rediscover both the spiritual works of mercy (counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offenses, bear patiently those who do us ill and pray for the living and the dead) and the corporal works of mercy (feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead).
 
Divine Mercy is the key devotion, the umbrella devotion over everything else. Every other devotion in the Church, every ritual, every activity, every teaching, is under that umbrella of Divine Mercy. As Flynn shows us in 7 SECRETS OF DIVINE MERCY, everything in our lives can become more meaningful, more powerful and more life-changing once we really embrace the gift of Divine Mercy — the overflow of love from the Holy Trinity.
 
For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Vinny Flynn, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.

Vatican II and Religious Freedom: Rupture or Authentic Development?

People hold candles in the form of a cross during avigil in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2012, to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. (CNS photo/Giancarlo Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo)

Vatican II and Religious Freedom: Rupture or Authentic Development?

The authors of a new book on “Dignitatis Humanae” argue one of Declaration's great achievements is to develop an understanding of human dignity and human freedom grounded in the human person's constitutive relation to God

One of the most contentious and heavily debated topics in the Church during and following the Second Vatican Council is that of religious freedom. In recent years, questions about the nature, parameters, and recognition of religious liberty have become even more timely and pressing in the United States and other Western nations. In Freedom, Truth, and Human Dignity (Eerdmans, 2015), Dr. David L. Schindler and Dr. Nicholas J. Healy offer a rigorous and detailed examination of Dignitatis Humanae, the Council's “Declaration on Religious Freedom”, providing a new translation, a redaction history, and a rich and provocative interpretation of the text.

Dr. Schindler, who is the Edouard Cardinal Gagnon Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, and Dr. Healy, assistant professor of philosophy at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America, recently responded to written questions from Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, about their book, Dignitatis Humanae,

CWR: In the Preface to Freedom, Truth, and Human Dignity, you state that the book "seeks to promote a deeper understanding of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom." What are some specific reasons that such an understanding is important fifty years after the Council?

Dr. Healy: The Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, was the most controversial document of the Second Vatican Council. A significant minority of Council fathers harbored reservations on the grounds that the Declaration seemed to depart from established Catholic doctrine on the duties of the state toward the Catholic religion. Within the majority that supported an affirmation of religious freedom, there were deep disagreements about the nature and foundation of the right to religious freedom and the relationship between freedom and truth. Although approved by an overwhelming majority of Council fathers and commended by Pope Paul VI as "one of the greatest documents" of the Council, Dignitatis Humanae has remained a source of controversy and debate. Behind Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's schismatic act of consecrating bishops without papal mandate was a conviction that the Declaration represented a departure from Catholic doctrine and a capitulation to the heresy of modernism. Among the supporters of religious freedom, the disagreements that accompanied the drafting of the Declaration have served as a fault line for differing accounts of the nature and ground of religious freedom, and the significance of this teaching for the relationship between the Church and modernity.

One reason why the Declaration continues to generate interest and debate is the central importance of the question of freedom for the Church's encounter with contemporary culture. “The era we call modern times,” Joseph Ratzinger observed, “has been determined from the beginning by the theme of freedom; the striving for new forms of freedom.” Both Gaudium et spes and Dignitatis Humanae acknowledge the legitimacy of this aspiration for freedom. At the same time, the Council fathers recognized the need for a critical discernment of the modern idea of freedom in light of the truth of human nature and the Christian mystery of redemption in Christ.

Freedom is not simply the capacity to choose between alternatives; it is a sign of the ontological dignity of the human person who is created in love and called to live in communion with the truth. One of the great achievements of the Declaration is to develop an understanding of human dignity and human freedom that is grounded in the human person's constitutive relation to God. In the words of John Paul II, "the freedom of the individual finds its basis in man's transcendent dignity: a dignity given to him by God the Creator and Father, in whose image and likeness he was created." There is no freedom without truth, and no truth without freedom.

In the face of new challenges and new threats to religious freedom, it is important to rediscover the Council's authentic teaching on the right to religious freedom as grounded in the obligation to seek the truth about God. As Gaudium et spes teaches, once God is forgotten, the creature is lost sight of as well. Especially in our time, it is necessary to uphold the transcendent and relational dignity of the human person, who is created by God and destined to share in the "glorious freedom of the children of God" (Rom 8:21).

CWR: What are some of the resources that your book provides to help readers understand and interpret Dignitatis Humanae?

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Calling Men to a Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, author of "Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality" (Ignatius Press, 2015)

Calling Men to a Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality | CWR Staff | Catholic World Report

"Catholic men are destroying themselves by their own free-willed choices," says Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, whose book Behold the Man focuses on Christ crucified, covenantal love, and fatherhood

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, known worldwide as the Dynamic Deacon, is a powerful speaker who has presented talks on marriage, family, and men's spirituality all over the world. He is a passionate evangelist and preacher with a no-nonsense approach to living and proclaiming the Catholic faith. Deacon Burke-Sivers holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master of theological studies from the University of Dallas. He hosts his own weekly broadcast, From the Rooftops, on Radio Maria, and is the host of several popular series on EWTN television, including Behold the Man: Spirituality for Men. He and his wife Colleen have four children, and live in Portland, Oregon.

Deacon Burke-Sivers recently spoke with Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, about his new book, Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality, published by Ignatius Press.

CWR: You participated last month in the World Meeting of Families as a speaker and also by assisting at Mass. What did you talk about? And what was your experience like at the event?

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers: My topic at the World Meeting of Families was “Mary of Nazareth: The First Disciple and Mother of the Redeemer”. A disciple is one who hears, accepts, and puts into practice in their life every day the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church. I talked about how the Blessed Virgin Mary was the quintessential example of what it means to be a disciple: to listen to God’s voice, allow that voice to change your life, and then follow God with your whole being in the obedience of faith. Mary exemplifies how our response to God’s invitation to life-giving communion reflects our trust in his love for us.

I also pointed out that Mary was the first monstrance, the first vessel that held—in the tabernacle of her womb—the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Her first impulse was to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, which was the first Eucharistic procession. After receiving the Eucharist at Mass, we are sent forth to be “Eucharist” to the world, to tell people about our relationship with Jesus Christ. In this sense, whenever we receive the Eucharist, we become “pregnant” just as Mary was. Our mission, then, is to give life to Christ by going forward into the world and witnessing to the truth of our faith so that people can encounter the living God in us and through us.

I had a great time at the World Meeting of Families. It was wonderful to see such joy, enthusiasm, and love of the faith from families around the world. Many apostolates and ministries that are doing incredible work in the area of marriage and family life were also represented. The family is under assault by an increasingly hedonistic culture, and it was inspiring to see families looking to strengthen and deepen their commitment to each other and to the Catholic faith.

CWR: What are some of the positive signs you see in the Church regarding family life and men’s spirituality?

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