If the Masonic and Liberal influenced Kingdom of Italy had not completed its conquest of the peninsula by finally swallowing the City of the Popes in 1870, then the Lutheran church in Rome which Pope Benedict will soon honor with his presence would not exist. While the Popes still governed Rome, Lutheran worship was confined to a chapel in the Prussian embassy. Both public immorality and public heresy were banned in the Eternal City as the Popes guarded the souls of their local diocesan flock. Blessed Pope Pius IX lamented the change since 1870 in his Consistorial Allocution of March 12, 1877:
“Even those who boast of our liberty would be unable to deny the manifold, constant and grave occasions that are prepared for the demoralisation and corruption of incautious youth, and for uprooting Catholic faith from their minds. And if they walked through the streets of this City, which, as being the See of Blessed Peter, is the seat and center of religion, they could easily judge whether the temples of heretical worship, the schools of error everywhere established, the houses of ill-fame set up in many places, and the obscene and loathsome sights presented to the eyes of the people, constitute a state of things which is tolerable for him whose duty and wish it is, by reason of his Apostolic office, to destroy these many evils, but who is unable to apply a remedy to even one of them, or to help the souls that are perishing.”
The charity of Pius IX toward the souls of those who maintained the temples of heretical worship had been expressed in the Apostolic Letter Iam Vos Omnes of September 13, 1868, issued on occasion of the upcoming Vatican Council to which he invited them to send observers:
“Sustained therefore by this hope, solicitous and urged by the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered His life for the salvation of all the race of men, it is not possible for us to pass by the occasion of the future Council without turning Our paternal and Apostolic word again to all those who, even if they acknowledge Jesus Christ the Redeemer and boast of the name of Christian, do not profess the totality of the true faith of Christ and are not in the communion of the Catholic Church. This being the case, we propose with all zeal and Charity to admonish, exhort, and beseech them for this reason to seriously consider and reflect whether the way in which they continue is that which is indicated by that same Christ the Lord: which is the way that leads to eternal life.
......
It is therefore by force of the right of Our supreme Apostolic ministry, entrusted to us by the same Christ the Lord, which [must] carry out . . . the duties of the good Shepherd and to follow and embrace with paternal love all the men of the world, we send this Letter of Ours to all the Christians from whom We are separated, with which we exhort them warmly and beseech them with insistence to hasten to return to the one fold of Christ; we desire in fact from the depths of the heart their salvation in Christ Jesus, and we fear having to render an account one day to Him, Our Judge, if, through some possibility, we have not pointed out and prepared the way for them to attain eternal salvation. In all Our prayers and supplications, with thankfulness, day and night we never omit to ask for them, with humble insistence, from the eternal Shepherd of souls the abundance of goods and heavenly graces. And since, if also, we fulfill in the earth the office of vicar, with all our heart we await with open arms the return of the wayward sons to the Catholic Church, in order to receive them with infinite fondness into the house of the Heavenly Father and to enrich them with its inexhaustible treasures.”
Blessed Pius IX was greatly admired by Blessed John XXIII, who mentioned in In Petri Cathedram that the Second Vatican Council would also be for the return of the separated brethren. And Pope John showed himself remarkably like Pius IX in his own diocesan Synod of Rome which was linked in his mind with the Ecumenical Council: as he wrote in the Apostolic Constitution Sollicitudo Omnium (June 29, 1960), bringing present-day errors and dangers to light and taking precautions was one of the goals of the synod, together with
the renewal of discipline, the promotion of the apostolates and of participation in the liturgy, and the accommodation of pastoral methods to present-day needs. Pope John prescribed prayer for the unity of all Christians even as he legislated for the protection of the Catholic faithful in the meantime:
“228, 2: Let Catholics pour forth earnest prayers that all may be gathered into one sheepfold, under the guidance of one shepherd.
240, 1: And laypeople, using legitimate means, and even though it may cause some inconvenience, must resist non-Catholics who would dare to disseminate among the people what they think against Catholic doctrine and try to suggest their own endeavors to the souls of others. 2: Catholics are prohibited from entering the halls and temples of non-Catholics and from being present at their rites (cfr. Can. 1258, 1 and 2), . . . nor is it licit for Catholics to read or spread or have in their homes the things which non-Catholics have published treating ex professo about religion (cfr. Can. 1399).
241, 1: If dealings must be had with those who are far from the Church, let it always be done with respect and at the same time with prudence and charity. 2: Let parents assiduously avoid welcoming into the home those who could harm faith and morals, and even less should they treat them on intimate terms.”
One of the statutes of the synod has this to say about its own laws, and therefore about the ones just quoted: “5, 2: All declarations of the Synod, including exhortations, are to be received with reverence and with full and sincere docility of mind.”
The Apostolic Constitution describes in warm terms the entire process of the synod, the prayers for its success, and the Pope’s own attention and participation. At the end he promulgates its laws:
“Having implored the help of God, and trusting in the patronage of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, with certain knowledge, from the plenitude of our power, as Supreme Pontiff and bishop of the Roman diocese, with this our constitution, we promulgate these laws of the first Roman Synod . . . ordering and prescribing that from the first of November of this year they begin to have binding power . . .”
50 years later: Pope Benedict’s Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said last Saturday in Canada that the goal of ecumenism is unity with the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict undoubtedly believes that he is serving that long-term goal by preaching in Rome’s Lutheran church next Sunday. However in the meantime, as a previous post by Bonetus pointed out (Feb. 19), the German Lutheran church in Rome probably attracts some Italians out of the true Church—they have some services in Italian--and has an ex-Catholic Italian as a parish councillor, theologian and preacher. And because of the Italian Lutheran website, divorced Italians wanting to marry a Lutheran will know that Rome’s lovely Lutheran church will give them the church wedding denied them by the Catholic Church which does not accept divorce. These sorts of things were foreseen by the anguished paternal charity of Blessed Pope Pius IX and concretely guarded against by the Roman Synod of Blessed John XXIII.
“Even those who boast of our liberty would be unable to deny the manifold, constant and grave occasions that are prepared for the demoralisation and corruption of incautious youth, and for uprooting Catholic faith from their minds. And if they walked through the streets of this City, which, as being the See of Blessed Peter, is the seat and center of religion, they could easily judge whether the temples of heretical worship, the schools of error everywhere established, the houses of ill-fame set up in many places, and the obscene and loathsome sights presented to the eyes of the people, constitute a state of things which is tolerable for him whose duty and wish it is, by reason of his Apostolic office, to destroy these many evils, but who is unable to apply a remedy to even one of them, or to help the souls that are perishing.”
The charity of Pius IX toward the souls of those who maintained the temples of heretical worship had been expressed in the Apostolic Letter Iam Vos Omnes of September 13, 1868, issued on occasion of the upcoming Vatican Council to which he invited them to send observers:
“Sustained therefore by this hope, solicitous and urged by the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered His life for the salvation of all the race of men, it is not possible for us to pass by the occasion of the future Council without turning Our paternal and Apostolic word again to all those who, even if they acknowledge Jesus Christ the Redeemer and boast of the name of Christian, do not profess the totality of the true faith of Christ and are not in the communion of the Catholic Church. This being the case, we propose with all zeal and Charity to admonish, exhort, and beseech them for this reason to seriously consider and reflect whether the way in which they continue is that which is indicated by that same Christ the Lord: which is the way that leads to eternal life.
......
It is therefore by force of the right of Our supreme Apostolic ministry, entrusted to us by the same Christ the Lord, which [must] carry out . . . the duties of the good Shepherd and to follow and embrace with paternal love all the men of the world, we send this Letter of Ours to all the Christians from whom We are separated, with which we exhort them warmly and beseech them with insistence to hasten to return to the one fold of Christ; we desire in fact from the depths of the heart their salvation in Christ Jesus, and we fear having to render an account one day to Him, Our Judge, if, through some possibility, we have not pointed out and prepared the way for them to attain eternal salvation. In all Our prayers and supplications, with thankfulness, day and night we never omit to ask for them, with humble insistence, from the eternal Shepherd of souls the abundance of goods and heavenly graces. And since, if also, we fulfill in the earth the office of vicar, with all our heart we await with open arms the return of the wayward sons to the Catholic Church, in order to receive them with infinite fondness into the house of the Heavenly Father and to enrich them with its inexhaustible treasures.”
Blessed Pius IX was greatly admired by Blessed John XXIII, who mentioned in In Petri Cathedram that the Second Vatican Council would also be for the return of the separated brethren. And Pope John showed himself remarkably like Pius IX in his own diocesan Synod of Rome which was linked in his mind with the Ecumenical Council: as he wrote in the Apostolic Constitution Sollicitudo Omnium (June 29, 1960), bringing present-day errors and dangers to light and taking precautions was one of the goals of the synod, together with
the renewal of discipline, the promotion of the apostolates and of participation in the liturgy, and the accommodation of pastoral methods to present-day needs. Pope John prescribed prayer for the unity of all Christians even as he legislated for the protection of the Catholic faithful in the meantime:
“228, 2: Let Catholics pour forth earnest prayers that all may be gathered into one sheepfold, under the guidance of one shepherd.
240, 1: And laypeople, using legitimate means, and even though it may cause some inconvenience, must resist non-Catholics who would dare to disseminate among the people what they think against Catholic doctrine and try to suggest their own endeavors to the souls of others. 2: Catholics are prohibited from entering the halls and temples of non-Catholics and from being present at their rites (cfr. Can. 1258, 1 and 2), . . . nor is it licit for Catholics to read or spread or have in their homes the things which non-Catholics have published treating ex professo about religion (cfr. Can. 1399).
241, 1: If dealings must be had with those who are far from the Church, let it always be done with respect and at the same time with prudence and charity. 2: Let parents assiduously avoid welcoming into the home those who could harm faith and morals, and even less should they treat them on intimate terms.”
One of the statutes of the synod has this to say about its own laws, and therefore about the ones just quoted: “5, 2: All declarations of the Synod, including exhortations, are to be received with reverence and with full and sincere docility of mind.”
The Apostolic Constitution describes in warm terms the entire process of the synod, the prayers for its success, and the Pope’s own attention and participation. At the end he promulgates its laws:
“Having implored the help of God, and trusting in the patronage of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, with certain knowledge, from the plenitude of our power, as Supreme Pontiff and bishop of the Roman diocese, with this our constitution, we promulgate these laws of the first Roman Synod . . . ordering and prescribing that from the first of November of this year they begin to have binding power . . .”
50 years later: Pope Benedict’s Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said last Saturday in Canada that the goal of ecumenism is unity with the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict undoubtedly believes that he is serving that long-term goal by preaching in Rome’s Lutheran church next Sunday. However in the meantime, as a previous post by Bonetus pointed out (Feb. 19), the German Lutheran church in Rome probably attracts some Italians out of the true Church—they have some services in Italian--and has an ex-Catholic Italian as a parish councillor, theologian and preacher. And because of the Italian Lutheran website, divorced Italians wanting to marry a Lutheran will know that Rome’s lovely Lutheran church will give them the church wedding denied them by the Catholic Church which does not accept divorce. These sorts of things were foreseen by the anguished paternal charity of Blessed Pope Pius IX and concretely guarded against by the Roman Synod of Blessed John XXIII.
