Fr. John Hardon’s Commentary on a Draft of the CCC (Part 2)

Continuing from the first part, published at Rorate Caeli yesterday (here).

Father John A. Hardon’s 1990 Comments on the “Revised Draft” of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Part II)

Robert Hickson

“What Good is a Changing Catechism? Revisiting the Purpose and Limits of a Book” — Dr. Kwasniewski’s Chicago Lecture

Note: Below is the lecture I gave at the Union League Club in Chicago on Friday, June 14, 2019, as part of the lecture series of the Catholic Citizens of Illinois. My lecture could have been given the alternative title: “The Death Penalty for the Catechism? A How-To Guide for Excluding a Text from the Catholic Tradition.” Fortuitously, the lecture came at the end of an eventful week in Illinois and in Baltimore. On Wednesday, June 12, the state of Illinois disgraced itself by the passage of the most extreme pro-abortion legislation yet seen in the United States. Ironically, those who celebrate the indiscriminate murder of innocent children are usually opposed to capital punishment for guilty criminals, and the reasoning is consistent: the unborn, not having consciousness of their own personal dignity, cannot defend themselves, so the strong may do away with them at pleasure; but adults, no matter how wicked, are recognized as autonomous individuals with inviolable dignity who must be given free room and board by the state for the remainder of their lives. Then, on Thursday, June 13, the United States bishops voted, by a huge majority (194 in favor, 8 against, 3 abstentions), to alter the text of the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults to bring it in line with Pope Francis’s novel teaching on the death penalty. The revolution in moral teaching thus continues unabated.

What Good is a Changing Catechism? Revisiting the Purpose and Limits of a Book[1]

Peter Kwasniewski

What is a catechism? How would you answer that question?

A standard dictionary definition runs like this: “a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians.” Wikipedia, which as we all know is hit or miss, does a decent job: “A catechism (from Ancient Greek κατηχέω, to teach orally) is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as an introduction to the Sacraments” and for the “Christian religious teaching of children and of adult converts. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals—often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized.”[2]

It seems to me that this is the answer of history, of Church practice, and of what we might call “supernatural common sense.” A catechism is a convenient guide to what the Church teaches; more than that, a guide to what she has always taught and will always teach. A good catechism is like a clean, smooth, untainted mirror that reflects the content of the Catholic Faith and nothing else.

A poor catechism—like the infamous 1966 Dutch Catechism that caused so much trouble after the Council—is, on the contrary, a cloudy, scratched, bent, or chipped mirror that does not lucidly reflect the Faith. Good catechisms preserve and pass on the teaching of Christ and His Church, while bad catechisms distort it, or one-sidedly exaggerate it, or muffle or silence it.

“Of What Use Is a Changing Catechism?”: Dr Kwasniewski in Chicago, June 14

I have been invited to give a talk by the Catholic Citizens of Illinois at their monthly Forum Luncheon on June 14, 2019. The event is held at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, and begins at 11:45 am. Tickets are $40; the Club requires business attire. To register, call Maureen at 708-352-5834 or use this link.

250 years of In Dominico AgroThe faithful need the basic, simple, uncorrupted Truth

As he struggled against the trends that, in the very heart of Catholic Europe, did all they could to "destroy the Infâme" and plant the seeds of the Revolution that was about to come, Pope Clement XIII knew that the hearts of the faithful had to filled with true, basic, simple, essential Catholic doctrine, to be found in the Roman Catechism - which should be once again made widely available to all priests. In Dominico Agro, signed on June 14, 1761, is thus a strong charter for the catechization of the faithful - and, at the same time, a dramatic reminder of what the failure to properly do so has allowed: the loss of entire nations and of uncountable souls.

Particularly interesting is the warning of Pope Clement XIII on the teachings of Catholic writers. It is not only with heterodox writings that Bishops should be concerned. Scholarly discussions should not be introduced to the faithful - and the post-Conciliar period seems to prove this true.

The faithful -- especially those who are simple or uncultivated -- should be kept away from dangerous and narrow paths upon which they can hardly set foot without faltering. The sheep should not be led to pasture through trackless places. Nor should peculiar ideas -- even those of Catholic scholars -- be proposed to them. Rather, only those ideas should be communicated which are definitely marked as Catholic truth by their universality, antiquity, and harmony. ... The faithful should obey the apostolic advice not to know more than is necessary, but to know in moderation.

Truly, truly ordinary

²ordinary adj 3 b : deficient in quality : poor, inferior

Yes, the Ordinary Mass for "Pride" in Boston is turning out to be quite a "drama" - but that was to be expected, right? First, the "Pride" Ordinary Mass was scheduled (see bulletin image - right), then it was vacated by the Archdiocese, then the Archdiocese partly reversed itself to allow a "Pride 'Prayer Service'". And now the local priestly member of the Parish Council attacks all whose "hate" has prevented the Ordinary Mass.

All details in Joe Sacerdo's blog - he has been at the forefront of exposing this truly ordinary Ordinary Mass. (Image on the left: Father John Unni, the twelfth member of the local Parish Council).

Note: anyway, why is "pride" being celebrated at all? Should it not "be carefully repressed"? Is it not "hateful in the sight of God"? Is not the "prince and ruler of this world" the "king over all the children of pride"? Is not pride "the root of all sins"? This in a very cursory reading of the Roman Catechism (Catechism of the Council of Trent). So what is exactly a "Boston Pride Prayer Service"? Is it perhaps a collective display of what this same Catechism recommends: "Humbled in spirit, the sincere penitent casts himself down at the feet of the priest, to testify, by this his humble demeanour, that he acknowledges the necessity of eradicating pride, the root of all those sins which he now deplores".