In October, at the Vatican, Pope Francis will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

This relevant news item was posted by the official website of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal:

In response to the desire of Holy Father Francis, the Statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, venerated in the Little Chapel of Apparitions, will be brought to Rome on October 12/13 to be present at the Marian Day promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. On October 13, next to the Statue of Our Lady, Pope Francis will make the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

[The] Marian Day is one of the great pontifical events marked down on the calendar of celebrations of the Year of Faith which will bring to Rome hundreds of movements and institutions connoted with Marian devotion.

In a letter addressed to Bishop Antonio Marto, of Leiria-Fatima, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, [Abp.] Rino Fisichella, informs that “all ecclesial entities of Marian spirituality” are invited to take part in this Marian day, a gathering which includes, on the 12th, a pilgrimage to the tomb of Apostle St. Peter and other moments of prayer and meditation and, on the 13th, a Mass presided over by Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square.

In that letter, [Abp.] Fisichella wrote: “The Holy Father strongly desires that the Marian Day may have present, as a special sign, one of the most significant Marian icons for Christians throughout the world and, for that reason, we thought of the beloved original Statue of Our Lady of Fatima”.

Therefore, the Statue of Our Lady will depart from the Shrine of Fatima on the morning of October 12 and return on the afternoon of October 13. Scheduled to take its place in the Little Chapel of Apparitions is the first Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which is enthroned in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary since December 8, 2003.

[Source: Santuário de Fátima]

Encyclical Letter Lumen Fidei

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

LUMEN FIDEI

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

FRANCIS

TO THE BISHOPS

PRIESTS AND DEACONS

CONSECRATED MEN AND WOMEN

AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL

ON FAITH

______________________

THE LIGHT OF FAITH: this is how the Church’s tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus. In John’s Gospel, Christ says of himself: "I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (Jn 12:46). Saint Paul uses the same image: "God who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts" (2 Cor 4:6). The pagan world, which hungered for light, had seen the growth of the cult of the sun god, Sol Invictus, invoked each day at sunrise. Yet though the sun was born anew each morning, it was clearly incapable of casting its light on all of human existence. The sun does not illumine all reality; its rays cannot penetrate to the shadow of death, the place where men’s eyes are closed to its light. "No one — Saint Justin Martyr writes — has ever been ready to die for his faith in the sun".[1]Conscious of the immense horizon which their faith opened before them, Christians invoked Jesus as the true sun "whose rays bestow life".[2] To Martha, weeping for the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus said: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (Jn 11:40). Those who believe, see; they see with a light that illumines their entire journey, for it comes from the risen Christ, the morning star which never sets.

Lumen Fidei, Encyclical of the Two Popes, to be released on Friday

The Vatican has just announced that Pope Francis' first encyclical, Lumen Fidei ("The Light of Faith"), whose authorship (as admitted by Francis himself) is jointly of the current Pope and his emeritus, will be released on Friday, July 5.

Pope to Synod Committee: Encyclical on Faith coming out shortly; written with "four hands" with Benedict XVI

Once again offering off-the-cuff remarks (this time in his meeting with the members of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops), the Pope revealed two things.

As reported by Il Mondo:

"An encyclical" on faith "should come out shortly", "[written] by four hands, it is said: Pope Benedict, who delivered it to me, started it; it is a strong document"... "I have received this great work that he has done, and I have brought it forward."

"Four hands"? So... it pretty much confirms the report made by the Bishop of Molfetta following an ad limina visit, denied by the Holy See spokesman, a denial celebrated by disingenuous people...

Also today, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of 54-year-old Fernando Isern, Bishop of Pueblo (Colorado), according to canon 401 § 2, of the Code of Canon Law (reasons of health or other grave reason). Bp. Isern, a follower of former Miami Archbishop John Favarola, had been named Bishop of Pueblo by Benedict XVI in 2009.

Neo-Triumphalism: George Weigel's Offenses Against Pious Ears

The latest article by Mr. Weigel in First Things is yet another in a series of articles wherein he touts the "triumphs" of Vatican II over the previous magisterium. This time, he does so by making fun of the former head of the Holy Office during the years before, during, and after the Council, His Eminence Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani.

And to what purpose? Mr. Weigel implicitly embraces a hermeneutic of rupture by suggesting that Dignitatis humanae deviates from the Church's long-standing teaching that error should not be allowed to flourish in society; indeed, his writing suggests the embracing of the modernist doctrines condemned by Pius IX, those doctrines of latitudinarianism and pluralism in society.

His argument could be expressed like this: a pre-conciliar ultra-conservative got utterly silenced during the Council on the issue of religious freedom. Having silenced the bad guy, allegedly the Church now claims that the state has no competence in restricting or promoting truth in religion (against the teaching of the entire tradition), and so therefore, there is a new theology of religious tolerance of persons, wherein one cannot be discriminated because of their abhorrent religious ideas, even if that means they believe, for instance, in mass suicides or terrorism in the name of religion-- they should still be respected and tolerated in society, because, well, we believe in tolerance.

The real purpose of the article is revealed when he tries to show the secularists taking up the "old teaching" of the Church, and in the name of secularism use a "no tolerance" policy to discriminate against religious groups. This is convenient for Weigel, because it shows that the old theology was in fact very bad, and vindicates the new theology for being so egalitarian.

However, there are not a few errors in Weigel's argument.

First, Weigel knows that the actual doctrinal teaching of the document is one of the most disputed of the Council, and a definitive interpretation has yet to be given. He therefore claims a particular interpretation, his interpretation, unsurprisingly one of rupture with the past, in order to demonstrate his point; namely, that Ottaviani, representative of tradition and the evil pre-conciliar days, paved the way for the persecution of the Church by the modern state that took up his outdated doctrines.

Further, he knows that the false interpretation of this document was one of the greatest catalysts in the Abp. Lefebvre affair, and so Mr. Weigel uses his column to claim a sort of triumphalism of the Spirit of Vatican II over those who would remain firmly attached to tradition or at least the "reform in continuity" as the hermeneutic for interpreting the documents of the Council -- including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. What he fails to do, however, is give the other side of the story, and that is that this program following a false interpretation of the Council has done nothing but diminish the Church's voice in the public sphere, resulting in an entire loss of Catholic identity, while at the same time not at all preventing the great persecutions of Catholics in the post-Conciliar age, including in our own days.

Finally, and this is perhaps the most truly grievous error, Mr. Weigel makes the mistake of placing on a similar level the teaching authority of the Church, who cannot err when teaching on matters of faith or morals, with the fallible judgments of those leaders in civil society (for instance, the promotion of Secularism). In doing so, his statements implicitly diminish the authority of the Church, and likens the claim that the Church has over the fullness of the truth to that of a modern, subjective State -- one whose "truth" is one among many, rooted in an arbitrary positivism or personal conviction of what one thinks is right or wrong, and without reference to an objective truth rooted in divine and natural law. Surely, more respect can be given for the authority of the Church, if not for one of her Princes.

In the future, it may help Mr. Weigel for him to begin with theology in order to correctly summarize events of the life of the Church in light of the truth of the matter, rather than in the light of political spectrums and intrigues, which, while perhaps may make for good journalism and great laughs, have no bearing on God's divine truth.

Herein lies the greatest difficulty of the neo-conservative position-- the true fruit of the nouvelle theologie of the mid-20th century: in the embracing of modern philosophies, one is no longer able to know anything with real certainty anymore. The faith becomes an entirely personal conviction devoid of an ecclesial dimension, and the law of non-contradiction becomes more of a guideline, rather than a logical premise. And people like Weigel, who think that they are holding a Catholic position and building up the faith by championing a program of modernizing the Church, in fact only succeed in leading people to error and confusion.

[Dominicus is a new contributor to Rorate Caeli, with posts of a more theological bent.]

[Image: Cardinal Ottaviani celebrates Mass on December 10, 1963, in the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto, Rome, for the Roman Union of Bakers - source: Biblioteche di Roma - Cinecittà Luce archives.]

Sunday, June 2: all together with the Pope in Eucharistic Adoration

On Thursday, Feast of Corpus Christi, following mass at the Lateran Basilica, the Holy Father will lead the traditional procession in honor of the Most Holy Sacrament in Via Merulana to the Liberian Basilica.

On Sunday, June 2, at 1700 [Rome: CEST. London:-1, GMT: -2, EDT: -6], in the Vatican Basilica, in the context of the celebrations of the Year of Faith, the Holy Father will preside the Eucharistic Adoration, to which all Dioceses in the world are invited to join spiritually.

[Source: Office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations]

Pope: Scripture interpretation must embrace the "global meaning that has constituted Tradition"

I am pleased to welcome you at the end of your annual Plenary Assembly. I thank the President, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, for his greeting and summary of the topic that has been the subject of careful consideration in the course of your work. You have gathered again to study a very important topic: the inspiration and truth of the Bible. It is a matter that affects not only the individual believer, but the whole Church, for the life and mission of the Church is founded on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology and the inspiration of all Christian life .

As we know, the Holy Scriptures are the testimony in written form of God's Word, the canonical memorial that attests to the event of Revelation. The Word of God, therefore, precedes and exceeds the Bible. It is for this reason that the center of our faith is not only a book, but a history of salvation and especially a Person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. Precisely because the Word of God embraces and extends beyond Scripture, to understand it properly we need the constant presence of the Holy Spirit who "guides [us] to all truth" (Jn 16:13). It should be inserted within the current of the great Tradition which, through the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Magisterium, recognized the canonical writings as the Word addressed by God to His people who have never ceased to meditate and discover its inexhaustible riches. The Second Vatican Council has reiterated this with great clarity in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum: "For all of what has been said about the way of interpreting Scripture is subject finally to the judgment of the Church, which carries out the divine commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God" (n. 12).

As the aforementioned conciliar Constitution reminds us, there is an unbreakable unity between Scripture and Tradition, as both come from the same source: "There exists a close connection and communication between sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred Tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence" (ibid., 9).

It follows, therefore, that the exegete must be careful to perceive the Word of God present in the biblical texts by placing them within the faith of the Church. The interpretation of the Holy Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but must always confront itself with, be inserted within and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church. This norm is essential to specify the correct relationship between exegesis and the Magisterium of the Church. The texts inspired by God were entrusted to the Community of believers, the Church of Christ, to nourish the faith and guide the life of charity. Respect for this profound nature of Scripture conditions the very validity and effectiveness of biblical hermeneutics. This results in the insufficiency of any interpretation that is either subjective or simply limited to an analysis incapable of embracing the global meaning that has constituted the Tradition of the entire People of God over the centuries, which “in credendo falli nequit" (Conc. Ecum. Vatican II Dogmatic Cost. Lumen Gentium, 12).

Dear Brothers, I wish to conclude my talk by expressing my thanks to all of you and encouraging you in your important work. May the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, the Divine Teacher who opened the minds and hearts of his disciples to understand the Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:45), guide and support you always in your endeavors. May the Virgin Mary, model of docility and obedience to the Word of God, teach you to accept fully the inexhaustible riches of Sacred Scripture not only through intellectual pursuits, but in prayer and throughout your life of believers, especially in this Year of the Faith, so that your work will help to shine the light of Sacred Scripture in the hearts of the faithful. Wishing you a fruitful continuation of your activities, I invoke the light of the Holy Spirit and impart my Apostolic Blessing upon you all.

Franciscus

Address to the Pontifical Biblical Commission

April 12, 2013

[Trans. Radio Vaticana]

Previous posts on this subject:

LIVE event: In 40 minutes, extraordinary ostension of the Holy Shroud

In 40 minutes, at 1710 (5:10 PM) CET (GMT +1), there will be an extraordinary ostension of the Holy Shroud of Turin, in a live television event. The ostension will be broadcast by Italian state main network RAI 1 (here), and, if the event is not made available online outside Italy, also at French Catholic network KTO (here).

Please, post other links in comments.

[Update: apologies, this was one of the most bizarre pseudo-paraliturgical experiments ever seen by us, and the Shroud itself was barely visible... The Annibale Bugnini touch really ruined everything.]

A message to the Conclave by Pope Benedict XVI: Do not let yourselves be pushed around by the media

Giuseppe Alberigo, founder of the "Bologna School"
and founding figure of the "Council of the Media" and of
the hermeneutic of rupture, in a television appearance

The Holy See has made available the full translation of the address of Pope Benedict XVI, days after his resignation declaration, to the clergy of Rome on the Second Vatican Council (first reported by us here).

In the past few days, the pressure in the media, specialmente i mass media italiani, but also the secular and "progressive Catholic" media around the world, to create the papabili they want, to create a buzz that does not exist, has become deafening. The message of Pope Benedict to the Eminent Cardinals is clear: do not let yourselves be cornered by those same media.

We said it then, and we repeat it: those who almost seemed to destroy the Church in the 1960s-1970s, they are "the same mainstream media that is this very day trying to influence the choice of the next Pontiff by hyping the names of their favorites, those candidates who represent the Church of the Media, the Church of Politics, the hypocritical 'Church of the Poor', the 'Church of New Ideas', those who have spent the past 50 years, in academia (such as the Alberigo 'School of Bologna' and its hermeneutic of politics and rupture), and in news organizations, and as careerist clergymen, distorting, polluting, and destroying everything that was sacred while smiling.

"The malignant Alberigo-Melloni 'School of Bologna' Church and its disciples, the hermeneutic of rupture Church, the Calamitous Church, the Church of the Media must end and disappear so the real Church may reappear: an entire roadmap for the future conclave."

The full address, with a very personal view of the Council (and delivered with no prepared text, revealing the amazing intellectual stamina and strong memory of the nearly 86-year-old pontiff who had just come from announcing his resignation), is available here. And we will repeat the portion that is most significant for the upcoming Conclave below:

______________________________

Your Eminence,

Dear Brother Bishops and Priests,

For me it is a particular gift of Providence that, before leaving the Petrine ministry, I can once more see my clergy, the clergy of Rome. It is always a great joy to see the living Church, to see how the Church in Rome is alive; there are shepherds here who guide the Lord’s flock in the spirit of the supreme Shepherd. It is a body of clergy that is truly Catholic, universal, in accordance with the essence of the Church of Rome: to bear within itself the universality, the catholicity of all nations, all races, all cultures. At the same time, I am very grateful to the Cardinal Vicar who helps to reawaken, to rediscover vocations in Rome itself, because if Rome, on the one hand, has to be the city of universality, it must also be a city with a strong and robust faith of its own, from which vocations are also born. And I am convinced that, with the Lord’s help, we can find the vocations that he himself gives us, we can guide them, help them to mature, so as to be of service for work in the Lord’s vineyard.

Today you have professed the Creed before the tomb of Saint Peter: in theYear of Faith, this seems to me to be a most appropriate act, a necessary one, perhaps, that the clergy of Rome should gather around the tomb of the Apostle to whom the Lord said: "To you I entrust my Church. Upon you I will build my Church" (cf. Mt 16:18-19). Before the Lord, together with Peter, you have professed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16). Thus the Church grows: together with Peter, professing Christ, following Christ. And we do this always. I am very grateful for your prayers, which I have sensed, as I said on Wednesday – almost palpably. And although I am about to withdraw, I remain close to all of you in prayer, and I am sure that you too will be close to me, even if I am hidden from the world.

[...]

I would now like to add yet a third point: there was the Council of the Fathers – the real Council – but there was also the Council of the media. It was almost a Council apart, and the world perceived the Council through the latter, through the media. Thus, the Council that reached the people with immediate effect was that of the media, not that of the Fathers. And while the Council of the Fathers was conducted within the faith – it was a Council of faith seeking intellectus, seeking to understand itself and seeking to understand the signs of God at that time, seeking to respond to the challenge of God at that time and to find in the word of God a word for today and tomorrow – while all the Council, as I said, moved within the faith, as fides quaerens intellectum, the Council of the journalists, naturally, was not conducted within the faith, but within the categories of today's media, namely apart from faith, with a different hermeneutic. It was a political hermeneutic: for the media, the Council was a political struggle, a power struggle between different trends in the Church. It was obvious that the media would take the side of those who seemed to them more closely allied with their world. There were those who sought the decentralization of the Church, power for the bishops and then, through the expression "People of God", power for the people, the laity. There was this threefold question: the power of the Pope, which was then transferred to the power of the bishops and the power of all – popular sovereignty. Naturally, for them, this was the part to be approved, to be promulgated, to be favoured. So too with the liturgy: there was no interest in liturgy as an act of faith, but as something where comprehensible things are done, a matter of community activity, something profane. And we know that there was a tendency, not without a certain historical basis, to say: sacrality is a pagan thing, perhaps also a thing of the Old Testament. In the New Testament it matters only that Christ died outside: that is, outside the gates, in the profane world. Sacrality must therefore be abolished, and profanity now spreads to worship: worship is no longer worship, but a community act, with communal participation: participation understood as activity. These translations, trivializations of the idea of the Council, were virulent in the process of putting the liturgical reform into practice; they were born from a vision of the Council detached from its proper key, that of faith. And the same applies to the question of Scripture: Scripture is a book, it is historical, to be treated historically and only historically, and so on.

We know that this Council of the media was accessible to everyone. Therefore, this was the dominant one, the more effective one, and it created so many disasters, so many problems, so much suffering: seminaries closed, convents closed, banal liturgy … and the real Council had difficulty establishing itself and taking shape; the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real force of the Council was present and, slowly but surely, established itself more and more and became the true force which is also the true reform, the true renewal of the Church. It seems to me that, 50 years after the Council, we see that this virtual Council is broken, is lost, and there now appears the true Council with all its spiritual force. And it is our task, especially in this Year of Faith, on the basis of this Year of Faith, to work so that the true Council, with its power of the Holy Spirit, be accomplished and the Church be truly renewed. Let us hope that that the Lord will assist us. I myself, secluded in prayer, will always be with you and together let us go forward with the Lord in the certainty that the Lord will conquer. Thank you!

Benedict XVI on the task of bishops in our own time

How can we not think, in this context, of the task of a Bishop in our own time? The humility of faith, of sharing the faith of the Church of every age, will constantly be in conflict with the prevailing wisdom of those who cling to what seems certain. Anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the prevalent way of thinking, even in our own day. Today’s regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs. Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset is particularly urgent for a Bishop today. He must be courageous. And this courage or forcefulness does not consist in striking out or in acting aggressively, but rather in allowing oneself to be struck and to be steadfast before the principles of the prevalent way of thinking. The courage to stand firm in the truth is unavoidably demanded of those whom the Lord sends like sheep among wolves. “Those who fear the Lord will not be timid”, says the Book of Sirach (34:16). The fear of God frees us from the fear of men.  It liberates.

Here I am reminded of an episode at the very beginning of Christianity which Saint Luke recounts in the Acts of the Apostles. After the speech of Gamaliel, who advised against violence in dealing with the earliest community of believers in Jesus, the Sanhedrin summoned the Apostles and had them flogged. It then forbade them from preaching in the name of Jesus and set them free. Saint Luke continues: “As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus. And every day… they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah” (Acts 5:40ff.).  The successors of the Apostles must also expect to be repeatedly beaten, by contemporary methods, if they continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that can be heard and understood. Then they can rejoice that they have been considered worthy of suffering for him. Like the Apostles, we naturally want to convince people and in this sense to obtain their approval. Naturally, we are not provocative; on the contrary we invite all to enter into the joy of that truth which shows us the way. The approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is not the criterion to which we submit. Our criterion is the Lord himself. If we defend his cause, we will constantly gain others to the way of the Gospel. But, inevitably, we will also be beaten by those who live lives opposed to the Gospel, and then we can be grateful for having been judged worthy to share in the passion of Christ.

Benedict XVI

Homily on the Solemnity of the Epiphany

January 6, 2013

Photo source: Reuters.

ENOUGH! This is not the religion of Christ! "If they do not preach the Four Last Things, do not listen to them"

Hieronymus Bosch 

The Table of the Capital Sins [in the corners, the Four Last Things] 

(La Mesa de los pecados capitales)

Museo del Prado [previously in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial]

____________________________________

The Church exists for the salvation of man, every man, and not for making him conscious that salvation has already happened.

The difference is all in this. We are now in the midst of a Catholicism that has taken on another form. This fact is visible for all and clear to see. The concern is no longer for the salvation of souls. People who attend church will unlikely hear the following preached - which is the heart of Christianity: Our Lord Jesus Christ is the sole Redeemer, it is necessary to repent and change your life, to be baptized and receive the Sacraments and live in a state of grace for the salvation of your soul. No, all of this is not spoken about anymore. And we will see that it is so in this “Year of Faith”, when, alas, Church dates will be the main concern and the preoccupation for the salvation of souls will not be affirmed.

Why all of this? The reason is simple. After the Council a mutation of the Catholic Faith was in fact produced and now we are fully reaping the bad fruits.

Too many (almost all) have in their minds that the salvation of souls has already occurred and that, now, it is merely a question of making people aware of this gift from on high. This is a church that has shifted everything towards the human, to anthropology, to the comfort and well-being of the person - in search of happiness.

But – is this even Christianity? Did Jesus not come for the [simple] reason that without Him, we cannot be saved? Did He not die on the Cross to free us from the power of the Evil One and to re-open the gates of Paradise? Did He not command His disciples to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to baptize? “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned.” Is this not how it is written?

You will wait in vain to hear “the churchman of the moment” speak to you about the question of eternal salvation on television debates about the Council. But if this is not what it is all about, what is the churchman doing there – and what about the Church Herself?

It so happened that we glanced on “LA7”* a Cardinal, the one from Milan, display a ridiculously blind Irenicism regarding the present situation in the Church (“When I visit the churches – they are always full”… “It is not true that there is a crisis”...), and hear him speak of an obscure Christianity in a speech that resembled more of a lesson in anthropology, and then [the same] reacting, irritated, to Professor De Mattei’s clear assertions on the dreadful crisis following Vatican II, while “the secular intellectual of the moment”, in this case Giuliano Ferrara,* recalls that it is necessary to speak also about Hell as well as the “fullness of mankind” brought about by Christ. This is how far we have gone: those outside the Church remind the Church of the essentials, which She no longer preaches.

But be on your guard, all of this is more than dramatic, because changing the perspective means to change everything.

If the [Church’s] aim is to render this life on earth better and more conscious, and not [the goal] of eternal salvation, we are faced with a profound modification of Christianity - we are faced with a new religion, which is not that of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are faced with the religion of man - not the religion of God.

A great and holy priest, Father Emmanuel André, called all of this “Naturalism”: everything is reduced to nature – to man. It is the greatest and most devastating cancer in Catholicism. The same Père Emmanuel said that it is necessary, when faced with this evil, to be “men of God”, “men of reaction”: both – to be of God and to be of reaction. Yes: it is necessary TO PRAY AND REACT and to say – enough! And not to have anything more to do with those who are shelving the Church and the Catholic Faith.

Our [true] shepherds are the those who are guarding Catholicism, not those who are selling out and transforming it into religious anthropology so as to enter the “cultural salons” of this stagnant Western civilization. How might we know if pastors are worthy to be listened to and followed? It is simple: if they are speaking about eternal salvation, if they are speaking about the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, Paradise. If none of these ever appear in all of their talk, do not trust them – they have already changed the faith.

_____________

* La7, an Italian TV Channel, aired a debate on the Second Vatican Council on October 8, 2012.

* Giuliano Ferrara- Editor of Italian opinion newspaper “Il Foglio”

[November 2012 Editorial of Radicati nella Fede, bulletin of the Catholic community of Domodossola and Vocogno, Diocese of Novara, Italy. Text taken from Una Fides (see our sidebar). Tip and translation: Contributor Francesca Romana]

New Evangelization? Living Tradition? It's all a matter of holiness

New Evangelization: passing on holiness (Nov. 4, 2012)

We are all called to be holy. It is what gives meaning to our life on earth. But how can we reach holiness? By being true children of the Church. Because, in God's plan, the Church of Christ is the only path of sanctification and salvation for all men. The infinite holiness of our divine Redeemer is passed on to us only by his Church. This is why the Church of Christ is essentially holy, in the sense that the holiness of Christ is passed on to us by her. She is the near source of holiness for all men, as she also is of their unity, which cannot take place if not in Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the members of this new mankind that He came to assemble in his Church.

What is the holiness of the Church of Christ? The Catechism of Saint Pius X thus answers this question of capital relevance: "The true church is called Holy because holy is her Invisible Head, Jesus Christ; holy are many of her members; holy are her faith, her laws, her Sacraments; and outside of her there is not and cannot be true holiness." The holiness of the Church comes therefore entirely from her divine Founder. The Church is thus holy by her supernatural source, by the role that Our Lord granted her at her foundation, by the divine treasure of the means of sanctification that he left her, and by the fruits of holiness that only she generates and can generate on earth.

It is by the holiness of her members, Dom Guéranger says, that the Church proves that she possesses the ever-living truth within herself. And he most rightly says that this stirring truth that is holiness is "tradition in its highest expression". To faithfully pass on to the Christian generations the holy doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ, his holy laws, his sacraments, and above all, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is to pass on to them the infallible means of sanctification, the absolute principles of holiness - but this tradition is not fully fruitful unless it is a living one, that is, unless it propagates holiness. In order for them to be able to pass on holiness to other men, with the means of sanctification, the ministers of Jesus Christ have first the sacred duty of being themselves holy. All apostolate must consist in a communication of holiness. The first evangelization was first accomplished by the example of apostles who followed Jesus; it was, in fact, the example of their life that assured the truth of their preaching. It was because Saint Paul said in all truth, "to me, to live is Christ," that he could exhort the Philippians to follow him [Phil. i, 21] - "Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ." [I Cor iv, 16] We realize that all over the world the Catholic faith is in crisis, to the point that a new evangelization is absolutely necessary. In order for it to be efficacious, this new evangelization, as the first one - that of apostolic times - must be able to prove its authenticity by the holiness, first, of priests, then of the parents who have the mission of passing on the faith to their children, and also of all Christians who will be Christians in name only if they do not take seriously the passing on of all the riches of holiness that the Church gave to them, with the faith they received in their Baptism.

Fr. J.-Réal Bleau

[Latin Community of Saint Paul, Archdiocese of Montreal, Quebec - in French. Image source: Chapel of St. Bernard (FSSP), Saint-Étienne, France.]

Synod of Bishops - final list of propositions

The Holy Father allowed the non-official publication of the final list of propositions of the Synod of Bishops on the "New Evangelization" in English - the official Latin text will be made available in the future.

The entire list is available here, and includes the following:

Proposition 12 : DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II

The Synod Fathers recognize the teaching of Vatican II as a vital instrument for transmitting the faith in the context of the New Evangelization. At the same time, they consider that the documents of the Council should be properly read and interpreted. Therefore, they wish to manifest their adherence to the thought of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who has indicated the hermeneutical principle of reform within continuity so as to be able to discover in those texts the authentic spirit of the Council. “There is the "hermeneutic of reform", of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God. [...] However, wherever this interpretation guided the implementation of the Council, new life developed and new fruit ripened” (Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005). In this way it will be possible to respond to the need for renewal required by the modern world and, at the same time, faithfully preserve the identity of the Church’s nature and mission.

Proposition 16 : RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

International Theological Commission: Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Year of Faith

Fides quaerens intellectum, theology exists only in relation to the gift of faith. It presupposes the truth of the faith and endeavours to demonstrate its "boundless riches" (Eph. 3:8), both for the spiritual joy of the whole community of believers and as a service to the Church’s evangelising mission.

Recent papal pronouncements on the 50th anniversary of Vatican II

1. General Audience (October 10, 2012)

2. L'Osservatore Romano (October 10-11, 2012): special text (preface to collection of Fr. Joseph Ratzinger's Council documents)

3. Homily on the opening mass of the "Year of Faith" (October 11, 2012)

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Plenary Indulgences for the Year of Faith

Text of the original decree in Latin and Italian: DECRETO DELLA PENITENZIERIA APOSTOLICA CON IL QUALE SI CONCEDONO INDULGENZE, IN OCCASIONE DELL’ANNO DELLA FEDE , 05.10.2012

Of note is the granting of a plenary indulgence for making a pious visit to the site of one's baptism, or for attending three lessons on the Acts of Vatican II or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 

From Vatican Information Service:

PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR THE YEAR OF FAITH

Vatican II: A discussion that can no longer be stopped

Whatever might be said about the current situation of the talks between the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), and whatever one's doctrinal position might be, one thing is clear: the frank discussion of the ambiguities of Vatican II and of post-Conciliar Vatican documents vis-a-vis the pre-Conciliar Magisterium has begun, and can no longer be stopped. While it would be easy to exaggerate the quality, extent and openness of the discussion so far, it cannot be denied that signs of it have been appearing in unlikely places, such as the following article that was published last week by the Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

The New Evangelization: Quo Vadis?

Sept. 20, 2012 by Paul Kokoski. 

More and more, Catholics are shying away from using terms like “proselytizing,” “conversion,” and even “Catholic” in their ecumenical and inter-religious efforts, almost as if they were ashamed of the Gospel, or afraid of appearing as a “sign of contradiction.”

Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae states that every person has a “right” to religious freedom. They are not to be “coerced,” in any way, to act contrary to their own beliefs. In seemingly contradictory fashion, the same document exhorts Catholics to use the coercive power of truth in their missionary mandate to “make disciples of all nations”: “The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power.” Dignitatis Humanae thus invites Catholics to be both non-coercive, and coercive, in their dealings with non-Catholics. “Non-coercion” is understood in a negative sense to mean “non-missionary.” “Coercion” is understood in a positive sense to mean “missionary.” Vatican II, then, is inviting Catholics to be both a non-missionary, and a missionary, people. It is asserting, in effect, that two contradictory views of reality are merely different perceptions of the same thing. One can see in this confusion the promotion of a lethal system of religious indifferentism.

Prayers for the success of the November Pilgrimage to Rome

From Una Cum Papa Nostro, the blog of the organizers of the international pilgrimage of Catholic traditionalists to Rome from November 1 to November 3 of this year, culminating in a Pontifical Mass according to the 1962 Missal in St. Peter's Basilica. (There is no real news yet on who will be the celebrant of this Mass, and it is better not to speculate.)

On October 7, a Rosary for the Pilgrimage

Sunday October 7, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto, every single Summorum Pontificum Coetus is invited to pray for the success of the CISP Pilgrimage in November. 

We ask any group of faithful and religious that benefits from the Extraordinary Form of the Mass to pray their Rosary in that beautiful day for the spiritual goals of the Pilgrimage, as expressed by our Chaplain: 

-  thanksgiving and support for the Holy Father;
-  demonstration of loyalty to Peter;
-  profession of faith and participation in the New Evangelization promoted by His Holiness. 

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Un chapelet pour le Pèlerinage 

En la fête du Très Saint Rosaire, anniversaire de la bataille de Lépante, le dimanche 7 octobre, le Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum invite tous les groupes Summorum Pontificum à prier pour le succès du pèlerinage de novembre à Rome. 

Le Coetus Internationalis demande à chaque communauté laïque ou religieuse qui bénéficie de la forme extraordinaire de la messe de prier un chapelet aux intentions du pèlerinage, telles qu’exprimées par son aumônier, l’abbé Claude Barthe : 

- action de grâces et de soutien filial au Saint Père,
- témoignage de fidélité au successeur de Pierre,
- profession de foi et désir de participer à la nouvelle évangélisation voulue par Benoît XVI.

New volume of "Jesus of Nazareth" and possible encyclical

The Holy See Press Office made public today the news that the Pope has concluded the third and final volume of his "Jesus of Nazareth" - focused on the childhood of the Lord -, that is now being translated in major languages for publication. ]

Vatican Insider reports today that the "great gift" the Pope prepares for the "Year of Faith" could be, according to Cardinal Bertone, a new encyclical, "on Faith".

International Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage to Rome November 2012

Rorate Caeli has received the following press release.

On the Feast of All Saints (1st November), an international 'Summorum Pontificum' pilgrimage to Rome

The Coetus Internationalis pro Summorum Pontificum has just been constituted in Rome by representatives of several associations of faithful, including the International Federation Una Voce and the Italian Coordinamento Summorum Pontificum in order to organize an international pilgrimage of associations, groups and movements supporting 'Summorum Pontificum' and His Holiness Benedict XVI to mark the Year of Faith.  The pilgrimage will conclude on Saturday, November 3, 2012, with a Mass in St. Peter' Basilica. An official presentation of the event will take place on September 10 in Rome.


Photo: Fr. Josef Bisig FSSP and other Traditional Catholic clerics and pilgrims during the October 1998 pilgrimage of Traditional Catholics to Rome marking the tenth anniversary of Ecclesia Dei. Source: FSSP website.