A View To A Mess
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| Screenshot | Stefano Rellandini/Reuters |
Believers are often compressed into difficult circumstances. Faithful discipleship can and often does mean finding oneself at odds with, for example, so-called secular societal values and the people who hold those values.
In order to endure confrontations large and small, and to avoid a debilitating cognitive dissonance, we - those secure in the Faith and also those tempted to distraction and despair - need a steady diet of clear teaching, the teaching of the Gospel undefiled by seemingly clever perspectives that are untenable embellishments or diminishments.
When a pope or a bishop or lay theologian or pretender (such as myself) creates confusion by muttering something that contradicts Magisterial teaching, then Catholics have a duty to rally to the cause of orthodoxy, as Catholics have always done. It's difficult to imagine that current events do not merit the input of all Catholics to defend Holy Mother Church in the midst of such widespread confusion. That defence may very well mean pleading with the Holy Father to give a clearer witness to the Apostolic Faith.
Given Cardinal Fernandez's recent attempt to "clarify his clarification", it seems that the message may finally be getting through that Fiducia Supplicans should be consigned to a fitting category such as one recently shared by a friend of this blogger. That category is 'Nevermind'. It may be that, in a few years, perhaps sooner than expected, another pope will come along and put FS permanently in the recycle bin.
These days, it is easy to have all eyes and hands on deck to help mitigate confusion. We can be thankful for social media.
- https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/a-clarification-that-obfuscates
- https://rennes.catholique.fr/actualite/411579-fiducia-supplicans-reflexions-et-orientations-des-eveques-des-dioceses-de-louest/
- https://fatherdesouza.com/articles/2024/1/5/fiducia-supplicans-20
Bishops and Bishops' Conferences are coalescing around the call for clarity of doctrine. Many are not convinced that the recent document Fiducia Supplicans is worth the paper it's printed upon, and for very good and serious reasons. According to the best Catholic minds parsing its text, Fiducia Supplicans (FS) gets many things right. Unfortunately, FS undermines its potential for good by slipping in awkward passages.
No prefect has ever conducted himself quite like Cardinal Fernández now does, frantically trying to contain the fractures opened up by Fiducia Supplicans. - Fr. R. de Souza, ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ 2.0
Our African brethren were the first to rightly call out Pope Francis and Cardinal Fernandez. Unfortunately, the Cardinal's initial response to their objections smacked of condescension. Many authoritative voices from every continent have since weighed in to condemn FS. Many are asking for its retraction, or that the parts therein that obscure Church teaching be suppressed.
FS is held to a standard. It must align perfectly, not partially, with that which the Church has always and everywhere taught.
St. Vincent of Lerins | We must believe that which has everywhere been believed in the Church, always been believed, and by all universally (Quod Ubique, Semper, et Ab Omnibus). Here are his words from his book Commonitorium:
“I have continually given the greatest pains and diligence to inquiring, from the greatest possible number of men outstanding in holiness and in doctrine, how I can secure a type of fixed and, as it were, general, guiding principle for distinguishing the true Catholic Faith from the degraded falsehoods of heresy.
“And the answer that I receive is always to this effect: That if I wish, or indeed if anyone wishes, to detect the deceits of heretics that arise and to avoid their snares and to keep healthy and sound in a robust faith, we ought, with the Lord’s help, to fortify our faith in a twofold manner, first, that is, by the authority of God’s Law, then, by the tradition of the Catholic Church. - Brian Kelly, https://catholicism.org/st-vincent-of-lerins-quod-ab-ubique-semper-et-ab-omnibus.html
Pope Francis has dug himself a very deep hole, a hole that is filled with a theological sewage of his and his prefect's making, a poisonous sludge that Catholics are being required to swallow. If only the criticisms of FS were wrong!
Pope Francis' disappointing handling of the Rupnik case, his callous treatment of the brethren who love the older Latin Mass, his hosting of a scandalous event involving Pachamama, and flippant responses - "Who am I to judge?" - provide Catholics with reasonable grounds to question Pope Francis' ability to lovingly and faithfully serve the flock of Christ entrusted to him by the Lord.
Contra Confusion & Chaos
- But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.
Athanasian Creed
- Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith. Which faith unless everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
- https://www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com/about-fr-juan-velez/
- Saint John Henry Newman adopted a doctrinal principle in religion. This principle holds that religion has set truths and rules inspired by God or derived from the former. These beliefs do not admit of subjective changes. Newman resisted changes in religion for any reason such as personal comfort, an easy agreement with other religious groups or political expediency.
- https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/03/15/210315b.html
- TO THE QUESTION PROPOSED: Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex? RESPONSE: Negative. Since blessings on persons are in relationship with the sacraments, the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit. This is because they would constitute a certain imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing [7] invoked on the man and woman united in the sacrament of Matrimony, while in fact “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family” [8]. (T)he Church recalls that God Himself never ceases to bless each of His pilgrim children in this world, because for Him “we are more important to God than all of the sins that we can commit” [12]. But he does not and cannot bless sin: he blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him. He in fact “takes us as we are, but never leaves us as we are” [13].
Archbishop-emeritus Charles J. Chaput
- https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/12/the-cost-of-making-a-mess
- One of the standards the Church uses to measure the quality of her leaders is a simple line from Scripture: “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33). So it was for Paul. So it is now. So it is for local pastors and bishops, including the bishop of Rome. Confusion among the faithful can often be a matter of innocent individuals who hear but fail to understand the Word. Confused teaching, however, is another matter. It’s never excusable. The transmission of Christian truth requires prudence and patience because humans are not machines. But it also demands clarity and consistency. Deliberate or persistent ambiguity—anything that fuels misunderstanding or seems to leave an opening for objectively sinful behavior—is not of God. And it inevitably results in damage to individual souls and to our common Church life.
- https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-scandal-of-fiducia-supplicans.html
- https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2023/12/ukraine-bishops-conference-chooses.html
- The document seeks to emphasize the boundless love of God for all people, sinners included, and in this regard to show that the Church does not reject these people, namely, persons with homosexual tendencies or even actions. However, it seems that the text does not clearly distinguish between a person and his or her situation, mercifully accepting this person and expressing disagreement with his or her sin. At the same time, the document focuses mainly on two categories of people: those living in sacramentally unregulated relationships (men and women) and same-sex couples. Thus, the document treats the situation of sacramentally unregulated male-female couples and same-sex couples equally. Both situations are in a state of grave sin, but they should be treated separately. We see the danger in ambiguous wording that causes divergent interpretations among the faithful. What we missed in the document is that the Gospel calls sinners to conversion, and without a call to leave the sinful life of homosexual couples, the blessing may look like an approval.
Clarity & Constancy
Dogmatic Constitution On Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum 10.- https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html
- Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church. Holding fast to this deposit the entire holy people united with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers (see Acts 2, 42, Greek text), so that holding to, practicing and professing the heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful a single common effort. (7) But the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, (8) has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, (9) whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it draws from this one deposit of faith everything which it presents for belief as divinely revealed. It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God's most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.
- https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2023/12/ukrainian-greek-catholic-church-second.html
- 2. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, therefore it has its own liturgical, theological, canonical and spiritual heritage, which all the faithful are obliged to observe and cherish (CCCC, can. 39-41). The meaning of "blessing" in the UGCC and the Latin Church is different. 3. According to the liturgical practice of our Church, the blessing of a priest or bishop is a liturgical gesture that cannot be separated from the rest of the content of the liturgical rites and reduced to the circumstances and needs of private piety (Catechism of the UGCC "Christ is our Pascha," paras. 505-509).
Diane Montagna @dianemontagna | Jan 4 | BISHOP ESCUDERO OF PERU: #FiduciaSupplicans “damages the communion of the Church, as such blessings directly and seriously contradict Divine Revelation and the unbroken doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church.” How can this not be “interpreted as doctrinal opposition”? (1/2)
- https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/catholic-church-vatican-scandals-confusion-china-marriage-amoris-laetiti-pope-francis-mess/
- The second reason that most Catholics remain unaware of the severity of the crisis is the free pass that mainstream media have given Pope Francis until now, basically because he isn’t Benedict XVI. Francis apparently downgrading the big social issues — abortion, contraception — early in his pontificate. His famous comment that Catholics don’t have to “breed like rabbits” and, of course, his rhetorical question “Who am I to judge?” with regard to gay priests: All that was music to the ears of liberal media. That is now changing because of one issue the media cannot ignore and will punish ruthlessly: the covering up, real or imaginary, of sexual abuse. As media start to cover more effectively the catastrophic failures and sleight of hand of this papacy with regard to the abuse of minors, all the other issues begin to emerge. You can hide the rubbish in the streets only for so long. Eventually it overflows, out into the open. When the Church should be speaking with a clear and direct voice, it is instead spreading confusion, misunderstanding, and scandal. Francis famously called for the people to make a “mess” in the Church. To youth in Rio de Janeiro, he said in January 2013, “I want a mess. . . . I want trouble in the dioceses.” It seems, for now, he has got his wish.
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