BuffaloJack: Super Saint?
Super Saint??!??
Posted on 09/30/2009 12:06:47 PM PDT by markomalley
AN IRISH Catholic bishop has predicted that Pope John Paul II, who arrived in Ireland 30 years ago today, will most likely have a higher status than sainthood in the Catholic Church.
The Bishop of Meath, Most Rev Michael Smith, who was centrally involved in organising the papal visit, said he would not be surprised if Pope John Paul II was made a Doctor of the Church.
This, he felt, would be due to the late pope’s teachings on human sexuality but more particularly those on the dignity of the human person.
Currently just 33 of the many thousands of saints in the Catholic Church are designated Doctors of the Church. These are men and women who have, as Bishop Smith said, “been identified as having made an extraordinary contribution to the teaching of the church and to the interpretation of the words of Christ, and to elaboration of the whole understanding of the church.”
Among Doctors of the Church are St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, St Francis de Sales, St John of the Cross, St Anthony of Padua, St Teresa of Ávila, St Catherine of Siena and St Thérèse of Lisieux. As Bishop Smith explained, St Thérèse was elevated because she wrote “so deeply on God as love, a message we want to hear in our own country and didn’t hear enough in the past.”
He also suspected Pope Benedict might, in time, become a Doctor of the Church. “In this generation we are very blessed to have had two popes who have made an enormous contribution to church teaching and church belief.”
Asked about the another papal visit, he said: “I don’t think any pope can come to Ireland unless the North, Northern Ireland, is the focus of that visit.” But at 82 the subject of a visit would be “fairly daunting for him”, he said.
He said it was a surprise when Pope John Paul agreed in June 1979 to visit Ireland. It was then decided he would visit all four provinces and, due to the tight timeframe, that each centre to be visited would do its own organisation. It meant many last-minute changes. The decision to have him visit two centres in Connacht was because the site at Knock was “very contained”, so a special youth Mass was planned for Galway.
Pope John Paul himself remained determined to visit Northern Ireland even after the murder of Lord Mountbatten and 18 British soldiers at Warrenpoint in August of that year. But he was prevailed upon by Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich not to do so as, while there was no threat to his own personal safety, the same could not be guaranteed for the people who would wish to see him.
The bishop did not believe Pope John Paul would be surprised at the Ireland of today. In his talk at Limerick he had spoken of the challenges Ireland faced, he said. In general, and while the visit went well, Bishop Smith said he was happy “to see him [the pope] on the plane at Shannon.”
At the papal cross in Drogheda last Sunday Cardinal Seán Brady noted how Pope John Paul had “made a very special appeal to all who, he said, are called to the noble vocation of politics. He urged them to have courage and to face up to their responsibilities”.
The cardinal continued: “The challenge is ever timely and relevant not just for politicians, for all leaders. The cause of peace, reconciliation and justice will always require the courage to adopt policies that promote the genuine common good.”
“John Paul ‘to be more than a saint’”
Jesus’ understudy?
If this is what ‘sainthood’ is all about (a popularity contest) then I am even more disillusioned than ever with the catholic church.
OK, I’ll be devil’s advocate. Have either of these two most recent popes broken new ground either theologically or devotionally, to the extent required? They are truly remarkable, but are they on the same level as the other doctors named?
My summary of JP2:
Destroying USSR: awesome!
Allowing US Catholic Church to be overrun by child molesters and heretics: horrible!
I’m not sure if doctor status, or even Saint status, is justified.
God is the judge of who is and who isn't a saint so what you or I think doesn't matter. The Church only acknowledges what God ordains.
> “John Paul ‘to be more than a saint’”
Super Saint?
That’s my feeling, too, with respect to his achievements as Pope. He could have turned things around, but he didn’t, and his failure to even attempt to apply discipline left the good disheartened and the bad crowing triumphantly. The current Pope is doing his best to get control of the situation again, but JPII let it get so out of hand that I’m not sure he’s really going to be able to achieve this.
And as for “Doctor of the Church,” no way. Unless perhaps they’re doing it on a per-volume basis. I will grant that he wrote a lot. But none of it was great and a lot of it was, frankly, just wordy and vague.
Not sure what this means. Are you asserting that popes are popular in the world? The world mostly reviles and seeks to destroy them.
Actually, this all made sense once I saw that it was an Irish bishop. Of all the countries, Ireland, once the Catholic country par excellence, the source of vocations that sent missionary priests and nuns all over the world, the mainstay of the English-speaking church, is now a complete ruin. After the sex and financial scandals of the last few years - some of them involving bishops - the Irish have simply given up and are now sinking to the English level of non-practice.
So it makes sense that this should come from the (probably very liberal) bishop of a country that had an abundance of the very problems that JPII tolerated.
The only things that jump out at me are “Theology of the Body” and “Veritatis Splendor”. On another level, however, JPII gave his most profound teaching in the simple act of forgiveness toward Mahmet Ali Agca.
I understand what some say about “volume” versus “content”. I think Paul VI’s “Humana Vitae” will go down as one of the most important documents (in all its briefness) in Church history.
**Doctor of the Church. **
This wouldn’t surprise me because of his authorship of ‘Theology of the Body.’
But I would think more readily, that Pope Benedict XVI will be pronounced a Doctor of the Church.
In terms of impact, at least, i would say yes to JPII's Theology of the Body. It may not have broken any new ground, per se, but it tied things together in a way that needed to be tied together at a time when the world is especially in need of a clear moral teachings on this subject. The fruits from TOB i think will be many and long-lasting, and hopefully more people will be exposed to it as i feel it would have a big impact in reshaping the way we view sex and the way we view one another. Certainly JPII being named a Doctor of the Church would help tremendously in ensuring that it will continue to be studied and taught around the world.
Super Saint??!??
Frequent the liberal, modernist websites and you'll hear what a dour, autocratic ogre JPII was and how he stifled discussion of important issues, e.g. women priests. Too conditioned by his experiences with communism, they say, to let the Church embrace the "spirit of Vatican II".
Frequent conservative sites and you'll hear that he was a hands-off academic who never kicked anywhere near the amount of butt that he should have and as a result, he let the Church go to hell.
Same applies to the present Pope also, to some degree.
What a thankless and difficult job.
But it is not.
Did you even read the article?
Keep in mind reporters are idiots when it comes to religion reporting. The title Doctor of The Church given to a Saint is an honorific not a promotion.
Not only are the innocent children being murdered because members of the Catholic Church are often feverishly promoting abortion but these sinning Catholic politicians will not go to heaven. The Bible clearly states that no murdered shall enter the gates of heaven. The Church might as well push these people into hell if the very institute they hold up as their Church does not discipline them. They need to be disciplined in order to repent. Also, the general Church people including many young women who do not see these sinning members get disciplined often do not take The Church seriously and end up being "pro choice" and even getting abortions of their own. Also, the general public does not witness these sinners getting disciplined and The Church which is suppose to give light to the world ends up shedding darkness.
According to the First Vatican Council The Catholic Church established that clearly The Pope is responsible for discipline at all levels of the Catholic Church. They have not carried out their necessary responsibilities. This cannot be denied. The First Vatican Council clearly states:
If anyone thus speaks, that the Roman Pontiff has only the office of inspection or direction, but not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the universal Church, not only in things which pertain to faith and morals, but also in those which pertain to the discipline and government of the Church spread over the whole world; or, that he possesses only the more important parts, but not the whole plenitude of this supreme power; or that this power of his is not ordinary and immediate, or over the churches altogether and individually, and over the pastors and the faithful altogether and individually: let him be anathema.
Sorry, but I’ve seen this and it’s just plain ol’ silly. “HomoPater” looks like the Flash’s grandfather, HotFlash.
Still, God does have a sense of humor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.