Posted on 05/11/2010 8:01:55 AM PDT by Pyro7480
"We have to re-learn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues."
Thus, Benedict XVI today on the way to Portugal.
My friend John L. Allen Jr., the fair-minded nearly ubiquitous, who is sadly still correspondent for for the ultra-liberal NRC, provided an English translation of the airplane presser with Benedict XVI on the way to Lisbon.
He spoke of the economic crisis, secularization, the clerical abuse crisis and the "third secret" of Fatima.
Here is an excerpt with my relevant emphases and comments.
Q: Now we look to Fatima, which will be the spiritual culmination of this trip. What meaning do the apparitions of Fatima have for us today? When you presented the Third Secret of Fatima in a press conference at the Vatican Press Office in June 2000, you were asked if the message of the secret could be extended beyond the assassination attempt against John Paul II to other sufferings of the popes. Could it also be extended to put the suffering of the church today in the context of that vision, including the sins of the sexual abuse of minors?
Benedict XVI: First of all, I want to express my joy to go to Fatima, to pray before the Madonna of Fatima, and to experience the presence of the faith there, where from the little ones a new force of the faith was born. It’s not limited to the little ones, but has a message for the whole world and all epochs of history, it illuminates this history. As I said in the presentation, there is a supernatural impulse which doesn’t come simply from someone’s imagination but from the supernatural reality of the Virgin Mary. [Which leads one to wonder why the whole business of the "secrets" was handled the way it was.] That impulse enters into a subject, and is expressed according to the possibilities of the subject, who is determined by his or her historic situation. The supernatural impulse is translated, so to speak, according to the subject’s possibilities for imagining it and expressing it. In this expression formed by the subject, there are always hidden possibilities to go beyond, to go deeper. Only with time can we see all the depth which was, so to speak, dressed in this vision, which was possible for the concrete person.
With regard to this great vision of the suffering of the popes, beyond [!] the circumstances of John Paul II, other realities are indicated which over time will develop and become clear. Thus it’s true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, one speaks about and sees the necessity of suffering by the church. It’s focused on the person of the pope, but the pope stands for the church, and therefore sufferings of the church are announced. The church will always be suffering in various ways, up to the end of the world. The important point is that the message of Fatima in its substance is not addressed to particular situations, [Get that?] but a fundamental response: permanent conversion, penance, prayer, and the three cardinal virtues: faith, hope and charity. One sees there the true, fundamental response the church must give, which each of us individually must give, in this situation.
In terms of what we today can discover in this message, attacks against the pope or the church don’t come just from outside the church. The suffering of the church also comes from within the church, because sin exists in the church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way. The greatest persecution of the church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside, but is born in sin within the church. The church thus has a deep need to re-learn penance, to accept purification, to learn on one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. Forgiveness does not exclude justice. We have to re-learn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues. That’s how we respond, and we can be realistic in expecting that evil will always launch attacks from within and from outside, but the forces of good are also always present, and finally the Lord is stronger than evil. The Madonna for us is the visible maternal guarantee that the will of God is always the last word in history.
Catholic ping!
Yes, such as Vatican II. "It will be clearer after 1960".
Sure sounds like we didn’t get the whole secret.
This is a caucus, go discuss why churches shouldn’t have crosses on top of them somewhere else.
This is a Caucus thread. Please play by the rules. If you don’t know what they are, look at the Religion Moderator’s profile.
Absolutely fascinating!
**but a fundamental response: permanent conversion, penance, prayer, and the three cardinal virtues: faith, hope and charity. One sees there the true, fundamental response the church must give, which each of us individually must give, in this situation.**
Also the attacks from within the church comment.
I wonder if that was some sort of veiled jab at Schönborn.
The wolves are both inside and outside the Church.
I pray that Benedict XVI is exactly the right man at the right time.
I mean this totally sincerely and respectfully, why does this matter? I don’t understand the whole hoopla about the third secret. Maybe it was totally revealed, maybe it wasn’t. Does it really matter?
I’ve never understood the fervor that Fatima inspires. I’m much more Tepeyac Hill gal myself.
That was too funny! LOL
In which case, the statement that “The important point is that the message of Fatima in its substance is not addressed to particular situations” could be interpreted as a repudiation of that interpretation by Pope Benedict XVI.
I would guess the fact that it concerns these days would be part of it, that and the Miracle of the Sun.
I’m much more Tepeyac Hill gal myself.
That's perfectly legitimate. I myself hope to venerate the Tilma.
How so? Is that just the assumption, or is it known somehow? And how does the Miracle of the Sun fit in?
As for the Miracle of the Sun, the fact that 70,000 witnessed it, religious and atheist alike, underscored the veracity of the message. According to one devotee, she [Our Lady] did this to underscore the fact that Fatima is one of the most important if not the most important message she has ever given in history."
Oh....you were talking about why the strong devotion to Fatima. I thought you were talking about the third secret. I’m off to get some coffee....provided the children don’t kill themselves first, sounds like I should investigate.
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