Enter The Belgian Ratzinger

New Oxford Review ^ | March 2010

[marshmallow]

In the post-Vatican II years, Belgium and the Netherlands have been known as the "lowlands" of liberal Catholicism. Here one is likely to find the most impoverished kind of Christianity in all of Christendom throughout history. Even the most liberal dioceses in the U.S. look rosy in comparison to the anemia that has long set in throughout the Lowlands. These are countries where those precious few who still attend Mass sit through the entire liturgy - no kneeling, no standing; and in some places, like the Church of the Madeleine in Brugge, Belgium, they sit on barstools instead of in pews.

The Netherlands, of course, gave the world the bestselling Dutch Catechism, the infamous 1966 re-writing of the tenets of the Catholic faith, specifically formulated to appeal to those hankering for a morally mushy brand of Christianity. The book, put together by the Dutch hierarchy, was deemed so "undogmatic" and misleading that American Bishop Robert Joyce refused to give his imprimatur to an edition slated to appear in the U.S.

Just next door, Belgium is home to the beautiful campus of the Catholic University of Louvain. Rich in history, Louvain (Leuven in Flemish) has earned a reputation as the most liberal pontifical university in the world. If you think Notre Dame and Georgetown are morally and religiously ambiguous, these flagship Catholic universities in North America glow positively traditional when compared to Louvain.

Further, both the Netherlands and Belgium have boasted the most liberal cardinals in the land in recent decades. The leader of the Church in Belgium is traditionally the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. Since 1962 this post has been held by just two men. On the orthodoxy meter, Leo Jozef Cardinal Suenens (1961-1980) and Godfried Cardinal Daneels (1980-2010) were about the equivalent of Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Joseph Cardinal.............

[marshmallow]

Again, this piece dates from March of this year and predates the recent dramatic events in Belgian including the movement of the Belgian state against the Church.

I believe it helps to put recent events in context and provides a background to recent developments.

Interesting that this rapid deterioration in Church-state relations should coincide with the arrival of the "Belgian Ratzinger."

[massmike]

save for later

[GinaLolaB]

Thanks for the info.

[SuziQ]

The pope's choice could undermine the compromise that allows us to live together with respect for everyone."

Yep, that' 'splains the wrath brought down on the Church by the Belgian authorities.

[GonzoII]

"Archbishop Leonard has already regularly challenged decisions made by our parliament Concerning AIDS, he's against the use of condoms even while people are dying from it every day. He is against abortion and euthanasia. . .. The pope's choice could undermine the compromise that allows us to live together with respect for everyone."

Will this spell an end to their vocation crisis, I bet it does.

[Salvation]

Great find. Especially since it is from March of this year. Makes one wonder how much the Pope knows about what is going on and how little we know — and all of us here on FR are fairly well informed.

Now the CINOs in some of our pews -— sigh.........They have no idea what is even happening in their own church! So sad, really.

[Salvation]

**about the equivalent of Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Joseph Cardinal Bernardin - at best.&**

 

LOL!  Now we know what kind of (former) bishops we are dealing with in Belgium!  LOL!

[Salvation]

**At long last, Pope BenedictXVI has accepted his resignation and appointed a new primate of Belgium - a man who appears to be Daneels's polar opposite. Known as the "Belgian Ratzinger," Archbishop Andre Mutien Leonard was named the new archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels on January 18. As you might imagine, he's creating quite an uproar in the Lowlands. Where Daneels and Suenens consistently questioned and undermined Church teaching on the hot-button moral issues of the day, Leonard has been an outspoken opponent of abortion and euthanasia, and criticized the Catholic University of Louvain for its research into assisted reproduction and embryonic stem-cell exploitation. **

 

Very telling paragraph!

[sayuncledave]

Thank you, Marshmallow. This does help. especially with the (now)rather suspicious timing. I’d be inclined to say (tinfoil hat on) that this was, in part, an attempt to tar the good Archbishop with a brush designed for his predecessor, because those in government dislike having someone speak the Church’s genuine teachings. At least, that is how it seems to me. (tinfoil hat off)