Posted on 09/01/2015 3:53:50 AM PDT by NYer
Huge news. This was under embargo till noon, Rome time, which must be honored. [UPDATE: The Bollettino is now available HERE]
The Year of Mercy begins 8 December 2015 until 20 November 2016.
It is about to be announced that the Holy Father has sent a letter to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization about the upcoming Extraordinary Year of Mercy.
In this letter the Pope says that he is granting to all priests the faculty to absolve from the sin of abortion. He writes: “I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it.” Interesting way to word it.
He also says that the faithful may go to … well… read it yourself. Here is a screenshot from the doc:
This is HUGE news.
Let’s examine this.
First, note the language. This letter says that he hopes that the SSPX will be reconciled. He says that he hears good things about the priests of the SSPX. But he says that the faithful may approach the priests of the SSPX for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) and that they shall validly and licitly receive absolution. He doesn’t say that he is granting the priests the faculty to receive sacramental confessions. He places the emphasis on the faithful. In effect, the priests are being given the faculty to hear confessions, but there is a different emphasis. I have the sense that it is the need of the faithful who otherwise might not go to a non-SSPX priest that the Holy Father is stressing. Think about the case of a person who is dying and there is, say, an ex-priest -a guy who was “laicized” because he committed certain crimes, present, the Church’s laws says that in the circumstances of the person’s danger of death any validly ordained priest automatically has the faculty validly to absolve. The need of the dying person is of such overwhelming importance that the law itself grants the ex-priest (or suspended priest, etc.) the faculty. The stress is on the need of the dying person, not on the priest. I think this is an analogous situation.
Along with this, the fact of Pope Francis’ move, together with the wording, confirms what I have been saying all along about the priests of the SSPX: they do not and have not had the faculty validly to absolve sins! The fact that this is being granted for the Year of Mercy bears out what I have been saying.
That said, if the Holy Father is willing to go this far with the priests of the SSPX, is it hard to imagine that this merciful concession might not be extended beyond the Year of Mercy? I would like to think so!
Next, this concession also underscores a point I have been making all along. If only Nixon could go to China, perhaps Pope Francis is the Pope who will reconcile the SSPX!
Additionally, this could irritate some bishops in, say, France… Germany…. And even though this may not be well received in certain circles, the Pope is doing it anyway.
Moreover, earlier in his pontificate, this Pope was pretty hard on priests. He seemed to be bashing them on a daily basis. This move to grant all priests in the world the faculty to lift the censure which results from procuring an abortion is a sign of his confidence in priests… for a change.
I take heart from this bold move – which makes so much sense (to me at least) – in favor of the access the faithful will have to sacrament of penance. I hope that it will also spark a wider discussion on the positive things that will come from the reconciliation of the SSPX. I hope that discussion takes place even among the SSPXers themselves.
May all the followers of the SSPX , please God, look at this move with joy and with gratitude for the concern the Pope is showing to them.
And… to everyone… GO TO CONFESSION!
But… remember, the Year of Mercy hasn’t started yet and the SSPX does not yet have their faculty. GO TO CONFESSION with priest with faculties!
UPDATE 1020 UTC:
The Fishwrap has posted on this now. They get it wrong, of course. They openly call the SSPXers “schismatic”.
“What is “essentially schismatic”?”
It is understood by those who actually have a clue. I guess you don’t.
“Is that like “partially pregnant”?”
Nope. See, you really don’t have a clue.
Once again, answer the question: “What is “essentially schismatic”? Stop your dodging.
Is Karl Marx or Kardinal Kasper “essentially schismatic”?
And whom may "those" usefull idiots of yours be? Those who have the "clues"?
Too bad. Deal with it. We honor Mary. End of story.
Puerile comment, to say the least.
Then why not find another thread? Catholics have heard it all before too. Frankly, I'm not interested in all the rhetoric we get posted by those into anti-Catholicism.
He's well known for those. Pay no mind to the child behind the curtain.
He appealed to Mary the created being and not Jesus the Creator of the created being.
. Someone has their priorities backward.
Going to another priest for auricular Confession is mandatory for all Catholics. The Pope himself can go to Confession to any priest. Where Paul went, who knows? He may have gone to Peter!
“Once again, answer the question: “What is “essentially schismatic”? Stop your dodging.”
It’s not dodging. It’s deliberately “letting you hang”.
“Is Karl Marx or Kardinal Kasper “essentially schismatic”?”
Are you “essentially schismatic”?
Should have had made this a Catholic caucus thread.
“And whom may “those” usefull idiots of yours be?”
They’re not idiots and they’re not mine.
“Those who have the “clues”?”
Clue, not clues. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/have+a+clue
😉 It had to be you...🎹🎶... It had to be you...🎵🎻... I scrolled on down, and finally found, font face size 2...
Mary sinful? That perspective = crock.
Yes, I think so. Holy Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
As a matter of fact, I believe you, Kasper and Marx to all be schismatics; not essentially, but actually. There is no such thing as "essentially" schismatic. You make stuff up.
How is Karl Marx, an unbaptized man of ancestrally Jewish religion, “schismatic”? He is simply a non-Catholic.
Sorry for being pedantic, but you seem to have a conversation about meaning of words.
FRiend, however you perceive it, if you are not Catholic, you don’t fully understand. But why is it assn issue if you aren’t Catholic?
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