Posted on 03/16/2016 2:41:20 PM PDT by NYer
March 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- On March 16, speaking publicly on a rare occasion, Pope Benedict XVI gave an interview to Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, in which he spoke of a “two-sided deep crisis” the Church is facing in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The report has already hit Germany courtesy of Vaticanist Guiseppe Nardi, of the German Catholic news website Katholisches.info.
Pope Benedict reminds us of the formerly indispensable Catholic conviction of the possibility of the loss of eternal salvation, or that people go to hell:
The missionaries of the 16th century were convinced that the unbaptized person is lost forever. After the [Second Vatican] Council, this conviction was definitely abandoned. The result was a two-sided, deep crisis. Without this attentiveness to the salvation, the Faith loses its foundation.
He also speaks of a “profound evolution of Dogma” with respect to the Dogma that there is no salvation outside the Church. This purported change of dogma has led, in the pope's eyes, to a loss of the missionary zeal in the Church – “any motivation for a future missionary commitment was removed.”
Pope Benedict asks the piercing question that arose after this palpable change of attitude of the Church: “Why should you try to convince the people to accept the Christian faith when they can be saved even without it?”
As to the other consequences of this new attitude in the Church, Catholics themselves, in Benedict's eyes, are less attached to their Faith: If there are those who can save their souls with other means, “why should the Christian be bound to the necessity of the Christian Faith and its morality?” asked the pope. And he concludes: “But if Faith and Salvation are not any more interdependent, even Faith becomes less motivating.”
Pope Benedict also refutes both the idea of the “anonymous Christian” as developed by Karl Rahner, as well as the indifferentist idea that all religions are equally valuable and helpful to attain eternal life.
“Even less acceptable is the solution proposed by the pluralistic theories of religion, for which all religions, each in its own way, would be ways of salvation and, in this sense, must be considered equivalent in their effects,” he said. In this context, he also touches upon the exploratory ideas of the now-deceased Jesuit Cardinal, Henri de Lubac, about Christ's putatively “vicarious substitutions” which have to be now again “further reflected upon.”
With regard to man's relation to technology and to love, Pope Benedict reminds us of the importance of human affection, saying that man still yearns in his heart “that the Good Samaritan come to his aid.”
He continues: “In the harshness of the world of technology – in which feelings do not count anymore – the hope for a saving love grows, a love which would be given freely and generously.”
Benedict also reminds his audience that: “The Church is not self-made, it was created by God and is continuously formed by Him. This finds expression in the Sacraments, above all in that of Baptism: I enter into the Church not by a bureaucratic act, but with the help of this Sacrament.” Benedict also insists that, always, “we need Grace and forgiveness.”
Catholic ping!
He remains my Pope.
Ask your pope why he quit.
The current ‘Pope’ is a communist.
Jesus, and God, are not.
Pope Benedict asks: “Miss Me Yet?” Yes, my Pontiff, yes we do miss you very much. Far more than I ever expect to.
can he run a coup to get his job back?
+1
Beautiful! Thank you!
You'd have to convince people that yours is the superior or preferable path to God, of course.
Why is that such an inconceivable situation? God is infinite. The idea that there is more than one path to him is entirely reasonable. It is actually the essence of the oldest religion on Earth, the Vedas. It enables peaceful resolution of religious differences. And, of course, while not a religious doctrine, it is the essence of the 1st Amendment.
Has Benedict repented of his sins?
One can only wonder what he thinks has happened to his predecessors subsequent to Vatican II. Perhaps he realizes that having not repented for their sin of creating a new religion and dumping the Church of Jesus Christ they are now living in hell’s torment.
When he stepped down, I surmised that he must be suffering from some terminal disease, and wouldn’t last very long. Now I don’t know what to think about his resignation.
I’m not convinced that he is blaming Vatican II here at all. His words seem to suggest that the issues happened after the Council, not because of the Council.
Wow. WHat a difference. What a shame that he stepped down.
I’m reading Jesus of Nazareth: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. I purchased it two or three years ago meaning to read it (listen to audio version) leading up to Good Friday and Easter. I love it.
If he saw a crisis in the church, why resign and cede the papacy to the leftists?
How did they get this one out? He’s virtually under house arrest.
Like most humble individuals, he never wanted to be pope. He accepted the appointment "as a humble servant". At every turn, he was met with an onslaught of progressivists who placed stumbling blocks. Perhaps it was more than he could handle. He signaled his trepidation but few noticed. Scott Hahn, however, picked up on this and posted the following, after his resignation.
Back on April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI did something rather striking, but which went largely unnoticed.He stopped off in Aquila, Italy, and visited the tomb of an obscure medieval Pope named St. Celestine V (1215-1296). After a brief prayer, he left his pallium, the symbol of his own episcopal authority as Bishop of Rome, on top of Celestine's tomb!
Fifteen months later, on July 4, 2010, Benedict went out of his way again, this time to visit and pray in the cathedral of Sulmona, near Rome, before the relics of this same saint, Celestine V.
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Pray for him and Pope Francis!
Duplicate of the immediately preceding post which has been here for a while.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3410018/posts
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