Posted on 08/18/2002 11:40:35 AM PDT by narses
Two centuries ago, one of the most horrific punishments the British Admiralty could impose on a rebellious crewman was to tie his legs to a rope and drag him under water across the keel of a ship. This torture was known as keel-hauling, and it usually resulted in the death of the offender.
Today the Catholic Church is under assault from all sides: both from without and from within. The latest and most egregious assault is that launched by the U.S. Catholic Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, presided over by Cardinal Archbishop William Keeler of Baltimore. In the document entitled, "Reflections on Covenant and Mission" the joint committee, composed by the U.S. Catholic delegation and a group representing liberal American Judaism (known in Jewish circles as "Conservative Judaism"), called upon Catholics to reject any theological argument in favor of converting Jews to the Catholic Faith.
This wholly novel and heretical thesis was hailed by the US. Bishop's Office of Communications on Aug. 13 as another step in "the growing respect for the Jewish tradition that has unfolded since the Second Vatican Council." The Boston Globe, perhaps one of the most anti-Catholic and bigoted newspapers in the country, in a front page article entitled "Catholics reject evangelization of Jews" by Michael Paulson, lost all composure and described the document as an official alteration of Catholic teaching: "The Catholic Church, which spent hundreds of years trying forcibly to convert Jews to Christianity, has come to the conclusion that it is theologically unacceptable to target Jews for evangelization." (Aug. 13, p. 1) Cardinal Keeler greeted the document with these words, "This joint reflection marks a significant step forward in the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community in this country." However, it should be clear to all informed Catholics that no committee report from any ecclesiastical body can alter the teaching of the Church.
These reports concerning the document are not exaggerations, however scandalous they may appear to the reader; for the argument advanced in "Reflections on Covenant and Mission" (hereafter ROCM), while attempting an over-haul the faith has in fact keel-hauled it; it eviscerates the truth of the Catholic Faith and the claims of Christ Jesus to be the Messiah by twisting the plain sense of scripture and by advancing concepts wholly at odds with the teaching of Christ and His Church.
To understand how grave and false is the thesis advanced in ROCM, it is sufficient to outline and examine the theological argument it propounds among the many quotes and footnotes of the document published by the USCCB. Such a study will show that it bases itself on the assertion that the Mosaic Covenant remains in force, and hence that it remains a source of salvation for Jews who reject Christ and His Church. ROCM does this succinctly in its Introduction, where it advances this argument,
Lets examine this argument point by point. First Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document on the relations of the Church to non-Christian religions, which was published on October 28, 1965 says this about Romans 11:28-29, in paragraph 4d,
Indeed Romans 11:28-29 reads,
which I translate as,
As is clear, Romans here does not refer to keeping of the Mosaic Covenant, but rather to the Messiah promised to those who kept it. Indeed the learned Tridentine exegete, Father Cornelius a Lapide in his Commentarium in sacram scripturam, vol IX, writes
If one but considers the plain statement of ROCM, regarding Nostra Aetate, it is clear that is has ignored the context completely, namely that "As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation,(cf. Lk. 19:44) nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a few opposed its spreading.(cf. Rom. 11:28)" (NA n. 4d). And likewise, Nostra Aetate has ignored completely what St. Paul had written, for he describes his own people under two aspects, that of "being very dear to God on account of the Patriarchs" and "enemies of the gospel" (Rom 11:28). To say that they are very dear to God for the sake of their ancestors, in now way exonerates them for being enemies of the Gospel on account of their personal sin of refusing it. Inasmuch as they continue to refuse it, each and every Jew as a individual, if he refuses it, commits mortal sin and becomes an enemy of the Gospel, just like any believer, Muslim or pagan who likewise rejects it.
Nevertheless Cardinal Keeler is correct, there is a progress going on here; but it is not progressing towards the truth.
Secondly, ROCM refers to a statement made by Pope John Paul II, ("Address to the Jewish Community in Mainz, West Germany," November 17,1980), of which it quotes only one passage, "the people of God of the Old Covenant, never revoked by God." Without recourse to the document, it is not clear what the Pope intended by this statement.
But to say that the Mosaic Covenant has not been revoked in the normal manner of speech is contrary to the Faith, as can be clearly seen from scripture, tradition, and the teachings of the Church.
First, St. Paul himself in the Letter to the Hebrews says that the Prophet Jerimiah foretold the end of the Mosaic Covenant (Heb. 8:7ff), concluding by saying "Now in saying new, he hath made the former old. And that which decayeth and groweth old, is near its end." (Heb. 8:13), the context of which is obviously that now (the now of St. Paul) the Old Covenant had ended. Commenting on this passage Father a Lapide writes, "Since God through Jerimiah says, 'I shall consummate a new covenant', He openly signifies, that the first Mosaic covenant, the one in the time of Jerimiah, would in a little while be antiquated, grow old and fail, and hence not endure."
This reading has always been held in the Catholic Church; hence the infallible ecumenical Council of Florence in the papal bull, Cantate Domino, declared,
It is clear, therefore, that the Pope to ingratiate himself with the Jews has publicly voiced an opinion contrary to the faith, and that therefore all Catholics are bound not to accept this error; and indeed to reject it completely.. This is further enforced by what the Council of Florence taught in the same Bull,
So, to return to ROCM, it is clear now that it bases its argument on ignoring scripture and on a papal statement that likewise ignores the infallible papal teaching of Pope Eugene IV, to which all Catholics, including the Pope, are required to hold fast.
It continues its line of reasoning by quoting Cardinal Walter Kasper (whose nomination as a Cardinal even Cardinal Ratzinger opposed on doctrinal grounds) in saying:
I do not know where Cardinal Kasper gets his definitions, but perhaps he forgets what Our Lord Jesus Christ taught, "No one can come to the Father except through Me". Thus, there is no true Monotheism without Christ and since there is no true faith in Christ except through holding the Catholic Faith, and since properly speaking "mission" means in Sacred Scripture a "sending on God's behalf for the purpose of making His will known," there is no mission except in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If Cardinal Kasper was correct, the Holy Spirit made a mistake on Pentecost, because among the first 3,000 to convert at the preaching of St. Peter were devout Jews from every nation.
More absurd even than this, ROCM argues that Christ's great Mandate to "baptise all nations" refers only to the Gentiles, since the Greek "ethnos" which means nations in English, is the translation of the Hebrew "goiim" which never refers to the Jewish people. I suppose it is not so improbable to Archbishop Keeler that he has an infallible gift to know what Hebrew words Our Lord used when He spoke on Ascension Thursday, since they are not recorded in any written document; but if you have no trouble in accepting the Archbishop's implicit claim to charismatic gifts, then ROCM will seem perfectly Catholic.
To summarize, the argument of "Reflections on Covenant and Mission" is wholly false. It distorts the plain meaning of scripture--which is a sacrilege according to St. Alphonsus dei Liguori--it elevates to the level of an infallible statement a comment made by Pope John Paul II during a visit to a German synagogue; it implicitly rejects the infallible teaching of the Ecumenical Council of Florence which emphatically states that the terms of the Old Covenant have ended and have been superseded by the New, so much so that to practice them now is a mortal sin; and it propounds an entirely novel definition of "mission", so as to embrace both Old and New Covenant terms in one, as if there were no distinction.
Ought we be shocked at the many statements in ROCM, by the Pope, by Cardinal Kasper and Keeler? Yes. But we ought not take scandal from them. Our Catholic Faith is based not on the faith of men, of whatever office or station in the Church, nor on their opinions, but on the Resurrection of Christ and the infallible teachings of the Church. Let us refute the errors of ROCM and let us pray that our pastors return from the errors they have fallen into, for Our Lord never promised that they would not as men fail, but only that they would not require us to accept their errors as a matter of faith. Let us hold fast to Christ speaking through Pope Eugene IV and thereby discern that He is not speaking to us through ROCM.
Br. Alexis Bugnolo
8/16/2002
Mt 15:21-28
At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.
Jesus' disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.
As I recall, even the early church fathers believed that they were to bring the "good news" only to the Jews, to whom the Messiah had been promised.
Chalk up one more deplorable document from the USCCB this year.
Secondly, ROCM refers to a statement made by Pope John Paul II, ("Address to the Jewish Community in Mainz, West Germany," November 17,1980), of which it quotes only one passage, "the people of God of the Old Covenant, never revoked by God." Without recourse to the document, it is not clear what the Pope intended by this statement.
But to say that the Mosaic Covenant has not been revoked in the normal manner of speech is contrary to the Faith, as can be clearly seen from scripture, tradition, and the teachings of the Church.
All good points here.
It is clear, therefore, that the Pope to ingratiate himself with the Jews has publicly voiced an opinion contrary to the faith, and that therefore all Catholics are bound not to accept this error; and indeed to reject it completely..
This is why I will never join the extreme traditionalists.
Correct me if I'm wrong, please but it seems to me that in one breath, this author notes JPII has been taken out of context, then in the next he uses the same text taken out of context as proof that the Pope has committed heresy (publicly voiced an opinion contrary to the faith) and that Catholics should reject this "error."
And folks here say I need to get off the fence and join such nonsense as this, typical of the rush of some "traditionalists" to condemn the words and actions of our Pope?
It is the bitterness and bile and blatant errors of "traditionalists" that keeps me firmly in the post-conciliar conservative Catholic camp. I might be an Indult Latin Mass conservative Catholic (whenever possible, which is not often enough) but I will never be the kind of traditionalist Catholic exemplified by this article. It simply goes too far when it states the Pope has committed heresy, i.e., "publicly voiced an opinion contrary to the faith."
IMHO, full respect to my beloved Holy Father, the Pope has not been clear and that is a problem. The Vatican IMHO has beating around the bush ever since Vatican II about the status of the Jews. To the Jews they beat around the bush, but to us insiders the bottom line with regard to the status of the Jews is that they are saved by "invincible ignorance." Which of course the Jews can't abide. Who can blame them? To say that God's beloved are invincibly ignorant does not seem at all to be consistent with thier dignity and calling before God. And such nomenclature does not do much to quell anti-Semitism. In fact it can be taken to fuel it. This statement by the bishops, I think is an attempt to come to a decision. It is theological brinksmaship because that is what it takes to get anywhere. Steady your nerves people. Everything will work out fine in the end.
And in the meantime, read the Jews side of the story. It's right there in the document. The story of salvation not all about US and what WE think.
Seattle Catholic is infamous as a site that rejects the Bonds of Unity necessary to be Catholic. Br. Alex has written other pieces for them prior to this latest post. I wonder if anyone knows the status of Br. Alex in regards his relationship to the Catholic Church?
I propose "The Remnant" for inclusion on the "Index" because its editor, Mr. Matt,is an infamous signer/promoter of the "We resist you to the face" Document that breaks the Bond of Authority.
I propose "Catholic Family News" for inclusion on the "Index" because its editor John Vennari is an infamous signer/promoter of the "We resist you to the face" Document that breaks the Bond of Authority.
I propose "The Angelus" for inclusion on the "Index" because it is the mouthpiece of the schismatic SSPX.
The material these STOP (Sites That Oppose Pope) sites deal with is also covered/addressed/analysed by GO (Guaranteed Orthodoxy)sites . I don't think it argueable that it is more helpful to build up the Body of Christ by posting from sites in union with the Pope vs posting from sites that oppose the Pope.
I'm actually reading the Pontifical document very carefully, very slowly. So far I've read over half of it, and no where does this document say that the Jews do right to await their messiah, so far.
I think we all need to ignore the media coverage and actually debate the document itself before we accuse Ratzinger of introducing a novel doctrine, right?
"Yes, we should give the Pope every benefit of the doubt. We would give our own natural father as much; why not our spiritual father?"
"Will the real Bro. Alexis, please stand-up..."
Let me clarify:
Yes, I agree that the American USCCB document is heretical, absolutely.
But I'm currently carefully reading the Pontifical Biblical Commission document signed off by Ratzinger.
The Vatican document does NOT say its time to stop evangelizing the Jews.
The Vatican document (from what I have stidied so far, over half the document) does NOT say Jews wait for their messiah is not in vain.
To clarify then...
Yes, this American document is heretical.
No, the Vatican document is not heretical.
As Polycarp has noted (on 8/18 1:22 p.m.), the author of the article that you selected to post, essentially labels the Pope a heretic. Does your silence indicate agreement? I assume it does because you do not publicly respond to Polycarp's response.
Since Polycarp's observation, you haven't repudiated Bro Alexis' scandalous charge. You have had nearly 24 hours to do so; yet, the only remarks you make are about my complaint about posting from sites not in union with the Pope.
Therefore, I have to conclude you agree with Bro. Alexis.
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.