Posted on 08/09/2004 3:48:56 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
Abuja, Argentina, Aug. 09 (CNA/CWNews.com) - Speaking with the Polish Catholic news agency KAI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (bio - news) said that the "new springtime" of the Church is a reality, but that it will not "necessarily" be significant in terms of numbers.
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told KAI that there are groups of the new generations in the Church today who represent "a new springtime of the Church that renews the world." The cardinal explained that "we should not think that in the near future Christianity will become a movement of the masses again, going back to a situation like Medieval times."
"At least we cannot expect that in the current conditions," he added.
Nevertheless, recalling a phrase used by the Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union, Ratzinger said that "the powerful minorities, which have something to say and something to bring to society, will determine the future."
You gotta be freaking kidding me. You are kidding right?
It's too bad this 'prediction' has its genesis in 'the opiate of the people' guy, but maybe the Minorities will have more of an affinity for Tradition?
But back to something the New Oxford Review stated several years ago: The Future Belongs to the Fertile.
P.S. But, of all the quote joints in all of the world, he had to pick Lenin's to make a pit stop in?
The New Springtime, if there is one, consists of those Catholics who have found their way to traditional Catholicism.
Cardinal Ratzinger makes me uneasy. He speaks from both sides. One minute he supports traditionalists and the next minute he says something outrageous like this.
He was a big player in the VII revolution. I thought he had softened in his later years but quotes like this make me think not.
No one will ever admit it.
Ping for your thoughts.
Is Cardinal Ratzinger to be trusted?
(traditional Catholic ping list -- freepmail if you want off or on)
He strikes me as someone who may have been becoming a closet traditionalist while on the job, but unable to openly act and speak freely for traditional Catholicism. That's just rank speculation.
It's not about numbers. Is it about scandals?
"He speaks from both sides..."
Papal election coming up...
My faith in the epicopal hasn't fallen that far.
Lots of theologians make me uneasy. Sometimes they do not take into account the sensitivities of their audience. I am the first to admit that Cardinal Ratzinger is sometimes guilty of talking about 'frivolous' things and forgetting to mention the important things. So he goes on and on and on about details and complex theological propositions. Sometimes he can cause a stir, because he does that without thoroughly discussing the fundamentals, which he assumes everyone already agrees to. When Ratzinger writes about the Eucharist, for example, he often does not expound repeatedly on the Real Presence of Christ. He feels the points on that have been made, and they are set in stone, and everyone believes it. So he talks more about other things. But people think because he does not emphasize that, he is somehow against it.
Excuse me, but aren't bishops supposed to tell us what is essential about the faith and what is not? Does he "just happen" to leave out the Real Presence when talking about the Eucharist--or is it by design? One never knows with Ratzinger. Do you think Catholics have stopped kneeling for Communion for better traffic control during Mass--or is that just a pretext? Is there a modernist agenda, do you suppose?
Who is the real Cardinal Ratzinger?
Only ignorant people think Ratzinger is "against" the Real Presence.
Very ignorant people.
Ratzinger is merely walking the walk, and talking the talk of his boss. From the same CNA website:
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, August 9 (CNA) - During the Angelus prayer held yesterday at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Pope John Paul II once again recalled Pope Paul VI and his encyclical about the Church, adding that the Second Vatican Council marked a true renewal of the Church.
In his first encyclical ‘Ecclesiam suam’, Paul VI “declared his passionate love for the Church, which is called to reflect the glorious light of Christ’s face, and indicated several fundamental ‘ways of the Church’: conscience, renewal, dialogue,” said Pope John Paul.
Quoting the encyclical, the pontiff continued: “The Church is alive today more than ever! But when one considers, it seems that there is still a lot to do; the work begins today and never ends.”
“These words,” said the Pope, “reflect our actual reality and motivate all believers to carry on, in a conscious way, in the authentic ecclesial renewal, introduced by the Second Vatican Council.”
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