Posted on 04/25/2005 7:11:26 AM PDT by murphE
SMOKE gets in your eyes; and if it happens to be white smoke, announcing the advent of Pope Benedict XVI, and you belong to the "liberal" coterie of fantasists that equates the Catholic Church with Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, it may be a serious irritant.
Is the Pope a Catholic? There is a strong suspicion among the global media, sometimes amounting to hysteria, that the startling answer may be Yes. Is the madness finally over? Have 40 years of Mao-style continuing revolution within the Church run out of steam? Perhaps. Only time will tell; but the election of Pope Benedict raises a variety of hopes, prospects and possibilities that demand examination.
Firstly, it is necessary to dispose of the sexual distractions that obscure the more important issues because the secular media is interested in fornication, not transubstantiation. It is a depressing measure of the cloacal character of our age that the election of a successor of Peter is greeted with a raucous clamour over condoms. The so-called "liberals" are behaving at the moment as if the Church was in the grip of a fierce reaction. That is not happening. The reality is that, after four decades of demolishing the liturgy, devotional practice and Church authority, the wreckers have hit bedrock, reaching the essential core doctrines of the faith, which the indefectible nature of the Church makes it impossible to revise or abandon.
The catalyst of revolution was the Second Vatican Council. It was only a pastoral council, never comparable in authority with Trent or Vatican I. Only two of its documents had any dogmatic pretensions; but that is academic, since the documents were deliberately worded so vaguely as to admit of radical interpretation later. Among the foremost "progressive" advisers (to Cardinal Frings) at the Council was Father Josef Ratzinger, himself greatly influenced by Karl Rahner, the most powerful of the periti (experts) guiding the Council fathers.
All the evidence suggests that, like Blessed Pius IX, the present Pope has resiled from his early liberal tenets. The reasons are not far to seek. "By their fruits you shall know them" was Christ’s advice in Matthew 7, 16. What were the fruits of Vatican II, hyped as a great spiritual "renewal" of the Church? In France, "Eldest Daughter of the Church", attendance at Mass is now down to 8% (2% among young people). In the United States, in 1965, the year Vatican II ended, there were 49,000 men in training for the priesthood; by 2002 it had slumped to 4,700. Today there are around 3,000 parishes in the US without priests. Renewal?
In Britain, 90% of pupils attending Catholic secondary schools lapse from the faith before leaving. The number of baptisms in England and Wales in 1964 was over 137,000; today it is less than half that number. Nearer home, Glasgow archdiocese had 334,000 Catholics and 361 priests on the eve of Vatican II; by 1996 those numbers had fallen to 250,000 and 209 - and that was a decade ago. A survey last year found that, worldwide, 50% of Catholic priests no longer believed in transubstantiation. Renewal?
It falls to Benedict XVI to remedy this situation. He is exceptionally qualified to do so, because he has shown evidence of understanding the roots of the crisis better than his colleagues. Although a number of cardinals in the recent conclave were described as "conservative", Cardinal Ratzinger was probably unique in attaching key importance to reform of the liturgy, as a means of restoring the Church. In 1997 he said: "I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing is to a large extent due to the disintegration of the liturgy..."
That was perceptive and accurate. There is an old Church maxim that runs "lex orandi, lex credendi," meaning simply that the rules by which people pray inform the way in which they believe. The Protestant Reformers acknowledged that and acted accordingly. So did the leaders of the Second Reformation (for that is what the post-Vatican II offensive against Catholic practice and belief amounted to). That is why such extreme measures of repression were employed against the Old Rite of Mass, known as the Tridentine, but dating from the fourth century.
The Old Mass, which has fought its way back into liturgical currency on an extraordinary scale, largely at the behest of young people, would be the ideal instrument of Pope Benedict’s re-evangelisation of the Church and the world. In tandem with a reform of the modern Mass, already tentatively under way, the foundations could be laid for a return to dignified worship and reassertion of doctrine. John Paul II had little interest in liturgical matters: the new Pope is deeply engaged. Therein lies a great hope for the Church. The notion that the Mass - in Catholic belief the bloodless continuation of the sacrifice of Calvary - should be disguised as a Protestant service, in pursuit of false ecumenism, is not tenable.
How will Benedict XVI carry out his mission? His choice of name is significant. By rejecting John, Paul or a combination thereof, he has departed from the blinkered, post-Conciliar psyche that suggests the Church was founded in 1962, rather than two millennia ago. Taken in conjunction with his recent homily, addressing the need to embark on evangelisation of the developed world, it signals a commitment to Europe, whose patron is St Benedict, rather than abandoning it in favour of the Third World.
The European Union’s rejection of Commissioner Buttiglione, for being faithful to the Catholic teaching on homosexuality, and its refusal to include even the most token reference to the continent’s Christian heritage in its proposed constitution, were straws in the wind. The 21st century will be an era of persecution, of one kind or another, for the Catholic Church. Objectively, that is good news: history has shown nothing reinvigorates Catholicism more than persecution, from Diocletian to the filth that was the Spanish Republic.
The Reformation began in Europe in 1519; the Counter-Reformation did not get under way until the Council of Trent, which ended in 1563. The Second Reformation began in 1962: we may soon see the first stirrings of a Second Counter-Reformation. Evviva il Papa.
ping
**we may soon see the first stirrings of a Second Counter-Reformation.**
Keep praying!
Let us hope and pray for a more reverent and prayerful NO Mass. Namely, a better translation of the Latin, greater use of Eucharistic Prayer 1 (it is so beautiful), more Latin (Confiteor, Kyrie, Pater Noster, Agnus Dei), Tabernacle front and center, and good bye Marty Haugen (some of his stuff is good, but others (wincing).
I am watching a replay of a discussion with Cardinal Pell of Australia. My goodness he is an impressive man!
While you were in Australia did you hear Cardinal Pell at all?
This is the thing that has always irritated me more than anything else. Even in the writings of JPII, there were more references to the "documents of the Council" (and his own earlier writings) than to the Fathers of the Church or even previous Popes. It was as though it had all begun 40 years ago.
Where are you getting this information? Just from talking with folks?
Source?
A source that shows the Church has been in decline for the last 40 years? Are you serious?
I think the author's suggestion of wider use of the Tridentine Mass and reform of the Mass of Paul VI is dead on. I go to a church where the new Mass is celebrated in a reverent manner, we often sing or chant in Greek or Latin, and the priest regularly preaches on the importance of the Eucharist. No one who attends my parish can have any doubt that Our Lord is truly present body and blood, soul and divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. There is no good reason why every Novus Ordo parish cannot be like mine.
As for John Paul II, he once again allowed the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, and encouraged societies devoted to it to flourish. He also greatly encouraged orthodoxy among younger Catholics: the seminarians at the North American College who were celebrating Benedict's election were inspired to the priesthood by John Paul.
Catholic Parishes Flourish in Southern U.S.
Number of Catholics Rises by 15 Million (Diocesan Priests Increase; Religious Decrease)
Spanish Catholicism still very robust (3 shrines and The Sagrada Familia)
Catholics outsource praying to India
Catholic Priests in India 'Outsourced' to Meet Clergy Shortage in West
Christian Coalition head (in Ala.) becomes Catholic
Church growth continues for Catholic and Pentecostals; six mainline denominations decline
Young people turn against their parents' 'church lite'
Pope calls US Church to repentance and renewal
A father for the 11th time - Widower becomes Catholic priest
Number of Adults Who Don't Attend Church Service Doubles
Huge Christian growth shocks China's leaders
Church Attendance Increased : Protestants have now clearly overtaken Catholics in church attendance
Catholics Trail Protestants in Church Attendance [Gallup]
Church Attendance Linked to Longer Life
Dozens of Episcopalians Follow Leader into Catholic Church
Thousands prepare to join U.S. Catholic Church this Easter
Where Have All the People in the Pews Gone?
More Than 150,000 People to Join Catholic Church Holy Saturday
"Even in the writings of JPII, there were more references to the "documents of the Council" (and his own earlier writings) than to the Fathers of the Church or even previous Popes. It was as though it had all begun 40 years ago."
Bingo!
This is what is most encouraging about the beginnings of the new Papacy so far. I have heard him quote Scripture and the Fathers more than he has spoken about VII.
"I can't recall any instance of someone who was excommunicated being canonized."
St. Hippolytus (excommunicated as an anti-Pope), St. Athanasius, St. Joan of Arc (burned as a heretic). I believe St. John Chrysostom was also excommunicated at least once before he became the great Archbishop of Constantinople.
Thanks for the information. Were any of these excommunicated as the result of the actions of the Pope?
That's a lot like my parish. We have Eucharistic adoration, the priest talks about Jesus as our Eucharistic Lord often, pushes confession, especially at Advent and Lent (in the days before the Triduum and Christmas, for about 5 days, he keeps confessional hours for four hours a day as well as have special penance services, with a brief prayer time, and then it's off to see one of four or so priests for confession. We do the 40 hours the week before Easter.
His masses are reverent, he has homilies even at daily mass, and he's a good teacher.
It is possible. What makes it happen are good, believing, God-loving priests who believe what the church teaches.
And that's what we have to pray and work for, and encourage when we see it.
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