[sitetest]

So many errors, so little time...

[Alexander Rubin]

I'm a Jew, so I have no immediate interest in this. I would like to applaud Ratzinger's courage in standing tall against the forces of liberalization that would seek to water down the teachings of Church, if that is the situation (as many of my Catholic friends have told me). I just hope my people and I aren't consigned to hell again. ;)

Still, the Catholic Church is a powerful force for good, on the whole, and it's nice to see a man like Ratzinger (and a man like John Paul II) at the helm.

[gbcdoj]

Bottom line: Pope John XXIII's liberal changes stemming from the Vatican II conclave to take into account this planet's social and cultural and scientific developments not previously sanctioned by Rome are in deep trouble. ... During "liturgical gatherings," Latin will be relied upon as the universal tongue instead of English and other regional languages.

It's a shame that falsehoods like these are still being propagated, forty years after the Council closed. Bl. John XXIII would never have countenanced the discontinuance of Latin. Here, in fact, are the very words of this holy Pontiff:

With the foregoing considerations in mind, to which We have given careful thought, We now, in the full consciousness of Our Office and in virtue of Our authority, decree and command the following:

1. Bishops and superiors-general of religious orders shall take pains to ensure that in their seminaries and in their schools where adolescents are trained for the priesthood, all shall studiously observe the Apostolic See's decision in this matter and obey these Our prescriptions most carefully.

2. In the exercise of their paternal care they shall be on their guard lest anyone under their jurisdiction, eager for revolutionary changes, writes against the use of Latin in the teaching of the higher sacred studies or in the liturgy, or through prejudice makes light of the Holy See's will in this regard or interprets it falsely. (Apostolic Constitution Veterum Sapientia, 22 February, 1962)

[NeoCaveman]

Ya, right. I wish (sigh)

[Salvation]

Our priest has already talked about some of these changes taking place. He just returned from a one week retreat. Topic: Ministry

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

[Cowboy Bob]

John Hanchette, a professor of journalism at St. Bonaventure University, is a former editor of the Niagara Gazette and a Pulitzer Prize-winning national correspondent. He was a founding editor of USA Today and was recently named by Gannett as one of the Top 10 reporters of the past 25 years. He can be contacted via e-mail at Hanchette6@aol.com.

I'm curious...is this guy Catholic?

[pgkdan]

Some Catholics, particularly elderly ones, would welcome these changes, whether they actually occur or not.

This guy's out of touch. It's today's elderly Catholics who foisted this garbage on the rest of us. The elderly who would welcome the changes he writes about pretty much died out in the 70's and 80's. It's young people clamoring for a return to traditional orthodoxy these days.

[trisham]

The "translations" below are my predictions, not actual descriptions in the Vatican document of suggestions.

*************

I hope the predictions turn out to be right.

[jrny]

Translation: Altars, with the tabernacle right in the center as unmistakable focal point, will be turned back around to allow the priest to celebrate Mass in relative solitude with his back to the congregation, instead of facing and speaking directly to the faithful as Vatican II decreed.

This is patently false. Vatican II never decreed any such thing. The bishops used V2 as an excuse to have Mass facing the people.

[frogjerk]

Priests should not be "showmen." Translation: All those brave fathers in Central and South America and Africa and elsewhere who have the courage to question corrupt and dictatorial governments, or the temerity to suggest social and cultural reform, will be muzzled.

Please, give me a break with this garbage...

[Pyro7480]

Catholic ping!

[AlguyA]

"Some Catholics, particularly elderly ones, would welcome these changes, whether they actually occur or not."

Poor Mr. Regis, he's going to be so surprised when he finds out it is particularly the young who will welcome these changes. I know I was.

Last year, we instituted the Kyrie and Sanctus for our All-School Masses only during Lent. After Lent, our junior high students complained wanting to know why we couldn't do the 'cool Latin stuff' all the time. (Yes, I took the time to explain to them the Kyrie is Greek.)

I smiled and said, "Well, I don't know. But if you really like it, I can ask Father and maybe we can do it all the time." We are blessed with a great priest so, of course, he said yes.

From this experience, we are now beginning a "junior high choir and bell choir" -actually a schola- for the purpose of teaching the choir, student body and then all the parish the ordinary parts of the Mass in Latin as well as Gregorian chant, traditional Catholic music and whatever decent modern stuff we can find. The kids are incredibly excited about it.

We've even transformed the choir loft back into, well, a choir loft for the schola -though for now the adult choirs will remain stuffed off to the left at the front of the church.

And we've done it all because it is the kids who want it most. Teenagers are great BS detectors. They can tell 'real' from 'fake.'

[frogjerk]

The working document, by the way, singles out Catholic politicians who support abortion and divorced persons who remarry for particular criticism and specific proscription against receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion without first making a true confession to a priest.

Good

This will also affect various areas of the planet where an acute shortage of priests has triggered the practice of taking Communion after making one's peace with God in one's mind because the preparatory sacrament of confession simply isn't available.

The basic liberal argument of basing law on exceptions rather than the overwhelming norm. I believe the Catechism of the Catholic Church lays out guidelines regarding this special circumstance anyway.

[frogjerk]

I also secretly prized during those days the frequent look of repugnance on his face during the newly instituted "kiss of peace,"

This is not new. This has been practiced since the earliest days of the Church.

[frogjerk]

This is a man whose mind sees cultural development as conspiracy.

He still condemns the use of condoms to fight AIDS in Africa. He's already bounced, without adequate explanation, the respected editor of a liberal Jesuit magazine in this country.

Many Catholics are unaware that Ratzinger even criticized the immensely popular Harry Potter books as harmful to children.

Yeah baby!

[OpusatFR]

"confusing mumbo-jumbo"

Latin? Gee. I learned latin well before I went to high school thanks to the liturgy.

Why did you post this. Now my blood pressure is up again.

[nickcarraway]

I hope this guy is right.

[ninenot]

FWIW, Fr. Neuhaus has written an excellent editorial on the "liberal/conservative" lie which this poor, uninformed reporter continues to propagate.

See: http://catholica.pontifications.net/?p=999#comments (scroll UP to read the article.)

The October synod will be very, very interesting.

[frogjerk]

"The intellect," he once told a gathering of about 800 priests, "does not always grant vision, but provides the conditions for intellectual games, and artfully conjures syntheses into existence where there is really nothing but contradiction." Only faith, believes the new pope, will abide.