"Listen", but to whom? The Synod’s empty words
The next synodal phase exploring ‘synodality’ has just published two documents. Key words scattered throughout the Vadenecum handbook (listening, inclusion, participation, dreaming, hope, novelty, change, stereotypes, prejudices, dialogue, reconciliation, sharing, peripheries, discernment, accessibility, equity, co-responsibility) are words that are so empty, being void of any specific significance, that they are fillable with any potential meaning. For example, do ‘inclusion’ and ‘dialogue’ also regard heresy? Is ‘sharing’ a value in itself regardless of the content being shared? Do ‘stereotypes’ and ‘prejudices’ also concern elements of doctrine?
Resignation and Pope Emeritus, another mess is brewing
A new Motu Proprio to regulate the "emeritus papacy", a canonical problem effectively left open by Benedict XVI, is expected soon. What according to his predecessor was to remain an exception, for Francis it would become an institution along with all the problems that this entails because by its very nature only one person can assume the title of “pope.” The proposed hypothesis of retirement at 85 would be a blow to the heart of the Petrine office.
Italian seminary: not vaccinated, no place for priesthood
The priest of tomorrow will not need to be saintly, but vaccinated. The glorious seminary of Milan has become the first educational institution to impose compulsory vaccination. A letter to the 120 seminarians reads: “You must all be vaccinated before returning from holiday”. The vice-rector, in turn, confirms the decision to the Daily Compass: “We are doing it to return to a more serene life”. And the seminarians who are against it are branded ideologues.
Saint Joseph, Master of Contemplatives
There was no tension in Mary's spouse between the active and the contemplative life, for both were expressions of love. The example of his bride and the daily presence of Jesus helped him reach the heights of contemplation. And this is why saints exhort the faithful to take St. Joseph as the master of their own interior life.
Vanhoye, the Biblicist who said no to women priests
French Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, the oldest member of the Sacred College and a renowned exegete, died in Rome on July 29. Esteemed by Ratzinger, he became secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and headed the working group that drafted “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church”. It was a long-awaited document that, among other things, put a stop to the excesses of the feminist approach such as the idea of women priests, which Vanhoye took care to demolish in one of his writings on the Letter to the Galatians.
McCarrick on trial, but it's not Benedict XVI's fault
Theodore McCarrick is to take the stand for pedophilia. He had already resigned as a cardinal in 2018, after Pope Francis suspended him from exercising any public ministry. It’s wrong to insinuate a sort of impunity guaranteed with previous pontificates. Here's why.
Benedict XVI shows the Church the way (not just in Germany)
In an interview with the periodical Herder Korrespondenz, Benedict XVI highlights the growing distance between the authentic ecclesial mission and the “institutional Church”, made up of bureaucracy and documents without “the heart and the spirit”. A situation that does not only concern the Church in Germany, but is more general and feeds “the exodus from the world of faith”. Recalling his precious year as chaplain in Bogenhausen, Ratzinger reminds us that God alone is the answer against totalitarianism, past and present.
The Church raises a wall against non-vaccinated persons
Access to Masses celebrated by the Pope in Slovakia is prohibited to those who are not vaccinated. And in Italy, the bishop’s daily newspaper launches a crusade against those who oppose mandatory vaccination. Fully espousing the pro-vaccination cause and the adoption of the Green pass, the Church of mercy that advocates tearing down all walls, is building one around the Mass.
Ireland, virus used to forbid Communions and Confirmations
It’s months now that the Dublin government has kept a ban on celebrating First Communions and Confirmations under the pretext of avoiding the festivities that follow. The bishops denounce an attack on religious freedom, but it is also a testimony of how increasingly anti-Catholic Ireland has become.
Latin mass thrown out along with Benedict XVI
With the Motu proprio that does away with the vetus ordo, Pope Francis erases Benedict XVI's effort to ensure the development of the Church in continuity with Tradition, to prevent the Second Vatican Council from being understood as a rupture.
The Eucharist and St Joseph, model for priests
In dealing with the Body and Blood of Jesus truly present in the Eucharistic species, the priest must imitate the sentiments of piety and adoration that St Joseph had in nourishing and raising his divine Son during the long years of His hidden life. And the example of Mary’s virginal spouse also points to perfect chastity as an ontological dimension of the priesthood.
Medjugorje, another world is possible
The impressive and universal witness of faith experienced last Friday, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the first apparition of Medjugorje, in one stroke swept away endless disquisitions on masks and social distancing. After months of being deserted due to free movement restrictions, long queues were seen again at the confessionals. At Medjugorje one lives in another dimension, where “the Lord’s glory” is “seen upon you”, while elsewhere a “deep darkness covers the people”. From here one can set out to strengthen the mission in the world.
