oktober 2009

Det nye personlaprelaturet for tidligere anglikanere kan få svært stor betydning

Økumenikk /

Dette skriver John Allen i dag – det kan bli en vei inn til Den katolske Kirke for inntil 80 millioner anglikanere:
In a move with potentially sweeping implications for relations between the Catholic church and some 80 million Anglicans worldwide, the Vatican has announced the creation of new ecclesiastical structures to absorb disaffected Anglicans wishing to become Catholics. The structures will allow those Anglicans to hold onto their distinctive spiritual practices, including the ordination of married former Anglican clergy as Catholic priests.

Those structures would be open to members of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the main American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. American Episcopalians are said to number some 2.2 million.

I en grundigere artikkel skriver Allen at dette svaret fra Vatikanet til spørsmålet fra TAC (Traditional Anglican Communion) var litt annerledes enn venta, siden det ikke bare svarer disse 400 000 anglikanerne, men egentlig alle anglikanere i verden:

The announcement came this morning in Rome in a news conference with two Americans: Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Though the announcement did not single out any specific group of Anglicans, it responds to a request made two years ago by a breakaway group known as the “Traditional Anglican Communion,” a network claiming to represent some 400,000 Anglicans worldwide, including more than 5,000 in the United States, unhappy with liberalizing moves in the Anglican Communion, including the ordination of women as priests and bishops, the ordination of openly gay clergy and bishops, and the blessing of same-sex unions.

Rather than absorbing that bloc en masse, today’s move creates the possibility that bishops’ conferences around the world can create personal ordinariates, a special structure that’s tantamount to a non-territorial diocese, to accept Anglicans under the leadership of a former Anglican minister who would be designated a bishop.

According to a Vatican “note” released this morning, former Anglican clergy who are married may serve as priests in the new ordinariates, but they may not be ordained as bishops. Seminarians for the new ordinariates must be trained alongside other Catholic seminarians, though they may have separate houses of formation.

The details will be presented in a new apostolic constitution from Pope Benedict XVI, expected to be issued shortly. …

Økumeniske samtaler en forutsetning for at tradisjonelle anglikanere kan bli katolikker

Økumenikk /

Eller ettere sagt; de er en nødvendig historisk bakgrunn for at disse anglikanerne kan få med seg en del av sin tradisjon, liturgi og prester inn i den katolske kirke. For hvis ikke en stor grad av enhet hadde kommet fram gjennom 40 års økumeniske samtaler, hadde ikke den katolske kirke ønsket å ta opp i seg disse anglikanske tyradisjonene.

Slik leser i alle fal jeg uttalelsen fra erkebiskokop Vincent Nichols og anglikanske erkebiskop Rowan Williams i dag:
The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution brings to an end a period of uncertainty for such groups who have nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church. It will now be up to those who have made requests to the Holy See to respond to the Apostolic Constitution.

The Apostolic Constitution is further recognition of the substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality between the Catholic Church and the Anglican tradition. Without the dialogues of the past forty years, this recognition would not have been possible, nor would hopes for full visible unity have been nurtured. In this sense, this Apostolic Constitution is one consequence of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

The on-going official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion provides the basis for our continuing cooperation. The Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) agreements make clear the path we will follow together.

Tusenvis av anglikanere vil nå bli katolikker

Katolsk, Økumenikk /

Jeg leste i dag tidlig (bl.a. her) om en pressekonferanse som skulle holdes kl 11 i Vatikanet i dag, ang. anglikanerne. Man regnet med at nyheten ville være at TAC (Traditional Anglican Communion) ville få svar på sin forespørsel om å bli opptatt i sin katolske kirke – og til en viss grad få beholde sine tradisjoner og deler av liturgien, og sine gifte prester.

Man gjettet riktig, for så langt vet vi følgende: The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict is setting up special provision for Anglicans, including married clergy, who want to convert to Rome together, preserving aspects of Anglican liturgy. They will be given their own pastoral supervision, according to this press release from the Vatican:

“In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”

More on this very important story later. But this is clearly a historic gesture by Pope Benedict which will encourage thousands of disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholics.

Mer informasjon på italiensk her.

OPPDATERING kl 1315:
Notatet fra Troskongregasjonen på engelsk.

Den tradisjonelle latinske messen feiret i Peterskirken

TLM /

Messen ble feiret søndag morgen i sakramentskapellet, og var en pontifikal høymesse feiret av erkebiskop Raymond Burke.

Messen ble feiret som en del av en konferanse i Roma sist helg om den tradisjonelle latinske messen (les mer om den her), og noen sier at det var første gang på 40 år at den tradisjonelle messen ble feiret i Peterskirken.

Her kan man se mange bilder fra messen, her også – og her ser man videoer fra åpning og avslutning av messen.

En som var til stede under messen nevner hvordan Credo ble avsunget: The most moving moment of the Mass (perhaps of any Mass I have ever attended) was the Credo. After Archbishop Burke intoned the Credo, the organ and schola proceeded as usual with the Mass setting. However, during the «Et incarnatus est…» the organ was silenced and the large schola broke into a mesmerizing harmony, swelling gradually to a full-throated, thundering «ET HOMO FACTUS EST.» By the time we rose from the genuflection, several near me were weeping openly.

Egentlig burde dette ikke være nytt for noen, siden det ble kunngjort flere steder, bl.a. på Rorate cæli 23. juli.
… as the culminating activity of the Second Convention on Summorum Pontificum organized by Giovani e Tradizione, a Solemn Pontifical Mass according to the classical Roman Rite will be celebrated in the Chapel of Eucharistic Adoration in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. The Mass will be offered by His Excellency, Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Music will be provided by a mixed choir of Franciscans of the Immaculate.

Bør vi gi opp offisielle økumeniske samtaler?

Økumenikk /

Det mener Fr. Dwight Longenecker tydeligvis. Han er tidligere anglikansk prest, er gift og har flere barn – og er en ganske aktiv blogger.

Den «katolske ordinasjonen» av en kvinne i en luthersk kirke i Chicago – se her – (og sikkert også andre ting) har gjort ham mektig irritert: (Some people) are hopping mad about something, and I am too. They refer to a report from Chicago where a Lutheran congregation allowed their church to be used for a service purporting to be an ordination of Roman Catholic women priests. At the same time in today’s news over at CNA is this report that Cardinal Kaspar (the friendly ghost) has got Pope Benedict to visit a Lutheran Church in Rome.

When is the Vatican going to wake up to the reality about Anglicanism and Lutheranism? I know from my time in the Anglican Church that the theologians they send to Rome to engage in ecumenical discussions are those who are already friendly towards the Catholic Church and are very good at dressing up their Protestant beliefs in Catholic terminology. They’re a suave and slippery lot, and I expect the Lutheran ‘partners in dialogue’ are much the same.

Catholic bloggers have reported that the Vatican is one of the places their blogs are read. If anybody over there is reading this blog will you please do something about this? If you are reading this blog and you know your blog is read in the Vatican, will you link to this post?

The message to the powers that be is real simple:

1. Mainstream Anglicans and Lutherans do not want to be in communion with the Holy See. Despite their smooth manner and diplomatic form and seeming admiration for Rome they can’t really stomach the Catholic faith at all.
2. This is proved by the regular and repeated slaps in the face they give Rome.
3. Continued ecumenical discussions with mainstream Anglicanism and Lutheranism is not only a waste of time, it’s dishonest to all involved.
4. It’s more than a waste of time. It is helping people who only want to use their good relations with the Vatican as icing on their corrupt cake.

Selv syns jeg nok man skal skille mellom det gledelige faktum at katolikkers forhold til mange kristne har blitt svært mye bedre de siste 40 år, og på det like klare faktum at de offisielle økumeniske samtalene ser ut til å ha kjørt seg ganske fast – og at våre samtalepartnere faktisk beveger seg bort fra katolsk tro på enkelte områder.

Kardinal Kaspers bok om økumeniske resultater de siste 40 år

Økumenikk /

Vi leser at Kardinal Kasper nylig har utgitt ei bok om resultatene av 40 år med økumeniske samtaler etter Vatikankonsilet: A new book on ecumenism, written by members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was presented at the Vatican today by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the same council. The book aims to look “both to the past and to the future» of ecumenical efforts. The new work, which is entitled «Harvesting the Fruits. Basic Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue. Ecumenical Consensus, Convergences and Differences,» was recently published by the London-based publisher Continuum.

Cardinal Kasper explained at the Vatican’s press office that the new publication «is the result of two years of intense efforts I undertook with officials of my pontifical council, in collaboration with our consultors and ecumenical partners.”

The work is dedicated to analyzing the main Protestant communities that were the first to establish ties with the Church following the Second Vatican Council, as well as examining the current situation, «with an eye both to the past and to the future,» the cardinal explained.

During the presentation, Cardinal Kasper also announced that a symposium, due to be held in February 2010, will use the book as its starting point to discuss the future of Western ecumenism.

I den forbindelse sier Kasper også at pave Benedikt snart skal besøke den lutehrske kirken i Roma – men så langt er ingen dato fastsatt.

På et annet nettsted leser vi også følgende: As far as the book is concerned, Cardinal Kasper said that even the people working on it were «positively surprised at how much has been accomplished in these years. It is a very rich harvest that overcomes the polemics and the great historical problems of the Reformation.»

The cardinal said he knows that «even among some members of the Roman Curia» there sometimes is a feeling that ecumenism «has not borne any fruit and left us with our hands empty.»

But «that is not the official opinion» of the church, he said, pointing out that Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is also a member of the council for Christian unity, and read the first draft of the book and made suggestions.

Also, he said, Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Levada were given the first copies of the completed edition of «Harvesting the Fruits.»

Økumeniske problemer i Tyskland

Økumenikk /

Nesten 10 år etter den berømte enigheten om rettferdiggjørelsen mellom katolikker og lutheranere, undertegnet i Augsburg 31/10-99, har man de siste månedene hatt stadig større problemer i de økumeniske relasjonene i Tyskland. Anna Arco skriver om et dokument produced for the Protestant EKD (Evangelische Kirche Deutschland) and subsequently leaked to the German press, the document was written for a conference in July but not published in full until recently.

The report (German) set out to look at three points and was less than complimentary. 1) Where does ecumenical dialogue stand? 2) “An awareness of irritations which are emanating from Rome” 3) What could these mean for the standing of ecumenical dialogue between the two Churches before the Ecumenical Church Days 2010. The “irritations” listed included the publication of Dominus Jesus in 2000 with its “famous-infamous description of the churches of the reformation which are not churches in an actual sense” which caused consternation and confusion as well as general criticism towards Pope Benedict. The report mentioned the Pope’s by now infamous address in Regensburg, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and of course, lifting the excommuncations hanging over the Lefebvrist bishops in January this year, among the problems they perceived to be coming from Rome.

It also listed the clerical child abuse scandals, lack of vocations and declining church membership as well as a defensive approach to Pentecostal Christianity in Latin America among further obstacles in ecumenical dialogue. It effectively accused the Vatican either of being incompetent in matters diplomatic or of having a strategy and intention which sets out to reverse the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Turning their eyes towards German ecumenism, the drafters of the report became more specific in their criticism. They viewed the appointment of Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg to follow Cardinal Karl Lehman as the head of the German bishops conference with scepticism. He was marked as a “controversial and therefore weakened candidate” from whom a “leading and marking force does not emanate”.

The paper concluded that the Catholic Church was in the middle of an internal wrestling match between modernisers and traditionalists—those who wanted to accept the Second Vatican Council and those who did not. This would affect the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in Germany.

“Like a wounded boxer, the Catholic Church will sway between open gestures and rough delineation of boundaries, between ecumenical invitations and profile making delineation.”

Et annet sted leser vi at det sist onsdag ble avholdt et oppvaskmøte mellom katolikker og protestanter; et møte som gikk noenlunde bra. …

Økumeniske problemer i TysklandLes mer »

Skal Den norske kirke (også) offisielt foretrekke å feire messen versus populum?

Liturgi /

Jeg er (som de fleste vet) oppvokst i Den norske lutherske kirke, og var alltid vant til at presten vendte seg mot Gud når han ba – og ingen av oss tenkte en gang på at det kunne gjøres på en annen måte. Men den norske kirke har de siste årene langsomt snudd noen alter – ved nybygg og ombygging av kirker – og jeg fikk i går en e-post fra en prest i Den norske kirke, som skriver:

«Jeg ser at du har dratt i striden for den gamle latinske messen. Jeg har – som luthersk prest – ikke behov for å mene noe om det. Men for en tid tilbake gjenga du en uttalelse fra en engelsk kirkeleder om det å feire messen vendt mot forsamlingen, eller mot øst. Han karakteriserte den første ordningen med noe a la «at en gruppe hadde samlet seg for å snakke om Gud«. Nei, dette var langt fra det rette sitatet, men kanskje du husker hvordan det egentlig lød? Jeg kan ikke finne det igjen, så jeg er glad om du kunne hjelpe meg. Statskirkens liturgireform kan jo nemlig innebære at også versus populum blir normalordning også hos oss.»

Jeg svarte ham at det kanskje kunne være i dette innlegget, men kanskje det heller er i dette, eller i noen eldre innlegg: kommentarene til 1795, i 1719 eller 1669.

Kanskje noen av leserne husker bedre enn meg hvor dette stod på bloggen?
OPPDATERING: Sitatet står HER – det er biskop Edward Slattery, i Tulsa, Oklahoma, som har begynt å feire messen på sin domkirkes høyalter, ad orentem. Meldinga var fra august i år. Takk til Tor.

Handler samtalene mellom Vatikanet og SSPX egentlig om forståelsen av Vatikankonsilet?

Katolsk /

Det påstår Robert Moynihani Inside the Vatican, og han formulerer seg slik (fra NLM-bloggen):

Pope Benedict XVI has just made a dramatic choice, one which will certainly be numbered among the major decisions of his pontificate. He has decided, in effect, to reopen formal debate on the Second Vatican Council and its teaching.

The new dialogue, which will take place in Rome between the leaders of the Fraternity of St. Pius X (the followers of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre) and Vatican experts will take place on October 26 at the Vatican, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said today. …

For the Pope’s critics, the decision is unwise, as it seems likely to open a large can of worms. These critics have argued that the lid on this can should be kept tightly closed. In essence, they have advised the Pope not to «dignify» the Society’s objections to certain conciliar teachings — or to the interpretations of those teachings — by granting such a formal dialogue.

But Benedict has decided to let the dialogue begin.

For the Pope’s supporters, the decision is an occasion for praise. Why? Because the Pope, almost five years into his pontificate, has finally decided to face head on and «bring into the open» the doctrinal problems «smoldering» (to cite his own words of 45 years ago) just beneath the surface of Church life throughout the entire post-conciliar period (1965 to the present, or 44 years).

So, with this decision to engage in a dialogue about the Council, a very significant phase of Benedict’s pontificate begins.

Samtalene med SSPX starter i Roma 26. oktober

Katolsk /

Flere kilder melder at samtalene mellom SSPX og Kongregasjonen for Troslæren starter mandag 26. oktober, i Vatikanet. Katolsk.no skriver om dette, og skriver: «Innholdet i samtalene vedrørende de åpne doktrinære spørsmål vil holdes strengt konfidensielt», sa p. Lombardi en pressemelding torsdag.

I et nylig intervju med et sørafrikansk SSPX-magasin, … svarte generalsuperior i SSPX, biskop Bernard Fellay følgende på spørsmål om samtalenes lengde og innhold: «Jeg har ingen anelse om hvor lenge de vil vare. Dette kommer an på forventningene i Roma. Det kan nok ta lang tid. Dette fordi temaene er mange og brede. Våre hovedinnvendinger mot konsilet, som for eksempel trosfrihet, økumenikk og kollegialitet er velkjente. Andre innvendinger kan allikevel bli tatt opp, slik som den moderne filosofis innflytelse, liturgiske nyvinninger, verdslighet og dets påvirkning på den moderne tanke som har spredt seg som en farsott i Kirken».

Vårt Land skriver også om dette, og forteller bl.a.: En rekke personer vil være til stede under møtet. Deriblant erkebiskop Guido Pozzo, sekretær for Ecclesia Dei; erkebiskop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, sekretær for Kongregasjonen for Troslæren(KT); p. Charles Morerod OP, sekretær for den internasjonale teologiske kommisjon og rådgiver for KT; erkebiskop Fernando Ocariz, generalvikar for Opus Dei og rådgiver for KT; samt Jesuitpater Karl Josef Becker, også fra KT.

Om lekfolkets bønner i tillegg til / ved siden av messen

Liturgi /

Jeg leser nå Ole Martin Stamnestrøs doktoravhandling om liturgien for annen gang, og leser her på s 151-153 om pave Pius XIIs synspunkter i Mediator Dei om lekfolkets bønner om fromhetsøvelser som kommer i tillegg til messen og tidebønnene. Paven kritiserer dem som er motstandere av denne parksisen: The first abuse to be rebuked is the tendency amongst some liturgical scholars to frown upon extra-liturgical acts of devotion and to draw a clear-cut line between subjective and objective piety.

Pius admits that an attack on acts of personal piety would be justified if they “were to neglect the august Sacrifice of the altar and the Sacraments.” But, according to Pius, far from having this effect they serve to rouse people “to repentance and holy fear of God. Thus he praises firstly the widespread extra-liturgical forms of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

He also acknowledges the value of other extra-liturgical devotions. In this respect he singles out May devotions to Our Lady, devotio to the Sacred Heart in June, novenas, triduums, and Stations of the Cross: “These devotions make us partakers in a salutary manner of the liturgical cult because they urge the faithful to go frequently to the Sacrament of Penance, attend Mass and receive Communion with devotion.”

Pius rejects the presumed conflict between subjective and objective piety: “No conflict exists between public prayer and prayers in private, between morality and contemplation, between the ascetical life and devotion to the Liturgy.”

Perhaps Pius is unable or unwilling to recognise the importance of teaching the faithful clearly the distinction between the liturgy of the Church and extra-liturgical acts of devotion. His teaching must, however, be viewed against the background of those liturgists who did not engage with the questions of determining a proper relationship between the two, but who thought that the Mass and the Divine Office would best be served by the suppression and elimination of the various popular devotions.

Pius comes closer to achieving a balance when he states that “unquestionably liturgical prayer, being the public supplication of the illustrious Spouse of Jesus Christ, is superior in excellence to private prayers. But this superior worth does not at all imply contrast or incompatibility between these two kinds of prayer.”

Individual parish priests should not take it upon themselves to alter deeply rooted expressions of devotion. “Hence he would do something very wrong and dangerous, who would dare to take on himself to reform all these exercises of piety.”

Et par dager på Jæren

Generelt /

Jeg er nå et par dager på Jæren, besøker min familie, og fikk også være med i en begravelse til ei faster (tante), som døde sist uke, 86 år gammel.

Jeg har begrensa nettilgang her (mobilt bredbåbd; Nettcom litt bruk), men det har ikke passa så godt å arbeide med bloggen her.

Uten Gud er vi ingenting

Teologi /

Jeg leste for noen dager siden kardinal George Pells forsvar for den kristne tro, som han begynner slik: My claims this afternoon are simple. It is more reasonable to believe in God than to reject the hypothesis of God by appealing to chance; more reasonable also to believe than to escape into agnosticism.

Og avslutter slik: It is an intriguing question why so many in the Western world today are unable to believe, especially those culturally attached to Christianity and Judaism. For me the issue is too important for polemics and self-indulgence.

I will continue to believe in the one true God of love, because like André Malraux I maintain that «no atheist can explain the smile of a child».

Against this the tsunami also reminds us brutally of the problem of innocent suffering. But such suffering is worse if there is no afterlife to balance the scales of misfortune and injustice and worse again if there is no innocence or guilt, no good or evil, if everything has the moral significance of froth on a wave.

Det må bli slutt på middelmådigheten

Liturgi /

Damian Thompson har besøkt en kirke et sted i England, og han likte aboslutt ikke det han så. «Ikke mer polyester«, er hans avsluttende setning:
Recently I attended a Catholic service in a church, and a diocese, which shall remain nameless. This is not because there is anything scandalous to report, but because I’m about to compare it to a 1970s department store and I don’t want the priest to cancel The Catholic Herald.

The church was (I would guess) Victorian Romanesque, or maybe neo-Gothic – the truth is that it was so nondescript that it didn’t leave much impression. It was very much the sort of church thrown up in large numbers at the end of the 19th century, and I imagine that in its heyday it was bustling, happy and sentimental.

Then, after Vatican II, its interior was modernised. But we’re not talking savage reordering here: just the usual wall-to-wall carpeting of the sanctuary, removal of the altar rails and – unforgivably, not least because it makes a nonsense of the high altar – the removal of the tabernacle to… somewhere. I didn’t even notice; just that it was missing from its place of honour, installing an emptiness at the centre of things. … …

It was the same story in the sacristy. The priest was wearing a double-breasted polyester alb whose top half resembled a chef’s outfit. I didn’t know such a thing existed. The door of the wardrobe was open, revealing a jumble of highly coloured cheap chasubles (also polyester) that could have been mistaken for the women’s clothing rack in an Oxfam shop.

Now, I know this sounds like sneering, and missing the point: the Apostles did not worry about the cut of their fisherman’s clothes, and the Gospel is not about externals: there are churches, especially in the Anglo-Catholic wing of the C of E, where fussing about the embroidery of a chasuble or the choreography of censing the acolytes takes precedence over visiting the sick. (Though, to be fair, some of the most ritualistic parishes are also the most pastorally diligent.)

I’m not saying that the alternative to the shabbiness of this church is to turn it into a mini-Oratory. Nor do I want to suggest that the priest and ministers of Holy Communion in this community are not faithful Catholics.

But what the parish priest and his bishop need to understand is that these things matter: from the collage of outdated posters at the west end of the church to the badly repainted apse at the east, every single item of church art or furniture gives the impression of “making do”. The message: this is just another church. .. …

The culture of mediocrity, of making do, that has pervaded the Catholic Church in England and Wales extends beyond what happens in the sanctuary. Therefore putting things right is a wider project than the more solemn celebration of Mass, which the coming English translation will help to effect, along with the increasing conservatism of new priests. We need to move back to what the Church used to offer – and, significantly, the commercial world is increasingly able to provide to meet rising consumer expectations: a total experience drawing on the highest standards of professionalism in art, architecture and music.

Perfectionism; attention to small details; impatience with the second-rate – these are what we must demand of our pastors and what, in a Church run by Archbishop Nichols and soon-to-be Archbishop Longley, there is now a faint chance of achieving, particularly with a papal visit in the offing. That means no more excuses, no more amiable making do – and definitely no more polyester.

Slik omvendte Newman seg

Katolsk /

John Henry Newman hadde høsten 1845 forstått at han måtte bli opptatt i Den katolske Kirke, og han inviterte en god og from katolsk prest til å komme hjem til seg. Da presten kom inn døra, knelte Newman foran ham, og ba med en gang om å bli tatt opp i Kirken. Han bekjente sine synder (det tok flere timer) og ble opptatt i Kirken ved kondisjonal dåp. Det var alvor over ting den gang – men jeg er glad for at kondisjonal dåp ikke lenger regnes som nødvendig. Her er dette fortalt litt mer utførlig:

When Newman had made up his mind to be received into the Church in October 1845 he heard that Blessed Dominic would be travelling through Oxford. Via their mutual friend John Dobrée Dalgairns Newman asked the Passionist priest to call in at Littlemore. When Dominic Barberi arrived late in the evening of 8th October, soaking wet from his journey, Newman did not hesitate one moment, knelt down in front of him, and asked him for reception into the Church. He then began his general confession which he had prepared in the previous days and which lasted for several hours. The rite of reception, including conditional baptism, took place in the chapel next to Newman’s private room on the evening of 9th October. Two of his friends, Richard Stanton and E. S. Bowles, were received at the same time. Newman never regretted his decision. Not only in the Apologia, but also in many letters, he witnesses to the interior peace that always accompanied him as a Catholic, despite the well known fact that he was not spared difficulties not only from outside the Church but also within it.

Dagen for John Henry Newmans omvendelse – 9. oktober 1845

Katolsk /

På denne dagen i 1845 angret John Henry Newman på sin villfarelse, bekjente den katolske tro og ble opptatt i Den katolske Kirke. Og ved hundreårsjubileet for denne hendelsen skrev pave Pius XII følgende:

A century has now all but run its course since John Henry Newman, the pride of Britain and of the universal Church, came to harbour after his long voyage in search of Catholic truth. With anxious and loving care he had sought it; with ready assent he acknowledged at last the warning accents of the Divine Voice. … …

One quality especially seems to Us to call for close attention and study in the career of the great man… He ‘gave up his whole life to the truth’ (Juvenal. Sat. iv. 91); all his efforts, all his untiring labours, were dedicated to that end. A time came when the beauty of Catholic teaching revealed itself clearly to his longing eyes; with that, no obstacle of any kind – his old prejudices, loss of prospects, the protests of his friends – could hold him back; nothing must stand between him and full adherence to the truth he had now mastered. He held to it ever afterwards with unshaken consistency, made it the guiding principle of his whole life, found in it, as in nothing else, full contentment of mind.

Beyond question… among the many important gifts which will make a later posterity honour the greatness of John Henry Newman, this is his chief title to fame.

Les hele brevet her.

Ny norsk bok om frimurerritualene

Generelt /

Dagbladet skriver i dag om ei ny bok, skrevet av et tidligere medlem i den norske frimurerordenen – med mye informasjon om hva som skjer på deres samlinger. Det sies ofte at de norske frimurerne er mye mer moderate enn de er i flere andre land, men det er vel noe usikkert hvor sant det er. For meg er dette temaet også litt ekstra interessant fordi flere katolikker i Stavanger var knyttet til frimurerne – noe jeg fant noe underlig og ubehagelig.

I boka leser vi:
«Du blir viklet inn i et nettverk der det er umulig å stille kritiske spørsmål til det du er med på. I ettertid er jeg sjokkert over hva jeg har vært med på rent religiøst, og hvor naiv jeg var som ble med i en organisasjon uten å vite hva den drev med.

.. Forfatteren beskriver i boken i detaljerte ordelag hvordan de forskjellige ritualene som blir brukt når et medlem skal få høyere grad foregår. Det er rik forekomst av symboler og oppstyltede taleformer.

Men mest rystende var det kanskje for ham da han ved opptak til tredje grad måtte stille seg foran et alter med en ekte hodeskalle, før han kort tid etter ble lagt i en likkiste og båret bort. Over ti kapitler går han inn i samtlige av de ti gradene losjens medlemmer kan oppnå — i stor detalj.

Gjenfortellingen av sine egne opplevelser på «losjevandringen»; fra den første Lærlingegraden til den niende St. Johannes-losjens Betroede brødre; er blant annet basert på dagboknedtegnelsene han gjorde i løpet av de ti årene han var aktivt medlem.»

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