Paven

Jeg fikk en e-post i dag tidlig fra en bekjent i Italia, som (lenker til og) skriver:

Må si jeg har sans for B16s back to basics. Ikke noe unødig fokus på en skarve økonomisk krise, men snarere på det essensielle: «Benedetto XVI ha indicato ai vescovi italiani la necessità di «un rinnovato impulso, che punti a ciò che è essenziale della fede e della vita cristiana», spiegando che «non ci sarà rilancio dell’azione missionaria senza il rinnovamento della qualità della nostra fede e della nostra preghiera; non saremo in grado di offrire risposte adeguate senza una nuova accoglienza del dono della grazia; non sapremo conquistare gli uomini al Vangelo se non tornando noi stessi per primi a una profonda esperienza di Dio».»

Jeg leser mer om dette (på engelsk) i dag på Rorate cæli, der vi bl.a. leser om å holde fast på troens innhold og tolke konsilet med en kontinuitetens hermeneutikk:

… «That which above all concerns the Council is that the sacred deposit of the Christian faith be kept and taught in a more efficacious way,» Pope Blessed John XXIII affirmed in his opening address. And it is worthwhile to meditate and read these words.

The Pope charged the Fathers to deepen and present such a perennial doctrine in continuity with the millennial Tradition of the Church: «to pass on the doctrine, pure and whole, without attenuations or distortions,» but in a new way, «according to what is required by our times.» (Address of solemn opening of the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican II, October 11, 1962). With this key for its reading and application – according to a view, certainly not of an unacceptable hermeneutic of discontinuity and of rupture, but of a hermeneutic of continuity and of reform -, listening to the Council and making ours the authoritative indications are the path to ascertaining the ways with which the Church may offer a significant response to the great social and cultural transformations of our time, which have visible consequences also on the religious sphere.

Benedict XVI, Address in audience to the general assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, May 24, 2012

En bok med en slik tittel er nettopp kommet ut på italiensk: “Le ‘chiavi’ di Benedetto XVI per interpretare il Vaticano II”, skrevet av kardinal Walter Brandmüller, erkebiskop Agostino Marchetto, og msgr. Nicola Bux. Boken ble presentert av Radio Vaticana, og her sa erkebiskop Marchetto:

Q. – Let us return to the hermeneutic of discontinuity, of rupture, and the hermeneutic of reform: which one prevails today within the Church?
A. – Unfortunately, I must say, the one of rupture prevails. I would rather add that it is acknowledged today that not only the extreme fringe – of what was the majority in the Council -, but also the Traditionalist movements say the same thing. For them also there was a rupture. Therefore, there is still much work to be done.

Her kan jeg legge til at jeg er uenig med Rorate Cæli, som skriver om dette og kommenterer det slik: «.. an attempt to interpret the whole of the Council according to a view of «reform in continuity» is laudable, but those … who see this interpretive attempt as a kind of constrained intellectual exercise are not necessarily mistaken.» Jeg syns selv det er mer fruktbart å følge pave Benedikt her, og si at konsilet selv (dets dokumenter) er ikke noe brudd med Kirkens tradisjon, og selv om mange har tolket det som et brudd, og brukt det til å bryte med Kirkens tradisjon, er løsningen (heller enn å si at konsilet selv tok feil) å sørge for at konsilet blir forstått som en videreføring av Kirkens tradisjon, og å sørge for at Kirken også i dag fører videre denne tradisjonen.

Artikkelen nevner videre at de to dokumentene fra konsilet som skaper mest problemer for noen tradisjonalister, er dokumenter av mindre betydning og vekt:

… «There is a huge difference between a great constitution,» like the Vatican II constitutions on the church, the liturgy and divine revelation, «and simple declarations,» like the Vatican II declarations on Christian education and the mass media. «Strangely enough, the two most controversial documents» for the SSPX — those on religious freedom [Dignitatis humanae] and on relations with non-Christians [Nostra aetate] — «do not have a binding doctrinal content, so one can dialogue about them,» the cardinal said. «So I don’t understand why our friends in the Society of St. Pius X concentrate almost exclusively on these two texts. And I’m sorry that they do so, because these are the two that are most easy to accept if we consider their canonical nature» as non-binding, he said. … (Fra Catholic News Service.)

OPPDATERING:
Katolsk.no kom i ettermiddag også med en sak om dette, de har oversatt mye av tekstmaterialet til norsk, og lagt inn en lenke til viedoen under:

Ignatius Press har utgitt en bok skrevet av Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, med tittelen: My Brother the Pope og de skriver om denne boken:

It wasn’t always the case that Msgr. Georg Ratzinger lived in the shadow of his younger brother, Joseph. Georg was an accomplished musician, who for over 30 years directed the world-famous boys’ choir of the Regensburg cathedral. Brother Joseph was a brilliant young professor, but mostly known in German academic circles.

Now Georg writes about the close friendship that has united these two brothers for more than 80 years. Those interested in knowing more about the early life of Benedict XVI will not be disappointed. Georg’s reminiscences are detailed, intimate, and warm. And while they begin with the earliest years of the Ratzinger family, they continue right up to the present day. …

Dette satte Vatikanets informasjonstjeneste som overskrift (PRIESTS’ EUCHARISTIC-SACRIFICIAL MISSION IS INSEPARABLE FROM THEIR PASTORAL MISSION) på et referat av messen i Peterskirken søndag 29. april, der pave Benedikt ordinerte tre menn til prestetjeneste. Jeg leste denne nyheten på NLM-bloggen, der jeg også fant bildet. I sin preken sa paven bl.a.:

… for priests, celebrating Mass every day does not mean merely undertaking a ritual function, but accomplishing a mission which involves all of existence, in communion with the risen Christ Who continues to enact the redeeming sacrifice in His Church».

The Holy Father went on to note that «Eucharistic and sacrificial aspects are inseparable from the pastoral aspect, of which they are the nucleus of truth and salvific strength upon which the effectiveness of all activity depends. … The preaching, works and other activities which the Church carries out with her many initiatives would lose their salvific fruitfulness if the celebration of Christ’s sacrifice were lacking. This celebration is entrusted to ordained priests. … Only through the ‘door’ of the Paschal sacrifice can men and women of all times and places enter eternal life. It is through this ‘holy path’ that they can make the exodus which leads them to the ‘promised land’ of true freedom, to the ‘green fields’ of endless peace and joy. …

John Allen skriver at det nå kan se ut som at pave Benedikt vil bli strengere mot radikale/liberale katolikker som motsetter seg Kirkens lære på viktige punkter:

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to the papacy in April 2005, the popular forecast called for stormy weather ahead. This was, after all, the Vatican enforcer who had been leading a “smack-down on heresy since 1981”, in the words of T-shirts and coffee mugs marketed by a Ratzinger fan club. His rise elicited dread in some quarters and joy in others, but virtually everyone agreed big things were in the works.

During most of the past seven years, however, that anticipated upheaval has seemed a lot like the dog that didn’t bark. Back in February 2006, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus famously voiced “palpable unease” among those most elated by Ratzinger’s election, and that disappointment endured in a swath of Catholic opinion which had begun to despair that the pope would ever impose order. Of late, however, many observers believe the “real Ratzinger” has finally come out to play. Consider the tumult of the past month:

On April 18, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decreed a sweeping overhaul of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious, the main American umbrella group for the superiors of women’s orders, to correct what the congregation described as LCWR’s “corporate dissent” ….
At least five Irish priests have faced Vatican-inspired discipline, with implementation left to their religious orders. Two Redemptorists have seen their writings for a church magazine either withdrawn or limited …
On April 5, Benedict XVI included some blistering language in his Holy Thursday homily about a “call to disobedience” issued by more than 300 priests and deacons in Austria who oppose celibacy and support women’s ordination. …
On April 14, Benedict XVI ordered the German bishops to translate the traditional Latin phrase pro multis, from the words spoken by Christ at the Last Supper in reference to the shedding of his blood, as “for many” rather than “for all”. ….

Lenger nede i artikkelen modifiserer Allen sine tanker en del, og om man leser kommentarene etter artikkelen, vil man se hva slags tanker de fleste leserne av det svært liberale National Catholic Reporter har om paven/Vatikanet.

En engelsk katolsk sognepreest, Fr. Ray Blake, skriver om hva som skjer i Kirken for tiden. At det stadig blir tydeligere hvem som motsetter seg pave Benedikts reformplaner, som riktignok gjennomføres langsomt og forsiktig, gjennom pavens eksempel og undervisning, men som likevel har en tdelig retning:

So the SSPX are likely to be in soon. Already the Ordinariate is beginning to thrive in the States, and once they are given a church or two here that might happen in England and Wales – though they are doing pretty well using Spanish Place as their «Cathedral». Those with a Catholic «sense» are given courage to live out their faith. The liberation Summorum Pontificum gave the Traditional usage is slowly making an in road into the Church and parish life. Seminaries are gradually becoming more Catholic, even if they are not, they are turning out young priests who want authentic Catholicism.
and yet; Those American nuns who have «moved beyond Jesus» are likely to be out, at least as an organisation but there very presence shows how deep the rot goes. Dissident Irish priests have been silenced but in Ireland dissidence seems to be the new orthodoxy. In Austria there is open disobedience and rather dubious decisions made by some of the hierarchy. In the US the Bishops are fighting off the government and perhaps wondering whether they have much backing from the ordinary Catholic in the pew.

…. Seven years ago many were expecting a «rottweiler» Pope, who would clear up doctrinal error, boot out heretical bishops, cleanse the Curia, clamp-down on liturgical abuses and theological errors and those peddling them. Instead we have had a Pope who teaches. His teaching however is constantly radical, a continual call out of the confused disunity of darkness into the light of Christ. Yet he is criticised for not using his authority to clean up the Church. How often does one hear amongst Roman dicastery officials the criticism, «he reigns but does not rule»?

What we have in the Church is increased division, and it is the Pope himself who is the source of division. There is an increased seperation between those who gather with Peter and those who don’t. …

Cardinal Koch recently said: «A widespread criticism holds that the pope is not concerned» about the church as a whole but is focused on a small portion of his flock and «is content with that». «The only thing that is true in this criticism is that, in reality, the pope is convinced that the true renewal of the church cannot begin with the masses, but only with small movements» inspired by the Holy Spirit and acting as leaven for the rest of the church, the cardinal said.

19. mars 2005 ble kardinal Ratzinger valgt til pave, og tok navnet Benedikt XVI. Father Z. (blant mange andre) skriver om dette.

I går (16. april) fylte pave Benedikt 85 år. Jeg føyer meg også til gratulantene, og tar med noe av hva danske ‘Katolsk orientering’ skriver om fødselsdagen:

Pave Benedikt XVI fejrede sin 85-års fødselsdag mandag den 16. april sammen med gæster, der opvartede ham med bayersk ’oompah’-musik og folkedans i Den apostoliske Palads.

Tidligere på dagen sagde paven i en improviseret prædiken: “Jeg befinder mig på sidste stykke af min livsrejse og jeg ved ikke, hvad der venter mig”.

“Dog ved jeg, at Guds lys eksisterer, at han er opstanden, at hans lys er stærkere end ethvert mørke, og at Guds godhed er stærkere end alle verdens onder, og det hjælper mig til at fortsætte fremad med vished”, sagde han.

De nuværende biskopper i Bayern, delstatens ministerpræsident Horst Seehofer og en delegation på omkring 150 personer besøgte paven i Det clementinske Kapel i Vatikanet. …

Bildet under viser noen av de besøkende fra Bayern.

Bildet over er fra Vårt Land, og de bruker en NTB-artikkel som bl.a. sier:

I dag kan vi lyse opp våre byer så strålende at stjernene på himmelen ikke lenger er synlige. Er ikke det et bilde på problemene som har oppstått som følge av vår versjon av opplysning, spurte Benedikt under kveldens feiring påskeaften.

…. I prekenen sin sa paven, som ofte har snakket om miljøet, at de utrolige vitenskapelige triumfene som er oppnådd, ikke bare er framgang, men også setter både menneskeheten og verden i fare.

Pave Benedikt var svært så tydelig i går i sin preken under oljevigselsmessen i Peterskirken, da han snakket om prestenes oppgaver og lydighet, rett før prestene jadde sin årlige fornyelse av presteløftene. Han snakket både om lydighet (og et eksempel på ulydighet fra Østerrike), om mangel på skikkelig katekese flere steder, og sist snakket han om prestene hadde et sterkt ønske om sjelenes frelse som basis for sin tjeneste. Her er et lite utdrag som handler mest om lydighet/ulydighet:

…. But does our consecration extend to the daily reality of our lives – do we operate as men of God in fellowship with Jesus Christ? This question places the Lord before us and us before him. “Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and more closely conformed to him, denying yourselves and confirming those promises about sacred duties towards Christ’s Church which, prompted by love of him, you willingly and joyfully pledged on the day of your priestly ordination?” After this homily, I shall be addressing that question to each of you here and to myself as well. Two things, above all, are asked of us: there is a need for an interior bond, a configuration to Christ, and at the same time there has to be a transcending of ourselves, a renunciation of what is simply our own, of the much-vaunted self-fulfilment. We need, I need, not to claim my life as my own, but to place it at the disposal of another – of Christ. I should be asking not what I stand to gain, but what I can give for him and so for others. Or to put it more specifically, this configuration to Christ, who came not to be served but to serve, who does not take, but rather gives – what form does it take in the often dramatic situation of the Church today? Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church’s Magisterium, such as the question of women’s ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the Church has received no authority from the Lord. Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? We would like to believe that the authors of this summons are motivated by concern for the Church, that they are convinced that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date. But is disobedience really a way to do this? Do we sense here anything of that configuration to Christ which is the precondition for all true renewal, or do we merely sense a desperate push to do something to change the Church in accordance with one’s own preferences and ideas? …

Les hele prekenen her.

Vårt Land melder at pave Benedikts forespørsel om at Cuba på nytt gjør Langfredag (ikke påskedag, som noen har skrevet; søndager er jo helligdag de fleste steder allerede) til helligdag raskt er blitt besvart:

… Ønsket har nå blitt innvilget av cubanske myndigheter.

Det betyr at cubanere for første gang siden revolusjonen i 1959 får fri på langfredag.

– Jeg er glad for at jeg slipper å jobbe, men forstår egentlig svært lite av alt sammen, sier Roberto Blanco til nyhetsbyrået AP.

Pave Benedikt understreker igjen det opplagte (skulle man tro), men likevel svært nødvendige (når man fortsatt opplever mange som forkaster svært så mye fra Kirken tradisjon fra før 1965):

Vatican II was a genuine sign of God for our time. If we know how to interpret and accept it within the tradition of the Church, and under the secure guidance of the Magisterium, it will become an increasingly important driving force for the future of the Church. For this reason I hope this anniversary will be – for you and for the entire Church in France – an occasion of spiritual and pastoral renewal.

This renewal, which is part of a continuous and ongoing process, takes many forms. For the Year of the Faith, to which I have called the entire Church, we must seek a more conscious faith and renew our adherence to the Gospel. To this end, we must become increasingly open to the person of Christ, and rediscover the pleasure of the Word of God in order to achieve a profound conversion of heart and walk the paths of the world, proclaiming the Gospel of hope to the men and women of our time, in respectful dialogue with everyone. May this time of grace also make it possible to consolidate communion within the great family of the Catholic Church, and contribute to restoring unity among all Christians, which was one of the main objectives of the Council.

The renewal of the Church also includes the witness of Christians’ own lives, that the Word of Truth the Lord left us may shine forth. If you approach witnesses of faith such as St. Bernadette the humble seer of Lourdes, Pauline Jaricot who gave new missionary drive to the Church, and many others who have made the soil of France fruitful, you will gain a deeper knowledge of Christ. … St. Joan of Arc, the sixth centenary of whose birth falls this year, is one shining example. She brought the Gospel into the most dramatic events of the history of France and of her time. Rediscovering the joy of believing and the enthusiasm of communicating the power and beauty of the faith is a fundamental challenge of the new evangelisation to which the whole Church is called.

Benedict XVI

Fransk original her – engelsk tekst fra Rorate Cæli.