PAVEDØMMET I BIBELEN OG HISTORIEN

Gamle tekster, Teologi /

Denne boka (på over 200 sider) ble utgitt av pastor dr. teol. J. van der Burg i 1979 – og er vel pastor van der Burgs siste bok. Jeg har nå kommet ganske langt i år bearbeide den – og arbeidet kan følges her.

Her er oversikten over innholdet:

Innledning

Art. I. Om Peters primat
§ 1. Den høytidelige forutsigelse av Peters primat
§ 2. I hele sitt offentlige liv forberedte Jesus Peter til den lederstilling Han ville gi ham
§ 3. Jesus forutsa på nytt Peters primat under den siste nattverd
§ 4. Den høytidelige innsettelse
§ 5. Peter utøvde primatet etter Jesu himmelfart
§ 6. Peters primat ble anerkjent av de andre apostler – Også Paulus anerkjente Peters primat – Forgjeves søker protestantene noen innvendinger mot Peters primat i galaterbrevet.
§ 7 Bibelens beretning om Peters fengsling (Ap. Gj. kap. 12) vitner om at både de troende og kristen dommens motstandere anså Peter som Kirkens overhode

Art. II. Etter Jesu vilje skulle Peter ha etterfølgere i sitt embete som Kirkens overhode

Art. III. Peters etterfølgere er biskopene av Roma
Om Peters opphold og martyrdød i Roma
Om pavevalget i tidens løp
– Oldkirkens vitnesbyrd om den romerske biskops primat – Clemens Romanus – Ignatius av Antiokia – Ireneus
– Fra de eldste tider av ser vi biskoper og teologer fra de mest forskjellige kanter av den kristne verden reise til Peters Stol i anledning av religiøse spørsmål
– Et bevis på den romerske biskops primat er pave Viktors (189-198) inngripen i striden om påskefesten.
– Pavedømmet har alltid vært den klippe som hindret at kjetterier fikk makt over Kirken
– Om den romerske biskops primat vitner også de stadige (men forgjeves) forsøk vranglærerne gjor de for å få paven på sin side, overbeviste som de var at de ved å vinne ham lett ville kunne vinne hele kristenheten
– Den romerske biskop var den høyeste apellinstans i stridigheter om bispestoler
– Pavens omsorg for de nødlidende menigheter hele verden over vitner om at de var seg bevisst å være alle kristnes far
– Vitnesbyrd av oldkirkens store teologer
– Kirkemøtenes vitnesbyrd om pavens primat
– Pavedømmets opprinnelse kan ikke forklares ved Romas politiske maktstilling eller ved noen annen naturlig faktor
– Den greske kirkes forhold til pavedømmet
– Årsakene til det greske skisma

Art. IV. Om pavens ufeilbarhet
§ 1. Hva vil det si at paven er ufeilbar?
§ 2. Dogmet om pavens ufeilbarhet er ikke noen ny lære
§ 3. Aldri har noen pave definert en vranglære
§ 4. Dogmet om pavens ufeilbarhet hemmer hverken den personlige tenkning eller fremskrittet av den teologiske vitenskap
§ 5. Betyr ikke den pavelige ufeilbarhet en altfor stor opphøyelse av et menneske?

Art. V. Pavedømmets historie vitner om at Kristus er med sin Kirke

Art. VI. Hva menneskeheten skylder pavedømmet
§ 1. Pavenes innsats til fremme av hedningemisjonene
§ 2. Pavene har beskyttet Europa og den kristne sivilisasjon mot barbarene
§ 3. Pavene har beskyttet kristendommen og folkenes frihet mot statstyranniet
§ 4. Pavene har hatt en viktig andel i avskaffelsen av slaveriet og i kampen for arbeidernes rettigheter
§ 5. Pavene har reddet familielivet ved sitt modige forsvar av den kristelige ekteskapsmoral
§ 6. Pavenes arbeid for freden
§ 7. Pavenes store innsats for kunsten og vitenskapen

Fra bloggen «Pray Tell» – Lutherske røtter, kritikk av paven

Katolsk, Økumenikk /

I dag tidlig leste jeg litt mer på «Pray Tell» bloggen – jeg leser den bl.a. for å få en kontrast de mer konservative nettstedene jeg også besøker, og det er noen dyktige folk som skriver om liturgi der. En benediktiner med svært norske (+svenske og tyske) aner forteller om sin oppvekst, og svarer på spørsmål om sin konversjon fra luthersk til katolsk tro:

When people hear that I was raised Lutheran, they sometimes become curious and ask three questions: 1) From which Lutheran synod? 2) When did you convert? and 3) Why?

I’ll attempt to formulate my thoughts here in response to these recurring questions in hopes that this exercise might help me to reflect on my personal religious wanderings while also creating a means for sharing these thoughts.

My home parish, Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar, Minnesota, was originally part of the Synoden for den Norsk Evangelisk Lutherske Kirke i America (the Norwegian ethnic synod which was affiliated with the state church in Norway). Today, Vinje is part of the larger ELCA. My grandfather (mother’s father) was a pastor of the Synoden and preached in both Norwegian and English. I also have an uncle who is an ELCA pastor, and my mother’s cousin is a retired ELCA bishop. On my father’s side, my grandmother was Augustana Synod (the Swedish ethnic church which is now ELCA), and my grandfather was baptized and confirmed Missouri Synod (German ethnic). However, my dad was raised in the Norwegian church because my Swedish grandmother and German grandfather joined a Norwegian congregation.

Det er nesten utrolig det går an å ha en så norsk oppvekst i USA! Han går så videre og forteller hvorfor han konverte (et ord han absolutt ikke liker å bruke) til Den katolske Kirke – det ser ut til å være mest musikken som gjorde det.

I kommentarene til dette innlegget, er det en helt ting, også den kirkekritikken som er typsik for denne bloggen:

… It appears that the forthcoming Assisi interfaith gathering on the 25th anniversary of the original event will be a repudiation by Pope Ratzinger of the earlier event. Not only will the interfaith prayer aspect disappear, but the ecumenical dimension will also be removed. Instead Benedict XVI will pray in St Peter’s the night before with the catholic faithful. And other christian churches are invited to do something similar. The image of filletting comes to mind. …

… I agree. Why even bother with Assisi. Better to call it off than to treat it so ungenerously and with such a legalistic attitude. Pope Benedict appears to be genuflecting again to the neo Ultramontanist harpies and the SSPX crowd. …

Godt sagt av Ratzinger – om Jesu oppstandelse

Apologetikk, Paven /

Den kristne troen står og faller med sannheten i vitnesbyrdet om Jesu oppstandelse fra de døde. Hvis man fjerner dette, kan man likevel i den kristne tradisjonen utvilsomt finne en rekke bemerkelsesverdige ideer om Gud og mennesket. Men den kristne troen er død. Jesus er i dette tilfellet en mislykket religiøs personlighet; en personlighet som til tross for sitt fall forblir stor, og som kan gi næring til vår refleksjon. Men han forblir i en rent menneskelig dimensjon, og hans autoritet er kun gyldig i den grad hans budskap overbeviser oss. Bare hvis Jesus er stått opp fra de døde er det skjedd noe virkelig nytt, som forandrer verden og menneskets situasjon.
Joseph Ratzinger

Dette sitatet ligger i påsken i år øverst på document.no – viser seg å være sitert noe forkortet og redigert fra siste kapittel i pave Benedikts andre bok om Jesus fra Nasaret.

«I din oppstandelse, Kristus, gleder himmelen og jorden seg»

Katolsk, Liturgi, Paven /


Her er hele pave Benedikts påsketale (se kilde):

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and across the world, Easter morning brings us news that is ancient yet ever new: Christ is risen! The echo of this event, which issued forth from Jerusalem twenty centuries ago, continues to resound in the Church, deep in whose heart lives the vibrant faith of Mary, Mother of Jesus, the faith of Mary Magdalene and the other women who first discovered the empty tomb, and the faith of Peter and the other Apostles.

Right down to our own time – even in these days of advanced communications technology – the faith of Christians is based on that same news, on the testimony of those sisters and brothers who saw firstly the stone that had been rolled away from the empty tomb and then the mysterious messengers who testified that Jesus, the Crucified, was risen. And then Jesus himself, the Lord and Master, living and tangible, appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally to all eleven, gathered in the Upper Room (cf. Mk 16:9-14).

The resurrection of Christ is not the fruit of speculation or mystical experience: it is an event which, while it surpasses history, nevertheless happens at a precise moment in history and leaves an indelible mark upon it. …

«I din oppstandelse, Kristus, gleder himmelen og jorden seg»Les mer »

Petersplassen i dag

Katolsk, Paven /

En av mange rapporter fra Petersplassen i dag skriver bl.a.:

Benedict celebrated Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square, packed with pilgrims and tourists and awash in the bright colors of spring flowers as he marked the church’s most joyous day of the year. …

.. Christians worldwide on Easter Sunday recall Jesus’ resurrection, a sign of eternal life, following his crucifixion. This year, Easter fell on the same day in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic church calendars.

But while «in heaven, all is peace and gladness,» Benedict said in his message, delivered after the Mass from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, «alas, it is not so on earth.» He lamented that hunger, disease, war and violence still cause suffering in the world.

He prayed for people in the Middle East, «so that the light of peace and of human dignity may overcome the darkness of division, hate and violence.» …

.. By the time the pope delivered his speech, well over 100,000 people had thronged to the area. Resplendent in gold-colored robes, Benedict led the ceremony from an altar set up on the steps of the basilica, under a red canopy to shield him from rain or sun. Skies over the Vatican alternated between clouds and peeks of sun.

The 84-year-old Benedict looked relaxed, although his voice cracked a bit as he intoned prayers during the sung parts of the Mass. His voice had sounded hoarse at times the previous evening, when the pope led a late-night Easter Vigil Mass lit by candles in the basilica. …

Kirkens liturgiske (og dogmatiske) utvikling uroer enkelte katolikker

Katolsk, Liturgi /

På liturgibloggen Pray Tell (ganske progressiv/liberal) leste jeg for et par dager siden et innlegg som uttrykker frustrasjonene til en del katolikker som med glede tok til seg alt det nye rundt 1970. De sier:

There’s no denying it. Many people involved in the Church admit they are tired out, or in any case without hope.” Thus begins a disturbing article in the latest issue of the Italian monthly Jesus. The author is Enzo Bianchi, prior of the Monastery of Bose near Turin. For decades he has been one of the best-selling spiritual authors in Italy and a nationally recognized symbol of mainstream Catholicism. His recent article should make Catholics everywhere stop and think. …

Those Catholics who “struggled to change” nearly 50 years ago, and obediently followed “the directives of the Council and the Pope”, are now filled with “confusion” and even “frustration” by this suspicious attitude towards Vatican II. … “I am nearly 70. I have worked my entire life for church unity and communion within my Church, but today I see many contradictions,” writes Bianchi. “And I ask with many others: where is the Church heading? This, our Church, that we have loved so much, and want to continue to love, as members that are loyal – not ones who are adulterous or who are looking for privileges and promotions.”

Som vanlig (i USA) er det kommet mange friske kommentarer til dette innlegget – her er utdrag fra noen få av dem:

Just wanted to let you know, that there are also many younger people that are “tired of the shenanigans going on in the Church”. We are tired of people “mainly older–in their 60s, products of Vatican II” who can’t get with the program and realize that you guys have already had your chance. The Church didn’t get any stronger when you guys were in charge. Mass attendance has gone down and many of your ilk have done nothing that actually brings people back into the pews (or the sanctuary for that matter). …

… In my opinion, the battle over liturgy is merely a proxy for more grave ecclesiological, social justice, and theological issues. I strongly suspect that the movement in some traditional Catholic circles to “revisit the Council” is more akin to a hostile rejection. In particular, some traditional Catholics harbor hostility towards the Conciliar acknowledgement of religious conscience and a call for justice towards Judaism and the Jewish people. I am also convinced that there is a strong desire in some sectors of the traditional community for a return to a tiara triumphalist papacy. I am utterly convinced that the advances of the Council and the model of a shepherd-bishop are intrinsically bound. I do hope that we must never return to a fortress monarchial Church which rejects dialogue and blinds itself to historical injustice. …

… Most Catholics welcomed the conciliar changes and struggled to put them into effect. Most Catholics felt betrayed by Humanae Vitae. And in fact it turned out that Humanae Vitae was the first shot in the battle to suppress Vatican II. …

Ny katolsk kirke i Stavanger

Katolsk /


Stavanger Aftenblad har i dag et bilde (over) av arbeidet med St Svithun kirke i Stavanger, og bl.a. følgende tekst:

En heisekran senker ned utstyr til bygningsarbeiderne som står inne i kirken ved Løkkeveien. Den mangler fortsatt tak, men flere bøyler er satt opp og markerer det som skal bli den nye katolske kirken i Stavanger.

I år blir det en annerledes påske for katolikkene i byen. St. Svithun kirke er under ombygging, noe som betyr at høytiden må markeres andre steder. …

… Planen er at kirken skal være innflytningsklar i juli/august og at den skal innvies 25. september i år. Da som den fjerde største kirken i Stavanger, etter Domkirken, St. Petri og St. Johannes, og som den største katolske kirken i landet, med 550 sitteplasser.

Jeg er glad for at man nå kan se enden på den lange byggeperioden. St Svithun kirke trengte absolutt mer plass, selv om jeg da jeg var der syntes at man kunne ha klart seg en mindre dramatisk (og langt billigere) utbygging – og satset mer på Sandnes og omegn, der faktisk 1/3 av katolikkene i området bor.

Påskevigilien i Peterskirken

Katolsk, Liturgi, Paven /

Her er starten av pave Benedikts preken fra påskevigilirn i Peterskirken sent i går kveld:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil makes use of two eloquent signs. First there is the fire that becomes light. As the procession makes its way through the church, shrouded in the darkness of the night, the light of the Paschal Candle becomes a wave of lights, and it speaks to us of Christ as the true morning star that never sets – the Risen Lord in whom light has conquered darkness. The second sign is water. On the one hand, it recalls the waters of the Red Sea, decline and death, the mystery of the Cross. But now it is presented to us as spring water, a life-giving element amid the dryness. Thus it becomes the image of the sacrament of baptism, through which we become sharers in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yet these great signs of creation, light and water, are not the only constituent elements of the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. Another essential feature is the ample encounter with the words of sacred Scripture that it provides. Before the liturgical reform there were twelve Old Testament readings and two from the New Testament. The New Testament readings have been retained. The number of Old Testament readings has been fixed at seven, but depending upon the local situation, they may be reduced to three. The Church wishes to offer us a panoramic view of whole trajectory of salvation history, starting with creation, passing through the election and the liberation of Israel to the testimony of the prophets by which this entire history is directed ever more clearly towards Jesus Christ. In the liturgical tradition all these readings were called prophecies. Even when they are not directly foretelling future events, they have a prophetic character, they show us the inner foundation and orientation of history. They cause creation and history to become transparent to what is essential. In this way they take us by the hand and lead us towards Christ, they show us the true Light. …

Resten kan leses her.

Hellige erkeengel Mikael, forsvar oss i striden, verg oss mot djevelens ondskap og list.

Liturgi /

Biskop Thomas John Paprocki, i Springfield, Illinois, USA, annonserte tirsdag kveld i forbindelse med oljevigselsmessen i bispedømmet, at man nå i alle bispedømmets menigheter offentlig kan be bønna til erkeengelen Mikael ved avslutningen av hver messe. Han delte også ut bønnekort med teksten til denne 125 år gamle bønna. I et tilleggsbrev skrev han også:

One of Satan’s greatest assets is his camouflage, the belief that he doesn’t exist. Disbelief in Satan and the forces of evil leave us unable to resist them. That is why it is good to remember the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. We need to remember that each time we pray we work to defeat our real enemies, not each other, but rather the devil and his evil spirits …

In recent years, a number of parishes have begun reciting the prayer once more, and many individual Catholics have kept up the practice. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have urged the faithful to pray it daily, and especially after Mass.

Her er den norske oversettelsen:

Hellige erkeengel Mikael, forsvar oss i striden, verg oss mot djevelens ondskap og list. Ydmykt trygler vi om at Gud må holde den onde i age. Og deg, som er høvding for de himmelske hærskarer, ber vi om at du, med den kraft som Gud har gitt deg, vil styrte i avgrunnen Satan og de andre ondskapens ånder som til sjelenes ulykke ferdes omkring i verden. Amen.

Anglo-katolikkene vil berike den katolske liturgiske tradisjon

Katolsk, Liturgi /

Når 1000 tidligere anglo-katolikker denne uka blir katolikker, og også (av pave benedikt) har fått muligheten til å styre seg selv, og ta vare på sin egen tradisjon, vil de kunne hjelpe alle katolikker ut av den estetiske ørkenvandringen de har vandret i i 40 år. Det skriver i alle fall Damian Thompson:

… But one thing the former Holy Trinity people will be bringing with them is a meticulous and dignified Anglo-Catholic tradition of interpreting the Roman rite. In England, at least, this could turn out to be the essence of the “Anglican patrimony” of the Ordinariate. Many of those coming over anticipated the Benedictine liturgical reforms that, until now, the Catholic bishops have been slow to implement. If the Ordinariate congregations celebrate the Eucharist in the spirit of the great Mass at Westminster Cathedral that the Pope attended on the Saturday of his visit – a rare glimpse of Benedict’s ideals put into practice – then Rome will be delighted. And, at long last, cradle Catholics will be shown a path out of the aesthetic desert in which they have been wandering for 40 years.

Han skriver også i samme artikkel:

… Now we enter delicate territory. I don’t want to suggest that there is tension between the Bishops of England and Wales and the Ordinariate: on the contrary, the Bishops’ Conference is far more warmly disposed towards the new body than we could have anticipated a year ago. That is one of the fruits of the papal visit. Also, I’ve yet to come across any evidence that these new Catholics see themselves as a Church within a Church: for example, the former parish priest and many parishioners of Holy Trinity, Reading, are clearly looking forward to becoming integral to the town’s Roman Catholic community, celebrating their own Mass at St James’s, the town centre Catholic parish. …

Hundrevis av anglikanere blir katolikker

Katolsk, Økumenikk /

Avisa Dagen skrev for et par dager siden (og Vårt Land hadde en lignende artikkel i papiravisa, om de mange hundre anglikanerne i England og Wales som denne uka blir opptatt i Den katolske Kirke:

I Storbritannia forbereder i alt 33 større grupper av anglikanere seg til å bli opptatt i Den katolske kirke i dagene før påske. Ifølge nyhetsbyrået Kathpress dreier det seg om ca 20 prester og 600 legfolk, som vil slutte seg til det nyoprettede ordinariatet «Our Lady of Walsingham». Etter flere ukers forberedelser vil de konvertere skjærtorsdag eller 1. påskedag, hvor de vil motta fermingssakramentet (konfirmasjonssakramentet) og offisielt bli opptatt i Den katolske kirke. Den første prestevielse til det nye ordinariatet vil skje i pinsetiden.

Vatikanet etablerede i november 2009 gjennom det pavelige dekretet «Anglicanorum cætibus» en ordning for anglikanere som ønsket å tre inn i Den katolske kirke. Dermed er det blitt mulig for grupper av anglikanere å konvertere til den katolske tro og samtidig beholde en rekke av sine egne tradisjoner. I den kommende tid vil det bli etablert lignende ordinariater i USA, Canada og Australien, opplyser Rom.

Dette er interessant lesning, men jeg reagerte litt på det lave tallet som ble nevnt. BBC melder her om 900 lekfolk og 61 prester. Og her kan vi lese om 1000 lekfolk og 64 prester.

Bildet under viser Mgr Keith Newton. «He is picutred at Southwark Cathedral after receiving former Anglicans into full communion with the Church on Tuesday. Note the crozier. He is not just a Protonotary Apostolic, but an Ordinary.»

God oppsummering av debatten om Vatikankonsilet i L’Osservatore Romano

Katolsk, Paven /

John Allen har som vanlig en god og presis analyse av stridsspørsmål innen Kiriken; i debatten om det var dokumentene Vatikankonsilet produserte eller bare den senere fortolkningen av dem som er problemet, plasserer han pave Benedikt midt i sentrum av debatten – med en balansert forståelse:

…. When it comes to interpretations of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), some progressive Catholics are tempted to see Pope Benedict XVI’s “hermeneutic of reform,” which stresses continuity with the pre-Vatican II church, as the opposite end of the spectrum from more liberal views. That’s not, however, how most people in the Vatican size things up, where the “hermeneutic of reform” is instead understood as a balanced position between thinking that church history began with Vatican II, and thinking that the council was just plain wrong.

For that taxonomy to work, there have to be credible exponents of the “just plain wrong” position. That’s where Italian historian Roberto de Mattei and Monsignor Brunero Gherardini, a canon of St. Peter’s Basilica, enter the picture.

Both have published provocative books about Vatican II. Last year, de Mattei offered Il Concilio Vaticano II: Una storia mai scritta (“The Second Vatican Council: A Story Never Told”), styling Vatican II as a rupture with tradition comparable to the French Revolution, and faulting every pope since Pius X for allowing it to happen. Gherardini produced Concilio Vaticano II: Il discorso mancato (“The Second Vatican Council: The Missing Discussion”), in which he said some council fathers believed “the church was to be a kind of research laboratory rather than a dispenser of truths from on high.”

Both books were recently reviewed in L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, and in both cases the verdict was fairly negative. The commentary on de Mattei came from Italian Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, author of a study of the council openly critical of the more liberal “Bologna school” associated with Italian scholars Giuseppe Alberigo and Alberto Melloni. Marchetto wrote that de Mattei’s work is “ideological” and suffers from “extremist tendencies.” Likewise, Inos Biffi, a medieval expert and a frequent writer for L’Osservatore, charged that Gherardini doesn’t so much “discuss” Vatican II as “denigrate” it.

The dividing line is this: If the post-Vatican II period brought some confusion and excess, is that the fault of the council itself? Benedict XVI, and figures in sync with his views such as Marchetto and Biffi, say no; traditionalist critics such as de Mattei and Gherardini say yes.

All this illustrates a core insight about the Catholic Church: Deciding who the moderates are depends on the range of views one takes into consideration. When you see the whole picture, it’s often tougher to conclude that the Vatican, or the pope, represents an extreme.

Les hele John Allens innlegg her – helt på slutten av artikkelen.

Stadig mer diskusjon om Vatikankonsilets resultater

Katolsk, Teologi /


Med unntak av de katolikker som syns at alt som skjedde etter Vatikankonsilet har vært såre vel, bortsett fra at man nå begynner å miste det man hadde vunnet tidligere – Det er vel ingen norske prester (ordinert de siste 20 år) i denne gruppen, vi opplevde alle svært grundig å bli tvunget til å godta alt det nye og forkaste alt det gamle under våre studieår. – men bortsett fra disse katolikker som er fornoyd med alt det nye, lurer vi andre på – og diskusjonen begynner langsomt å bli mer seriøs – om det a) var utviklinga etter konsilet som er skyld i alt det uheldige som skjedde, eller b) var det slik at konsilets tekster var altfor åpne for ulike tolkninger, eller c) er det feil i selve konsiltekstene?

Sandro Magister har skrevet om dette de siste ukene; 8/4 High Up, Let Down by Pope Benedict og 18/4 The Disappointed Have Spoken. The Vatican responds – den siste artikkelen viser at debatten har kommet inn i selveste L’Osservatore Romano. Denne debatten om Konsilet er ganske kompleks, og jeg er derfor glad for at Shawn Tribe i går skrev følgende oppsummering av den – her er starten:

I have been following with great interest some of the recent entries of Sandro Magister on the debate occurring within Italian circles at the present moment about the Second Vatican Council and the question of continuity and rupture.

Key players in the debate as featured by Magister have been Cardinal Giacomo Biffi (archbishop emeritus of Bologna), Archbishop Agostino Marchetto (former secretary of the Pontifical Council of Migrants and author of The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council: A Counterpoint for the History of the Council), Inos Biffi (professor emeritus at the theological faculties of Milan and Lugano), Canon Brunero Gherardini (a canon of St. Peter’s Basilica, professor emeritus of the Pontifical Lateran University and author of two works at the heart of this debate, Concilio Vaticano II: Un Discorso da Fare and now Concilio Vaticano II: Il Discorso Mancato) and Professor Roberto de Mattei (of the European University of Rome and author of Il Concilio Vaticano II: Una Storia mai Scritta).

In recent weeks, Magister has run two further articles which pertain to this debate: High Up, Let Down by Pope Benedict (which contains a sort of summary of the various positions and figures as well as an article «On Continuity» by Francesco Arzillo) and The Disappointed Have Spoken. The Vatican responds (which contains Inos Biffi’s «Conciliar Rereadings», a review of Gherardini’s book taken from «L’Osservatore Romano», April 15).

Without the benefit of full access to all of the Italian texts (namely the writings of Gherardini and de Mattei themselves), and accordingly relying on the summaries and responses we are given, my sense is that the crux of the matter is the question of whether the documents of the Second Vatican Council are themselves in continuity, but either falsely interpreted, understood or enacted in rupturous ways (and thus no fault of the documents themselves), or whether the very documents of the Council itself have (or at least potentially have) elements of rupture within them that stand in need of clarification or correction. …

Det praktiske og jordnære, og konsekvensene for liturgien

Liturgi /


Fr. Longenecker som er avbildet på bilde over (til venstre, med sin biretta foran brystet) etter årets palmesøndagsmesse, skrev for noen dager siden om hvordan den amerikanske holdningen til livet generelt (bokstavelig, praktisk etc.) også fikk betydning for liturgien etter vatikankonsilet:

In 1979 I left America to study and live in England. I stayed there for twenty five years. … I do love my home country and I’m glad to be back. However, there is a certain aspect to America that I still find difficult. It is a vague and uncertain quality; something I have never heard defined before, but I think I can give it a name: literal-ness. …

… So, when the windows were opened to the modern world after the second Vatican Council the true Americanized version of the Catholic faith, which was waiting in the wings, suddenly sprang into life. Almost instantly a new verson of Catholicism burst on to the scene.

It was a version of Catholicism which is literal. It is bottom line. It is practical. So modern American churches are not beautifully transcendent temples where God himself dwells in the Holy of Holies. They are utilitarian auditoria with padded seats, a good sound system, a cry room, a bride’s room and toilets that are clean and comfortable. In an attempt to make the liturgy understood and relevant everything had to be explained. Liturgists and homilists now talk and explain everything. Before Mass–a long explanation of what is going to happen. Before the readings a little summary. During the Prayers of the Faithful another explanation of what they are about. After Mass more announcements and explanations. The music became people centered–lots of songs that were ‘accessible’ about God comforting us, and how we are going to gather together to change the world. Homilies became homely fireside chats about social relevance, self esteem and political action. The way priests celebrated the liturgy focussed on the people gathered around the table.

The literal people were suspicious of ‘mystery’ and ‘transcendence’ and ‘hierarchy’ and ‘beauty’. These things were somehow hifalutin, irrelevant, impractical and most of all–expensive. The money should be spent on other more practical things like schools and hospitals and soup kitchens. Ideas about ‘sacrifice’ were quietly dropped as ‘difficult’ or ‘unnecessarily archaic’ or ‘primitive’. Concepts like ‘the precious blood’ or ‘Jesus dying to save your from your sins’ were deemed ‘inaccessible’ or ‘impossible for modern people to understand’. The sacrifice of the Mass was replaced with the ‘sacrifice of our time, treasure and talents.’ I could go on.

My words will be read as a condemnation of all this. In fact, I am not condemning it. I’m simply recognizing it and analyzing it for what it is. I actually think that what transpired in America in the wake of the second Vatican Council was, in many ways, a good thing. It really was an attempt to help many Catholics relate to their faith and understand their faith more. It really did accomplish this goal in many ways.

However, it was imbalanced. Too much that was good in the sacred tradition was thrown out. Too much of the effort to modernize was iconoclastic and revolutionary. This is why I am in favor of what is called ‘the reform of the reform’. …..

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