Alle bispedømmets prester er på Mariaholm, sammen med biskopen, på vårt årlige prestemøte denne uka, så jeg har lite tid til å sjekke nyheter på nettet og til å skrive på bloggen. Men jeg har et abonnement (Netcom litt bruk) på mobilt bredbånd, så jeg kan følge med litt, og bl.a. godkjenne kommentarer – selv her «langt ute i skogen».
Katolsk.no melder også kort at Janne Haaland Matlary 1. september ble utnevnt til medlem av Det pavelige akademi for sosialvitenskapene. Men på et engelsk nettsted (dvs. britisk i dette tilfellet) leser vi mye grundigere om henne:
Janne Haaland Matlary, professor of international politics at the department of political sciences of the University of Oslo, Norway has been made a member of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences
Dr Matlary was the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Norway and a member of the Christian Democrat Party between 1997 and 2000. She is a convert to Catholicism and already serves on the Pontical Council for Justice and Peace and is a consultor on the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Readers will remember the fuss, last year, over Cherie Blair giving a talk at the Angelicum in December. The event was a conference on Women and Human Rights, in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs Blair’s high profile and controversial talk, garnered all the media/blogging attention. Dr Matlary’s talk was very good but went largely unnoticed.
She sets the fundaments for her debate, by arguing that human rights are absolute and unchanging, not to be changed by political will. “They are inborn, pre-political and apolitical, not given by politicians, not to be taken away or changed by politicians.”
Later she speaks about abortion, in the context of women’s rights–in the context of equal rights.
She said: “In the case of the abortion debate, the fierce struggle which continues and which will continue is about the terms of the debate: if the question is “under which conditions can human life be taken?” one has to consider the constitutional norms of right to life and the international instruments of human rights that state this as the highest norm. If the debate is cast in pragmatic terms, e.g. as a women’s issue, this is not necessary.
I går starta en synode om Afrika i Vatikanet, og bildet viser alle biskopene som deltok i messen i Peterskirken søndag morgen. Synoden skal vare fram til 25. oktober, og John Allen skriver slik om gårsdagen:
Pope Benedict XVI led this morning’s liturgy, joined by almost 240 bishops, most of them Africans taking part in the synod. Concelebrating the Mass were the three co-presidents of the synod, Cardinals Francis Arinze of Nigeria, Wilfrid Fox Napier of South Africa, and Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Senegal, along with Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, the “relator,” or general secretary, of the synod.
If the musical tone was upbeat, Pope Benedict struck a more sober note in his homily this morning. The pope praised the dynamism of the faith in Africa, where the Catholic population grew during the second half of the twentieth century by some 7,000 percent, soaring from 1.9 million Catholics to an estimated 160 million today.
The pope called Africa “an immense spiritual ‘lung,’ for a humanity that appears to be in a crisis of faith and hope.” Later, during his midday Angelus address, Benedict praised the «extraordinary human wealth» of Africa.
Nonetheless, in his homily Benedict warned that Africa faces two serious threats, suggesting that the synod should carefully ponder responses to both.
The first threat, Benedict said, is a “practical materialism, combined with relativistic and nihilistic thought.” Those philosophical currents, he suggested, are reaching Africa from the West.
“The so-called ‘first world’ has exported and is still exporting its toxic spiritual refuse,” the pope said, “which infect the populations of other continents, especially in Africa.”
“Colonialism is finished in a political sense,” the pope said, “but it’s not completely gone away.”
The second threat Benedict identified is “religious fundamentalism, mixed with political and economic interests.”
“Groups with diverse religious affiliations are spreading themselves throughout the African continent,” the pope said. “They do so in the name of God, but according to a logic opposed to that which is divine. They’re not teaching and practicing love and respect for liberty, but intolerance and violence.”
The pope also made clear reference to the social ills that continue to scar Africa, citing “exploitation, conflicts and corruption,” as well as “poverty, injustices, violence and wars.” He called upon the church in Africa to be a source of “prophecy and ferment of reconciliation among the various ethnic, linguistic and religious groups, within individual nations and across the entire continent.”
In his Angelus remarks, Benedict likewise noted that life in Africa is marred by «so much poverty, and still suffers under heavy injustices.» … …
Hos Damian Thompson så jeg denne videoen av prester som løfter hendene og «danser» under en pinsemesse i Frankrike i år.
Jeg må innrømme at det var nytt for meg at det i tidligere tider var utarbeidet forslag til andakter som følger (den tradisjonelle latinske) messen, og som de troende kunne be etter som messen skred fram. Jeg har nått fått låne to katolske bønnebøker, en fra 1892 og en fra 1960, og begge har slike messeandakter. Boka fra 1892 skriver andaktsforslagene inn i selve den latinsk-norske messoversikten. Her er disse tilleggene:
Ved trinnbønnen (Salme 42 og syndsbekjennelsen):
Betrakt hvordan Kristus etter den siste nattverd, ledsaget av sine disipler, går til Getsemane-hagen for å gå døden i møte, og hvordan han svettet blod med tanken på våre synder.
Ved prestens stille bønner når han går til alteret:
Betrakt hvordan Judas forrådte Jesus med et kyss.
Ved inngangsverset:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus fengsles og føres frem for Annas og Kaifas.
Ved Kyrie eleison:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus fornektes tre ganger av Peter.
Ved Gloria:
Betrakt hvordan jødene jubler over de bespottelser og mishandlinger som tilføres Jesus.
Ved slutten av Gloria:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus vender seg til Peter og ved et blikk får ham til å gråte over sine synder.
Ved kollektbønnen:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus føres til Pilatus og anklages urettferdig.
Når presten forbereder seg til å lese evangeliet:
Betrakt hvordan Jesus bringes foran Herodes og hånes.
…
I USA har antaller nonner/søstre gått ned fra 180 000 i 1965 til 59 000 i 2009 – og gjennomsnittsalderen deres er 75 år! I USA er de også organisert i to store grupper, de mer tradisjonelle (the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious) og de mer moderne (the Leadership Conference of Women Religious ) – det er disse siste som mister flest medlemmer. En av de «moderne» skriver her om sin forståelse av situasjonen – nokså sjokkerende må jeg si; det virker som om de som har valgt et liv innviet til Herren, likevel ikke skal leve slik:
«… the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious was formed with membership based on wearing the habit, communal prayer, eucharistic adoration and fidelity to the church. Meanwhile, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious continued in the spirit of Vatican II to be open to the world, exploring avenues of liberation theology, feminist theology and the plight of the poor, among others.
Members of the Leadership Conference embrace modernity and the work of the council as the Holy Spirit breathing new life in the church. They fall under what Father Radcliffe identifies as the Concilium group, who focus on the Incarnation as the central point of renewal. Members of the Conference of Major Superiors, by contrast, are Communio Catholics, who emphasize communion through proclamation of the faith, a clear Catholic identity and the centrality of the cross. (Concilium and Communio are the names of two periodicals founded in the postconciliar era. The first stressed conciliar reforms; the second stressed the continuity of the council documents with the community of the faithful through past centuries.) Thus, one group focuses on doxology and adoration (Communio), the other on practice and experience (Concilium). One sees Christ as gathering people into community (Communio); the other sees Christ as traversing boundaries (Concilium). The C.M.S.W.R. recently held its eucharistic congress under the title “Sacrifice of Enduring Love,” while the L.C.W.R. continues to work on systemic change. The former sees religious life as divine espousal with Christ; the latter sees Christ in solidarity with the poor and justice for the oppressed. … »
Jeg leste denne interessante (for oss bloggere bl.a.) nyheten på Zenit.org for et par dager siden, men somlet litt med å få lagt den ut:
A communiqué from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications announced the theme today, feast of the archangels.
The Holy Father urges priests to «consider the new media as a powerful resource for their ministry in the service of the Word and wishes to express a word of encouragement in order to address the challenges stemming from the new digital culture,» the communiqué explained. «If the new media is adequately known and appreciated, it can offer priests and all pastoral agents a wealth of data and content that previously was difficult to access, and it facilitates ways of collaboration and growth of communion that were unthinkable in the past.»
OPPDATERING:
Father Tim Finigan Har selv overatt hele denne meldinga til engelsk – og skriver også mer om den på sin blog. Her begynner teksten:
The principal task of the priest is to announce the Word of God made flesh, man, history, becoming in this way a sign of that communion which God effects with man. The efficacy of this ministry requires therefore that the priest should live an intimate relationship with God, rooted in a profound love and in a living awareness of the Sacred Scriptures, «witness» in written form of the divine Word.
The message for the 44th World Day of Social Communications seeks to invite priests in a particular way, during this Year of the Priest, and after the celebration of the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to consider the new media as possibly a major resource for their ministry at the service of the Word and seeks to offer a word of encouragement so that they might confront the challenges which arise from the new digital culture. … …
Bloggen upsidedown skriver om at relikviene av Therese av Lisieux i disse dager er i England, og at de vekker stor interesse.
Han skriver: What are we to make of the extraordinary influence of the relics of this young girl? First, it is interesting how much she foresaw. She predicted that her body would not be corrupt so that her relics might be venerated. Nevertheless, when her coffin was opened the crowds reported supernatural fragrance of roses. When I lived in England I met a woman who’s mother was present at the exhumation and who testified to this phenomenon.
There is more to it however. Therese also said on her deathbed that she believed God had granted all her desires. Well, one of her most fervent desires was to be a missionary. She longed to travel to every country of the earth singing the praises of God and proclaiming his mercy to the nations. In God’s strange providence we see this desire coming true through the regular pilgrimages of her relics around the world. They say ‘if stones could speak’. They might as well say, ‘if bones could speak’ for in this young girl they do.
There is more to it however. Mother Teresa took her name in religion from Therese–not from Teresa of Avila. Therefore, the missionary desire of Therese was brought to fulfillment in the little nun from Albania and her order: Missionaries of Charity. Not only does the title of this famous order refer to ‘charity’ as ‘charitable work’ but it also refers to the greater theological virtue of charity, and this too references back to Therese.
Les mer om Therese (på norsk) her.
På en dansk, katolsk blog leste jeg nylig en interessant (men kanskje litt sterk og dramatisk) beskrivelse av konsekvensene av å snu alteret (slik at presten fra alteret ser på menigheten). Slik begynner innlegget:
Når præsten læser messe efter den traditionelle romerske ritus, vender han og menigheden det meste af tiden samme vej, idet alle står foran alteret, med præsten forrest – og øverst (alteret er anbragt på et podium, som præsten træder op på efter den såkaldte «trinbøn»). På alteret står seks lys, og centralt på eller over alteret finder vi også tabernaklet, hvori Kristi Legeme opbevares. Herpå står et Krucifiks, der udgør «det syvende lys», Verdens Lys i den nye pagt. Alt i messen er således rettet mod disse; det udtrykker troen på Guds virkelige tilstedeværelse i messeofferet. Hele kirkerummet – men fremfor alt højalteret – er ydre tegn på, at Kristus er det centrum, mod hvilket alt i den hellige messe retter sig.
Denne opbygning af kirkerum og gudstjeneste findes i mange andre kristne riter og gudstjenesteformer, herunder de ortodokse og til en vis grad også i den danske version af den prostestantiske gudstjeneste. Man har så hæftet sig ved, at når præsten således frembærer messeofferet vendt mod Gud, så ser menigheden ham mest bagfra. Hvis det nu var ham, messen drejede sig om, ville det jo være sært. Og hvis hovedsagen var at høre og se præstens person, eller at fejre vores fællesskab med præsten, ville det være direkte forstyrrende. Hvad motivet end har været eller er, blev det i årene omkring den liturgiske reform en stadig stærkere idé, at præsten burde kunne ses forfra under messen.
Her sagde man så A: præsten skal vende sig mod menigheden. Der står han så og kigger på os og vi på ham.
Nuvel. Vi ser et nyt problem. Med alteret anbragt i øverst i kirken, ofte med en smuk altertavle bag selve alteret, skulle præsten jo fejre messe med hænderne på ryggen, uden at kunne se genstandene på alteret. Det ville ikke blot se sært ud, men også være meget upraktisk.
Så sagde man B: man anbragte et lille bord foran præsten, en slags disk, som han kan forrette messeofferet ved.
Men det er stadig meget underligt. Præsten vender jo nu ryggen til Gud, til Kristi Legeme i tabernaklet og tegnet derpå, krucifikset. Det går jo ikke, selvom man bedre kan se og høre hvad præsten foretager sig.
Så sagde man C: vi river hele det smukke gamle alter ned, og anbringer tabernaklet et andet sted i kirken, … …
Når man ser på bildene under, skulle man ikke tro det var mulig å feire så flotte (og tradisjonelle) katolske messer i vårt tid, men det er det altså. Slik kan vi lese i the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
In what he calls a «personal parish, not a geographic parish,» Archbishop Alex Brunett a year ago authorized patient advocates of restoring the Latin liturgy to form North American Martyrs parish in Seattle.
About 500 people packed into its temporary home, St. Alphonsus Church in Ballard, on Friday night as Brunett presided over a stirring, deeply spiritual high mass. Saber-bearing Knights of Columbus in full regalia escorted the procession. Gregorian music wafted down from the choir loft, while sweet-smelling incense filled the air.
Many women’s heads were draped in lace. Young children, present in large numbers, were quiet as, well, church mice. There were no response readings by the congregation. No laypeople walked to the microphone to read scripture. The congregation’s participation could be described in two words, prayerful and contemplative. …
The priests, as in pre-Vatican II days, faced the altar. Why? «The same reason a bus driver faces the road and not the passengers: The priest is leading the congregation to the Mount of Calvary,» explained Fr. Gerard Saguto, the parish pastor, who arrived from Indiana a year ago.
Fr. Seguto hails from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order of priests founded by Pope John Paul II in 1988 to minister to the increasing demand for the mass in its older form.
In the past several decades, liturgical reform has swept out the old and ushered in a not-always-satisfying new … … The result has been the «Kumbaya cult» of guitar liturgies with emphasis on informality. Often with a tin ear, language of worship has been «modernized» and adjusted to meet the requirements of political correctness.
Father Z og NLM-bloggen skriver om dette, og mange flere bilder kan sees her.
I forbindelse med det jeg skrev her, om at pave Benedikt ikke i ett og alt har hatt gode rådgivere tidligere i år, skriver en kommentator på Father Z’s blog ganske morsomt (men også korrekt?):
… somebody in the Apostolic Palace needs to be surfing the Internet—all day, every day—and finding out what is really going on in the Church. The Internet is the #1 way news is dispensed and the best way one can find out what bishops are doing in their dioceses, not an ad limina visit made by a bishop in abito piano that smells like moth balls from being in a closet from the last time he was in Rome or a hyperbolic quinquennial report.
John Allens har skrevet følgende om pave Benedikts forfriskende og klare forkynnele under besøket i Tsjekkia:
No compromise on essential points of doctrine and discipline, but the most positive, upbeat presentation possible. Christianity is framed not as a dry book of rules, but as the answer to, as Benedict put it Monday morning, “the profound thirst for meaning and happiness in the heart of every person.” …
The pope’s commitment to affirmative orthodoxy over these three days seemed to embody a deliberate effort to get back “on message.”
In many ways, Benedict’s surprisingly positive tone was the early storyline of his papacy. It seemed to go into eclipse in early ’09, however, with a furor over lifting the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops, including one who’s a Holocaust denier, and controversial comments on AIDS and condoms during a trip to Africa. Pundits hinted that the “real Ratzinger,” the hard-line figure familiar from his years as the Vatican’s top doctrinal enforcer, was finally coming to the fore. …
For secular society, Benedict’s aim is to present Christianity as the best guarantee of the values which even the most ardently secular agnostic also prizes: peace, tolerance, dialogue, and freedom. To make that case, the pope seems to believe he can’t start the conversation with flash-points of controversy, but rather with a positive vision of what Christianity has to offer.
Det blir antydet at paven tidligere i vinter ikke hadde det samme positive fokuset, under problemene rundt SSPX og under besøket i USA, da det hele ble mer problemorientert. Father Z skriver om det:
I resonate with his suggestion that Pope Benedict could be trying to get back on message. But in doing so, I am also thinking that if he has not entirely been on message lately, then His Holiness must deal with the possibility that he is not being well-staffed by some of those around him.
De påståtte åpenbaringene av jomfru Maria i Medjugorje, i Bosnia-Hercegovina i 1981, og forsettelsen av disse, har ikke blitt akseptert av Kirken, og jeg har nylig blitt oppmerksom på at den lokale biskopen har strammet inn mulighetene for de lokale prestene, og for besøkende prrester og pilegrimer, til å fokusere på disse åpenbaringene.
I juni i år, etter bispevisitas, sendte den lokale biskopen et brev til sognepresten i Medjugorje og presiserte bl.a.:
Bp. Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno in Bosnia and Herzegovina has sent letters to the pastor and a parochial vicar at Medjugorje, with specific directives about how they and the parish are not to promote the alleged apparitions of the place:
* that alleged messages and commentaries on them are not to be published;
* that prayers from the apparitions are not to be used publicly;
* the parish church is not to be called a «shrine», even privately;
* that foreign priests may not give conferences or retreats without permission of the bishop;
* foreign priests wishing to offer Mass must present a celebret from their diocese or order, and the information is to be recorded;
* a privately-built church has already been closed and is not to be used;
* unauthorized religious communities have no permission to set up residence
Her er også en grundig artikkel om det som skjer i Medjugorje – fra First Things.
Jeg fikk en begeistret telefon i går kveld, fra et katolsk ektepar som satt og så på pavens vesper i Praha, direkte på internett fra EWTN. Kirken, musikken, liturgie etc. var helt fantastisk forstod jeg. Vi som ikke fikk se vesperen på TV eller video, får klare oss med dette bildet, og med pavens tale ved denne anledningen:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I greet all of you in the words of Saint Paul that we have just heard in our Scripture reading: Grace and peace to you from God our Father! First of all I address these words to the Cardinal Archbishop, whom I thank for his gracious words. I extend my greeting to the other Cardinals and Bishops present, to the priests and deacons, the seminarians, men and women religious, to the catechists and pastoral workers, to the young people, the families, and to the representatives of ecclesial associations and movements.
We are gathered this evening in a place that is dear to you, a place that is a visible sign of the power of divine grace acting in the hearts of believers. The beauty of this thousand-year-old church is indeed a living testimony to your people’s rich history of faith and Christian tradition: a history that is illuminated in particular by the faithfulness of those who sealed their adherence to Christ and to the Church by martyrdom. I am thinking of Saint Wenceslaus, Saint Adalbert and Saint John Nepomuk, milestones in your Church’s history, to whom we may add the example of the young Saint Vitus, who preferred to die a martyr’s death rather than betray Christ, and the examples of the monk Saint Procopius and Saint Ludmila. From the twentieth century, I recall the experiences of two Archbishops of this local Church, Cardinals Josef Beran and František Tomášek, and of many Bishops, priests, men and women religious, and lay faithful, who resisted Communist persecution with heroic fortitude, even to the sacrifice of their lives. …
…
Dear Brothers and Sisters, with gratitude to the Lord, we shall be marking a number of anniversaries this year: the 280th anniversary of the canonization of Saint John Nepomuk, the 80th anniversary of the dedication of Saint Vitus’ Cathedral, and the 20th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Agnes of Bohemia, the event which heralded your country’s deliverance from atheist oppression. All these are good reasons for persevering in the journey of faith with joy and enthusiasm, counting on the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of God, and all your Patron Saints. Amen!
«Paven kjemper mot ateisme i Tsjekkia», er egentlig (den litt tendensiøse) overskrifta på NTB-artikkelen Vårt Land har lagt ut på sine nettsider. Der kan vi lese:
Pave Benedikt XVI gikk til felts mot utbredt og voksende ateisme da han lørdag innledet et tre dager langt besøk i Tsjekkia.
Han kom til landet for å støtte den katolske kirken i det protestantiske landet i Mellom-Europa som har en av de laveste andelene troende i verden. I St. Vitus-katedralen oppfordret han befolkningen til å returnere til sine kristne røtter.
Besøket finner sted kort før 20-årsdagen for fløyelsrevolusjonen som styrtet kommunistregimet i det daværende Tsjekkoslovakia i 1989. Kort etter ankomsten møtte han tidligere president Václav Havel, dramatikeren som var en av heltene under revolusjonen etter å ha sittet i årevis i fengsel under kommunistregimet.
Til forskjell fra det katolske nabolandet Polen var de fleste lederne av det Tsjekkoslovakia som vokste fram etter at Østerrike-Ungarn kollapset i 1918, sekulære, mer i takt Jan Hus’ reformtradisjon enn den katolske kirke. Fire tiår med kommunisme, da kirker og klostre ble overtatt av staten, gjorde landet enda mindre religiøst.
Tsjekkia er nok et ganske sekularisert land, men at det skal være protestantisk må være feil. På Caplex leser vi nemlig:
Folketall: 10,3 mill. innb. (2003). Religion: Romersk-katolsk 40 %, protestantisk 5 %, ortodoks 3 %
Jeg har nok en gang (mest fredag) sittet flere timer og lest om Kirkens liturgiske utvikling, for å prøve å finne ut hvorfor og hvordan forandringene rundt 1970 ble som de ble. Jeg leste bl.a. et fem år gammelt stykke på Zenit.org; et intervju med msgr. Peter Elliot, som har skrevet bøkene: «Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite» og «Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year». Bøkene kom ut for nesten ti år siden, og jeg har lest dem mange ganger, mest i mine første presteår. (Jeg kan legge til at de bare handler om hvordan den nye messen skal feires, ikke i det hele tatt om TLM.)
Msgr. Elliot fokuserer i intervjuet på at de liturgiske forandringene som hadde kommet årene før konsilet, mest under pave Pius XII, ikke hadde blitt skikkelig forstått eller intergrert i Kirkens liv – han nevner spesielt Mediator Dei fra 1947. Derfor gikk det så galt etter konsilet, når (slik jeg forstår det) konsilets svært vide og lite presise ønsker skulle settes ut i livet. Her er litt av intervjuet fra mai 2003 – hele intervjuet kan leses HER.
Q: Why did liturgy go awry so much in the post-conciliar era?
Monsignor Elliott: Basically, the work of the liturgical movement and Pius XII in «Mediator Dei» on the meaning and spirit of the liturgy was not properly assimilated before the council.
The opening doctrinal section of «Sacrosanctum Concilium» is brief, because it presupposes «Mediator Dei.» Then, after the council, the «changes» were brought in an authoritarian way, hastily, often without respect for popular piety and what people valued. Extremists and cranks soon moved in, experimenting, innovating and pushing people around. They moved many altars but not so many hearts.
I also believe that some changes to the Mass went beyond what the council Fathers envisaged in «Sacrosanctum Concilium,» and this is the very area where we still encounter problems. We also need to remember that the late 1960s and 1970s was an era of cultural modernism, marked by overconfidence, radical chic and bad taste.
Q: Are the liturgical problems behind us?
Monsignor Elliott: There has been some stabilization and the revised Roman Missal and General Instruction should help, but there are still widespread problems — sloppy ceremonial, verbosity, vulgar music, disobedience and sheer ignorance. … …
Q: One observer suggested that the liturgy should have been the last thing changed after Vatican II, rather than the first thing. Is this a fair observation?
Monsignor Elliott: Not really, because this is an academic hypothesis. The historical reality was otherwise. The liturgical movement and reforms initiated by Pius XII converged with the pastoral needs of mission territories, and that made liturgical reform a priority for Blessed John XXIII and the council Fathers.
Unfortunately, when people think of Vatican II they focus on liturgical change because that was the visible effect of the council they experienced in parishes. They should not forget the other great achievements of the council, such as the universal call to holiness, collegiality, ecumenism, the permanent diaconate and a richer theology of marriage.
Bilder fra en Missa solemnis i England 24. september.
En engelsk prest, Fr Sean Finnegan, skriver på sin blog:
On the 24th September, mirabile dictu, I will have been a priest for 20 years. … I feel that the occasion is not without significance, so there will be Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form in St Peter’s, Shoreham at 7.30pm on Thursday 24th September, Feast of our Lady of Ransom and Walsingham. All, and I mean all, are very welcome. Especially if you know me, please come, if you have nothing better to do, and forgive the lack of a particular invitation.
There will be a little celebration afterwards … Those who feel that the Extraordinary Form is slightly strong meat are very welcome instead to gather with me (and concelebrate, if they wish) at 11.30am on the same day, at Christ the King, Steyning, where I will celebrate Mass in the Ordinary Form, and there will be also nibbles and something to drink in the parish room after.
England har en del vanlige, katolske menighetsprester, som er svært opptatt av den gamle liturgien – denne presten som var med på jubileet og denne. Kan noen forklare hvorfor den tradisjonelle latinske messen ser ut til å stå sterkere i England enn i de fleste andre land – dvs. i vanlig menighetssammenheng, ikke i utbrytergrupper?
Dette ka vi lese på italiensk HER. «Monitoring papale. Così una società norvegese guarda il Web per B-XVI e previene altri “casi Williamson” Si chiama Meltwater la società internazionale – la sede principale è in Norvegia (Oslo) –, con la quale il Vaticano da diversi mesi ha stretto un accordo commerciale.»
Her kan man lese mer om Meltwater.com.
Jeg så svensk TVs oppfølgerprogram om SSPX og holocaustfornektelsen, som ble sendt onsdag kveld, og kan sees her. Det er et noe langtekkelig program der det er lite nytt, i alle fall for folk som fulgte med denne saken i starten av året. Men det sies svært tydelig at den svenske katolske biskopen, Anders Arborelius, sendte informasjon til Vatikanet om Williamson-intervjuet gjennom Vatikanets nuncio i Stockholm (som bekrefter at han sendte informasjonen videre). Noen kommentatorer har lurt på hvordan biskop Arborelius kunne vite om intervjuet med biskop Williamson mange uker før ptogrammet ble sendt, men det var vel naturlig nok da han selv ble intervjuet av STV om dette. Det er tydelig at programmet prøver å gjøre kardinal Castrillon Hoyos til syndebukk i denne saken.
Mange netteteder har kommentert programmet, og flere lurer på hvorfor STV legger så store ressurser inn i dette programmet, og hvorfor noen katolikker er så ivrige etter å støtte kritikken av Kirken. Se bl.a. Dantesnyheter og Inside the Vatican.
OPPDATERING:
Kardinal Castrillon Hoyos tilbakeviser at han visste noe om intervjuet med Williamson i januar. Han sier at hans kontor lagrer all informasjon de får inn, også pr e-post, han ber biskop Arborelius fortelle hvordan og til hvem kommunikasjonen ble gitt, og antyder også at informasjonen kan ha stoppet andre steder i Vatikanet. Se her (tysk) og her (italiensk).
Se gjerne på bloggen til John Sonnen, amerikaner i Roma. Her er mye interessant om katolske tradisjoner, bilder, tekster etc.
