Generasjon Benedikt

Katolsk, Paven /

Jeg kom i dag over en blogg laget av unge katolikker – Generasjon Benedikt – som skriver slik om hvordan vår siste pave har påvirket dem:

Pope Benedict has been responsible for the conversion, reversion, vocation and the deepening of faith of many young Catholics. At the time of his visit to the UK, many Catholics were luke-warm, even living their lives completely at odds to the Church. During this visit, and also World Youth Days in Sydney and Madrid, he has connected with them through his eloquence, his love and genuine concern. Who is God calling you to be?

Pope Benedict will be truly missed by our generation. Those who have met him look upon him fondly as a gentle grandfatherly figure, as he has pointed us towards Christ, at a point in time when many of us were at a crossroads, telling us not to settle for second best, but to strive for sainthood.

Over the next 40 days of Lent, 40 young people from Generation Benedict will each be sharing how he has touched their hearts and changed their lives.

Om gifte katolske prester

Katolsk /

Jeg leste nettopp følgende om gifte katolske prester (av Damian Thompson, hos Daily Telegraph):

Recently, I was at a dinner party attended by a distinguished monsignor. The elegant red-haired lady sitting next to me introduced herself. “I’m Gill,” she said. “The monsignor’s wife.”

Gill Newton, a schoolteacher, is married to Mgr Keith Newton, who holds the title of protonotary apostolic – the highest rank of monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church. As head of the Ordinariate, the structure set up by Pope Benedict for ex-Anglicans, he is almost a bishop: he wears a mitre and conducts confirmations. He and Gill have three grown-up children.

The Catholic Church in England has been ordaining married ex-Anglican clergy in significant numbers since 1992, when the C of E voted for women priests. It’s no longer much of a novelty for a parish to have a married man in charge, though he can’t technically hold the title of parish priest. There are well over 100 Catholic priests’ wives in England – and, on the whole, folk in the pews are happy. …

Resten av stykket er litt mindre på sin plass, etter min mening – for 1) det var den skotske kardinalen O’Brien som nylig foreslo at sølibatskravet kanskje burde modereres kraftig, rett før han ble presset til å gå av 2) og Damian Thompson argumenterer litt for sterkt mot den ærverdige sølibatstradisjonen.

Men det er interessant for meg – i Norge er jeg på 14. året fortsatt den eneste gifte presten, og fortsatt er min posisjon ganske uklar rent praktisk – å se hvordan de har ordnet rent dette praktisk i England

Festen for apostelen Peters stol – In Cathedra S. Petri Apostoli

Katolsk, Liturgi /

I den tradisjonelle liturgiske kalenderen er dette en fest med utvidede lesninger til Matutin. Her er dagens lesninger:

1., 2. og 3. lesning:

1 Peter, Jesu Kristi apostel, hilser de utvalgte som lever i fremmed land, spredt omkring i Pontos, Galatia, Kappadokia, Asia og Bitynia, 2 de som er utvalgt slik Gud Fader forut hadde bestemt, og ved Ånden innviet til lydighet og til å bli renset ved Jesu Kristi blod. Måtte dere få nåde og fred i rikt mål! 3 Lovet være Gud, vår Herre Jesu Kristi Far, han som i sin rike miskunn har født oss på ny og gitt oss et levende håp ved Jesu Kristi oppstandelse fra de døde! 4 Vi skal få en arv som aldri forgår og ikke flekkes til eller visner. Den er gjemt i himmelen for dere 5 som gjennom Guds kraft blir bevart ved troen, så dere skal nå fram til frelsen; den ligger alt ferdig til å åpenbares ved tidens ende.

6 Derfor kan dere juble av glede, selv om dere nå en kort tid må ha det vondt i mange slags prøvelser, om så skal være. 7 Slik blir troen deres prøvet. Selv forgjengelig gull blir prøvet i ild; troen, som er mye mer verd, må også prøves, så den kan bli til pris og herlighet og ære for dere når Jesus Kristus åpenbarer seg. 8 Ham elsker dere, enda dere ikke har sett ham; ham tror dere på, enda dere nå ikke ser ham. Og dere jubler og er fylt av en glede så herlig at den ikke kan rommes i ord; 9 for dere når troens mål: frelse for sjelene.

10 Denne frelse var det profetene grunnet på og utforsket, da de profeterte om den nåde dere skulle få. 11 De prøvde å finne ut hvilken tid Kristi Ånd, som var i dem, siktet til, og hvordan den tiden ville bli. Ånden vitnet om hvordan Kristus skulle lide og deretter opphøyes i herlighet. 12 Det ble da åpenbart for dem at det ikke var seg selv de tjente med sitt budskap, men dere. Dette budskapet har dere nå fått høre av dem som forkynte evangeliet for dere ved Den Hellige Ånd, som er sendt fra himmelen. Dette er ting som selv engler gjerne vil se inn i.

4., 5. og 6. lesning

From the Sermons of St Augustin, Bishop of Hippo. 16th on the Saints.

The solemn Feast of today received from our forefathers the name of that of St Peter’s Chair at Antioch, because there is a tradition that it was on this day that Peter, first of the Apostles, was enthroned in a Bishop’s Chair. Rightly, therefore, do the Churches observe the first day of that Chair, the right to which the Apostle received for the salvation of the Churches from the Lord of the Churches Himself, with the words Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.

It was the Lord Himself Who called Peter the foundation of the Church, and therefore it is right that the Church should reverence this foundation whereon her mighty structure riseth. Justly is it written in the Psalm which we have just heard Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. Blessed be God, Who hath commanded that the Blessed Apostle Peter should be exalted in the congregation! Worthy to be honoured by the Church is that foundation from which her goodly towers rise, pointing to heaven!

In the honour which is this day paid to the inauguration of the first Bishop’s throne, an honour is paid to the office of all Bishops. The Churches testify one to another, that, the greater the Church’s dignity, the greater the reverence due to her priests. While I confess how rightly godly custom hath exalted this Feast in the estimation of all the Churches, the more do I wonder at the growth of that unhealthy error which at this day causeth some unbelievers to lay food and wine upon the graves of the dead, as if souls once rid of the body had any longer any need of bodily refreshment.

7., 8. og 9 lesning:

From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 16:13-19
At that time Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, and He asked His disciples, saying Who do men say that I, the Son of Man am? And so on …

Homily by Pope St Leo the Great. 3rd on the Anniversary of his own election.

The Lord asked His disciples Who men said that He was, and their answers were human as long as they were the answers of human reason, unilluminated by Divine light. At last, when the glimmerings of earthly conjecture were spoken, he whose Apostleship is the first in dignity, was the first to confess his Lord. And Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Which is in heaven. That is to say, For this cause art thou blessed, because My Father Himself hath taught thee; the opinions of men have not beguiled thee, the voices of angels have not taught thee, not flesh and blood, but He, Whose Only begotten Son I am, hath revealed Me unto thee.

Thus saith the Lord unto Simon Peter: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter. That is to say, Even as My Father hath revealed unto thee concerning Me that I am God, even so now will I also reveal unto thee that thou art Peter; I am the sure Rock of defence, the Corner Stone, Who make both one, (Eph. ii. 20, 15,) I am the Foundation, beside Which other can no man lay, 1 Cor. iii. 11, and thou also art a rock, in My Strength made hard, and those things whereof I by right am Lord, into thy hand do I give them, that thou mayst bear rule over them, for Me, and with Me. And upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Upon this strength of thine, whereof I am the Strength, I will build My eternal temple, and upon the truth of thy confession of Me I will make to rise that My glorious Church whose spires shall pierce to heaven.

Against this confession the gates of hell shall never prevail, neither shall the bands of death take hold upon it. Thus saith He That is faithful and true. And as this confession hath power to lift up to heaven them that make it, so is it able to thrust down to hell them that gainsay it. Wherefore it is said unto the most blessed Peter And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. This power passed indeed to the other Apostles also; this the Lord’s will had effect in them; but it is not in vain that it is written that that was given to one which passed from him to all. To Peter alone were the keys given, and Peter is set as the pattern for all them that bear rule in the Church to follow. There remaineth therefore the right of Peter, wheresoever his judgment decreeth justice. Neither is there anything too hard, or too lax, where there is nothing bound and nothing loosed, save when Peter bindeth or looseth.

En mild liturgisk reformator

Liturgi, Paven /

Dom Alcuin Reid skriver om pave Benedikts arbeid for å reformere/ forbedre liturgien, og begynner med et sitat fra Ratzinger selv:

… The inexhaustible reality of the Catholic liturgy has accompanied me though all phases of life, and so I shall have to speak of it time and time again.”

Benedict XVI was thus formed by the classical liturgical movement. This, and his conviction that some things went very wrong with the movement after the Council – in 2004 he wrote: “Anyone like myself, who was moved by this perception in the time of the liturgical movement on the eve of the Second Vatican Council, can only stand, deeply sorrowing, before the ruins of the very things they were concerned for” – is key to understanding what has become known since his 2005 election as “the liturgical reform of Benedict XVI”.

Why the liturgy? Because Pope Benedict knows that “the Church stands [or] falls with the liturgy” and that “the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the centre of any renewal of the Church whatever”. His profound concern is that the Church worships Almighty God correctly, and thereby be fully connected to the indispensible source which sustains and empowers Christian life, witness and mission. If the liturgy is impoverished or off-track our ability to live the Catholic faith and to evangelise suffers. This conviction motivated his writing on the liturgy as cardinal – a body of work which will form students for generations. It also explains the liturgical reforms of his pontificate.

Om den tradisjonelle messen skriver han:

There was much noise before and after his historic 2007 ruling that the older liturgical rites were henceforth to be available without restriction. Yet in the midst of the cacophony the Supreme Pontiff took the trouble to write at length to the world’s bishops and explain his act. “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful,” he taught – a truth that is having an ongoing impact.

Og om å feire messen for/mot Gud:

At the heart of his reform is Pope Benedict’s conviction that Catholic liturgy “is not about us, but about God”. This explains the crucifix at the centre of the altar. It is why he publically celebrated the modern Mass facing East in the Sistine and other papal chapels. There never was a need to put a table altar in front of the altar in the Sistine Chapel (or elsewhere), but it took a pope with liturgical vision quietly to remind us of this.

Pave Benedikt – Kirkens mest sentrale teolog

Katolsk, Paven, Teologi /

13Febr-Pope-Benedict-XVI

Helt siden jeg nærmet med Den katolske Kirke tidlig på 90-tallet, har Ratzinger (da kardinal, nå pave) stått for meg som den viktigste teologen. Og på FirstThings leser jeg i dag at andre ser på ham på samme måte:

… it is probably best to discuss the theological body of work he produced from 1981 to 2013, rather than simply his last eight years as bishop of Rome. For if one conjoins his papacy with his long service as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then his lasting theological legacy comes into sharper focus: For over thirty years, Benedict has effectively served as the chief interpreter of the Second Vatican Council.

A century hence, theologians and historians will look back on this period as a crucial one for the reception of Vatican II. And the role of Joseph Ratzinger, who wrote scores of official magisterial documents on all aspects of conciliar teaching, will be underscored. While these statements usually fall far short of infallible teaching, and remain open to continued theological discussion, they nonetheless carry significant weight in Catholic theology.

Just a cursory and incomplete review of documents emanating from Ratzinger’s pen shows the depth of his influence as a conciliar interpreter. He has authoritatively taught on issues that have been widely discussed since the council’s conclusion: the unique nature of priestly ministry (1983); the strengths and weaknesses of liberation theology (1984 and 1986); the precise meaning of the claim that the Church of Christ “subsists in” the Catholic Church (1985); the assent required for specific magisterial teachings (1995 and 1998); the proper understanding of the phrase “sister Churches” (2000); and the declaration Dominus Iesus on the salvific universality of Jesus Christ (2000).

Benedict’s role as conciliar interpreter came even more vigorously to the fore with his Christmas Address of 2005, a speech that will likely remain the Ground Zero of conciliar discussions. There, the pope definitively rules out “a hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity” as well as any antipodean reading of the spirit and text of the council. He explicitly proscribes a method that would seek to discover “impulses toward the new” apart from the conciliar documents themselves. …

Pave Benedikt svært kritisk til forståelsen av Vatikankonsilet

Katolsk, Liturgi, Paven, Teologi /

Sist uke snakket pave Benedikt til prestene i Roma, om Vatikankonsilet, men ikke før i dag leste jeg en detajert beskrivelse/ gjengivelse av hva han sa – hos www.chiesa. I starten kan vi der lese hvordan den unge teologen Ratzinger ble innvolvert i konsilet, og mot slutten av foredraget (40 minutter uten noe manuskript) sier paven hvor ødeleggende det har vært at medienes feilaktige tolking av konsilet nesten helt fullstendig har fått forme folks forståelse. Bl.a. har liturgien måttet lide p.g.a. dette:

…. «And so also for the liturgy: the liturgy was not of interest as an act of faith, but as a matter where understandable things are done, a matter of community activity, a profane matter. And we know that there was a tendency, that was also founded historically, to say: sacrality is a pagan thing, perhaps even in the Old Testament, but in the New all that matters is that Christ died outside: that is, outside of the gates, meaning in the profane world. A sacrality therefore to be brought to an end, profanity of worship as well: worship is not worship but an act of the whole, of common participation, and thus also participation as activity.

«These translations, trivializations of the idea of the Council were virulent in the praxis of the application of liturgical reform; they were born in a vision of the Council outside of its proper key, that of faith. And thus also in the question of Scripture: Scripture is a book, historical, to be treated historically and nothing else, and so on.

Han sier også mer om hvordan medias feilaktige forståelse av konsilet har vært så ødeleggende for Kirken:

“We know how this Council of the media was accessible to all. Therefore, this was the dominant, more efficient one, and has created so much calamity, so many problems, really so much misery: seminaries closed, convents closed, liturgy trivialized. . . . And the true Council had difficulty in becoming concrete, in realizing itself; the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council.

Men nå, endelig, begynner den korrekte forståelsen av Vatikankonsilet å komme til syne:

«But the real power of the Council was present and, little by little, is realizing itself more and more and becomes the true power that then is also true reform, true renewal of the Church. It seems to me that, fifty years after the Council, we see how this virtual Council is breaking up, is becoming lost, and the true Council is appearing with all of its spiritual power. And it is our task, precisely in this Year of Faith, beginning from this Year of Faith, to work in order that the true Council, with its power of the Holy Spirit, may be realized and that the Church may really be renewed. Let us hope that the Lord may help us. I, retired with my prayer, will always be with you, and together we will go forward with the Lord. In the certainty: the Lord triumphs!”

Dette vil pave Benedikt bli husket for

Katolsk, Paven /

I videoen over – fra WordOnFire – sier Fr Robert Barron at pave Benedikt vil bli husket for: «Interpreting Vatican II correctly as an evangelical Council; his affirmative orthodoxy, which stresses what we say yes to and the joy of Christian life; and a clear Christocentrism.»

Over 100 000 på Petersplassen

Katolsk, Paven /

13febr_petersplassen

Ved pave Benedikts nest siste Angelus på Petersplassen tidligere i dag var det ekstra mange til stede, som hørte paven si bl.a.:

Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus with the faithful in St Peter’s Square this Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent. Tens of thousands of pilgrims were on hand, beneath a bright and unseasonably warm Roman sky. Speaking from his window in the Apostolic Palace above the Square ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father placed the Lenten season on which the Church is embarked in the context of the Year of Faith. “In this Year of Faith,” he said, “Lent is a favorable time to rediscover the faith in God as the basic criterion of our life and the life of the Church.”

The Pope went on to say that this always involves a struggle – a real spiritual combat – because the spirit of evil that is opposed to our sanctification seeks to throw us off the path that God has set out for us. Noting that it is for this reason that the Church traditionally proclaims the Gospel narrative of Christ’s temptation in the desert on the first Sunday of Lent, Pope Benedict said, “The tempter is subtle: he does not push us directly toward evil, but to a false good.” The Holy Father went on to explain that, ultimately, what is at stake in the temptations is faith. “In the decisive moments of life,” he said, “but, if we look closely, in every moment, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the self, or God?” It was a theme to which Pope Benedict returned during his greetings to Pilgrims in English:

Today we contemplate Christ in the desert, fasting, praying, and being tempted. As we begin our Lenten journey, we join him and we ask him to give us strength to fight our weaknesses. Let me also thank you for the prayers and support you have shown me in these days. May God bless all of you!

(Kilde: Vatikanradioen)

Slik forkynte pave Benedikt sin avgang

Katolsk, Paven /

I videoen over kan man se nøyaktig hva som skjedde mandag 11. februar; pave Benedikt forteller (på latin) at han skal avslutte sin pavegjerning 28.februar, og deretter gir kardinal Angelo Sodano en første respons til dette (på italiensk, fra håndskrevne notater).

Her kan man lese mer om dette og begge talene oversatt til engelsk.

Interessant intervju med F. Claes Tande i Morgenbladet om pavens avgang

Katolsk, Paven /

Jeg leste hele intervjuet her i dag tidlig – her er et utdrag:

– Du sa noe på tv som tydet på at du visste at paven ville gå av?

– Nei, jeg visste det ikke, men det kan synes åpenbart i etterkant. … I 2009, under et besøk i den italienske byen L’ Aquila, tok han av seg sitt pallium, verdighetstegnet han bærer rundt nakken, og la det på sarkofagen til pave Celestin V.

– Det kunne han ha gjort hundre ganger uten at jeg hadde tatt notis av det.

– Så ble det da heller ikke tolket riktig av alle der og da. Men Celestin V var paven som abdiserte samme år som han ble innsatt, nemlig i 1294. Noen sa selvfølgelig dermed at nå er det like før paven går av – noe Vatikanet avsannet straks. Men for folk som følger med bedre enn meg, ble det klart at han der uttrykte sin respekt for forgjengerens valg. Han ga det et meget personlig godkjennelsens tegn.

– Han kunne ha klekket ut en mindre kryptisk måte å gi et signal på?

– Husk at pave Benedikt er en from mann, og denne gesten var nok ikke primært et hint til verden, men noe han gjorde av fromme grunner.

– Så var det visst enda et tegn, den oppmerksomme kunne ha snappet opp?

– Ja, i 2010 utkom boken Verdens Lys, basert på den tyske journalisten Peter Seewalds mange og lange intervjuer med paven. Der ble Benedikt spurt: Kan en pave tre tilbake? Benedikt svarte: «Når en pave kommer til klar erkjennelse av at han fysisk, psykisk og åndelig ikke lenger kan klare sitt embedsoppdrag, så har han en rett, og under visse omstendigheter en plikt, til å tre tilbake.» Men, så er det et interessant tillegg der. … – Å abdisere kan en pave dog ikke gjøre når faren for kirken eller hans pavedømme er for stor. «Tre tilbake kan man i et fredelig minutt», sa Benedikt. Dette var altså i 2009. Og hva skjedde i 2009?

– Det var vel gjerne overgrepsskandaler i kirken verden rundt, og sikkert også kritikk av pavens syn på homofili og prevensjon og andre av vår tids emner?

– Ja, overgrepssakene fortsatte. Jeg tror faktisk han hadde tenkt å gå av tidligere. Benedikt hadde allerede skjerpet regelverkene, men han ville også være forvisset om at dette faktisk ble implementert over alt. ….

Pave Benedikts siste preken – askeonsdag

Katolsk, Liturgi, Paven /

13febr_paven_askeonsdag
Messen i Peterskirken i dag, askeonsdag, var siste peken pave Benedikt ga som pave. Hele prekenen kan leses her, og den ble avsluttet slik:

…. In the Gospel of Matthew, to which belongs the so-called Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to three fundamental practices required by Mosaic Law: almsgiving, prayer and fasting; they are also traditional indications in the Lenten journey to respond to the invitation to «return to God with all your heart.» But Jesus emphasizes that it is both the quality and the truth of the relationship with God that determines the authenticity of each religious gesture. For this reason He denounces religious hypocrisy, the behavior that wants to be seen, attitudes seeking applause and approval. The true disciple does not serve himself or the «public», but his Lord, in simplicity and generosity: «And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you» (Mt 6:4.6.18). Our witness, then, will always be more effective the less we seek our own glory, and we will know that the reward of the righteous is God himself, being united to Him, here below, on the journey of faith, and, at the end of life, in the peace and light of coming face to face with Him forever (cf. 1 Cor 13:12).

Dear brothers and sisters, we begin our Lenten journey, trusting and joyful. May the invitation to conversion resonate strongly in us, to «return to God with all your heart», accepting His grace that makes us new men, with the surprising novelty that is sharing in the very life of Jesus. Let none of us, therefore, be deaf to this appeal, that is addressed to us also in the austere rite, so simple and yet so beautiful, of the imposition of ashes, which we will perform shortly. May the Virgin Mary accompany us in this time, the Mother of the Church and model of every true disciple of the Lord. Amen!

Ti grunner til å takke pave Benedikt

Katolsk, Paven /

Catholic Herald nevner i dag ti ting vi bør takke pave Benedikt for at han fikk gjort i løpet av sine nesten åtte år som pave:

The pontificate of Benedict XVI was full of surprises and on Monday he sprang the greatest one of all. His abdication – the first for almost 600 years – caught even the Vatican unawares. As we struggle to absorb the news, here are 10 reasons to give thanks for his papacy.

1 His steadfastness: In his inaugural homily Pope Benedict said: “Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” …

2 His crystal-clear teaching: …

3 His reform of the liturgy: Pope Benedict’s decision to lift restrictions on the older form of the Mass was historic. As well as rescuing the Extraordinary Form from oblivion, he has renewed the celebration of the Ordinary Form of the Mass in our parishes through the new English translation.

4 His programme of purification: From the Legionaries of Christ to Vatican finances, Benedict XVI has attempted to purify the Church of corruption. …

5 His outreach to Islam: Pope Benedict did not shrink when his Regensburg lecture was violently misunderstood in parts of the Islamic world. While apologising for unintended offence, he stood by his address, which called for an alliance between Catholics and Muslims in our secular age. ….

6 His bravery: When Benedict XVI visited Turkey, at a time of intense Islamic anger after the Regensburg address, he refused to wear a bulletproof vest. His abdication showed an equally courageous trust in Providence.

7 His love of Britain: Benedict XVI felt a special affection for Britain. That is why he visited us in 2010, when so many other nations were tugging at the papal sleeve. He defended conscience in Westminster Hall as eloquently as St Thomas More ….

8 His creation of the ordinariate: The ordinariate for groups of former Anglicans is one of Benedict XVI’s greatest legacies. It is remarkable that he was able to create this new structure, bringing thousands of souls into full communion, without irreparably harming relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

9 His balance: Pope Benedict was, at first, caricatured as an “arch-conservative”. But it soon became clear that he had a daring and supple mind that confounded crude labels. In an age of unbalanced thinking, his thought stood out for its harmony and integrity. With his notion of “the hermeneutic of continuity” he reconciled fidelity to tradition with the creativity needed to meet the challenges of our time.

10 His humility: Even within the Church it is hard for men to renounce power and status. Pope Benedict has shown remarkable humility in sacrificing his own papal ministry for what he believes is the greater good of the Church. Let’s pray for him, and for his successor, as we have never prayed before.

De 800 martyrene fra Otranto, Puglia

Katolsk /

otranto_martyrer

Før pave Benedikt kunngjorde sin svært overraskende avgang, mandag 11. februar, hadde han kunngjort at de litt over 800 martyrene fra Otranto (som jeg besøkte i 2006, og så kapellet over), nå skal helligkåres. Slik leser vi om dem på Wikipedia:

On 28 July 1480 an Ottoman force of 90 galleys, 40 galeottes and other ships (carrying a total of around 150 crew and 18,000 troops) from Valona landed its force beneath the walls of Otranto. The city strongly resisted the Ottoman assaults, but it only contained around 6,000 inhabitants and was unable to resist the bombardment for long. … …

… The townsfolk’s leader was now the old tailor Antonio Pezzulla, known as Il Primaldo, who also refused to convert to Islam. On 14 August Pasha tied up the survivors and transported them to the nearby colle della Minerva, where at least 800 were beheaded, with their parents and families forced to assist in and attend the executions. Primaldo was the first to be beheaded – tradition holds that his decapitated body remained standing until the final person was beheaded, despite his executioners’ efforts to push him over. The chronicles record that an Ottoman Turk called Bersabei saw how bravely the Otrantines were dying, converted to Christianity and was impaled by his own comrades.

After thirty months Otranto was recaptured by an Aragonese force under Alfonso of Aragon, son of the king of Naples.

On 13 October 1481 the bodies of the Otrantines were found uncorrupted and were translated to the city’s cathedral. From 1485 some of the martyrs’ remains were transferred to Naples and placed under the altar of the Our Lady of the Rosary in the church of Santa Caterina a Formiello – that altar commemorated the final Christian victory over the Ottomans at Lepanto in 1571. They were later moved to the reliquary chapel, consecrated by pope Orsini, then to a site under the altar where they are now sited. A recognitio canonica between 2002 and 2003 confirmed their authenticity. … …

… The martyrs will be canonized on 12 May 2013 – this was announced in a consistory on 11 February 2013, during which Benedict also announced in Latin his intention to renounce the papacy, taking effect on 28 February.

Pave Benedikt snakket til prestestudenter i Roma

Katolsk, Paven /

13febr_p_benedikt

Forrige uke møtte pave Benedikt seminaristene i Roma, og vi kan lese om det på www.chiesa:

As in other years at the feast of Our Lady of Confidence, this time as well Benedict XVI went to the major Roman seminary to hold for the aspiring priests a «lectio divina.»

Pope Joseph Ratzinger spoke off the cuff, with just a page of notes in front of him, in addition to the biblical text he had chosen.

And when he speaks off the cuff, he unveils his thoughts in the most transparent and clear manner, as demonstrated by the literal transcription of his words, usually released one or two days later, revised and authorized by the author. …

Om arven vi har fått overlevert sa paven følgende:

… «Inheritance is a very important word in the Old Testament, where it is said to Abraham that his seed will be the heir of the land, and this has always been the promise for his people: you will have the land, you will be heirs of the land. In the New Testament this word becomes a word for us: we are heirs, not of a certain country, but of the land of God, of the future of God. Inheritance is a thing of the future, and thus this word says above all that as Christians we have the future: the future is ours, the future belongs to God. And thus, being Christians, we know that ours is the future and the tree of the Church is not a dying tree, but the tree that grows ever anew. We therefore have a reason not to allow ourselves to be disturbed – as Pope John said – by the prophets of disaster who say: the Church is a tree come from the mustard seed, grown over two millennia, now it has time behind it, now is the time in which it is dying. No. The Church is always renewed, is always reborn. The future is ours.

«Naturally, there is a false optimism and a false pessimism. A false pessimism that says: the time of Christianity is finished. No: it is beginning again! The false optimism was that after the Council, when the convents were closing, the seminaries were closing, and they were saying: but it’s nothing, everything’s fine . . . No! Everything is not fine. There are also grave, dangerous downfalls, and we must recognize with healthy realism that this is not all right, it is not all right when wrongful things are done. But also to be sure, at the same time, that if here and there the Church is dying because of the sins of men, because of their unbelief, at the same time it is being born anew. The future really does belong to God: this is the great certainty of our life, the great, true optimism that we know. The Church is the tree of God that lives forever and bears within itself eternity and the true inheritance: eternal life.”

Om å følge Guds kall

Katolsk, Paven /

I dagens messer hørte vi om profeten Jesajas og apostelen Peters kall (se alle tekstene her):

(Jesaja så serafer som) ropte til hverandre: «Hellig, hellig, hellig er Herren, Hærskarenes Gud. All jorden er full av hans herlighet.» Boltene ristet i dørtersklene når ropet runget, og huset ble fylt med røk. … (og) en av serafene bort til meg. I hånden hadde han en glo, som han hadde tatt med en tang fra alteret. Med den rørte han ved min munn og sa: «Se, denne har rørt ved dine lepper. Din skyld er tatt bort, din synd er sonet.» Så hørte jeg Herrens røst: «Hvem skal jeg sende, og hvem vil gå for oss?» Da sa jeg: «Se, her er jeg. Send meg!»

Da Simon Peter så (den store fiskefangsten), falt han på kne for Jesus og sa: «Gå vekk fra meg, Herre, synder som jeg er!» For både han og alle som hadde vært med, var blitt redselsslagne over fangsten de hadde fått, – Sebedeus-sønnene Jakob og Johannes også, som var i lag med Simon. Men Jesus sa til Simon: «Frykt ikke! Fra nå av skal du fange mennesker.» Så rodde de båtene i land, forlot alt og fulgte ham.

Over disse tekstene holdt pave Benedikt en kort tale før søndagens Angelus;

Dear brothers and sisters! In today’s liturgy the Gospel according to Luke presents the account of the calling of the first disciples. This version is original with respect to the other two synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Mark (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20). The call, in fact, is preceded by Jesus’ teaching of the crowds and of a miraculous catch of fish, accomplished by the Lord’s will (Luke 5:1-6).

While the crowd gathers on the shore of the Lake of Genesaret to listen to Jesus he sees Simon who is discouraged because he had not caught anything all night. First he asks Simon if he might get into the boat to preach to the people a little ways from the shore; then when he finishes preaching he commands him to set out into the lake with his companions and cast out the nets (5:5). Simon obeys and they catch a great quantity of fish. In this way the evangelist makes us see how the first disciples followed Jesus, entrusting themselves to him, basing themselves on his word, which is also accompanied by wondrous signs.

Let us observe that before this sign, Simon speaks to Jesus calling him “Master” (5:5), while afterward he calls him “Lord” (5:7). It is the pedagogy of God’s call, which is not much concerned with the qualities of the elect but with their faith, like that of Simon, who says: “At your word I will cast out the nets” (5:5). The image of the catch of fish points to the mission of the Church. St. Augustine comments on this: “Twice the disciples fish at the Lord’s command: once before the passions and once after the resurrection. In both cases we find a figure of the whole Church: the Church as she is now and as she will be after the resurrection of the dead. Now she contains a multitude impossible to count, including the good and the bad together; after the resurrection she will only contain the good” (Sermon 248, 1).

Peter’s experience, certainly singular, is also representative of the call of every apostle of the Gospel, who must never be discouraged in proclaiming Christ to all men, to the ends of the earth. But the text of today’s Gospel also brings us to reflect on the vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated. It is the work of God. Man is not the author of his own vocation, but he replies to the divine proposal; and human weakness must not trouble us if God calls. We must have confidence in his strength, which acts precisely in our poverty; we must more and more place our trust in the power of his mercy, which transforms and renews. Dear brothers and sisters, may this Word of God revive in us too and in our Christian communities the courage, the confidence and the zeal to proclaim and witness to the Gospel. Failures and difficulties must not lead to discouragement: we are expected to cast out the nets with faith, the Lord does the rest. Let us trust in the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles. Quite aware of her littleness, she responds to the Lord’s call with total trust: “Here I am.” With her maternal aid let us renew our openness to follow Jesus, Master and Lord.

Prevensjon, sterilisering og abort

Apologetikk, Generelt /

“Ban Contraception?” the banner ad said, urging viewers to click it in order to tell Congress to “support women’s health!” The suggestion that cultural conservatives want to make birth control illegal is risible. Most social conservatives, being Evangelicals, have zero problem with contraception whatsoever, and those Catholics who obey the Church’s teaching on contraception make zero effort to outlaw it.

But here we are. The HHS mandate requiring health insurance plans to cover not only contraception proper but also abortifacients and sterilization procedures abides. …

Det dreier seg igjen om at myndighetene i USA vil tvinge arbeidsgivere til å gi sine ansatte en sykeforsikring som dekker utgifter til prevensjon, sterilisering og abort. Av disse tre er prevensjon nokså problematisk (at det skal være et problem) for protestanter (og også en del katolikker), men hos FirstThings leser vi (over og under) om hvor viktig dette er for hele samfunnet:

… In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI dealt not so much with issues of particularly Catholic morality but with the profound issues of the human person and human culture, arguing—indeed, prophesying, as it turns out—that contraception would lead to a “general lowering of morality” and the treatment of women as “mere instruments of selfish enjoyment.” He warned, too, of “the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law” who “may even impose their use on everyone.” When dealing with sexuality, we are not merely in the realm of religion but the realm of reason. These are not matters of religious scruples, but matters of public concern concerning the common good.

Thus, when Michael Gerson writes, “It is a valid public health goal to promote the broad availability of contraception” so long as it doesn’t trample fundamental rights, the faithful Catholic must object. For the widespread availability of contraception involves risks to women and consequences for society even beyond those envisioned by the prophetic Pope Paul VI. …

President Obama takker NARAL for deres flotte arbeid

Generelt /

NARAL Pro-Choice America, is an organization in the United States that engages in political action to oppose restrictions on abortion and expand access to abortion. NARAL is often used as a short form of the name. The organization was formerly known as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, then the National Abortion Rights Action League, and later the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.

Jeg leste nylig en ganske sjokkerende nyhet (egentlig) om president Obama, som er veldig stolt av denne organisasjonen som har sørget for at millioner av barn i USA er blitt aborterte:

Obama tells NARAL activists to ‘celebrate’ Roe, says ‘I couldn’t be prouder’ of them

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 7, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Barack Obama addressed abortion activists at NARAL Pro-Choice America’s annual dinner on Tuesday, saying in his videotaped remarks that he was joining them to “celebrate the historic Roe v. Wade decision handed down 40 years ago.”

“To everyone at NARAL Pro-Choice America, thank you for your tireless advocacy,” Obama said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the work each of you is doing.”

Supporters of the powerful abortion lobby paid between $3,000 and $25,000 per table to attend the event.

In his video address, Obama praised the group’s outgoing president, Nancy Keenan, calling her a “friend and counselor to me and my administration.”

He welcomed her successor, Ilyse Hogue, who in a video released this week by NARAL called legalized abortion “foundational to every other thing we want to achieve for ourselves, our families, and our country.”

Hogue attacked the conservative TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party movement in that same video, saying “The rise of the TEA Party has surfaced a real desire on the part of a few to ramp up restrictions on women’s freedom and to do what I call ‘stuff the genie back in the bottle.’”

As one of her first actions as NARAL president, Hogue last week praised the Obama administration’s controversial HHS mandate, saying it “affirms yet again the Obama administration’s commitment to fulfilling the full promise of its historic contraception policy.”

Da jeg leste om NARAL på Wikipedia, dukket også Bernard Nathansons navn opp. Han var svært aktiv i NARAL i starten, før han forstod at abort var galt/ en alvorlig synd – og flere år senere også ble døpt inn i Den katolske Kirke.

Hvordan best tolke Gaudium et Spes?

Katolsk, Teologi /

Jeg leste i går hos Catholic World Report en ganske dristig formulert betraktning over av Vatikankonsilets siste dokument: Gaudium et Spes. I 1965 var mange svært optimistiske, overdrevet optimistiske syns vi nok i dag, og dokumentet bærer preg av dette – samtidig som dokumentet også justerer/balanserer denne optimismen enkelte steder, og framfor alt må tolkes på en balansert måte. Her er utdrag fra artikkelen:

It is easy to be critical of Gaudium et Spes as a document pushed through at the end of the Second Vatican Council when the Holy Spirit was out to lunch or the Conciliar fathers had eaten rather too much lunch and were not fully awake. As one of my students once remarked, “Were they all on Prozac?”

In 1965, however, people didn’t need to take Prozac. There was a general optimism about the world. Medical advances were made every day, material standards of living were the highest they had ever been, …

…. As a consequence of this generally optimistic mood, there are sections of the document which do sound as though they have been written by people who have forgotten about evil, sin, and atheistic ideologies. The young Joseph Ratzinger, writing in 1969, described some of the document’s sections as “downright Pelagian” in tone.

However, there are other sections that are highly sober.

It is no surprise, therefore, that there ended up being two dominant interpretations of this document. In shorthand terms one can call them the Wojtyła interpretation and the Schillebeeckx interpretation. The Wojtyła interpretation zeroed in on paragraph 22, according to which human persons only understand themselves to the extent that they know Christ. According to Blessed John Paul II—the former Bishop Karol Wojtyła—Christ is the answer to all the legitimate hopes and desires of persons of good will throughout the world. He read Gaudium et Spes with a Christocentric accent. However, as Ratzinger noted, the “daring new” Christocentric anthropology embedded within the document was not well expressed. There is a tension between the first section, where the human person is merely “theistically hued” or in some general way made in God’s image, and the second section, which is specifically Trinitarian.

The Schillebeeckx interpretation zeroed in on paragraph 36, which recognized a “legitimate autonomy of the world”:

If by the autonomy of earthly affairs we mean that created things and societies themselves enjoy their own laws and values which must gradually be deciphered, put to use, and regulated by men, then it is entirely right to demand that autonomy. Such is not merely required by modern men, but harmonizes also with the will of the Creator. For by the very circumstances of their having been created, all things are endowed with their own stability, truth, goodness, proper laws, and order.

On its face this sounded like the ecclesial leaders were “bowing out” from any involvement in world affairs. According to a superficial reading of this paragraph, taken out of its context with other qualifying paragraphs, the world did not need Christian revelation. …

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