© 2005-2026 BISERICI.org
© 2005-2026 BISERICI.org
Timp stanga: 0.03s...
Letter #57, 2017: The Pope Accused...[2017-09-24][Engleză]Sunday, September 24, 2017"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." St. Paul, First Letter to the Corinthians, 11:19 "They, therefore, walk in the path of dangerous error who believe that they can accept Christ as the Head of the Church, while not adhering loyally to His Vicar on earth. They have taken away the visible head, broken the visible bonds of unity and left the Mystical Body of the Redeemer so obscured and so maimed, that those who are seeking the haven of eternal salvation can neither see it nor find it." Pope Pius XII, Mysticai Corporis Christi (On the Mystical Body of Christ), papal encyclical promulgated on June 29, 1943. In this eloquent encyclical, Pius XII emphasizes the importance of all Catholics adhering with loyalty to the Pope -- the Vicar of Christ "Christ did not wish to exclude sinners from His Church; hence if some of her members are suffering from spiritual maladies, that is no reason why we should lessen our love for the Church, but rather a reason why we should increase our devotion to her members... It cannot be laid to her charge if some members fall, weak or wounded. In their name she prays to God daily: 'Forgive us our trespasses'; and with the brave heart of a mother she applies herself at once to the work of nursing them back to spiritual health. When therefore we call the Body of Jesus Christ 'mystical,' the very meaning of the word conveys a solemn warning. It is a warning that echoes in these words of St. Leo: 'Recognize, O Christian, your dignity, and being made a sharer of the divine nature, go not back to your former worthlessness along the way of unseemly conduct. Keep in mind of what Head and of what Body you are a member.'" Ibid. The Pope Accused... In a new act of opposition to the teaching of Pope Francis which risks opening the door to a dramatic split in the Catholic Church, the Argentine Pope has just been publicly accused of heresy by dozens of Catholic writers and scholars in a text they signed on July 16, delivered to Pope Francis on August 11, but only made public at midnight this morning, September 24, about three hours ago. These Catholic critics of Francis are saying he has been influenced by the erroneous views of Modernism and are asking him to retract and correct his teaching on seven specific points (see below), for the good of the Church. It is not clear what Francis will do (though it is clear that he knew of this text since August 11 and did not recognize or acknowledge it in any way). But if he were to reject these criticisms as wrong and out-of-bounds, and even, as the head of the Church, condemn the position of his critics, there would be a considerable risk of a split in the Church -- something with many profoundly negative consequences for the worldwide Church... In this sense, the present situation, which has emerged today, of public accusations of heresy made against the Pope, opens up dangerous scenarios. The Catholic scholars charge Francis particularly with doctrinal error in his teaching on marriage, divorce, remarriage, and communion for divorced Catholics whose first marriages have not been annulled points touched on in his admittedly controversial Apostolic Exhortation in early 2016 called Amoris Laetitia ("On the Joy of Love"). This is the first time since 1333 -- that is, the first time in nearly 700 years(!) -- that a reigning Pope has been the object of such a formal denunciation for heresy, suggesting how deep the opposition to Francis has become. (In the 1300s, Pope John XXII, Pope from 1316 to 1334, was formally accused of heresy on a delicate point of doctrine, on the Beatific Vision -- he said souls do not see God until after the Last Judgment, while his critics said souls have the vision of God immediately after death (link); he amended his teaching to take account of the criticism while on his deathbed.) This shows how uncommon is this type of attack on a sitting Pope by prominent Catholic thinkers. A group of 62 Catholic scholars and writers from around the world, just at midnight, issued a statement which accuses Pope Francis of teaching seven heresies (doctrines not in harmony with the traditional teaching of the Catholic faith), asking him to retract or correct these teachings. The document is 25 pages long. It originally was signed by 40 Catholics, and now counts 62 signatures from 20 countries around the world. The list of signatories includes Catholics such as Fr. Linus Clovis, Deacon Nick Donnelly, Christopher Ferrara, Dr. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi (the head of the Vatican bank under Pope Benedict XVI), Martin Mosebach (a prominent, prize-winning German author on the beauty of the old liturgy), Prof. Roberto de Mattei, and Bishop Bernard Fellay (notably, the single bishop to sign the document). The authors say additional signatures are being sought through a form on their website. The title of the text is Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis (Latin for "Filial Correction of Heresies that Have Been Propagated"). The complete text of this "filial correction" may be found at this link at a website set up specifically for this initiative: http://www.correctiofilialis.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Correctio-filialis_English.pdf This list of signatories strikingly does not include even one cardinal, and, as just noted, only a single bishop, and that one the somewhat controversial Bishop Fellay, head of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), the traditionalist Catholic group founded by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre after the Second Vatican Council, which Lefebvre criticized on a number of points. This lack of signatures from prominent members of the Church's hierarchy led one tradition-minded Catholic internet commenter to write a few minutes ago: "A handful of priests, an SSPX bishop plus the usual group of lay activists... It's really no more than nuisance value to Francis." So, perhaps, in the end, the initiative, though it uses the powerful word "heresy," may not have a profound or lasting impact. Still, another American commenter, Steve Skojec, director of the onePeterfive website, had a different view, addressing the question of the statement's possible impact this way (link): "It is difficult to predict what, if any, impact this correctio will have on a papacy that has steadfastly ignored a [September 29, 2015] filial appeal with nearly 800,000 signatures [including 201 cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, link], the circulation of a theological censures document authored by 45 theologians and scholars amongst the entire college of cardinals [in July 2016, link], and the five dubia presented [to Pope Francis in September 2016] by four cardinals who have, as yet, not been able to even obtain a papal audience over a year after their initial intervention and in the wake of the deaths of two of their number. "Nevertheless, the language used in this latest document advances the case further than anything that came before it, and some speculate that it may help establish that the Pope is guilty of public and notorious material heresy. If so, his failure to respond could be an important step in determining that the Pope is 'incorrigible and pertinacious' in the promotion of heresy, and possibly trigger additional remedial actions further down the road." (link) In other words, this text is being seen as one more step in a continuing vigorous opposition to the teaching of Pope Francis -- one more step in a campaign that makes no bones about the fact that it aims to reverse the Pope's teaching on several contested points, either during this present pontificate (via a retraction and amendment of the teaching), or after this pontificate is over... In this sense, this document seems to clearly mark a dramatic new stage in the long-simmering battle between Pope Francis, along with his close advisors, and his critics. Strong words have now been quite publicly spoken. Battle lines have been drawn... Here is how the text begins: "With profound grief, but moved by fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ, by love for the Church and for the papacy, and by filial devotion toward yourself, we are compelled to address a correction to Your Holiness on account of the propagation of heresies [emphasis mine] effected by the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia and by other words, deeds and omissions of Your Holiness." And it later states: "We wish now to show how several passages of Amoris laetitia, in conjunction with acts, words, and omissions of Your Holiness, serve to propagate seven heretical propositions [emphasis mine]." What are the "seven heresies" of which Pope Francis is being charged? The text gives the "seven heresies," presented in the Latin language, as follows (the Latin seems to be used to increase the formality of these charges of heresy, since Latin even today remains the official language of the Church). Here are the Latin passages: Correctio His verbis, actis, et omissionibus, et in iis sententiis libri Amoris laetitia quas supra diximus, Sanctitas Vestra sustentavit recte aut oblique, et in Ecclesia (quali quantaque intelligentia nescimus nec iudicare audemus) propositiones has sequentes, cum munere publico tum actu privato, propagavit, falsas profecto et haereticas: (1) Homo iustificatus iis caret viribus quibus, Dei gratia adiutus, mandata obiectiva legis divinae impleat; quasi quidvis ex Dei mandatis sit iustificatis impossibile; seu quasi Dei gratia, cum in homine iustificationem efficit, non semper et sua natura conversionem efficiat ab omni peccato gravi; seu quasi non sit sufficiens ut hominem ab omni peccato gravi convertat. (2) Christifidelis qui, divortium civile a sponsa legitima consecutus, matrimonium civile (sponsa vivente) cum alia contraxit; quique cum ea more uxorio vivit; quique cum plena intelligentia naturae actus sui et voluntatis propriae pleno ad actum consensu eligit in hoc rerum statu manere: non necessarie mortaliter peccare dicendus est, et gratiam sanctificantem accipere et in caritate crescere potest. (3) Christifidelis qui alicuius mandati divini plenam scientiam possidet et deliberata voluntate in re gravi id violare eligit, non semper per talem actum graviter peccat. (4) Homo potest, dum divinae prohibitioni obtemperat, contra Deum ea ipsa obtemperatione peccare. (5) Conscientia recte ac vere iudicare potest actus venereos aliquando probos et honestos esse aut licite rogari posse aut etiam a Deo mandari, inter eos qui matrimonium civile contraxerunt quamquam sponsus cum alia in matrimonio sacramentali iam coniunctus est. (6) Principia moralia et veritas moralis quae in divina revelatione et in lege naturali continentur non comprehendunt prohibitiones qualibus genera quaedam actionis absolute vetantur utpote quae propter obiectum suum semper graviter illicita sint. (7) Haec est voluntas Domini nostri Iesu Christi, ut Ecclesia disciplinam suam perantiquam abiciat negandi Eucharistiam et Absolutionem iis qui, divortium civile consecuti et matrimonium civile ingressi, contritionem et propositum firmum sese emendandi ab ea in qua vivunt vitae conditione noluerunt patefacere. And here is the English translation of these passages, given by the text's authors, describing the "seven heresies" of Pope Francis: "By these words, deeds, and omissions, and by the above-mentioned passages of the document Amoris laetitia, Your Holiness has upheld, directly or indirectly, and, with what degree of awareness we do not seek to judge, both by public office and by private act propagated in the Church the following false and heretical propositions: 1). A justified person has not the strength with Gods grace to carry out the objective demands of the divine law, as though any of the commandments of God are impossible for the justified; or as meaning that Gods grace, when it produces justification in an individual, does not invariably and of its nature produce conversion from all serious sin, or is not sufficient for conversion from all serious sin. 2). Christians who have obtained a civil divorce from the spouse to whom they are validly married and have contracted a civil marriage with some other person during the lifetime of their spouse, who live more uxorio [Note: in the manner of a married couple, that is, engaging in intimate relations] with their civil partner, and who choose to remain in this state with full knowledge of the nature of their act and full consent of the will to that act, are not necessarily in a state of mortal sin, and can receive sanctifying grace and grow in charity. 3). A Christian believer can have full knowledge of a divine law and voluntarily choose to break it in a serious matter, but not be in a state of mortal sin as a result of this action. 4). A person is able, while he obeys a divine prohibition, to sin against God by that very act of obedience. 5). Conscience can truly and rightly judge that sexual acts between persons who have contracted a civil marriage with each other, although one or both of them is sacramentally married to another person, can sometimes be morally right or requested or even commanded by God. 6). Moral principles and moral truths contained in divine revelation and in the natural law do not include negative prohibitions that absolutely forbid particular kinds of action, inasmuch as these are always gravely unlawful on account of their object. 7). Our Lord Jesus Christ wills that the Church abandon her perennial discipline of refusing the Eucharist to the divorced and remarried and of refusing absolution to the divorced and remarried who do not express contrition for their state of life and a firm purpose of amendment with regard to it. =============== What do the signers of this document want Pope Francis to do? They want him to reject these seven "heretical" positions that he is accused of holding and teaching. They write: "At this critical hour, therefore, we turn to the cathedra veritatis, the Roman Church, which has by divine law pre-eminence over all the churches, and of which we are and intend always to remain loyal children, and we respectfully insist that Your Holiness publicly reject these propositions [emphasis added] thus accomplishing the mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ given to St Peter and through him to all his successors until the end of the world: I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com Contor Accesări: 733, Ultimul acces: 2026-07-26 08:52:12
|
Timp total: 0.03s...
[]:1
