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Christianity or moral code-what is the future of the church and the gospel???
Church relationship with Irish society has itself been abusive\nRelated »\n\n * Pressure mounts on bishops named in abuse report to resign | 28/11/2009\n\nIn this section »\n\n * Deficit is unsustainable but cuts must be seen to be fair\n * Polarisation penetrating US culture\n * Government should stand down shortly\n * Ministers and backbenchers braced for budget backlash\n * 'Mental reservation' and the church's version of truth\n * This Week They Said\n\nFINTAN O'TOOLE\n\nOPINION: The Roman Catholic Church's great achievement in Ireland has been to so disable our capacity to think about right and wrong that parents of abused children apologised for the abusing priest\n\nIN HIS pastoral letter of February 1979, Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Ryan drew attention to the "corruption of the young". And he was quite specific about the forces that were responsible for it. He attacked "the modern era of enlightenment and permissiveness", and stated that "the new frankness and openness in regard to sexual matters had not made people more healthy in mind and body, but less healthy".\n\nThe corollary of Archbishop Ryan's complaint was, of course, that a lack of frankness and openness in sexual matters would make for a healthier society, and would protect the young from corruption. Like the three other holders of the office scrutinised in the Murphy report, Ryan certainly practised the first part of what he preached. He was a great enemy of openness and frankness, and a great practitioner of the arts of evasion and cover-up. It was the second part of the formula - the protection of the young - that gave him trouble.\n\nIn 1981, for example, Ryan sent a Father X as curate to Clogher Road church in the Dublin Corporation housing estate of Crumlin. He knew that this man was a dangerous and manipulative paedophile who was set on attacking children, as Ryan himself noted, "from six to 16". He knew that X cultivated parents who involved themselves in school or parish activities so as to gain access to their ch
Sad. The cardinal still doesn't get it. Will someone explain to him that we Catholics have known about abusive clergy for decades. Heck, they still make jokes about nuns going all corporal punishment on kid knuckles and all. 2002 wasn't news to most people as far as clergy sex abuse was concerned. (If the USCCB had been paying attention to Tom Doyle in the 80's, it wouldn't have been news to them, either.) It was the bishops' crisis (George's words) of governance. A very ineffective governance. A scandal, if I may borrow a word from the Catholic Right. I don't think the term misses the mark.
Examples - Here are some Samples of the Changes in the Priest's Part and the Congregations' Part
Changes in the Assembly's Parts
This area includes information and resources for the assembly with implementation and practice of the new Roman Missal.
5. If in all this series of Mysteries, Venerable Brethren, are developed the counsels of God in regard to us -- "counsels of wisdom and of tenderness" (St. Bernard) -- not less apparent is the greatness of the benefits for which we are debtors to the Virgin Mother. No man can meditate upon these without feeling a new awakening in his heart of confidence that he will certainly obtain through Mary the fullness of the mercies of God. And to this end vocal prayer chimes well with the Mysteries. First, as is meet and right, comes the Lord's Prayer, addressed to Our Father in Heaven: and having, with the elect petitions dictated by Our Divine Master, called upon the Father, from the throne of His Majesty we turn our prayerful voices to Mary. Thus is confirmed that law of merciful meditation of which We have spoken, and which St. Bernardine of Siena thus expresses: "Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us."
21. ... At Cana in Galilee there is shown only one concrete aspect of human need, apparently a small one of little importance ("They have no wine"). But it has a symbolic value: this coming to the aid of human needs means, at the same time, bringing those needs within the radius of Christ's messianic mission and salvific power. Thus there is a mediation: Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings. She puts herself "in the middle," that is to say she acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that as such she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she "has the right" to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary "intercedes" for mankind.
\n\n "... Mary to be the spiritual Mother of all peoples, the Co-redemptrix, who under and with her Son cooperated in the Redemption of all people; the Mediatrix of all graces, who as Mother brings us the gifts of eternal life; and the Advocate, who presents our prayers to her Son."
Benedict XVI: Separation of Church and State “a specific achievement of Christianity”
October 27, 2008, 8:16 pm
Posted by David Gibson
It’s a curious assertion by the pope, it seems to me, but it is the headline in the ZENIT report on Benedict’s address to the new ambassador to the Holy See from the Philippines. Here’s the full quote:
“The Catholic Church is eager to share the richness of the Gospel’s social message, for it enlivens hearts with a hope for the fulfilment of justice and a love that makes all men and women truly brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. She carries out this mission fully aware of the respective autonomy and competence of Church and State. Indeed, we may say that the distinction between religion and politics is a specific achievement of Christianity and one of its fundamental historical and cultural contributions.”
I know Ratzinger is a great proponent of the “hermeneutic of continuity” rather than “rupture,” but this statement seems to elide a lot of history. Like, a lot. What am I missing? Any ideas on his thinking? As I write this, I am reflecting on Ratzinger’s passion for Augustine–I think of Benedict as a church “primevalist”–so perhaps that’s the well he’s drawing from. Ressourcement, toujours ressourcement!
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Do they mean what they say, Do they say what they mean-getting beyond the old polemics and reclaiming the word "catholic" . HINT-it is not a "Brand Name", a part of a compound word, or signifying "universiality"-but rather wholeness, the fullness of the Faith.
Updated on 2009-12-02
Created on 2008-12-30
Category: Religion & Beliefs
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