Friday, December 15, 2006
Excommunication & Vatican II
An update of this post. Any misunderstanding from the previous post is deeply regreted and I assure you that no malice was intended.
The use of excommunication is not called for in our day and age, especially 40 years after the Second Vatican II Council. Does the Church really think that it is necessary to impose truth using the law so that any opposing voice/movement within the Church has to be put down? The Second Vatican II Council refers to the Chuch as a "community". Indded so. She is a diverse community that spans across the globe; a melting pot of of believers that though are many, are one body, because of the one Bread twe all share. Through thick or thin, it is only together that the Church will grow. We read in the Gospel that "the darkness cannot put out the light". The light is the Truth and since the light cannot be put out, can't the Truth stand on it’s own?
The Second Vatican II Council, opened the way for ecumenism/reconciliation and open dialogue. It also put the term "excommunication and it's applications in a small closet- in the papal household- that should be rarely opened," Fr. Micheal Teo. So where has the ecumenism and reconciliation gone to 40 years on? If we (claim to) accept the Council, shouldn't we be living and practicing it especially when it comes to our fellow family members in the body of Christ?
In Thurston and Attwater's: Butler's Lives of the Saints, "Great care must be taken to show forth orthodox truth in such a way that if any herectics happen to be present they may have an example of charity and Christian moderation. No hard words should be used nor any sort of contempt for their errors shown."
Fr. Charles P. Conner, author of Defenders of the Faith in Word and Deed tells us that "a man can be charitable as he clearly, unambigiously teaches Catholic truth". Saint Ignatius was such a man and this was his aim.
Doctor of the Church, St. Peter Canisius also favoured peaceful coexistence (even with the Protestants). Now, this may seem as he trying to betray Rome, however, St. Peter Canisius felt (and did convince Rome eventually) that such was the way to win the intellectual battle that the Chruch had been losing (especially) after the Reformation.
Now, I am not implying that the Society is herectical (in fact, they can be more orthodox that many Catholic parishes all over the world). All I'm trying to do is to advocate some kind of Christian charity; for the love of God, it's not as if they're Masons. Looking back at history, we clearly see how both great Saints, Ignatius of Loyola and Peter Canisius dealt with similar situations.
It's funny when you look at how our seperate bretheren- Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, etc...- are treated so well, yet our own CATHOLIC bothers and sisters are being treated as if they were complete strangers or worst, herectics... when they are the ones who are upholding orthodoxy. They recite the same Creed as we do too. Now, tell me which element(s) do they dissent to? Unlike the CTA, their actions aren't "in contrast with the Catholic faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint... irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic faith," Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Neither are they Sedevacantists who believe in a Pope Pius XIII nor Masons trying to destroy the Catholic faith.
We cannot seperate eumenism from Christian charity. How can we expect to sit down and have honest, open dialogues whilst simultaneously passing condemnations and hurling labels such as "Schismatic", "Excommunicated", etc... You don't need a rocket scientist to tell you that such an approach won't work.
The best solution is to look at St. Ignatius's and St. Peter Canisius's 'true ecumenical' approaches.
Now, just to touch on the issue of the SSPX in Lincoln, NE, here's a first-hand account that was related to me via e-mail this morning (emphasis mine):
"We (SSPX) took care of Lincoln, NE from St. Mary’s (a SSPX church in KS) when that (excommunication) happened. The real reason was that we (SSPX) took a couple of young men from the Novus Ordo Mass whom the Bishop knew and who were televising our (SSPX) Mass on cable TV. We had only ten faithful at the Mass but the bishop felt threatened. The Bishop also had been a secretary to Cardinal Wright, the one who wrote us an official letter of praise in 1971 making us of pontifical right, and then was one of the three cardinals who condemned Archbishop Lefebvre in 1975 without giving him a trial or a chance to defend himself. Bishop Bruskewitz found nine thieves to condemn us with, just as Pilate found only two for Our Lord. I think it actually makes him look ridiculous in this era of reconciliation......"
Labels: Eucmenism, Society of St. Pius X
i've not seen you in the priory for quite some time! where have you been?
in christ, mary, joseph,
royston
I just completed the last of my papers today. The past 2 weeks have been very busy for me. My French paper will be on the first week of January... arhhh...
Anyway, I'll be there for the High Mass this Sunday and please pray for a good and safe trip when I leave for Thailand on Monday.
See you on Sunday.
Pro ecclesia et pontificate,
Paul
: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 7:13:00 AMSubscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
