Church and World
Christian unity: the response to a silent apostasy?
Concerning the link between the ecumenism promoted by the Second Vatican Council and the “silent apostasy” denounced by Pope John Paul II in the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa (June 28, 2003), Bishop Bernard Fellay sent a study to all the cardinals of the Catholic Church on January 6, 2004, to which there has been no reply to this day. In the third chapter of this study, we read: “Ecumenism generates relativism towards the faith.” Pius XI, in Mortalium Animos, declared in 1928 that this form of ecumenism “reverses from top to bottom the foundations of the Catholic faith.” In his preface, Bishop Fellay writes: “This ecumenism has destroyed the most beautiful treasures of the Church, because instead of accepting Unity founded on the whole truth, it has wished to build some kind of unity adapted to a truth blended with error” (From Ecumenism to Silent Apostasy). [Available from Angelus Press.]
(DICI No. 209)
Rome issues a call to order concerning declaration of nullity in the matter of marriage
On January 29, Pope Benedict XVI received the dean and judges of the Rota for the opening of the legal year. In his address, the Pope insisted on the threefold orientation of the ecclesiastical tribunal’s work: justice, charity, and truth. “It is necessary to take note of the widespread and deeply rooted, though not always evident, tendency to place justice and charity in opposition to one another, as if the two were mutually exclusive.” He explained that in this regard, some maintain that pastoral charity is a sufficient justification to declare the nullity of a marriage, and that truth itself tends to be viewed as something one can adapt to make fit the requirements of a given case. Speaking to his guests, the Holy Father continued: “Your ministry is essentially a work of justice: a virtue whose human and Christian value it is more important than ever to rediscover, even within the Church.” For this reason Canon Law “must always be considered in its essential relationship with justice, recognizing that the goal of juridical activity is the salvation of souls.” The Sovereign Pontiff stressed that its practice “must be characterized by the high practice of human and Christian virtues, particularly prudence and justice, but also fortitude,” which becomes more important when the parties in question or the prevailing social expectations can most easily be accommodated by an unjust solution. The lawyers in particular “must not only pay full attention to the truth of the evidence,” but also carefully avoid taking on cases that, in conscience, have no merit. The Pope further declared: “One must avoid pseudo-pastoral claims that would situate questions on a purely horizontal plane, in which what matters is to satisfy subjective expectations in order to arrive at a declaration of nullity at any cost, so that the parties may be able to overcome obstacles to receiving the sacrament of Penance and Holy Communion.” Benedict XVI continued by pointing out that neglect of principles results in a “false good,” and that one thereby “facilitates a return to the sacraments that is incompatible with the truth of one’s personal situation.” Indeed, justice and truth both imply love of truth and the seeking of truth. “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality, and love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way.” In a culture without truth, this is the danger facing love. Benedict XVI reminded his audience that the indissolubility of Catholic marriage ensures its unity and stability by virtue of the sacrament itself, and thus, when in doubt, the marriage must be considered valid until proven otherwise. One runs the serious risk otherwise of “transforming every conjugal difficulty into a symptom of a failed union whose essential nucleus of justice–the indissoluble bond–is thus effectively denied.”
(DICI
No. 209)
Beatification of Pope Pius XII provokes controversy
On December 19, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to promulgate the decree acknowledging the “heroic virtues” of two of his predecessors, Pius XII (1939-58) and John Paul II (1978-2005). He also recognized the “martyrdom” of the Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-84), chaplain of the Solidarnosc trade union, who was abducted by three officers of the Communist political police (SB) near Wloclawek, north of Warsaw. His abductors tortured him to death before tying him up and throwing him into the waters of the Vistula.
The publication of the decree acknowledging the heroic virtues of Pius XII surprised more than one observer. Rome had begun the beatification process of Pius XII in October 1967. On May 8, 2007, the majority of the members of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints recognized the “heroic virtues” of Eugenio Pacelli. The file was then to be submitted to Benedict XVI for the purpose of signing the decree declaring him “venerable.” However, a few months later, the Pope decided to create a special commission within the Secretariat of State to study the file of the beatification process. Last June the postulator for the cause of the Pope of the Second World War confided to the press that the German Pope preferred not to sign the decree of beatification of his predecessor lest the relations between Jews and Catholics be “compromised.” The director of the Holy See Press Office immediately requested that Benedict XVI be “left completely free in his evaluations and decisions.”
Several prominent Jews immediately reacted to the proclamation of the heroic virtues of Pope Pius XII. On December 20, Gilles Bernheim, the Chief Rabbi of France, expressed his hopes that the Catholic Church would forsake the beatification process of Pius XII. According to him Pope Benedict’s decision is “diametrically opposed to dialogue between Jews and Christians.” “For over 40 years the beatification process of Pius XII introduced by John XXIII and Paul VI has never failed to cause controversy and disappointment concerning what he symbolizes. Today the question as to whether or not the project will be brought to completion has become the symbol of what Benedict XVI will do with his pontificate,” he added.
Even more adamant was the reaction of the Secretary General of the Central Council of the Jews of Germany. Stephan Kramer described himself as “furious” and “sad” that the Pope had declared “venerable” his predecessor Pius XII, who has been criticized for his silence during the Holocaust: “This is clearly a misrepresentation of historical facts concerning the Nazi period. And Benedict XVI is rewriting history without permitting a scholarly scientific discussion of Pius XII’s attitude towards Nazism. That is what infuriates me,” he declared to the AFP.
Rabbi David Rosen, counselor to the chief rabbi of Jerusalem in matters of dialogue and delegate for dialogue with the Vatican, expressed his reserves in the December 20th issue of Corriere della Sera. Pope Benedict XVI’s decision “…does not show much sensitivity towards the concerns of the Jewish community,” he stated, hoping the Pope Pacelli project will not go forward.
For its part, the Jewish community of Italy “remains critical” of Pope Benedict XVI’s decision. In a joint declaration, Riccardo Di Segni, chief rabbi of Rome, Renzo Gattegna, President of the Union of Jewish Italian Communities, and Riccardo Pacifici, President of the Jewish Community of Rome, stated: “We cannot in any way whatsoever meddle in the internal decisions of the Church.” “However, if this decision implied a definitive and unilateral judgment of the historical work of Pius XII, we repeat that our evaluation remains critical,” they said.
On December 20, Monsignor Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, granted an interview to Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Episcopal Conference. When asked whether the simultaneous declaration of the “heroic virtues” of both Pontiffs meant that their causes would henceforth go forward together, Monsignor Amato replied, “Each one will follow its own course.”
The Roman prelate explained that the recognition of the “heroic virtues” of Pius XII could “not be considered surprising” for his dicastery. In December 2007 the Pope had decided to create a special commission within the Secretariat of State to study the file of the beatification process and consult the archives of the Holy See. This “inquiry,” according to the prelate, reached a “positive” conclusion.
Four days after Pope Benedict authorized the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to acknowledge the heroic virtues of Pius XII, Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, felt obliged to provide, in a note published on December 23, some “explanations” concerning the beatification process. According to him, it is not intended as an “evaluation of the historical importance of all the decisions” made by Eugenio Pacelli, but rather refers to the “witness of his Christian life”: The Pope’s signing of the decree on the “heroic virtues” of Pius XII has caused a certain number of reactions in the Jewish world, probably because its meaning is clearly understood by the Catholic Church and experts on the subject, though the public at large may be in need of further explanations, and in particular for Jews, who understandably are very sensitive, to the history of the Second World War and the Holocaust.
“When a pope signs a decree on the ‘heroic virtues’ of a Servant of God…, he confirms the positive evaluation that the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has already approved. Naturally, this evaluation takes into account the circumstances in which he lived. An examination from a historical point of view is then necessary, but the evaluation refers essentially to the Christian life led by this person (his intense relationship with God and his constant efforts to attain evangelical perfection…) and not to the evaluation of the historical importance of all his decisions.
“This is in no way meant to limit the discussion of the concrete choices made by Pius XII in the situation in which he found himself. As far as she is concerned, the Church states that they were made only in order to fulfill to the best of his ability his grave responsibilities as pope. In any case, the attention and preoccupation of Pius XII for the fate of the Jews–which was certainly taken into account in the evaluation of his virtues–have been widely attested and acknowledged even by many Jews.
“Historians remain free therefore in their research and conclusions in their own field. And in the present case, we understand the request for access to the official documents for the purpose of research. For the complete opening of the archives, as we have already said several times, it will first be necessary to organize and classify a massive collection of documents, which technically requires a space of several more years,” remarked Father Lombardi.
(DICI, No. 208.)
For further details: Pierre Blet, S.J., Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican (Paulist Press, 1999).
Benedict XVI visits the Synagogue of Rome
The pope went to the synagogue of Rome in the afternoon of Sunday, January 17. In his speech before the leaders of the Italian Jewish community, he clearly aligned himself with his predecessor, John Paul II, recalling the latter’s visit to the Roman synagogue on April 13, 1986, and quoting in full his message of repentance at the Wall of Lamentations during the pilgrimage that he made to the Holy Land in March 2000: “We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.” Benedict XVI placed all these overtures towards Judaism in the framework of the interreligious dialogue promoted by the conciliar document Nostra Aetate (1965). He spoke of the common duty “to strive to keep open the space for dialogue, for reciprocal respect, for growth in friendship…”
This was Benedict XVI’s third visit to a synagogue, after Cologne in August 2005 and New York in April 2008, which prompted Jean-Marie Guenois to write in Le Figaro of January 18: “No other pope has visited as many synagogues.” Moreover, in May 2009, during his trip to the Holy Land, the pope went to Jerusalem, in the footsteps of John Paul II, to visit the Yad Vashem Shoah Memorial and the Wall of Lamentations. On this occasion, he also visited the Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem.
In response to questions posed by the Roman agency I.Media, the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, the principal organizer of this visit, declared: “I expect a serious commitment from the pope to make progress in respect by trying to appreciate the positions and feelings of others. I expect him to commit himself to the continuation of dialogue.” He added:
“If Ratzinger the theologian has a complicated theology, there is room in this theology for a profound respect for the Jewish roots of Christianity. This is not common, especially in the modern thought of the Churches in general. On this point, Ratzinger is very open to discussion with Jewish tradition, both ancient and recent. His theology regarding the Jews unfortunately includes a few questionable points such as the questions of salvation, truth, conversion or fulfillment. These are problems that cannot fill us with enthusiasm.”
In fact, during the speech at the synagogue, Benedict XVI did not touch upon any of these “questionable points,” wishing, as he had declared during Sunday’s Angelus, only to show “the common commitment to recognize what unites” the two communities: “faith in the one God, first of all, but also the safeguard of life and of the family, and the aspiration to social justice and peace.”
On January 13, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, announced during a press conference what appeared in the papal allocution of the 17th, namely, the importance in the pope’s eyes of giving to a secularized world the witness of a “faith shared” by the Jews and Christians “in one God [and] in the Decalogue.” See our commentary below.
As Frederic Mounier observed in La Croix of January 18:
Riccardo Pacifici, president of the Jewish community of Rome, was the only one to bring up the name of Pius XII, whom Benedict XVI did not name, and to ask for the opening of the archives [of the Vatican on the Second World War—Ed.]: “The silence of Pius XII before the Shoah, still hurts because something should have been said. Maybe it would not have stopped the death trains, but it would have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity, toward those brothers of ours transported to Auschwitz.” Shortly before, he had praised the nuns who saved so many Jews.
In reply, the pope remarked in passing that “the Apostolic See itself provided assistance, often in a hidden and discreet way” to save Jews during the war.
This visit had a highly symbolic political significance, which the Jewish authorities who organized it did not fail to mention. Therefore it is not surprising that diplomacy alone could enter the synagogue, leaving theology at the door.
(DICI, Jan. 18, 2010.)
In his speech at the synagogue, Benedict XVI emphasized what, according to him, unites Judaism and Catholicism, and, following John Paul II, invited Catholics to [a commitment] to “genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant” and asserted that “Christians and Jews share to a great extent a common spiritual patrimony, they pray to the same Lord, they have the same roots, and yet they often remain unknown to each other.”
To be sure, this speech is in perfect continuity with the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration Nostra Aetate, but scarcely with the teaching of the first pope. In effect, standing before the people of Israel, St. Peter expressed himself in these terms:
“You are the heirs of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, when he said to Abraham, Every race on earth shall receive a blessing through thy posterity. It is to you first of all that God has sent his Son, whom he raised up from the dead to bring you a blessing, to turn away every one of you from his sins” (Acts 3:25-26 [Knox version]).
But, he added, addressing the princes of the people and the elders: “This is ‘the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner.’ Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12).
And St. Paul added: “Be it known therefore to you, men, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is preached to you: and from all the things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. In him every one that believeth is justified.” (Acts 13:38-39).
Like SS. Peter and Paul, one cannot but desire that the salvation brought by Jesus Christ to all men might be announced to the Jews. But it is inconceivable that this salvation be announced to them by a preaching fundamentally different from that of the Apostles who are the two pillars of the Catholic Church.
For further study, see “Christians, Muslims, Jews: Do We All Have the Same God?” by Fr. François Knittel, Christendom, No. 14, Nov.–Dec. 2007, in the archives online at DICI.org/en.
The World: Christians Martyred in 2009
On January 23, Bishop Vitus Huonder spoke about Christians who died in 2009 for their faith. He observed that if the Church was in need more or less everywhere in the world, even Switzerland was not spared this harsh reality, though in its case it was more a matter of moral need. During the intercessory prayers, the 27 Christians put to death for their faith last year were listed. Underscoring that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians,” the names of the 27 victims were inscribed on four large candles placed on the altar. Among them one might read notably the names of Fr. Bernard Digal, from the Indian state of Orissa, killed by Hindu extremists last August 25; Ciza Deo, 57 years old and father of six children, killed last December 15 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the 11-year-old Pakistani Christian, Irfan Masih, murdered near Karachi last April 22 when Muslim fanatics attacked the Christian district.
In a report published December 30, 2009, the missionary news agency Fides, an organ of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, indicates that, according to its information, 30 priests, 2 religious sisters, 2 seminarians, and 3 lay volunteers “lost their lives in a violent manner in the course of 2009.” The Vatican’s missionary news agency pointed out that this figure was “the highest number in the last ten years,” and “nearly double the number reported in the preceding year.” The majority of the religious and lay persons were killed on the American continents: 18 priests, 2 seminarians, 1 sister, and 2 laymen met their deaths in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, and Honduras. Africa followed, with 9 priests, 1 sister, and 1 layman killed in four different countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Kenya, and Burundi. Two priests were killed in Asia in 2009, one in India and the other in the Philippines. And finally, one priest was killed in Europe: the Frenchman Louis Jousseaume.
Thus 37 priests, religious, and laymen of the Catholic Church lost their lives by violence during the course of 2009. There were 20 such deaths in 2008, 21 in 2007, 24 in 2006, 25 in 2005, 16 in 2004, 29 in 2003, 25 in 2002, 33 in 2001, and 31 in the year 2000. So in ten years, from 2000 to 2009, there were 261 Catholics murdered throughout the world, among them 190 priests and 4 bishops.
(DICI, No. 209)
Italy: The Chief Rabbi of Rome’s ultimatum: “Them or us”
“If peace with the Lefebvrists means renouncing the overtures made by the Council, the Church will have to decide: them or us!” declared the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, on January 26, a few days after Benedict XVI’s visit to the Synagogue of Rome and on the eve of the Day of Remembrance dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. Questioned by the online Italian Catholic monthly Il Consulente Re, Riccardo Di Segni added moreover that describing the Jews as “elder brothers” (as John Paul II did during his visit to the Synagogue of Rome in 1986), was “very ambiguous from a theological point of view, because the elder brothers in the Bible are the villains.” In the eyes of the chief rabbi, speaking of “elder brothers” means: “You once were, but now you do not count at all!” Lastly, Riccardo Di Segni opined that the Sant’Egidio Community (a lay movement founded at Rome in 1968 and the originator of interreligious meetings like the one held at Assisi in 1986) was “a fine example of collaboration” between Jews and Catholics.
(DICI, No. 209)
Germany: Bishop Williamson will be tried on April 16
A spokesman of the court of Ratisbonne announced on January 27 that Bishop Richard Williamson will be tried on April 16, 2010, in Germany. According to France Presse, an official demand for his appearance has been sent to the British bishop’s residence in London.
The proceedings brought against Bishop Williamson are for “incitement of racial hatred,” after the words he spoke in Ratisbonne about the Holocaust and which were broadcasted on the Swedish television channel SVT on January 21, 2009. The bishop disputed the charges made against him and did not follow the simplified procedure which would have enabled the case to come to a close after paying a fine of 12,000 Euros. The spokesman also specified on November 9, 2009, that the bishop was not required to be physically present at his trial, and that he could be represented by another.
(DICI No. 209.)
The Vatican: The second theological meeting between the Roman experts and the SSPX held on January 18
The second theological meeting between Rome’s theologians and those of the SSPX was held on January 18 at the Vatican in the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The two parties, one of the participants told I. Media News, “have begun studying in depth the themes on the agenda for the doctrinal discussions.” No press release was issued on the occasion of the latest working session, as there had been for the preceding session, which was held on October 26, 2009. The next meeting will take place during the second half of the month of March, I. Media was also told.
During the sermon he gave during the priestly ordinations at the Seminary of La Reja in Argentina last December 19, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who heads the Society of St. Pius X’s delegation, listed the subjects to be discussed in the forthcoming meetings: “all the themes we have been critiquing for forty years, especially religious liberty, the modern liberties, freedom of conscience, the dignity of the human person–as they say–the rights of man, personalism, ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, inculturation, collegiality–the egalitarianism, democratism, and destruction of authority that have been introduced into the Church; as well as all the notions of ecclesiology which have totally changed what the Church is: the question of the “self-consciousness” of the Church, the Church as communion, the Church as sacrament, the Church as the People of God; and all these new ideas about the relation between the Church and the world. Then there is the question of the Mass, the new Mass, the new missal, the liturgical reform…, and still other themes.” (See the March 2010 issue of The Angelus.)
While receiving in audience the members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last January 15, Benedict XVI justified the gesture made towards the Society of St. Pius X, and expressed his desire to see “the remaining doctrinal problems overcome” thanks to the work of the Congregation.
(DICI No. 209.)
Spain: Saint James Holy Year 2010
The year 2010 is a St. James jubilee year because the 25th of July, the saint’s feast day, falls on a Sunday, and, in memory of the finding of the Apostle’s tomb, which occurred on a Sunday, the year is declared a St. James Holy Year.
The Society of St. Pius X is organizing a big pilgrimage for July 3–August 6, 2010, from Domezain (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) to the sanctuary of Santiago de Compostela along the camino frances. The pilgrims will traverse 520 miles in four and a half weeks of walking, following a trail marked out by yellow arrows on the ground, walls, or posts. Everyone will be able to go at his own pace each of the thirty or so stages, with all the pilgrims regrouping every afternoon to hear Mass.
For Information and registration: Pèlerinages de Tradition, 23 rue Poliveau, 75005 Paris; Telephone: (01) 55.43.15.60; e-mail: pele.trad@wanadoo.fr; on the Web: http://pelerinagesdetradition.com.
(DICI No. 209.)
Priest Expelled by Bishop for Traditional Attitude
Society of St. Pius X’s US District to host its first annual conference
The Society of St. Pius X’s United States District will host its first annual conference this fall on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Society’s founding. It will be held in Kansas City from October 15-17. Bishop Fellay will be the keynote speaker; additional speakers will be announced soon. Further details will appear in future months.
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