Pope Benedict XVI: Council of Faith and Council of Media

"[T]here was the Council of the Fathers – the true Council – but there was also the Council of the media. It was almost a Council in and of itself, and the world perceived the Council through them, through the media. So the Council that immediately, effectively, got thorough to the people was that of the media, not that of the Fathers. And meanwhile, the Council of the Fathers evolved within the faith, it was a Council of the faith that sought the intellect, that sought to understand and try to understand the signs of God at that moment, that tried to meet the challenge of God in this time to find the words for today and tomorrow. So while the whole council – as I said – moved within the faith, as fides quaerens intellectum, the Council of journalists did not, naturally, take place within the world of faith but within the categories of the media of today, that is outside of the faith, with different hermeneutics. It was a hermeneutic of politics.

The media saw the Council as a political struggle, a struggle for power between different currents within the Church. It was obvious that the media would take the side of whatever faction best suited their world. There were those who sought a decentralization of the Church, power for the bishops and then, through the Word for the “people of God”, the power of the people, the laity. There was this triple issue: the power of the Pope, then transferred to the power of the bishops and then the power of all … popular sovereignty. Naturally they saw this as the part to be approved, to promulgate, to help.

 

 

This was the case for the liturgy: there was no interest in the liturgy as an act of faith, but as a something to be made understandable, similar to a community activity, something profane. And we know that there was a trend, which was also historically based, that said: “Sacredness is a pagan thing, possibly even from the Old Testament. In the New Testament the only important thing is that Christ died outside: that is, outside the gates, that is, in the secular world”. Sacredness ended up as profanity even in worship: worship is not worship but an act that brings people together, communal participation and thus participation as activity. And these translations, trivializing the idea of ​​the Council, were virulent in the practice of implementing the liturgical reform, born in a vision of the Council outside of its own key vision of faith. And it was so, also in the matter of Scripture: Scripture is a book, historical, to treat historically and nothing else, and so on.

 

 

And we know that this Council of the media was accessible to all. So, dominant, more efficient, this Council created many calamities, so many problems, so much misery, in reality: seminaries closed, convents closed, the liturgy was trivialized … and the true Council has struggled to materialize, to be realized: the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real strength of the Council was present and slowly it has emerged and is becoming the real power which is also true reform, true renewal of the Church.

It seems to me that 50 years after the Council, we see how this Virtual Council is breaking down, getting lost and the true Council is emerging with all its spiritual strength. And it is our task, in this Year of Faith, starting from this Year of Faith, to work so that the true Council with the power of the Holy Spirit is realized and Church is really renewed. We hope that the Lord will help us.

I, retired in prayer, will always be with you, and together we will move ahead with the Lord in certainty. The Lord is victorious! Thank you."

Benedict XVI

Meeting with Roman Clergy

February 14, 2013

 

 

Archbishop Sample is taking this to heart in Oregon.  He has apparently already begun this change.

Cardinal Arinze Reacts to Pope's Resignation

Bishop Robert Vasa on the Holy Father's Resignation.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130211/ARTICLES/130219944/1010/sports?Title=Santa-Rosa-Bishop-shares-his-thoughts-on-the-resignation-of-Pope-Benedict-XVI

Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa looks to the future

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his message during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, February 11, 2013 at 3:22 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 11, 2013 at 3:22 p.m.

Bishop Robert Vasa said Monday he hopes the next person to lead the world's Catholics will follow the same path as Pope Benedict XVI, whose interpretation of church doctrine along strongly conservative lines earned the pontiff both praise and criticism.
 

Vasa, who leads the 165,000-member Santa Rosa Diocese, said Benedict often spoke of a "hermeneutic of continuity," or a desire for there to not be a major disruption stemming from a change in leadership.

"That certainly fits my hopes and expectations extremely well," Vasa said.

Asked about Benedict's legacy, Vasa referenced the 85-year-old pontiff's scholarly writings and his "great gentleness."

Benedict's papacy also was marked by clerical abuse scandals, the leaking of internal Vatican documents and disputes with other religious leaders and institutions. Vasa said he did not have "enough information to make any knowledgeable comments" about the abuse scandals.

Vasa said he was "very surprised" by Benedict's announcement to resign later this month, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so.

Vasa predicted a muted reaction among the North Coast's Catholics. "I don't think there is any great grief or sadness. It's not like he is dying," Vasa said.

Worldwide, some Catholics have expressed shock that a pontiff is permitted under church law to resign what is billed as a lifetime post.

John Paul II, Benedict's beloved predecessor, continued to serve even as he coped with Parkinson's disease, in what some Catholics viewed as an uplifting testament to the religious tenet of suffering.
Vasa said Benedict "is of a different mind," and he said the pontiff decided he could serve the church as a "different type of witness."

"It has all the earmarks of a very prudent decision," Vasa said.

 

Invitation to Installation Mass for Archbishop Sample

"The Installation Mass for Archbishop Sample will be celebrated on Easter Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center. The Mass is open to the public and all are invited to attend. Seating for the public will be first-come, first-served. There will be a public reception at the Chiles Center immediately following the Mass."

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." - St. Augustine

Did the Wolves Win? Or Has the Holy Father Discovered a Way to Outsmart the Wolf Pack? 

 

by Michael J. Matt

The Vatican Press Office made an announcement this morning that has shocked the world: the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will resign at the end of February.

Clearly, the Church is entering waters now that are as perilous as they are unknown. Let us presume the best of our Holy Father's decision to resign, citing a lack of strength at 85 years old to carry out his papal duties.

Before commenting further, we believe further prayer and reflection are in order. This much is obvious, however--the wolves inside the Vatican and out have been circling our ageing pontiff ever since he was elected to Peter's chair. At the very beginning of his reign Benedict asked us to pray for him that he would not flee for fear of the wolves.

And now the whole world is confronted with a question that may never be answered, even by history itself: Is Pope Benedict resigning because the wolves all around him have achieved their diabolical objective, or has he found a way of circumventing their evil designs by removing himself from their gullets? We believe it to be the latter. Pope Benedict XVI will not allow the wolves to act in his name to the detriment of the Church any longer. Vatileaks alone has shown this to be more than a mere wild conspiracy theory.

 

What now? Pray incessantly for a younger but still tradition-minded successor who will attempt to carry on the reforms Pope Benedict was quite obviously prevented from continuing.

May God help us all, and may He bless and protect his Church under siege from the world and in near total chaos internally. We pray for Pope Benedict, and ask our merciful God to watch over and protect him now and always.