Thursday, October 16, 2014

Bishop Robert Vasa: “Let Me Reassure You: The Sky Has Not Fallen in Rome...”

By Bishop Robert F. Vasa, Diocese of Santa Rosa

...Any attempt to view the relatio—which is an interim report—as equivalent to a papal pronouncement or indicative of some looming change in Church teaching is simply not justified...

      In the 24 hours since the release of the pithily titled Relatio post disceptationem for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, the media and blogosphere have been thundering with the explosive cheers of those who have craved change in Church teaching for generations and others who wailing and gnashing their teeth, certain this does not bode well for the future.
            It is to these latter good souls I address the following observations.

            Let us begin by acknowledging that it is important to recognize this report does not constitute a final report. It is simply a report on what has been proposed by one or more of the participants in the Synod.

            As such it does not add anything new to the discussion that was not already present some months ago as rumors about what the Holy Father would or would not do vis-à-vis changing certain Church doctrines began to circulate.

            Therefore, any attempt to view this interim report—if we want to use a football analogy, a half-time report—as equivalent to a papal pronouncement or indicative of some looming change in Church teaching is simply not justified.

            As Cardinal Burke noted, “Clearly, the response to the document in the discussion which immediately followed its presentation manifested that a great number of the Synod Fathers found it objectionable.”

            Furthermore, if anything, the relatio in all but a few of its 58 paragraphs simply restates traditional doctrine. For the general theme I see is a reiteration of the need for pastors and for the Church herself to approach suffering people—in this case those who struggle with chastity, failing marriages, or both—with compassionate mercy.




            This is not new. Any serious Catholic with experience of the Church’s confessional practice knows that confessors are far more compassionate and understanding than popular media would admit.

            George Weigel’s observation is key: “The 2014 synod is an agenda-setting exercise that was intended by Pope Francis to help prepare the work of the 2015 Synod on the Family. The Pope knows full well that marriage and the family are in crisis throughout the world. In his own remarks before the synod, he said hoped [it] would lift up the beauty of Christian marriage and Christian family life in a world too dominated by what he’s often called a ‘throwaway culture,’ the throwaways all too frequently include[ing] spouses and children.”

            He continued: “The synod fathers are wrestling with difficult questions. How does the Catholic Church best approach, in a pastoral and charitable way, those who are living in what the Church has no option but to consider, objectively speaking, irregular situations? How does a Church of sinners—which is what all of us Catholics are—call people in those situations to the conversion to which all Christians are constantly called? How can it bring people to see the truth of their situation, and how can it best help them deal with that? These are not simple matters; matters of the heart rarely are.”

            As noted above, again, if read in its entirety, the relatio actually upholds much more of the traditional teaching regarding marriage and family than the headlines would lead us to believe. Pope Francis’ influence is clearly present in the expression of a desire for more welcoming language.

            This influence is certainly welcome and appreciated.

10 comments:

Theodore M. Seeber said...

Paragraph 50 is rather problematical though. I wish the good Bishop could give us something moRe than an emphasis on mercy without justice.

Alice said...

I just noticed that quote by C.S.Lewis on your sidebar. It's not a Catholic idea. We are both soul and body. Our body and soul will be reunited. They were never meant to be separated. That is the tragedy of the fall. We are a body and a soul.

Anonymous said...

"...any attempt to view this interim report...as equivalent to a papal pronouncement or indicative of some looming change in Church teaching is simply not justified."

It may not be "justified", but the damage has already been done, Your Excellency; and the Church now finds herself in the "irredeemable" position of having to do damage control, due to the manner in which this document was hijacked and published. The same tactic was employed in the first session of Vatican II, and again with respect to the pending release of Humanae Vitae; and we're still trying to repair the damage from both of those, now some fifty years later. The next 24 months should prove quite interesting, to say the least.

- Ihidaya

Arthur said...

For sure, in the end they will remain "orthodox" in doctrine. Yet it seems they earned little from the Vatican II and the debacle there over artificial BC, with leaks of discussions, etc, getting people to think we may have changed (we can't) and worrying others about a loss of truth. In the end the right thing happened with Paul VI's Humanae VItae... but the damage was done and that indecisiveness and sense of false promises that could not be kept caused widespread rebellion in the church toward BC and any number of other hot button issues.

Every parent and every manager in any circumstance knows NEVER promise more than you are prepared to deliver and don't even TALK about it, always defining boundaries for change. You would think people had heard the Herod/John the Baptist tale often enough to understand getting painted into a corner

A good article I saw today on that is this:


http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2014/a-lambeth-moment-for-the-synod.html

Cheers

VOCAL said...

Alice,

Since there would be confusion I will take it down.

I just wanted people to be reminded that the part of us we should be mostly concerned about is our Immortal Soul and Eternity with Our Lord.

CS Lewis was close to converting to the True Faith at the end of his life. How would he not?
Thanks for your concern.

God Bless.

VOCAL said...

Theodore,

I will ask Bishop Vasa about "paragraph 50".

Maybe he can "give us more than an emphasis on mercy without justice."

At least give an explanation.

Carolyn

VOCAL said...

Theodore,

Now that the text has been changed do you still want more information from Bishop Vasa?

"The original text contained an entire section "Welcoming homosexuals," that asked the church to provide gays a "fraternal space" and said their unions constitute a "precious support" for the partners. The new English version is entitled "Providing for homosexual persons," speaks only of "fellowship" and "valuable support."

The Vatican said English-speaking bishops requested the changes."

Jim Fritz said...

Thank you for pointing out some sanity in all of this hysteria.

Janice said...

Thank you, Carolyn! God bless you.

Carol said...

I watched Church Militant last night -- the first time I've seen this site -- and have some real fears about that preliminary document, no matter what. It may not be the final word but it gives the reader heartburn just to think that some of our church leadership are really up to such evil !!