(Hermann Kern. The slippery floor. [Source])
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(Hermann Kern. The slippery floor.
[Source])
This text is Pope Benedict XVI's recent letter about the remission of the excommunications of the Bishops ordained by Mons. Lefèbvre, with a few of my comments.
Normally, I avoid publicly criticizing the Holy Father. I grant myself an exception for a few reasons. First, the Holy Father himself speaks about his errors in this letter. Furthermore, this letter isn't an encyclical, nor an apostolic letter, nor a motu proprio, and on top of that it talks about a pastoral Decree which itself doesn't commit papal infallibility. Finally, in my opinion, this letter doesn't solve the serious doctrinal confusion caused by these "dis-excommunications".
Vatican Information Service, 2009-March-12
[Green] Dear brothers in the episcopal ministry.
[Green] The remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre without a mandate of the Holy See has for many reasons caused, both within and beyond the Catholic Church, a discussion more heated than any we have seen for a long time. Many bishops felt perplexed by an event which came about unexpectedly and was difficult to view positively in the light of the issues and tasks facing the Church today. Even though many bishops and members of the faithful were disposed in principle to take a positive view of the Pope's concern for reconciliation,
And as I've said, Holy Father, I'm one of those faithful.
[Green] the question remained whether such a gesture was fitting in view of the genuinely urgent demands of the life of faith in our time. Some groups, on the other hand, openly accused the Pope of wanting to turn back the clock to before the Council: as a result, an avalanche of protests was unleashed, whose bitterness laid bare wounds deeper than those of the present moment. I therefore feel obliged to offer you, dear brothers, a word of clarification, which ought to help you understand the concerns which led me and the competent offices of the Holy See to take this step. In this way I hope to contribute to peace in the Church.
So far, I totally agree. I too am in favor of doctrinal clarity and peace in the Church.
[Green] An unforeseen mishap for me was the fact that the Williamson case came on top of the remission of the excommunication. The discreet gesture of mercy towards four bishops ordained validly but not legitimately suddenly appeared as something completely different: as the repudiation of reconciliation between Christians and Jews, and thus as the reversal of what the Council had laid down in this regard to guide the Church's path. A gesture of reconciliation with an ecclesial group engaged in a process of separation thus turned into its very antithesis: an apparent step backwards with regard to all the steps of reconciliation between Christians and Jews taken since the Council - steps which my own work as a theologian had sought from the beginning to take part in and support. That this overlapping of two opposed processes took place and momentarily upset peace between Christians and Jews, as well as peace within the Church, is something which I can only deeply deplore.
Here again, I totally agree. The Williamson case is in large part media manipulation by anti-Catholics, in order to drag the Church and its Leader in the mud.
[Green] I have been told that consulting the information available on the Internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on. I have learned the lesson that in the future in the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news.
I've often heard that humility is acquired by humiliations, but under the condition that we accept those humiliations as coming from the hand of God. If ever, God forbid, I should end up flat on my stomach in front of planet earth, with the milk jar and the eggs splashed on the floor, I hope I'll remember that good advice!
I also hope I'll say something appropriate like: "Because of my incompetence my dear Spouse, the Holy Catholic Church, was dragged in the mud for several long weeks. I'm deeply sorry. Please, don't blame the Roman Curia or the Cardinals; it's my fault, and only my fault. Pray that God will forgive me."
[Green] I was saddened by the fact that even Catholics who, after all, might have had a better knowledge of the situation, thought they had to attack me with open hostility. Precisely for this reason I thank all the more our Jewish friends, who quickly helped to clear up the misunderstanding and to restore the atmosphere of friendship and trust which - as in the days of Pope John Paul II - has also existed throughout my pontificate and, thank God, continues to exist.
As I've said here above, Holy Father, I've never insinuated that you were an anti-semite.
[Red] Another mistake, which I deeply regret, is the fact that the extent and limits of the provision of 21 January 2009 were not clearly and adequately explained at the moment of its publication.
In my opinion, as I'll try to explain here below, the problem is more serious that a simple lack of clarifications.
[Green] The excommunication affects individuals, not institutions. An episcopal ordination lacking a pontifical mandate raises the danger of a schism, since it jeopardises the unity of the College of Bishops with the Pope. Consequently the Church must react by employing her most severe punishment - excommunication - with the aim of calling those thus punished to repent and to return to unity. Twenty years after the ordinations, this goal has sadly not yet been attained.
Mark those words: to "repent and to return to unity" is a goal which "has sadly not yet been attained". That's exactly one of the fundamental criticisms I have: the Code of Canon Law was not respected. If there is no repentance, then the punishment must not be removed! If unity has not been re-established, then we must not "dis-excommunicate"!
[Yellow] The remission of the excommunication has the same aim as that of the punishment: namely, to invite the four bishops once more to return.
Distinguo. The intention is the same. On the other hand, the means is exactly the opposite! How many diseases can be cured both by a medication, and its contrary? How many car breakdowns can be fixed both by a repair, and the contrary of that repair?
[Red] This gesture was possible once the interested parties had expressed their recognition in principle of the Pope and his authority as Pastor, albeit with some reservations in the area of obedience to his doctrinal authority and to the authority of the Council.
Yes, I've explained which interpretation (in my opinion incorrect) we had to give to the words of the FSSPX, to justify these "dis-excommunications".
[Green] Here I return to the distinction between individuals and institutions.
Here, dear Internet spectators, hang on to your keyboard. The Pope will now make a breath-taking figure skating demonstration!
[Red] The remission of the excommunication was a measure taken in the field of ecclesiastical discipline: the individuals were freed from the burden of conscience constituted by the most serious of ecclesiastical penalties. This disciplinary level needs to be distinguished from the doctrinal level. The fact that the Society of Saint Pius X does not possess a canonical status in the Church is not, in the end, based on disciplinary but on doctrinal reasons. As long as the society does not have a canonical status in the Church, its ministers do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church. There needs to be a distinction, then, between the disciplinary level, which deals with individuals as such, and the doctrinal level, at which ministry and institution are involved. In order to make this clear once again: until the doctrinal questions are clarified, the society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers - even though they have been freed of the ecclesiastical penalty - do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church.
Whew, so many things to say here!
First, where are the quotes from the Bible, the Catechism, the Code of Canon Law, the Summa Theologica? We are in the very heart of the debate, and the Pope has no references to support his position? Isn't that a bit strange?
Second, as I've said already, we don't give a hoot about the FSSPX's canonical status. If these four Bishops are outside the Church, why have they been "dis-excommunicated"? And if they are inside, why are they refused any role in the Church, and why are we asking them to start to accept the authority of the Pope and Vatican II?
Third, these four Bishops are the supreme doctrinal authority of the FSSPX! If the FSSPX isn't in communion with the Church, it's because of these four Bishops! If the FSSPX came back into the Church, it would be because these four Bishops would change the FSSPX's position! How can the cause of the non-communion be "dis-excommunicated"?
Fourth, as I've already said, Canon 1374 as well as it's clarification in Quaesitum est tells us we can't separate the person from the institution that easily. For example, obstinately adhering to a deeply heretical institution, is adhering to a heresy. Note that the converse is also true: because I obstinately adhere to the Catholic Church (an institution), I (a person) have the Catholic Faith!
Fifth, Benedict XVI's whole argument is based on a contradiction:
Because a person isn't the same thing as an institution, we can "dis-excommunicate" a person, even though this person is a member of an institution which isn't in communion.
But then, because this person is still a member of this institution, we have to treat this person as if he wasn't in communion (by refusing that which he would have a right to, if he was in communion, and by asking him to start doing the things he would need to do, if he wanted to be in communion).
[Green] In light of this situation, it is my intention henceforth to join the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei' - the body which has been competent since 1988 for those communities and persons who, coming from the Society of Saint Pius X or from similar groups, wish to return to full communion with the Pope - to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This will make it clear that the problems now to be addressed are essentially doctrinal in nature and concern primarily the acceptance of the Vatican Council II and the post-conciliar Magisterium of the Popes.
In other words, because these four Bishops have been declared free of any heresy (since they've been "dis-excommunicated"), we will now refer their case to the Church's Department that deals with heresies. Hum...
[Green] The collegial bodies with which the congregation studies questions which arise (especially the ordinary Wednesday meeting of cardinals and the annual or biennial plenary session) ensure the involvement of the prefects of the different Roman congregations and representatives from the world's bishops in the process of decision-making.
[Green] The Church's teaching authority cannot be frozen in the year 1962 - this must be quite clear to the Society. But some of those who put themselves forward as great defenders of the Council also need to be reminded that Vatican II embraces the entire doctrinal history of the Church. Anyone who wishes to be obedient to the Council has to accept the faith professed over the centuries, and cannot sever the roots from which the tree draws its life.
Amen! Actually, I've been battling for years against the exaggerations in one direction and in the other, and I too promote the "Hermeneutics of Continuity" (but with far less impressive expressions that those of the Holy Father!).
[Green] I hope, dear brothers, that this serves to clarify the positive significance and also the limits of the provision of 21 January 2009.
No, not at all. To pull off this tour de force, you'd need to explain how we can be "dis-excommunicated", while simultaneously not being in communion.
[Green] But the question still remains: Was this measure needed? Was it really a priority? Aren't other things perhaps more important? Of course there are more important and urgent matters. I believe that I set forth clearly the priorities of my pontificate in the addresses which I gave at its beginning. Everything that I said then continues unchanged as my plan of action. The first priority for the Successor of Peter was laid down by the Lord in the Upper Room in the clearest of terms: 'You ... strengthen your brothers'. Peter himself formulated this priority anew in his first Letter: 'Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you'. In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God Who spoke on Sinai; to that God Whose face we recognise in a love which presses 'to the end' - in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The real problem at this moment of our history is that God is disappearing from the human horizon, and, with the dimming of the light which comes from God, humanity is losing its bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects.
Amen! Magnificient!
[Green] Leading men and women to God, to the God Who speaks in the Bible: this is the supreme and fundamental priority of the Church and of the Successor of Peter at the present time. A logical consequence of this is that we must have at heart the unity of all believers. Their disunity, their disagreement among themselves, calls into question the credibility of their talk of God. Hence the effort to promote a common witness by Christians to their faith - ecumenism - is part of the supreme priority. Added to this is the need for all those who believe in God to join in seeking peace, to attempt to draw closer to one another, and to journey together, even with their differing images of God, towards the source of Light - this is inter-religious dialogue. Whoever proclaims that God is Love 'to the end' has to bear witness to love: in loving devotion to the suffering, in the rejection of hatred and enmity - this is the social dimension of the Christian faith, of which I spoke in the Encyclical Deus caritas est.
Here too: Amen! Amen!
[Green] So if the arduous task of working for faith, hope and love in the world is presently (and, in various ways, always) the Church's real priority, then part of this is also made up of acts of reconciliation, small and not so small.
[Yellow] That the quiet gesture of extending a hand gave rise to a huge uproar,
Sorry, Holy Father, but allow me to make a few distinctions. "Extending a hand" is an expression which can either be taken strictly speaking, or metaphorically speaking. If the four Bishops of the FSSPX were sinking in quicksand, it would of course be very charitable to "extend a hand", in order to pull them out.
Except in our case, we're not talking about quicksand nor flesh and blood hands. We're talking about people who reject Vatican II and Pope Paul VI and Friends, and a Decree which, despite this rejection, "dis-excommunicates" these people.
[Green] and thus became exactly the opposite of a gesture of reconciliation, is a fact which we must accept. But I ask now:
[Yellow] Was it, and is it, truly wrong in this case to meet half-way the brother who 'has something against you' and to seek reconciliation?
Here again, "to meet half-way" is taken in a metaphorical sense. You're not talking about packing your suitcases and booking an airplane flight. You're talking about a Decree which "dis-excommunicates" people who haven't repented, and who haven't tried to repair the damages they've caused.
Dear Holy Father, you constantly come back to the goodness of your intention, except we all agree your intention is good and praiseworthy.
You also insist, Holy Father, on beautiful metaphors which allude to the means you've taken to try to reach that goal. We all agree those metaphors are pretty. But what about reality? Was the best way to bridge the gap between the FSSPX and the Church really to plunge planet earth into a colossal doctrinal confusion?
Was it really the only means at your disposal?
What would the FSSPX choose? The red pill, or the blue pill?
[Source]
Allow me, most Holy Father, to throw down a little friendly challenge. Offer two options to the FSSPX, and ask them which one of the two would most make them want to come back into the Church:
Red pill:
The four FSSPX Bishops are "dis-excommunicated", but afterward they're told
they must now "accept Vatican II", otherwise they'll never be "reintegrated"
(moreover, nobody ever explains what "accepting Vatican II" means
exactly).
Blue pill:
The Pope excommunicates a few dozen famous pseudo-Catholic clowns who
incessantly prance around the Media, promoting abortion, sodomy, Protestantism,
etc. Not only does the Pope punish them (as well as their incompetent Bishops),
but he does so by using the teachings of Vatican II.
An example of a pseudo-Catholic clown? Raymond Gravel! Another example? Nancy Pelosi! Remember yesterday the President of the USA legalized the harvesting and destruction of human embryos. As he was doing it, he explicitely mentioned Pelosi, saying she is a "Catholic", and that she totally approves this new law. (Currently, it's very difficult to claim that Pelosi is excommunicated, since she met you, Holy Father, in Rome a few days ago, and that you didn't say anything clear, even though she incessantly prances around the Media, promoting abortion, sodomy, Protestantism, etc.)
Which pill would the FSSPX choose? Which pill would associate positive feelings with Vatican II?
[Green] Should not civil society also try to forestall forms of extremism and to incorporate their eventual adherents - to the extent possible - in the great currents shaping social life, and thus avoid their being segregated, with all its consequences? Can it be completely mistaken to work to break down obstinacy and narrowness, and to make space for what is positive and retrievable for the whole? I myself saw, in the years after 1988, how the return of communities which had been separated from Rome changed their interior attitudes; I saw how returning to the bigger and broader Church enabled them to move beyond one-sided positions and broke down rigidity so that positive energies could emerge for the whole.
I repeat, I have nothing against your intention, which is very praiseworthy. What worries me is the means you've chosen.
[Green] Can we be totally indifferent about a community which has 491 priests, 215 seminarians, 6 seminaries, 88 schools, 2 university-level institutes, 117 religious brothers, 164 religious sisters and thousands of lay faithful? Should we casually let them drift farther from the Church? I think for example of the 491 priests. We cannot know how mixed their motives may be. All the same, I do not think that they would have chosen the priesthood if, alongside various distorted and unhealthy elements, they did not have a love for Christ and a desire to proclaim Him and, with Him, the living God. Can we simply exclude them, as representatives of a radical fringe, from our pursuit of reconciliation and unity? What would then become of them?
I repeat, I have nothing against your intention, which is very praiseworthy. What worries me is the means you've chosen.
[Green] Certainly, for some time now, and once again on this specific occasion, we have heard from some representatives of that community many unpleasant things - arrogance and presumptuousness, an obsession with one-sided positions, etc. Yet to tell the truth, I must add that I have also received a number of touching testimonials of gratitude which clearly showed an openness of heart. But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles?
I repeat, I have nothing against your intention, which is very praiseworthy. What worries me is the means you've chosen.
[Green] At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them [Yellow] - in this case the Pope - [End Yellow] he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.
By the way, Holy Father, have you invited Bishop Williamson for supper? Why not? You pray in mosques (a religion which compares the Most Holy Eucharist to excrement), and you amicably supped with Hans Küng, a heretic who has dedicated his life to the destruction of the Church. Of course, Williamson was banished from the Church without a trial and without a written accusation, but couldn't you at least buy him supper before delivering him unto Satan? After all, he's one of your brothers in the episcopal ministry...
[Green] Dear Brothers, during the days when I first had the idea of writing this letter, by chance, during a visit to the Roman Seminary, I had to interpret and comment on Galatians 5:13-15. I was surprised at the directness with which that passage speaks to us about the present moment: 'Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another'. I am always tempted to see these words as another of the rhetorical excesses which we occasionally find in St. Paul. To some extent that may also be the case. But sad to say, this 'biting and devouring' also exists in the Church today, as expression of a poorly understood freedom. Should we be surprised that we too are no better than the Galatians? That at the very least we are threatened by the same temptations? That we must always learn anew the proper use of freedom? And that we must always learn anew the supreme priority, which is love? The day I spoke about this at the Major Seminary, the feast of Our Lady of Trust was being celebrated in Rome. And so it is: Mary teaches us trust. She leads us to her Son, in Whom all of us can put our trust. He will be our guide - even in turbulent times. And so I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to all the many bishops who have lately offered me touching tokens of trust and affection, and above all assured me of their prayers.
[Green] My thanks also go to all the faithful who in these days have given me testimony of their constant fidelity to the Successor of St. Peter.
Sometimes the "constant fidelity" is precisely the one which offers fraternal correction... true love isn't the same thing as woolliness and indulgence.
[Green] May the Lord protect all of us and guide our steps along the way of peace. This is the prayer that rises up instinctively from my heart at the beginning of this Lent, a liturgical season particularly suited to interior purification, one which invites all of us to look with renewed hope to the light which awaits us at Easter
I repeat, I have nothing against your intention, which is very praiseworthy. What worries me is the means you've chosen.
[Green] With a special Apostolic Blessing, I remain Yours in the Lord.
Benedict XVI
Doctrinal conclusion? Same as before.
Spiritual conclusion? Same as usual.
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