Pope Francis shakes up Catholic Church (Brazil)

Many Catholics hope Pope Francis will strengthen laymen and women in church, who have been taking on responsibilities of priests in some rural areas. That might trigger a revolution, experts say.

The Catholic Church in Latin America has a way of dealing with contradictions: Instead of discussing whether women should be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood or debating the celibate, laymen go ahead and create precedents in their religious communities. They've come up with new forms of church services - services without a priest. Hopes are high during this year's World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro that Pope Francis will give more power to ordinary people in the church: the laypersons. That would ultimately change the Catholic Church.

Erwin Kräutler, bishop of the diocese Xingu in the Brazilian Amazon region, steers clear of tricky subjects such as women priests and celibate. Kräutler, an Austrian native who came to the Amazon region some 40 years ago, takes a more pragmatic approach: "I have 28 priests for 700,000 people in an area that's about the size of Germany," he said. "We started to ask ourselves: How can we enable people in the jungle, wherever they are, to take part in the Holy Communion?"

Many laypersons have already come up with their own solution: they simply hold church services without the support of the clerics. They pray together, break the bread, administer wine, and care little about Catholic regulations, which specify that only priests are allowed to administer the sacrament of the Holy Communion.

Brazil Charismatic priests try to stem Catholic flight
AFP - 05 June 2013

"In a scene out of a pop music concert, mass at Sao Paulo's huge Mae de Deus (Mother of God) church features spirited singing, dancing and shouting led by priests of Brazil's rising Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement."

snip

"But the proportion of those identifying themselves as Catholics has plummeted from almost 92 percent of the population in 1970 to a mere 64.6 percent in 2010."
http://www.france24.com/en/20130605-brazil-charismatic-priests-try-stem-catholic-flight

Catholic Charismatic Renewal

"The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a movement within Catholicism that places heavy focus on the Holy Spirit and incorporates many aspects of Pentecostalism, such as prophesying and speaking in tongues, into the Catholic Church."
http://vimeo.com/5851208

Excerpts from the DW article:

"Many laypersons have already come up with their own solution: they simply hold church services without the support of the clerics. They pray together, break the bread, administer wine, and care little about Catholic regulations, which specify that only priests are allowed to administer the sacrament of the Holy Communion."
(Actually, bishops, priests, deacons,"Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion" if I understand correctly. - haffast)

"Lays take over responsibility, and the church moves forward. And even without pastors and priests, it works well," Sister Lucilene Antonio, who supports small religious communities within the Amazon region, said. "I have seen women who have done Services of the Word and broke the bread afterwards."

"Rebellion and revolution - that's nothing new for Latin America: In the 1960s and 70s, Latin American liberation theologians such as Gustavo Gutierrez and Oscar Romero inspired clergymen and believers all over the world. One of them was Ludwig Gerhard Müller, who now heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."

"Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff firmly believes Latin America will trigger future reforms that are going to change the Catholic Church. "Our church doesn't reflect the European mother church anymore; it has its own origins, its own traditions, heroes, martyrs, prophets and personas such as the famous former bishop of Recife, Dom Helder Camara, or our very own saint, Oscar Romero," Boff said. "These churches will breathe new life into Christianity.""

End of excerpts

Gerhard Ludwig Müller - Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

"On 2 July 2012 Bishop Müller was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope Benedict XVI. At the same time he was appointed Archbishop ad personam. As a result of his new role his is also ex officio president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the International Theological Commission, and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei."

"As a personal friend of Pope Benedict XVI, he has been charged with preparing the publication of the “Opera Omnia”: a series of books that will collect, in a single edition, all Benedict's writings.[5] Müller himself has was written more than 400 works on dogmatic theology, ecumenism, revelation, hermeneutics, the priesthood and the diaconate."

"Müller was also a pupil of Gustavo Gutiérrez, the “father” of Latin-American liberation theology, with whom he has a long and close friendship.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Ludwig_M%C3%BCller

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SECOND EDITION
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER THREE
THE SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE OF COMMUNION
ARTICLE 6
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c3a6.htm

Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Ministers_of_Holy_Communion

"Fresh air" blowing through the RCC.
http://vimeo.com/5851208

Is the tail beginning to wag the dog? As people turn away from the Truth and become more secular, are churches, not just the RCC, falling into apostasy in trying to reach and include those people among their number?

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