Posted on 01/19/2006 12:33:10 PM PST by NYer
ROMA, January 19, 2006 – The first words of Benedict XVI’s first encyclical letter, almost the motto of his papacy, are “Deus Caritas Est,” God is love.
But not everyone in the upper levels of the Church is full of love and solidarity for this new pope. Resistance to his guidance is tenacious and widespread, and in some places it is on the rise. And almost all the resistance shields itself behind the protection of anonymity.
The only open and avowed resistance is that of the Neocatechumenal Way, which has opposed a papal directive issued last December, which struck at one of the movement’s cornerstones.
The Way, founded and directed by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández, both Spanish, is today the most vigorous of the new Catholic movements that emerged during the last half century. It is present in 900 dioceses on all the inhabited continents, and boasts the strength of a million followers in over 20,000 communities, with 3,000 priests and 5,000 religious. It has an international network of 63 “Redemptoris Mater” seminaries, which are thriving with new vocations, in contrast with the vacuum in many diocesan seminaries.
One of the factors in its numeric expansion is the elevated number of children that its families bring into the world, running to ten, twelve, or even more. Each year, scores of these families go on mission into faraway countries. Last January 12, 200 of these families departed all at once from Rome, with the personal blessing of Benedict XVI, who met them in a Nervi Hall that was crowded and pulsing with enthusiasm. Some of the families were going to Patagonia or Japan, but some others were going into the most dechristianized areas of Europe: France, Holland, the former East Germany.
With such a legacy of success, it is natural that the Neocatechumenals receive the support of a large number of bishops and cardinals. Two of these patrons – cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Vatican congregation for the propagation of the faith, and cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington – were at their side in Nervi Hall on January 12. But criticisms have also rained down upon the Neocatechumenals over the years, especially against their carving out a separate place for themselves in the Church, with their own secret catechism, their own rituals, and their own parallel hierarchy. But these criticisms were always overruled by the unconditional support given to them by John Paul II.
But that’s no longer the case with pope Ratzinger. There is one thing about the Neocatechumenals that the pope does not accept, and which touches the heart of Christian life: the unusual way in which they celebrate the Mass (1).
In effect, the Mass that every one of the 20,000 communities of the Way celebrates each Saturday evening – separately from the parishes and the other sister communities – follows the dictates of its founder Kiko Argüello much more closely than it does the liturgical canons that are universally valid for the Catholic Church.
Instead of the altar in the apse, at the center of the hall is a large square dinner table, around which the Neocatechumenals receive communion in a seated position.
Instead of hosts, a large loaf of unleavened wheat bread, made with two-thirds white flour and one-third whole wheat flour, is divided and eaten. The bread, which is baked for a quarter of an hour, is prepared according to very detailed guidelines established by Kiko.
The wine is drunk from cups, also in a sitting position.
The homily is replaced by spontaneous comments from those present, before and after the readings from the Gospel, the letters of Saint Paul, and the Old Testament.
Benedict XVI has ordered that all of this come to an end. He did this through a letter delivered in mid-December to the three main leaders of the Way: Kiko, Carmen, and the Italian priest Mario Pezzi. The letter was signed by cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Vatican congregation for the liturgy, but from its very first lines it clearly states that these are “the decisions of the Holy Father.” Six unambiguous commands follow.
For example, regarding communion, the exact dispositions of the letter are these:
“On the manner of receiving Holy Communion, a period of transition (not exceeding two years) is granted to the Neocatechumenal Way to pass from the widespread manner of receiving Holy Communion in its communities (seated, with a cloth-covered table placed at the center of the church instead of the dedicated altar in the sanctuary) to the normal way in which the entire Church receives Holy Communion. This means that the Neocatechumenal Way must begin to adopt the manner of distributing the Body and Blood of Christ that is provided in the liturgical books.” (2)
But instead of simply obeying, the Neocatechumenals disobeyed while asserting that they were perfectly obedient.
When Vatican analyst Andrea Tornielli first gave the news of the pope’s directions, the official spokesman and director of the Way in the United States, Giuseppe Gennarini, protested that in reality these orders amounted to an approval (3).
When on December 27 www.chiesa published Arinze’s letter in its entirety, Gennarini called the very authenticity of this letter into question. He added that “this does not change its nature of a confidential and internal instrumentum laboris (working instrument),” devoid of any normative force. He restated that the only valid norm is “the confirmation by the Holy Father of the liturgical praxis of the Way.” And by way of proof he cited the blessing that the pope would bestow a few days later upon the Neocatechumenal families leaving on mission, during the audience of January 12 (4).
The audience did, in fact, take place. And so did the blessing. But there was also a second, ringing summons to obedience from Benedict XVI:
“Recently the congregation for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments imparted to you, in my name, some norms concerning the Eucharistic celebration, after the trial period that had been granted by the servant of God John Paul II. I am certain that these norms, which draw upon the provisions of the liturgical books approved by the Church, will meet with attentive compliance from you.” (5)
There was no comment from the directors of the Way after this second call from the pope. But word was given to the 20,000 communities to continue as before.
I agree, I think some of the numbers in this article are also pumped up.
***************
Well. I can't say I disagree. :)
It does seem to me that Pope Benedict XVI is moving in that direction, however.
Pope John Paul II, with the able assistance of Josef Cardinal Ratzinger and B. (?) Cardinal Gantin did the honors on SSPX in 1988 in Ecclesia Dei. They are already declared excommunicated schismatics, despite their defense that: "OOOOOHHH, don't you see? It was an emergency! If old Marcel had not spit in the face of John Paul II by defying his direct orders and consecrating the Econe 4, we SSPXers would not have gotten our way. I mean, we had no choice! The pope was openly disobeying Marcel. What else could we do???"
Can we create a Catholic Hierarchical Action Committee to which Catholics can contribute toward the end of electing bornaCatholic at the next conclave??? I like bornacatholic's style in that last paragraph particularly. It has a real papal ring to it. Even if bornacatholic is a married layman (bac is a man, yes???), we can figure out a rationale for the next conclave to get around that rule.
Visualize: "We announce to you a great joy! We have a pope! B. A. Catholic who has chosen to be known as Pope Torquemada in honor of the first saint to be summarily canonized after the new Holy Father's election. The Holy Father wants you to know that all curial resignations have been accepted, that the laity will take charge of some of the critical offices. New congregations are to be created. Ninenot will head the Congregation for Membership in the Faith, no one to be listed without proof adequate to Ninenot of orthodox Catholic commitment, knowledge and zeal. The Holy Office is to be renamed the Congregation for Sacred Discipline and will be chaired by Black Elk. Executions in the traditional fashion (prolonged form after appropriate forms of inquiry and preliminary discipline shall commence on the first Friday after this announcement and trials will be held thereafter beginning in six months. Transcripts of the testimony of the deceased miscreants will be edited and admitted at trial only as ordered by the Holy Father. The Congregation for Disciplinary Engineering and Neat New Toys will be headed by Arrogant Bustard. An appropriate program of Gregorian Chant shall be provided by Desdemona who will chair the new Congregation for Sacred Music. Upon her approval of specific music, the use of such music by individual members of the Faithful shall be protected activity and, in the absence of satire or disrespect by the performer, shall exempt the performer from rack, rope, stake and probably even pit and pendulum." Watch this space for further announcements!
Vos omnes?
Any adult male Catholic can (in theory) be elected Pope.
>> Any adult male Catholic can (in theory) be elected Pope. <<
Not exactly. The requirement is that the man be eligible to become a bishop, since the job is "bishop of Rome," which would require that he be eligible to become a priest. There was a conclave in the middle ages in which they were hopelessly deadlocked. In came a mere brother, who had been told by God to journey to Rome. They siezed him, ordained him, and made him Pope. Then they decided they didn't like him, and abused him badly. He reigned but one year, and was one of the very few medieval popes to be sainted. I do not recall his name.
Thanks for the clarification.
Oh, cut it out!
Everyone here knows it's BlackElk or bust at the next conclave!
Omnes V'omnes. That's plural.
*************
:) A "Religion" thread with a sense of humor? It can't be!
It is Friday, after all.
If you want to get really theoretical, there's no requirement that he be an adult male. Pope James I, anyone? ;-)
Current law restricts eligibility to cardinals, however.
LOL! Tom's the one who plans to be Pope.
You need to study the SSPX history a little more for some of these points, for others you are playing semantics."Seperate heirarchy, seperate catechism, seperate Mass, ..."True of the Neos, not true of the SSPX. The catechism? The same the Church used for centuries. The Mass? The same the Church used for centuries. The hierarchy? The same Rome gave them until 1988 and even then only in a state of necessity, not a total change of theology, liturgy, catechism and belief.
You cannot deny the SSPX is using a different Mass Rite than the current normative Rite. Your basis for your argument is that the Rite they use, which you must admit is different than the current normative one, is one that was used previously. The Neocatechumenal Way could try to make a similar argument, that their Rite harkens back to less formal days of the early Church. It's still a fact that the Neocatechumenal Way's Rite is different than the approved Rite, and its still a fact that the SSPX refuses to use the current normative Rite of the Mass.
Re hierarchy: I assume you are willing to concede they have a separate hierarchy now, and that this has been true since 1988. However, the SSPX was setting themselves up outside the normal hierarchy long before the Consecrations. That is not always a problem, many orders have separate hierarchies. However, at times it can become a matter of grave concern when that separate hierarchy begins to move them away from the body of the Church. It appears to me this is happening with the Neocatechumenal Way, and it also appeared to me long ago that the SSPX began preparing its adherents for schism long before that schism occurred. You can differ with me on the last point, and it can't exactly be proven in a court of law. However, it is quite plain that both organizations have hierarchies separate from the ordinary hierarchy. Both can stand alone if they decide to.
Re catechism, they may have used a traditional catechism, but again, it had to be specific ones (pre '62). Moreover, in their their teaching from it followed their own program. Ask someone who was SSPX at the time what the catechism teaching was like. Even today, a rejection of the post '62 catechisms is a part of SSPX doctrine.
It has never been acceptable to justify disobedience by saying "the same as the Church used for centuries." The Orthdox could justify their split by saying their belief was what they'd used for centuries. The Old Catholics could justify their split by saying that their rejection of Papal infallibility was the same as their belief had been for centuries. Fact is, one cannot simply justify disobedience by pointing to something done for a long time. In general, the SSPX has much better arguments than this one.
And regardless, the fact remains that IMHO the Neocatechumenal Way is currently very near the slippery slope that the SSPX fell off of.
patent
Not me. Pope Benedict said our Church would be much smaller in the future. Time for him to start swinging the scythe and start lopping off the heads of all of these schismatic heretics.Two things. First, there is a vast difference between expecting a smaller Church and hoping for a smaller Church. Your verbiage makes me think you lean farther to the latter than I would be comfortable with.
Second, they are clearly not schismatic. The Pope's statements, if nothing else, cannot help but make that clear, and you have no business contending you can override his statements about them. He determines who is schismatic or not, and where he has ruled you cannot contradict, or you are guilty of the same thing you wish to accuse them of.
So long as the Holy Father continues to work with them and recognize them, they are not schismatic.
As to heresy, I'll look forward to your proof for that statement. Please prove the order is heretical.
Honestly, as a faithful Catholic who has seen AmChurch run my Faith into the ground, I can tell you that much of the time I am frustrated and angry at the refusal of the Papacy to apply discipline that could (would?) put us back on the path to ecclesiastical sanity.Me too.
patent
Should it not be "Benedicat," Antoninus?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.