"BY GEORGE CARDINAL PELL"
"Shock Eric Hodgens' aspect on the Gaudium et Spes priests gives us a lot of supplies for worry. It is well on paper and provoking, as you would be determined of a priest who described his own cohort as possessing "the chief delivery of accusatory, educated and agreeable leaders". But it is messed up, angry, persnickety and sometimes wrong."
In recent times I claim been tortuous by the theological extremism of some Steal aid, and am approving for the give rise to to pass by the peapod for the formulaic conventional. I am not ordering any person to "tug to the castle and sing the old song", but my best unfriendliness are unvarying from the New Testimonial with its ancient truths and melodies.
Eric sees himself now as "a presbyter called and fated by the Minster - the Ancestors of God" relatively than as "a priest called and hallowed by God". It is unreasonable to know frankly what this major, but it muscle honest us to a numeral of supreme issues.
Supercilious cards claim been laid on the grid than in Shock Hodgens' prior writings. As soon as it would be wacky to know whether he unvarying has any jokers up his sleeve, it is improved significant to beautify that numberless of the cards cannot be branded truly. We do not know, for configuration, his answers to the nine questions he lists. We do not know the boundaries to his wrangle to some ancient devotions such as have a weakness for of the Blessed Benefit and exaltation of Our Lady. We do not know whether his caution to the papacy and episcopate touches these institutions themselves or conveniently the deal with of contemporary incumbents. So too with priesthood and traditional Christian teaching on marriage, separate and sexuality.
We cannot be be contiguous whether Eric's theological put is unexceptional of a benevolent or a combative Protestantism. But as an operate in attentive contradict it moves second the boundaries of formulaic Catholicism.
Let me power to pass by the spring in the most basic vocabulary.
We find no hint in Eric's clause that the Catholic Minster is the recipient of divine discovery, "God's be aware of not some possible coaching" (1 Thess 2.13); nor that the Catholic Minster was founded by the Son of God "the Anecdote who was with God... the Anecdote who was God" (Jn 1.1), Jesus the Christ, the son of Mary with a divine as well as a possible structure. If Christ is divine, New Testimonial experience claim a numerous authority.
Eric writes with the real smarting of most of us superior Catholics who grew up at an implausibly high emerge of status and practice and lived target the combative fall which followed the convivial amendment of the 1960s in the Primitive Foundation. But some of the disfigure was self-inflicted.
One secret honest of exchange is that in my view Eric's prescriptions are a indicative give of our problems. His solutions were put featuring in practice on one occasion the Assembly, to some book in Australia, but very well in Belgium, Holland and French-speaking Canada. They emptied the Churches exhibit.
Pope Paul VI outstanding no bishops who were averse to the sophistication of Vatican II, and for various reasons the good bishops outstanding in Holland were overcome, tossed detour by the benevolent gales. This brings me to substitute present-day fact, which I never deliberate as a gullible seminarian in Rome happening the Assembly or as a gullible priest. The now dreary benevolent section of the Minster, which conquered convention on one occasion the Assembly and recurrently the bishops and the burgeoning Minster bureaucracies, has no later between gullible practising Catholics, priests or earnest. This is not without help true in Australia, but anyplace in the Western world. In these a number of countries conquered by a worldly media and intelligentsia, tolerance has no gullible Catholic progeny.
On look we necessitate not find this shocking, as evolution is connected to Gospel certainty, to status, love and detriment. At the rear Vatican II numberless of us hyped our cultural strengths and underestimated the virulence of anti-Christian forces. You famine strong Christian foundations to cost profitably in "open speech". Apart from these family tree the end of the blood vessel is agnosticism.
I necessitate dear with a few words in defence of the four popes who were mauled, very well Paul, John Paul II and Benedict. About it is a matter of beyond record that at the 1971 Synod of Bishops, Pope Paul free to the bishops the way out of ordaining conjugal men to the priesthood and the bishops declined to side this.
All three popes were prolific writers, while John Paul II and Benedict were professional academics with a record of assiduous and working class publications unusually if ever equalled by any Australian priest. I cling to Pope Benedict is now our most noble living theologian.
The charges opposed to the Holy Shock do not glassy to too knowingly e.g. instituting a special go out with to honour priests (which was well standard by priests and workforce), continual with a new variety of the Roman Missal, and promising the Tridentine Deposit to be identified. He did not engage in back the bishops of the The public of St. Pius X, but without help lifted their excommunication. They are unvarying in schism.
Pope John Paul provokes a special wrangle, so they say an abuser of power, out of obligated in scripture, short-range in theology, a bad listener. It is a flabbergast that any person came to his entombment. In individualistic he is denounced for emasculating the majority of the Minster, who are governmental and enjoyable, "low on creativity, majority, advancement and even intelligence".
In an mind-boggling configuration of reactionary arrogance, Hodgens claims that "the improved accusatory and better educated" bishops (without help "some" to be be contiguous) are evil and claim sold their basis for upgrading. Me thinks he protests too knowingly.
Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict were not nasty to intelligence, advancement or ability, but they claim striven routinely to suggest bishops who confer on maintain the apostolic tradition and wrestle to implement policies which confer on espouse the Catholic put, not white-ant it.
Hodgens' overseeing of the magisterium is unexceptional of his put. The magisterium refers key to the teaching authority of the pope together with the bishops (Vatican II's collegiality). The baptised decrease partition in this and so do the theologians with priests and earnest.
For sure the teaching authority of the bishops was respected early by St. Ignatius of Antioch (+107 A.D.) and St Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (+200 A.D.) with his apostolic succession lists of bishops to maintain the apostolic tradition. The ancient teaching direct of the bishop exemplifies this, predating by numberless centuries any groups of professional theologians in the medieval universities. In Pope John Paul's 27 animation of pontificate 24 individuals were on a tight rein for their theological views, in the company of eight who were silenced or unconnected, in the transnational Catholic community of improved than one billion believers. Shock Hodgens himself elope any control of unease and so did numberless hundreds of dissidents.
Eric is a bit too opportune to his period, to which I belong. Everyday were firm, but we coincided with a rank of fall in all probability unmatched being the Sport.
"Reflections on an ordination golden diamond jubilee" is worry unpleasant. I am carefree Shock Hodgens has enjoyed his animation of priesthood. Disappointingly knowingly of the assessment is indelicate being his solutions, to the mass we can request them, are less than Catholic and would make a unreasonable title hand down.
