Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi has said that the Holy Father’s words and deeds in recent days have been “exceptionally intense and crucial” for the life of the Church.
He stressed Benedict XVI’s attempts to heal tensions and misunderstandings and preserve unity during these difficult times. And he singled out this quotation from a papal statement as particularly significant, given after a meeting with the Bishop Emeritus of Augsburg, Walter Mixa:
“In a time of contrasts and insecurity, the world expects Christians to show harmonious witness on the basis of their encounter with the Risen Lord, with which they help one another and the whole of society to find the right path to the future”.
“These are the sentiments of the Pope,” Fr. Lombardi said. “His exquisitely evangelical witness is clear. We must follow it.”
The Holy Father has said much to guide the faithful through these difficult times and give hope and encouragement. Here are perhaps some of the most significant quotes of recent weeks.
June 29, 2010 – Homily during the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
“Jesus’ promise that ‘the powers of darkness will not prevail’ over the Church embraces the historical experience of persecution suffered by Peter and Paul, and by other witnesses to the Gospel; but it also goes further, ensuring protection above all from threats of a spiritual nature”.
“[The Church] suffers her greatest damage from that which pollutes the faith and the Christian life of her members and her communities, damaging the integrity of her mystical Body, weakening her capacity for prophecy and witness, obscuring the beauty of her countenance. [Quoting St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy] Men who work evil ‘will not make much progress, because their folly will become plain to everyone’. There is, then, a guarantee of freedom that God gives the Church: freedom from material ties which seek to impede or inhibit her mission, and from spiritual and moral evils which can damage her authenticity and credibility.”
“Communion with Peter and his successors is, in fact, a guarantee of freedom for the pastors of the Church and for the communities entrusted to their care. At the historical level, union with the Apostolic See ensures that particular Churches and episcopal conferences remain free from local, national or trans-national powers, which can in certain cases hinder the mission of the Church. Also, and more importantly, the Petrine ministry is a guarantee of freedom in terms of full adherence to truth and authentic tradition, that the People of God may be protected from errors of faith and morality”.
June 11, 2010 - Homily at Mass to Close Year for Priests.
“Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these [abuse scandal] events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God’s gift, a gift concealed in ‘earthen vessels’ which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes His love concretely present in this world. So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, His gift becomes a commitment to respond to God’s courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility”.
“When speaking of the darkest valley, we can also think of the dark valleys of temptation, discouragement and trial through which everyone has to pass. Even in these dark valleys of life He is there. ... Help us priests, so that we can remain beside the persons entrusted to us in these dark nights. So that we can show them your own light.”
“The Church too must use the shepherd’s rod, the rod with which she protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray. The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated.”
June 27, 2010 – On the raid of the Belgian Catholic Church.
“On a number of occasions I myself have highlighted how these serious matters should be dealt with by both civil law and canon law, while respecting the specific nature and autonomy of each. In this context, I trust that justice may run its course in order to guarantee the fundamental rights of persons and of institutions, at the same time respecting victims, showing unconditional recognition for those who undertake to collaborate, and rejecting everything that obscures the noble goal with which justice is assigned.”
June 28, 2010 – On the new Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
“Not only is there physical hunger, there is also a more profound hunger which only God can satisfy. Man in the third millennium also seeks an authentic and full life; he needs truth, profound freedom and gratuitous love. Even in the deserts of the secularised world man’s soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
****
The Holy Father left for his summer vacation in Castel Gandolfo this afternoon. Although he will recite the Angelus prayer on Sundays, he won’t be receiving visitors, or holding his weekly general audience until August 4.
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I have met several Sudanese people lately. I liked them. They are intelligent, reflective, beautiful people. I hope and pray that things get better for them..
Benedict XVI said, “The Church] suffers her greatest damage from that which pollutes the faith and the Christian life of her members and her communities, damaging the integrity of her mystical Body, weakening her capacity for prophecy and witness, obscuring the beauty of her countenance. [Quoting St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy] Men who work evil ‘will not make much progress, because their folly will become plain to everyone’. There is, then, a guarantee of freedom that God gives the Church: freedom from material ties which seek to impede or inhibit her mission, and from spiritual and moral evils which can damage her authenticity and credibility.’”
I agree with the first half of that quote. But, I’m afraid that “their folly” will not “become plain to everyone,” as stated in the second half. I also am afraid that the Church does not demonstrate the “guarantee of freedom that God gives the Church:...from spiritual and moral evils which can damage her authenticity and credibility.”
As evidence, I point to the number of church-going Catholics, including bishops, clergy and religious that give their name identification and support (with their votes, if not money) to the only major pro-abortion party in the U.S. - the Democrat Party. I can’t believe that if there was a major political party supporting the KKK, that the Church would not be speaking out in opposition to belonging to that party and voting for it - no matter how “charitable” it may present itself in other “Christian” issues.
I firmly believe everything the Catholic church teaches. I love the Catholic church. I have spent my adult life praying, studying and defending the Catholic Church and her priests and bishops. I will never leave the Catholic Church - where would I go?
That said, I am overwhelmed with recent events in Jesus’ church. I fully understand we are humans who are prone to sin. I understand priests and sisters are as human as I am. WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND is how so many priests, sisters, and, yes, bishops and cardinals could have spread such heresy over the past 40 years and not been stopped. The latest news about the catechism in Belgium has almost pushed me over the edge. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN AND CONTINUE?!?!?!?
I agree with “still believe”. The Catholic Church has always favored, on the whole, the Democrat Party. Supposedly, the Party that gives to the poor. I remember my mother (who would be 125 yrs old today (b.1885) saying; “the Democrat Party gives handouts and keeps everyone down”—-The Republican Party makes jobs for people and keeps them proud”. (I am not a die-hard Party person—I vote independently all the time)
On the whole, Democrats are progressive and pro-choice & many Catholic Democrats follow in Ted Kennedy’s footsteps.
As to pedophilia in the Church, I have researched this quite a bit and without excusing the Church, pedophilia is more rampant in other institutions and it was handled the same way, mainly through psychotherapy. I still am ashamed that our Church let it ‘slide’ for so many years. It wasn’t an odd occurrence. As a young person, I often heard of priests in Ireland and Europe who fathered children. One thing I have learned over the years, our Bishops are very aware of worldly things, they are not cloistered. So, knowing this is a “world problem” hopefully it will be the Catholic Church that will turn it around. I guess my problem was that my Nun teachers put priest on a pedestal, so we expected much more from them. My heart goes out to Pope Benedict—this has to be so hard on him & I pray that God gives him the strength he needs.
During the reign of terror of Henry VIII, ONE bishop opposed the King, Bp John Fisher. Margaret Cliterow didn’t take the defection of the bishops of the Catholic Church as a fig leaf to hide behind & say something like, “Well, its not my fault I didn’t stand up for the Church…look at the awful bishops.” No, instead she sheltered priests in her home where they said Mass & eventually got herself squashed to death by the British Government for her faithfulness. Leaving her spouse & two young children to mourn her passing.
There’s no excuse for the pedophilia that was perpetrated by religious for so many years. The Church is being purified now because of it. But that is no excuse for Catholics to run around pointing fingers, denouncing the Church & acting as if the sky is falling. Jesus told us there’d be days like this & he said not to follow the vultures but to lift up our heads.
gb - “The Church” is not being denounced. But her bishops in the U.S. are for their abandoning the unborn for political reasons, as have so many clergy and religious since Cardinal Bernardin’s “consistent ethic of life” superseded the original meaning of the word “prolife” – a word coined to counter the pro-abortion supporters calling themselves “pro-choice.” The consequences of that are half or more of church-going Catholics blaspheming the Holy Spirit professing to believe in Him - the giver of life - but giving their name identification and votes to the Democrat Party which is diabolically opposed to what those Catholics stand up in church and voluntarily profess to believe and pray for every Sunday. The sequence of those events has resulted in over 52,000,000 lives created by God being murdered in 37 years since seven men said they didn’t know when life begins and went on to strike down all state laws restricting the medical procedure of abortion in the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision. Catholics and Lord Prayer praying Christians are the only reason abortion-on-demand remains the law-of-the-land.
The “flock” are responsible, individually, for what they have been doing, which is over half of them contributing to the murder of innocent human life. But the shepherds are responsible for their flocks care and safety and they are not caring for them as God entrusted them to do. No King Henry VIII is forcing that. They are doing that themselves deceived by what Cardinal Bernardin did to save the pro-abortion party. Remember, he was the Cardinal in charge of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the most Catholic and corrupt Democrat controlled city in the country.
Stillbelieve, Your statement,
“The Church” is not being denounced. But her bishops in the U.S. are…”
demonstrates that you don’t understand “the Church” is all us. That’s why Jesus asked Paul when He struck him off his horse, “Why are you persecuting ME?” We are all complicit in the deaths of 52 million children. Bishops, priests, nuns & laypeople. All of us. When I stand before God, I’m not going to be able to point a finger at big, bad Bernadin & tell the Lord that the Cardinal was responsible because I’ll have to admit my own sins of laziness, preoccupation, uncharitableness etc. It may be that you yourself are sinless in this regard. I’m not.
Re: your denouncement of “the bishops”,
You may want to consult the CCC #2479: Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one’s neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.
gb - I understand the Church to be worldwide. Other nations cannot be responsible for what happens in our nation. Therefore, other people can’t either.
No, this matter is strictly one of the Catholic Church in the U.S. dealing with one of the minimum essential Catholic/Christian spiritual beliefs that has been impacted by an erroneous U.S. Supreme Court decision 37 years ago. When the Democrat Party has stated in their party platform support for Roe v Wade, and the overwhelming number of elected Democrat U.S. Senators are in the forefront of supporting abortion and opposing candidates nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court who they suspect are prolife, what reason does a church-going Catholic HAVE to be in the Democrat Party and/or HAVE to vote for them? There is no reason other than they choose to out of desire or ignorance. There is where the Shepherds should be opening their eyes to how their flock are contributing to what the Church worldwide believes is evil and JP II said must be fought against with “maximum determination.” What, 52,000,000 murdered babies is not enough to activate “maximum determination” by the bishops?
Those Catholics who are NOT contributing to the existence of the Democrat Party are NOT responsible for that party’s ability to keep abortion-on-demand the law-of-the-land. Only those Catholic who keep the Democrat Party in power are responsible. And the U.S. Bishops, as a whole are responsible for not condemning that party, and those that support it, as they would if the issue was racism and Catholics were in the KKK. Certainly, abortion is far more evil than racism and potentially affects every single life God creates. When is enough, enough?
The bishops, starting with Bernardin, have committed, with the inclusion of social justice issues under the heading of prolife, Offenses Against Truth – characterizing anti-abortion, prolife Catholics of all political leanings, but especially conservatives, as less or not prolife in those areas as liberal and moderate Catholics. In so doing, they painted the whole Republican Party as being non-“prolife” in those areas as compared to the Democrat Party, even though the Republican Party has plank in their platform in support of a Right to Life Constitutional Amendment. The bishops did this with no facts whatsoever – just political propaganda and they implemented it threw innuendo. The U.S. bishops did this, each, on their own, and Bernardin was the one who lead them down this pathway for his own personal political reasons. The truth of this is evidence not only in the book I’ve mentioned before, but in how much more embolden the pro-abort, Catholic politicians became, especially in the U.S. Senate as demonstrated in hearings for Republican nominated Supreme Court candidates after the “consistent ethic of life” became the banner slogan for what continued to be called “prolife.” Judge Bork was its first victim. Catholic Democrat politicians seem to have no concern for Offenses Against Truth as long as they can keep their holy grail of abortion as is. Nor do the Catholic supporters of Democrats seem affected or concerned about truth either; or, THEIR OWN WORD in what they say in church on Sundays that they Profess to Believe, and pray for.
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