Today we had the autumn Conference of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life (APGL). Fr John Saward spoke about Pius XII and preaching the Gospel of Life. A former Anglican clergyman, Fr Saward was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 2003 and has had a distinguished academic career.Father examined Pope Pius XII's defence of the sanctity of human life and the way in which he anticipated and provided the groundwork for much of the magisterial teaching of his successors. The hermeneutic of continuity (the concept, not the blog) was a key to understanding this teaching. Of particular interest was his reference to Pius XII's insistence on the ordering of the ends of marriage - something that will be worth looking up in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis - and his observations on the Acts of the Second Vatican Council relating to the relevant passage of Gaudium et Spes.
In the second part of his talk, Fr Saward examined the teaching of Pope Pius XII on fatherhood and the way in which the spiritual fatherhood of the priest complements the natural fatherhood within the family. Fr Saward's was quite brilliant and we hope to publish it in due course as part of a collection of papers given to the APGL.
After lunch, I gave a short spiritual reflection. I spoke about the importance of pro-life preaching and therefore (in order for this preaching to be authentic) of the importance of the priest bringing the sanctity of human life into his own prayer and meditation. As an example of this, I offered some thoughts on the first three joyful mysteries of the Rosary, especially drawing from Fr Faber's reflection on Mary's pregnancy in his hymn "Like the Dawning of the Morning." We concluded with Rosary and Benediction in the Little Oratory, led by Fr Marcus Holden.
As ever, it was good to spend time in the company of faithful and hard-working priests who are committed to preaching and living the Gospel of Life in a country that has done so much to promote the culture of death.
9 comments:
The hermeneutic of continuity (the concept, not the blog) was a key to understanding this teaching. Of particular interest was his reference to Pius XII's insistence on the ordering of the ends of marriage
I'm sorry but I cannot see how one can make a "hermeneutic of continuity" between what Pius XII said, along with his predecessors and what is officially taught now - especially on the ends of marital act. Pius XII wrote in his address to midwives in Oct 1951:
"Now, the truth is that matrimony, as an institution of nature, in virtue of the Creator's will, has not as a primary and intimate end the personal perfection of the married couple but the procreation and upbringing of a new life. The other ends, inasmuch as they are intended by nature, are not equally primary, much less superior to the primary end, but are essentially subordinated to it. This is true of every marriage, even if no offspring result, just as of every eye it can be said that it is destined and formed to see, even if, in abnormal cases arising from special internal or external conditions, it will never be possible to achieve visual perception.
We showed what has been handed down by Christian tradition, what the Supreme Pontiffs have repeatedly taught, and what was then in due measure promulgated by the Code of Canon Law. Not long afterwards, to correct opposing opinions, the Holy See, by a public decree, proclaimed that it could not admit the opinion of some recent authors who denied that the primary end of marriage is the procreation and education of the offspring, or teach that the secondary ends are not essentially subordinated to the primary end, but are on an equal footing and independent of it."
Compare this with what Humanae Vitae says:
"This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act."
There is obviously something a miss here. Respectfully, I think it is time to wipe away this facade of "continuity" and let Rome face up to what she has pretended did not exist for the last 45 years - contradiction.
Father - will there be any proceedings published from this conference?
Also thank you for the link to 'Like the Dawning of the Morning' I learnt this at Blessed Sacrament School, Aintree, Liverpool at about 1950 (the first 2 verses and the last one). I was captivated by it.
I've never heard it since, though I still sing it in the car.
Johnf - yes, as I mentioned, we are hoping to publish various APGL papers.
Ottaviani - you will be interested in Fr Saward's paper, particularly where he referred to the Acta of Vatican II and the response of the theological commission to objections to part of the text of Gaudium et Spes. Apparently, the Commission said that the text did affirm the primacy of the procreative end of marriage several times.
Of course many people have contradicted this (and I agree that Humanae Vitae can be taken as affirming the equality or parity of the ends.
However, the concept of the "hermeneutic of continuity" does not seek to establish a historical continuity. Rather it is a means of dictating what must be the proper way of understanding an ambiguous statement. In this respect, I think it is a very useful tool. I suspect that this is what Pope Benedict intends.
The church/chapel in the photo is gorgeous! Where is it?
It is the Little Oratory, next to the main London Oratory in the Brompton Road. And yes, it is indeed a beautiful chapel. The photo does not do it justice.
'Like the dawning' is a beautiful hymn. We sing it (3 verses as in Leeds Hymnal) every year in our Parish.
Can you provide me with a link or a document No. for the Holy See's public decree condemning those who denied that procreation is the primary end of marriage, as referred to by Pope Pius XII in his address to midwives? I've tried AAS sites and others unsuccessfully.
Thank you.
Richard
Ottaviani--
Alice von Hildebrand had an article in the Aug/Sept 2008 Homiletic & Pastoral Review eulogizing Dietrich for the "ground-breaking" role he played in having the the Council approve the new, personalist theology of marriage that inverted the traditional ends, despite Pius XII warnings to the contrary. The editor, Fr. Baker, would not accept an article I submitted rebutting some of her more extravagant claims but he will publish my letter condensing said article. My research brought me to the site of Opus Dei Msgr. Cormac Burke, retired Roman Rota judge and well-known personalist canon, who has written numerous articles on the subject. I urge you to go to his site and read "Marriage: a personalist or an institutional understanding?" He had the audacity to say “It is incorrect to suggest that married personalism encountered nothing but opposition from magisterial teaching until Vatican II. If one goes back before Pius XII, one finds a first charter for the development of this personalist understanding granted in 1930 by papal magisterium itself, in Pius XI's Encyclical Casti connubii."
Msgr. Burke, in fact, sees personalist tendencies in Pius XII and even in the "jawist" account in Genesis. In fact, he sees these germs of personalism in Aquinas and everyone else who ever wrote on marriage.
He also notes that the official volume annotating the "sources" of the new Code (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1989) gives Casti connubii, as a main source of c. 1055. Other indicated sources of c. 1055 which (interestingly enough) include the 1951 Address of Pius XII, where the Pope spoke of the "personal perfecting of the spouses" as a secondary end of marriage (AAS 43 (1951) 848-849). Gaudium et spes (n. 48) is also indicated, as well as nos. 11 and 41 of Lumen Gentium and no. 11 of Apostolicam.”
I suspect you will find this very interesting reading!
In Christ the King,
Richard
rjocjmj@verizon.net
To Richard and others looking for Pope Pius XII's Decree of the Holy See, 04/01/1944 see Denzinger 2295 at:
http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma23.php
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