Pope Benedict quoted the vision of St Hildegard of Bingen in relation to the sins of priests. It is a hard-hitting message:
The stigmata of my spouse remain fresh and open, until the wounds of the sins of men are opened. What keeps open the wounds of Christ is precisely the fault of priests. They tear my clothes because they are transgressors of the law, of the gospel and of their priestly duties. They take away the splendour of my mantle because they completely obscure the precepts imposed upon them. They soil my shoes because they do not walk on straight paths; that is, the hard and sever paths of justice, and they also do not give a good example to those subject to them. Nevertheless, I find in some the splendour of truth.The Holy Father goes on to speak of the culture of the 1970s in which paedophilia was approved by many as something acceptable. He also points to that consequentialism in morality which made such an awful position possible.
The Pope spoke at some length about his visit to the UK and the beatification of John Henry Newman. He quoted from the Blessed Cardinal's diary of 1863:
[...] as a Protestant, I felt my religion dreary, but not my life - but as a Catholic, my life dreary, but not my religionHe then went on to speak about Newman's famous toast quote:
In order to assert the identity between the concept which Newman had of conscience and the modern subjective understanding of conscience, people like to refer to his words according to which - in the case when one has to make a toast - that he would have drunk first to conscience and then to the Pope. But in this affermation, "conscience" does not mean the ultimate obligation of subjective intuition. It is an expression of the accessibility of the binding force of the truth: its primacy is founded in this. The second toast may be dedicated to the Pope because it is his task to demand obedience in the face of the truth.For the moment, the Holy Father's address is only available in Italian (the above quotations are my own translation) but I expect an English version will be online soon. (UPDATE: it is there now.)
5 comments:
Let's hope we have heard the last of the abuse scandal. I think the Church really has addressed the issue and done what it can to prevent it happening again. I'm reading "The End and the Beginning" by George Weigel. Pope John Paul really did leave us a wonderful legacy and vision. I think the Church has begun to catch on. If I don't get the chance later this week I would like to wish you a very happy and holy Christmas, from British Columbia, Canada. Thank you for all the Catholic news you put on your blog.
Surprised the Vatican website is so quick
with the English, quite out of character. Usually, as now, the english is found on Zenit.org much sooner.
This address is so crucial in drawing attention to the world wide,( apocalyptic? ), scourge of drugs that is a symptom of the moral bankruptcy of modern society.Will the world's media focus on this much more widespread corruption, will they even mention the Pope's comments on this scourge???
Thanks very much for the link, Father.
I was particularly struck by his remark criticising an approach to morality in which 'It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. [The concept of intrinsic evil] There is only a "better than" and a "worse than". Nothing is good or bad in itself. Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances."
I noted he also drew attention to Vertitatis Splendor. In the recent debates on condoms, there seems to have been a fixation on Humanae Vitae; yet the issue is not just about contraception: it touches on the foundations of morality.
A pointed commentary on Newmans's understanding of conscience too.
Well thought out post. I too hope were over the speed bump... youre welcome
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I was a pilgrim to that wonderful trip to England! I was thinking the other day: three months since I saw the Pope Benedict beatify Blessed John Henry Newman! What a joyous memory!
Well, I spent the last two years before that wonderful event reading through Blessed John Henry’s “Letters and Diaries”. And I noticed that “toast” quote getting tossed left and right online by people trying to justify being cafeteria Catholics. That interpretation is so in opposition to his life and letters that I decided my next reading would be “A Letter Addressed to His Grace the Duke of Norfolk...” It’s a small book, but I wonder how many of them have actually read it?
Regarding the Holy Father’s sorrowful words on the scandals of priests, they were so touching and saddening to me. I was a child at the time, and to think that such sins could be considered acceptable is frightening.
IMHO, I don’t think the abuse scandal will ever be forgotten nor should it; we must learn from it as the Holy Father puts forward. But like the scandalous popes in our long history, I think the occurrence of the last century is something enemies will always throw in our face and in the faces of our good priests, in an effort to silence us. Those actors of long ago (though some of them are now dead) have cast a long shadow on Holy Mother Church; I daily pray I can honestly forgive them for what they’ve done to us. So pray for me as well, dear friends.
Mi muy querido Beato John Henry, ¡ruega por nosotros!
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