The Hermeneutic of Continuity

It is easy to forget anniversaries but Catholic Under the Hood has helped us with his post Today in Catholic History – Pius IX receives the Belgian Tiara . On 18 June 1871, the Ladies of the Royal Court of the King of the Belgians gave a tiara to Blessed Pope Pius IX in honour of the 25th anniversary of his pontificate. It may also have been given by the devoutly Catholic King as a gesture of support for the Blessed Pio Nono after the loss of the Papal States the previous year. The tomb of Blessed Pius IX ( above ) is in the crypt of the Church of San Lorenzo fuori le mura ; when Fr Briggs and I are in Rome, we go to make a visit. He is a great devotee of the saintly Pontiff and knows far more about him than I do. Over lunch today, he did not mention the auspicious anniversary of the Donation of the Belgian Tiara, which makes me think that he was sparing my blushes at being so ignorant. I very much hope that the Mgrs Ganswein and Marini persuade the Holy Father that the rest...

If you are interested in social teaching, and in particular, the question of continuity-rupture in this context, you will be interested in Opuscula , the blog written by K Gurries. For example, his post On Globalization and Political Authority analyses the concept of globalisation in Caritas in Veritate and concludes with a survey of papal statements on International Order, asking the question "Rupture or Continuity?" More recently, there is a post on The Intervention of Mgr. Dupanloup (Part I) looking at how the great Bishop of Orleans defended the encyclical letter of Blessed Pius IX Quanta Cura in the face of fierce hostility in the press.

Next door to the Campo Verano is the paleo-Christian basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura . This was an important stopping place on our pilgrimage because the crypt houses the body of Blessed Pope Pius IX. His memory seems to become more important by the day as democratic governments trample on basic human dignity. Only yesterday the British parliament voted to extend the lethal abuse of the most vulnerable members of our society. (See John Smeaton's report ) I cannot resist pointing out again the way in which this basilica gives the lie to much of what passes for the justification of "modern liturgy". We are told that in the early Church, the proclamation of the word was terribly important, as was the Paschal candle. Hence the lectern for the word of God: And hence the paschal candle: Yet the actual ambo and paschal candle stand from an earlier Christian era, which we are supposed to be beholden to, are unused: There are several Churches in Rome which replicate this una...