The Hermeneutic of Continuity

At Chiesa , the blog of Sandro Magister, there is an interview with Cardinal Adrianus Simonis, the emeritus Archbishop of Utrecht. Back in the 1970s, Catholics who were dismayed by the direction that had been taken by the Church in the Netherlands, were delighted by the appointments of two strongly orthodox bishops: Bishop Simonis to Rotterdam (1970) and Bishop Gijsen to Roermond (1972). Both were highly controversial in the Netherlands and Pope Paul emphasised his support for the restoration of orthodoxy in the Dutch Church by himself consecrating Bishop Gijsen, and insisting that Cardinal Alfrinks should be the first co-consecrator. Bishop Simonis succeeded to the Archdiocese of Utrecht in 1983 (elevated to Cardinal in 1985) and resigned two years ago upon reaching the age of 75. His reflections in the interview show that it has been a long and hard road. After the virtual collapse of the Church, he witnessed the rapid growth of secularism, with the Dutch being pioneers in the legali...

Yesterday in the post "Saviours are a dime a dozen" I made some comments on the characteristics of those Catholic groups and organisations for the young which are thriving. In an interesting article in the Nederlands Dagblad ( Nieuwe ordes weer in habijt ), the sociologist Theo Schepens is quoted on the pattern of religious life he has observed in the Netherlands today. The Netherlands has 700 buildings constructed as religious houses - only 150 are still in use. The Netherlands Conference of Religious last year wrote to the Bishops about their decline, saying that they had to be obedient to the signs of the times which seem to indicate that their way of life is coming to an end, that there must be a new form, less emphasis on priests, the embracing of differences as different aspects of God, emphasis on equality and diversity etc. It is true that we should be attentive to the signs of the times; but they do not necessarily tell us to close up and sell all the convents. The ...

Puella Paschalis has posted this link to a collection of photos from the Bootcamp that I went to speak at in the Netherlands last month. There is one where I am attempting to pronounce Dutch correctly with help from the students. They were very kind about my efforts. Here is another photo from Mass: the singing of the Gospel: The vestment was made by a lady locally and was very fine. It meets the requirements set out by Fr Anthony Symondson in his article submitted to NLM questioning the Borromean revival where he reminds us of a decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites that 'a chasuble may reach a little below the wrists, or a little below the shoulder, but not in between.' Personally, I quite like the Borromean chasuble and all things Borromean but it is good to know that the chasuble I was wearing met the strictest standards. I liked the following picture because it captures the atmosphere at the Masses. In somewhat spartan conditions, the students are reverent, attent...

The Catechetical Boot Camp has now finished and the various bloggers have been writing it up and posting photos. Brother Hugo has posted some very kind words - it is good to know that I am not too burdensoime a house guest. He was certainly an excellent host. Bootcamp: de avond van de eerste dag . In an earlier post, he had a photo of the altar of the tent chapel during exposition: Notio Bonum, Visa Olum is Back , tired, has contracted a Gregorian chant bug, and is considering starting a new religious order. Summa Catholica ad mentem Sancti Thomae Aquinatis , in the post in the post Boot Camp Warfhuizen has this nice photo of the altar set up for Mass: and the Puella Paschalis has photos of my getting on a bike and riding it in my cassock - not so easy to get started but I managed: and the bike was way too big for me. Took me back to the days of getting on my older brother's bike. Anyway, here's proof for Jackie Parkes that I can cycle when provoked!

The northern region of the Netherlands is a beautiful part of the world. Canals, pastures stretching as far as the eye can see, windmills, and lovely houses made for a restful and rejuvenating couple of days. The participants in the Boot Camp were mainly young graduates in various disciplines: they wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith. My task was to talk about the sacraments in general and the Eucharist in particular. I took along the notes that I use at the seminary and tried to give an overview of these topics, looking in some detail at questions such as validity and fruitfulness, the nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Tridentine decrees on transubstantiation. I was not sure beforehand what level to work at and so I was glad that for those who took part, I had to hand my full notes with quotations from the Fathers and the magisterial documents. The programme for each day was quite ambitious. The participants were camping locally in tents and walked the half mile to...

As I mentioned the other day, my journey to the Catechetical Boot Camp took me via Groningen. On the way back today, the Puella Paschalis very kindly took me to see the Cathedral which is her parish Church. Since she knows the personnel there, she was able to take me into the sacristy and the presbytery. Unfortunately, their excellent parish priest was busy out and about with pastoral work so I was unable to meet him but I was very pleased to hear that he called in to the Boot Camp. The Cathedral of St Joseph in Groningen was built by Cuypers who is the "Dutch Pugin". The tower is the tallest structure in Groningen. As you can see below, the vista of the Cathedral has been left intact. The High Altar is also unaltered. The versus populum altar is a movable wooden altar and could easily be shifted for the usus antiquior . Not only the High Altar but the episcopal throne and the sedilia have been left in place, allowing the Cathedral to retain its continuity with the past. C...