The Hermeneutic of Continuity

The Southern chapter of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy met yesterday and heard from Edmund Adamus and Peter Williams Edmund had a wealth of resources to support marriage and the family. His presentation contained many gems - I was reminded of some things that I have posted here but also alerted to others. There was a quote from Brock Chisolm, the Director of the World Health Organisation in 1946, describing parents as dictators and oppressors, Harriet Harman et al on "The Family Way", quotes from Barry Sheerman at the time of the SORs about not being serious about the faith, and a reference to St Gregory who told Augustine to preach about marriage and its benefits to overcome lawlessness in his missionary territory of England. There was an interesting reference to Mit Brennender Sorge (n.39) with its special greetings for Catholic parents: [...] we shall never cease frankly to represent to the responsible authorities the iniquity of the pressure brought to bear o...

On a glorious English late spring day I travelled down on the train yesterday from Waterloo to Brockenhurst and then onward to St Dominic's Priory in the New Forest to speak to the Western Chapter of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy , organised by Fr Tom Dubois. My talk was an amalgamation of two previous talks that I have given on the renewal of the spiritual life of the priest as a result of the reforms of the Council of Trent, and the relevance of that reform to us as priests today. It was great to catch up with Mgr Edwin Barnes , one time "flying bishop" in the Church of England and now one of the senior members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham . The hospitality of the Dominican sisters was friendly and welcoming, and I did like their chapel with its wooden beam structure and genuine noble simplicity. They kindly gave me a copy of " Anchor ", a short catechetical course for adults, aimed particularly at parents whose children are prepar...

As a young student in Rome, coping with continental philosophy after the ruthlessly positivistic atmosphere of Oxford, talk of "heremeutics" used to bore me witless. In today's intellectual climate in the Church, however, the matter is of crucial importance. The interpretation of the texts of Vatican II is an essential question for the reform and renewal of the Church in continuity with its tradition. In the case of the canonical recognition of the Society of St Pius X, there is also the question of the interpretation of the writings of Archbishop Lefevbre. An important article on the SSPX website looks at attempts to use speeches of Archbishop Lefevbre to oppose the current negotiations with the Holy See in which Bishop Fellay has been a prudent and reserved, but determined advocate. ( See Interpreting the words of Archbishop Lefebvre. A few sensible rules. Part 1 of 2 ) Some sedevacantists have tried to use Archbishop Lefevbre's texts in order to oppose this ne...

The schola in the picture on my post about High Mass in Lublin ( right ) is directed by Father Piotr Paćkowski and its members are students of musicology from Catholic University of Lublin. This choir is the "guest" schola that sings at the Church of the Immaculate Conception three or four time a year for the traditional Mass - their help is much appreciated. Father Piotr is very supportive of the traditional Mass and his involvement in the traditional liturgy at Lublin is important for the people who are attached to it. The above picture was taken during Vespers in the usus antiqior at the Immaculate Conception Church on the feast of St. Stanislaus bishop and martyr. The regular schola Vox Iucunda  sings once or twice a month (and excellent organists also assist.)  Vox Iucunda  is led by Agnieszka Mycka: the members are enthusiasts, mostly students, who regularly attend the traditional Mass at the Immaculate Conception. Below is an embed of a rough, unedited...

Honestly, I was open-mouthed with astonishment at this video. Not because it says anything that I have not heard before, but because it is distributed by the Catholic News Service , which is, in is own words an "editorially independent and a financially self-sustaining division of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops." H/T Fr Z Things are changing rapidly. Only weeks ago, such a positive treatment would have been seen as at best the preserve of a maverick and at worst a cause to dismiss a student from priestly formation. Now, with the imminent decision of the Holy Father, it seems that at least the Americans have woken up and smelt the coffee. (I suppose that they generally do have better coffee than us in England. Except the horrible Starbucks stuff which I am only too happy to dump .) For some time I have thought of making up some new words to one of Bob Dylan's celebrated songs. I haven't got round to doing this, so I mention the idea in a collaborative sp...

The second Vatican Council (SC 65-66) gave prominence to the homily as a part of Mass, especially on Sundays and feast days. In many Churches in Europe, there is a magnificent pulpit which is obviously designed to bring the preacher closer to the people (they are usually somewhere down the nave, away from the sanctuary) and give a certain dignity to the homily as something more than a chat. It was good to see the pulpit in the Church of the Immaculate Conception used by Fr Maciej Zachara. You can see the doors through which he accessed the pulpit, via some stairs inside the sacristy. By contrast, the Cathedral in Lublin has a strange arrangement. As part of the recent renovations, the pulpit has been restored. Unfortunately there is no way of getting into it. Perhaps the priest could climb up a ladder discreetly before Mass and then abseil down after he has finished preaching? I remember in England after Vatican II, pulpits in many Churches being demolished or converted int...

This is your chance to have your say against the metrosexual elite's engineering of society. There is little real support for the legalisation of gay marriage and plenty of determined opposition. 529,685 people have signed the Coalition for Marriage Petition at the time of writing. (Do sign now if you haven't yet done so.) The Government has undertaken a consultation and it is important that the voice of reason is heard in response to it. There is plenty of good information and guidance about the consultation: I recommend two sources in particular: the SPUC Briefing and Christian Concern which both give sound advice. Here is a link to fill in the consultation online . It doesn't take very long. The deadline is 14 June but I am nagging you now so that you do not have your conscience nagging later because you didn't get round to it. (The graphics on this post are from contenidosemf , set up by the Spanish Bishops for the 5th World Meeting of Families with Pop...

In the midst of worry and concern regarding the canonical status of the SSPX, a light-hearted moment is provided by today's post on Rorate Caeli . Hans Küng has complained that the Pope is to include in the Church invalidly ordained bishops (he means those of the SSPX.) Küng cites the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI, Pontificalis Romani recognitio in which Pope Paul VI laid down the matter and form of the sacrament of Holy Orders according to the postconciliar rite. In fact, the matter was not changed, and the form, in the case of the ordination of a deacon or priest, was left untouched. The form for ordination of a bishop was based on the Apostolic Tradition. The Constitution refers to this as "of Hippolytus the Roman" and dates it to the beginning of the third century. Both of these assertions have recently been challenged . In case anyone has scruples, the newer form is certainly valid: there have been and still are different rites of consecration or ordinati...

Last Wednesday in the main foyer of the Catholic University of Lublin, someone handed me a printout of the Vatican communiqué regarding the response of the SSPX to the doctrinal preamble. This was illustrative of the fast-moving nature of the story at the moment. Thanks to Rorate Caeli I was able to keep up with the developments via the iPad and a booster for 3G internet access in Poland. Plenty of others have commented on the leaked letters, the possibility of a split, the re-publication of some of the more trenchant addresses of Archbishop Lefevbre, the likely resolution of the matter, and the essential role of Pope Benedict in the possible regularisation of the SSPX by means of a canonical structure. I accept the advice of several wise statements from those in authority within the SSPX that we should now pray hard. I pray for a good outcome that is pleasing to Almighty God and works for the good of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Christ on the rock which i...

Last Thursday I was celebrant for High Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Lublin. Here is a view of the outside of the Church: The digital camera has been flattering: the Church did look a little dilapidated from the outside. Its renovation is one of many projects still remaining after the communist era. However, inside the Church, the visitor is greeted with this: As with many Churches in Poland, the furniture has been superbly restored and enhanced with gold leaf. The High Mass was for the feast of the Ascension. I was assisted by two sacred ministers from the seminary of Lublin, both still students. The deacon was Rev Michał Strudzinski, and the subdeacon Kamil Mielniczuk. The MC for Mass was Michał Mycka who is 18 and about to go to university in Warsaw. He has closely studied a copy of Fortescue (bear in mind that he is Polish and he read it in English. The ceremonies went very smoothly. Deacon and subdeacon needed little prompting and it is always a joy to...

The Catholic University of Lublin was the only Catholic university in the Soviet empire. It continues to flourish, mainly in the humanities, because the communists restricted its activities and founded their own university in Lublin to teach the sciences, in order to give the impression that the communists were more concerned with the "real world." Both universities have now diversified to some degree, but retain their particular emphasis. The main aula in the university honours Our Lady of Czestochowa and Cardinal Wyszyński. As bishop, he was imprisoned for three years because he spoke against the communist attempts to dictate the appointment of bishops. His sermon is known by his powerful statement " Non possumus ." Blessed John Paul is greatly honoured in Poland - every Church, sacristy, presbytery and hall has a picture of him. One precious memory is that of the day that Cardinal Wyszyński made his obedience to his protege. A highlight of my guided tour...