A reader sent the following, provocatively juxtaposed paragraphs:
"Times have changed -- times have changed! The Church must adapt and be reconciled with the Revolution." (Napoleon Bonaparte haranguing Pope Pius VII, whom he held prisoner in France. See Pope Pius VII, 1800-1823: His Life, Times, and Struggle with Napoleon in the Aftermath of the French Revolution,
Robin Anderson, TAN Books, 2001, page 131).
"Let us recognize here and now that Gaudium et Spes plays the part of a Counter-Syllabus insofar as it represents an attempt to officially reconcile the Church with the modern world as emerging since the French Revolution of 1789." (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology)
Related (opposing interpretations):
[HT to F.R.]
I think Cardinal Ratzinger's "Counter-Syllabus" reference has been taken to mean that G&S opposes the Syllabus of Errors, that G&S says or implies that what was condemned in the Syllabus is now a-okay. That's not what Cardinal Ratzinger meant, though. It means that where the Syllabus focused exclusively on the false ideas and beliefs of the modern world, G&S sought to focus on the ideas and developments of the modern world that are good and true, that agree with the Catholic faith.
ReplyDeleteJordanes --
ReplyDeleteDo you mean that the purpose of Gaudium et Spes is to baptise anything which can be baptised, whereas the purpose of the Syllabus was to identify the errors to be opposed?
I agree with you that the other reading is the usual interpretation of this remark. The Society is listening, I'm sure, to what answer could be given to this passage.