Martin Mosebach on being named 'Martin' for Martin Luther by his Lutheran father and for St. Martin of Tours by his Catholic mother

For the record, I was first introduced to Martin Mosebach, whose writings I've come to admire very much, by reading his book, The Heresy of Formlessness, published by Ignatius Press in 2006. I just read the present account of how he came to be named "Martin" in a book commemorating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and his 'Reformation.' To their credit, the Lutheran editors of the massive tome included this contribution by a Catholic author, Mosebach, who had some things to say by way of criticism of Luther's career and work, and yet in a way that was not unappreciative of the impact Luther left on the world. Hence, I was glad to find online the present piece by Martin Mosebach, "On Luther, in Trepidation" at a website called Salubriousity, which should probably be spelled "Salubriosity" (without the 'u'), posted December 10, 2017. Here's the opening paragraph:

My Christian name was chosen for me in the spirit of ecumenical compromise. My mother, who was not a fervent Catholic, but who could never have imagined abandoning the Catholic Church, voted for Martin, after Saint Martin of Tours, who was especially venerated in her native city of Cologne, above all in the splendid Romanesque Great Saint Martin Church (Gross Sankt Martin) -- with the accent on the second syllable of Martin! My Protestant father was contemplating paying homage to Martin Luther, but my mother ensured that I was baptised in the hospital immediately upon my arrival, despite the fact that (or because) my father was not there -- she clearly preferred not to risk becoming embroiled in any denominational debates. According to family legend I screamed dreadfully throughout the proceedings. 'No wonder, if he's called Martin,' remarked my father, who only met me once I was already a baptised Catholic. But it was the Roman legionnaire born in Pannonia, the hermit monk in Italy, the bishop in Roman Gaul and the visitor to the imperial court in Trier who would colour my life, not the German Doctor Martinus. It was through the figure of St Martin of Tours, one of the founding fathers of the Western world, that the universal Roman church of the first millennium won my heart. As I steadily increased my knowledge of church history, one thing above all -- puzzled me about the other Martin, the great reformer: how could one profess Christianity without Rome and Constantinople, without the liturgy and the music of the first thousand years, without the monastic traditions from Egypt, without St Benedict, St Francis or St Dominic, without Romanesque basilicas and the Gothic cathedrals of France? How could one call oneself a Christian without the legacy of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Athens? Wasn't that an ahistorical Christianity, dreamt up in the provinces in order to keep a tight rein on any links to the opulence of the past and the no less opulent present-day cultures of lands beyond Germany? In Luther's day the Popes were integrating new continents into the Church, even as he was setting about cutting off a large part of Germany from the main currents of civilisation. Read more >>

"Pope Francis never ceases to amaze"

Alessandro Zangrando, Culture and Arts editor for the Venice desk of the national newspaper Corriere della Sera and Rome Correspondent for The Latin Mass magazine, writes:

Pope Francis never ceases to amaze. For readers in Argentina he has created a new weekly edition of L'Osservatore Romano. As director he has named Marcelo Figueroa, the Argentine Protestant pastor of the Presbyterian Church and director for twenty-five years of the Argentine Bible Society. Figueroa is a longtime friend of Bergoglio, who accompanied him on the famous trip to Lund, Sweden, for the celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. [Source: The Latin Mass: The Journal of Catholic Culture and Tradition, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Winter/Spring 2017), p. 5]

Gut-wrenching spiritual analysis of the Church's passion by James Larson

James Larson, "The Dream of Nabuchodonosor" (The War Against Being, February 18, 2016). Daniel's account of the fall of Nabuchodonosor as a metaphor for the collapse of foundations in our time. Disquieting. Disturbing. Yet with hope. Some deeply consoling reflections on the Holy Rosary further down. Very long.

[Advisory: Rules 7-9]

[Hat tip to L.S.]

Los Angeles Churches Make Worship ... Hip?

Sheila Marikar, in the New York Times (December 12, 2015) enthuses:

Mosaic, a church that counts thousands of young people among its congregants, offering sermons rife with pop-culture references, musical performances that look like Coachella, and a brand cultivated for social media. (Church events are advertised on Instagram; there’s a “text to donate” number).

While Christianity is on a decline in the United States, at Mosaic and other churches like it in the Los Angeles area, the religion is thriving.

Sorry. Not a fan. Not for me. This flash-in-the-pan surrogate religious fare seems to offer a quick fix with shots of pure sugar and adrenalin that draws young people because it's like a free concert with fringe benefits. It's like taking LSD to attain Satori (enlightenment) rather that doing the hard work of Zen meditation. Kids will continue to go for several months, maybe even a couple of years, but then they will find themselves getting real jobs, kids of their own, and moving on; and the whole enterprise will just fade away into oblivion.

It looks like a huge shining lake of sparkling water, but turns out to be a shallow puddle of enthusiasm that cannot possibly sustain over the long haul because it is fuelled by the cult of personality and entertainment and lacks the benefit of deep theological rootage.

This is precisely what is killing AmChurch Catholic parishes attempting to ape these methods and cultivate a 'hip' ambience. Things turn out not to be 'hip' as hysterically pathetic, vapid and boring. By contrast, nothing revives the faith more than the solid meat of authentic Catholic teaching. To go deep into history is to cease to be vapid and boring, and to open the wellspring of the Living Waters of Life passed down from the Apostles and our Lord through Catholic tradition.

True our Lord says (Mt 11:30) that His "yoke is easy" and His "burden is light." But He also says (Mt 7:14): "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and few are those who find it." There is no quick and easy path to sanctity or salvation. The consolations of Christ will lighten our burden, but the simple fact remains: faith is hard work. Faith is not a rock concert.

Fascinating discussion of the strange phenomenon known as "Protestantism"

This appears in a half-hour-long discussion among a panel of five members, including one woman (a Notre Dame law school grad) and four men (another Notre Dame grad with a pontifical degree in theology and several others) in the new "Download" program feature on "False Ecumenism" (January 25, 2016), which you can view with a $10/month premium account at CMTV. Enjoy.

The intrepid Fr. Perrone on Catholic ecumenism; and some bracing suggestions for Lent

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link] (Assumption Grotto News, January 24, 2016):

We are in the midst of the Church Unity Octave, a thing given scant attention to here, not for want of the desire that all Christians profess the one, true Catholic faith. Putting the matter thus already slants the issue in the decidedly Catholic way the Church has always understood and intended the unity of Christians. Indeed, how could it be otherwise? It is not a matter of vain hubris but of revealed (and thus unalterable) truth that Christ founded but one Church (a fact which all Christians assert in the Creed) and that this one Church cannot be other than the Catholic Church, that is, the one built upon the Rock, Saint Peter and his successors. The reason for slighting these eight days of unity is that church unity has become, by and large, a dead issue with most non-Catholics. Moreover, the intentions for each of its days as the Popes originally published them read today [seem] rather embarrassing to a people whose mind has been formed by the modernist heresy of indifferentism (that obvious falsehood that holds all religions to be equally valid, or equally good). Just for the record, I quote for you here the very unpolitic (“incorrect”), designated  prayer intentions for each day of the Church unity Octave, as the Holy See had originally designed them: 1. The return of all the ‘other sheep’ to the one fold of St. Peter, the one shepherd. 2. The return of all Oriental Separatists (i.e. the Orthodox) to communion with the Apostolic See. 3. The submission of Anglicans to the authority of the Vicar of Christ (viz., the Pope). 4. That Christians in America may become one in communion with the Chair of St. Peter. 5. The return to the Sacraments of lapsed Catholics. 6. The conversion of the Jews (i.e. to Christianity). 7. The missionary conquest of the world for Christ. (Day 8 is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. It would be understood here that he was converted from Judaism to the only Church identically subsisting in the Catholic Church.) So, there you have it, real  ecumenism – the embrace of all believers in the one, holy, Catholic Church. We’ve come a long way away from having the mind of the Church on this matter, due to the aforementioned modernist indoctrination by which many Catholics have no grasp of the exigency of truth to exclude error. Asserting what is logical necessity which no rational mind can deny (namely that there can be only one truth), we who hold fast to it are made to seem bigoted and uncharitable. To the contrary, nothing could be more conciliating or more loving towards others that to proclaim truth in all its disarming honesty, even in the face of some glaringly compromised statements to the contrary issuing from our ecclesiastical leaders. It makes one want to cry out in desperation with words from the psalter, “Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est!” (Pardon my French. But the Vulgate is so expressive: “Woe is me, for my sojourning is extended” – meaning that I have to live yet longer in this valley of tears.)

In the ancient tradition, this Sunday begins the pre-Lenten season of Septuagesima. I have before lamented the passing of this preparatory season which eases us into Lent rather than lets us be rudely hit on Ash Wednesday. A thoughtful parishioner wisely suggested that we begin now to plan what we should do for this holy season to come upon us lest it catch us unawares. I heartily endorse this proposal and invite parishioners to exercise their creativity and share some ideas they may have on how to spend well the Forty Days. Here are some of the proffered ideas, slightly modified.

Prayers and Religious Practices: Daily Mass. Daily holy hour. Daily rosary. Daily
Divine Mercy chaplet. Daily Stations of the Cross. Weekly confession. Daily prayers for the Dead. Daily Litany of Our Lady of Loretto. Daily reading of the Catechism. Daily Bible reading. Daily reading Fulton Sheen’s The Life of Christ or The Imitation of Christ, or the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales, or St. Alphonsus Liguori’s Preparation for Death.

Penances: One main meal only per day.  Cold versus warmed foods. No desserts. No meat. No stimulants (sugars, tobacco, coffee). Dialing down the heat in home and car. Getting up a half hour earlier for a daily meditation. Cleaning and ordering the home or workplace in a penitential spirit. Good works: Visiting the sick or those in nursing homes. Spending more time with family (sic!). Cooking meals for the elderly or sick who have difficulty cooking for themselves. Shoveling a neighbor’s drive or walkway. Increasing support to the parish (a pastor’s favorite!). Going out of one’s way to do helpful things to people in one’s life, especially family members.  No doubt there is something here for everyone. I’d be glad to share with fellow parishioners other ideas you may have if you get them to me in good time. But whatever you decide to do, do it for the Lord and not for some lesser, natural motives which would diminish or even nullify their merit.

Fr. Perrone

Rod Dreher: "Did you ever think you would live to see this? The Pope is refuting the magisterial teaching of his own Church... Poor historical, sacramental Catholicism."

I'm not sure I'd put it quite like that, but here's Rod Dreher, commenting on the Pope cracking the door to Lutheran communion (American Conservative, November 16, 2015):

Francis continues to, um, amaze. From Rocco Palma’s report on the Pope’s meeting with Lutherans in Rome on Sunday, as part of an ecumenical dialogue: 

In an answer that’s almost certain to resonate broadly across the ecumenical scene (and elsewhere, quite possibly show his hand on his intended course following last month’s Synod on the Family), the pontiff – clearly wrestling with the plea – pointedly appealed less to the standard prohibition of the Eucharist for Protestant communities than to the woman’s discernment in conscience.

As if to reinforce the point, in a move clearly decided in advance, Francis publicly presented the pastor with a chalice which appeared identical to the ones the Pope gave the archbishops of Washington, New York and Philadelphia during his late September US trip. 

Quoting from his answer to a question posed by a Lutheran woman married to a Catholic man, about when she and her husband can expect to receive holy communion together (it is forbidden in the Catholic Church for non-Catholics — Orthodox Christians excepted under certain conditions — to receive communion): 

I can only respond to your question with a question: what can I do with my husband that the Lord’s Supper might accompany me on my path? It’s a problem that each must answer [for themselves], but a pastor-friend once told me that “We believe that the Lord is present there, he is present” – you believe that the Lord is present. And what’s the difference? There are explanations, interpretations, but life is bigger than explanations and interpretations. Always refer back to your baptism – one faith, one baptism, one Lord: this Paul tells us; and then consequences come later.

I would never dare to give permission to do this, because it’s not my own competence. One baptism, one Lord, one faith. Talk to the Lord and then go forward. [Pauses] And I wouldn’t dare – I don’t dare say anything more. 

In other words: let your conscience be your guide. Who is the Pope to judge? 

It is not in the competence of the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church to say that a Protestant cannot receive communion in a Catholic mass Really? 

Here Dreher quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1400, which says:

1400 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, “have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders.” It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. However these ecclesial communities, “when they commemorate the Lord’s death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory.”

Dreher observes the shift from this:

“Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible” is now “One baptism, one Lord, one faith. Talk to the Lord and then go forward.”

Of course he “would never dare to give permission to do this,” the Jesuit pope said, Jesuitically, but said so in winking at doing that very thing. Hard to avoid the conclusion that Pope Francis just effectively rewrote the Catechism, and destroyed a Eucharistic discipline that has existed since the Reformation. Did you ever think you would live to see this? The Pope is refuting the magisterial teaching of his own Church, and not on a small matter either.

Here is how one reader sees the matter: "In an era when everything is becoming up for grabs, the Pope adds to the disorientation. It is not one big thing, but all the combined little things that make Francis a catastrophe."

Francis Beckwith on the Joys and Burdens of Being both Evangelical and Catholic

Francis J. Beckwith, "The Joys and Burdens of Being Both Evangelical and Catholic" (November 5, 2015):

...  I just like these people. They are serious about their faith in ways that annoy unsympathetic Catholics. You can actually discuss orthodoxy, heresy, and apostasy with them without first issuing a trigger warning. And contrary to the conventional wisecracking, “hate” never arises. In fact, what you experience is the kind of affection and brotherhood that emerges when serious people who respect each other purposely engage in an old-fashioned, knock down, drag out argument. 

Last year, for example, ETS’ president, Thomas R. Schreiner, in his banquet address at the annual meeting, singled out for critique my defense of the Catholic view of justification. (In fact, his new book includes a chapter based on the address, “Frank Beckwith’s Return to Rome”). Two days before the meeting, he emailed me and told me that he was going to do this. His note was kind, generous, and respectful. Was I offended, or tempted to write my friends to help orchestrate a campaign to stop the conversation? Are you kidding me? I was honored. 

Tom, like me, loves Christ. But he thinks I am wrong about justification. He cared enough to critique me in public in front of a room full of men and women I deeply respect. For an academic who wants to be taken seriously, I do not think it can get much better than that.

[Hat tip to JM]

Inspiring! -- a "scandalous miracle" of grace!

Andre Gingerich Stoner, "Scandalous Miracle" (Mennonite World Review, September 28, 2015):

It was a miracle. Jun Yamada [pictured right], suffering from an aggressive leukemia, was on his death bed. He lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. The doctors told the family he was unlikely to live more than half a day. They began to make funeral plans.

Then, to everyone’s amazement, including the team of doctors, Jun’s marrow started producing normal blood cells again. There was no medical explanation. Over time, Jun made a full recovery. The family and friends were awestruck. Yet this healing was too scandalous to talk about for decades.
 
Jun was a Japanese Mennonite and a student at a Catholic university. His father was a Mennonite pastor. When Jun became ill, many Japanese Mennonites prayed for him. One of Jun’s professors, Catholic priest Alfonso Fausone, also prayed for Jun and mobilized members of his order to pray. They petitioned Joseph Freinademetz, one of the founders of their order who had lived 100 years earlier, to intercede on Jun’s behalf. Freinademetz is often quoted as saying, “The language that all people understand is love.”

From the hospital bed, one could see the light in the monastery tower that was lit each night as priests and students prayed.

For three months, the priests provided a place for the Yamada family to stay, since their home was 500 miles south. There was profound respect and affection between the Catholics and Mennonites who cared for and loved Jun. During the crisis, the Yamada family participated in eucharist at the seminary. When death seemed certain, Jun’s father asked Fausone if he would officiate at the funeral. All this was unheard of in 1987.

The father called Jun’s brother, Nozomu, then a student at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elk­hart, Ind., asking him to return home. Nozomu left the U.S. preparing to attend a funeral, but he found his brother still alive, although in extremely critical condition.

The father said, “Hope has arrived.” (Nozomu means hope in Japanese.) In those critical hours Fausone asked if he could offer the sacrament of anointing of the sick. The family welcomed this gift.

The next day, the doctors came with startling news that Jun was producing normal cells again. Six months later, Jun was discharged from the hospital. His doctors and other patients began to refer to him as a miracle man. Today, Jun is a professor of early church art.

The fervent prayers and the shared love of Catholic and Mennonite brothers and sisters that surrounded Jun were central to these events. Yet it was precisely this ecumenical boundary-crossing that made this healing too scandalous to talk about openly for decades.

Years later, first in the Catholic community, this miracle began to be told. The intervention of Freinademetz was credited with a role in Jun’s healing. In 2003 Freinademetz was named a saint. Jun traveled to Rome to meet the Pope and participate in the ceremony.

In August, about 90 people gathered at AMBS for an annual Mennonite-Catholic Bridgefolk gathering to hear the story of Jun’s healing and to celebrate the marvelous thing God had done through the shared love and intercession of Catholics and Mennonites. Some participants reflected that after years of quiet, going to Elkhart in 2015 was for Mennonites perhaps akin to going to Rome in 2003 for Catholics.

As I listened, I pondered the amazing healing God can bring when people who love Jesus and love each other work and pray together, despite profound differences.

Andre Gingerich Stoner is director of interchurch relations and director of holistic witness for Mennonite Church USA.

Related: Nozomu Yamada, "THE HEALING OF JUN YAMADA Mennonites and Catholics in Friendship Leading to the Canonization of St Josef Freinademetz, SVD" (Bridgefolk.net, October 27, 2012).

[Hat tip to Darvin Yoder]

Evangelism and ecumenism: promise and the pitfalls

Tim Challies, "Fool's Talk" (Challies.com, September 15, 2015) - a review of a book on persuasion by Os Guinness, who thinks that we too often focus on "victory" as apologists for the Christian faith.

The reader who sends the linked article writes:

Perhaps this is the sort of thing Francis means to convey on evangelism? You have to be vary careful of drawing such parallels: John Paul II embraced Billy Graham, and yet they were quite different, even if both were gigantic religious leaders. Francis is similarly supposedly quite affirming of voices like Luis Palau... Regardless of those connections, Os Guiness here sounds the exact same notes Frank Sheed was groping towards decades ago. Two accomplishes writers both of who need to be more widely read.

[Hat tip to JM]

Juicy Ecumenism: wherein a Mennonite sees more clearly than many Catholics?

At the very least, this should give pause as to how the Catholic magisterium is being perceived by Evangelicals under the present pontificate:

Rick Plasterer, "Prospects and Perils for the Synod on the Family" (Juicy Ecumenism: The Institute on Religion & Democracy's Blog, August 28, 2015): 

Christians believe that God has revealed eternal truths, and thus we necessarily believe that this revelation does not change regardless of changes in the world. This is the irreducible confession of faithful Christians, and is necessarily “conservative.” Our faith may be about to be put to the test, regardless of which historic branch of the Christian faith we belong to, by possible change in the formally sanctioned Catholic practice regarding sexual morality, which may result from the upcoming Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, to be held in Rome in October.

To review where the Catholic Church is at this point, Pope Francis has dramatically altered the course of the Catholic Church, from the clear direction of doctrinal orthodoxy of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, itself a reaction to the attempted accommodation of the world by the Second Vatican Council, which shook the Church to its foundations. The clear direction of these popes not only cheered and rallied the Catholic faithful, but also drew support (and with some, conversion) of non-Catholic Christians similarly threatened by the inroads of the modern world into Christian life and faith. Thus, any weakening of the Catholic Church’s strong defense of historic Christian faith and morals, of God as a supreme ruler, of Jesus as offering salvation from personal sin, and of Christian sexual morality condemning sexual activity outside of the divinely ordained marriage of man and woman affects not only Catholics, but all Christians in their struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil.

Reading Pope Francis’ commitments and intentions have become something of an esoteric science, like the old science of Kremlinology, which attempted to discern the intentions and future moves of the Soviet leaders. But it does seem clear from his commitment to truth as evolving, rather than absolute, is that whatever traditionalist structures he maintains at the present time in the Catholic Church, his orthodoxy is held inside large liberal brackets. Like the Jesuits of old, in their battle with the fierce Jansenists, who championed an Augustinian emphasis on sudden conversion, Pope Francis favors “gradualism,” drawing people toward the holiness that Christ and the apostles require of believers while accepting them in the life of the Church on easy terms. It is not easy to defend this strategy from the Bible (Matt. 5:18, Matt. 5:28, I Cor. 6:18, I Thess. 4:3, II Thess. 3:6, to give a few examples), but it is an approach likely stood more chance of success in drawing people to holiness in the pre-modern world. The modern assault on the truth of the Biblical revelation is so strong and pervasive that a policy of gradualism is likely to be subverted into accepting worldliness as holiness. Feminists, homosexual activists, and those who reject the Christian doctrine of sin and salvation as an imposition on human autonomy do not want forgiveness, but acceptance as being righteous by the Church and all its people. The Pope’s statement that “the Holy Spirit has surprises” seems to foreshadow this.

A conservative Presbyterian responds to Catholic modernism via ... Boniface

D. G. Hart, "What A Call with Integrity Sounds Like" (Old Life, May 30, 2015).

Hart points out that some (former Presbyterian) Catholic converts who have been trying to reach out the Presbyterians like himself miss the central dynamic of modern Christianity because they keep insisting "that Protestantism and Roman Catholicism represent two distinct paradigms while not recognizing the two paradigms that exist on both sides of the Tiber — one anti-modernist and one indifferent to modernism and its effects."

And as an example of the anti-modernist Catholic paradigm, they cite Boniface, "Shepherds of the Whole World" (Unam Sanctam Catholicam, May 29, 2015).

Very telling ...

[Hat tip to JM]

What's right with this? What's wrong with this?

Matthew Milliner, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Evangelicalism" (First Things, May 1, 2015). ["Here's one to make Raider Fan a bit ill."] Seriously, though, what's right as well as wrong with this?

[Hat tip to JM]

V2 Rocket, Protestants, Sally Ride and the Prophet Wilson Pickett

Nobody but Raider Fan of Amateur Brain Surgeon New Ways Ecumenical Ministries [TM] could possibly pull all these disparate elements together, but here you have it: "The V2 Rocket, Protestants, and Sally Ride" (The Nesciencent Nepenthene, May 1, 2015). Every good Catholics deserves some Nesciencent Nepenthene these days.

Being nice but not being clear

Guy Noir, our correspondent, sent a link to Katelyn Beaty's article, "Rachel Held Evans Returns to Church" (Christianity Today, April 16, 2015), which begins:

Four years ago, Rachel Held Evans spent Easter in the apartment of a funeral home. But there would be no candles lit, no feast after the service. Instead, the group of about 10 had gathered to mourn the death of their church....

Noir comments:

I could say a whole lot about this piece in CT. But I guess I can summarize with the line, "Truth matters. Sort of."

This is the mentality that plagues Catholicism as well. History shows that no good comes of it. It is genial but wrongheaded. May we be genial and right-minded. It is good to have a benevolent attitude towards people. It is wrong to act like "getting things wrong" is [comparable?] to preferring the wrong flavor of Jell-0. Let me put it this way:

if you can say the creed and participate in a liturgy, but also believe the wafer might as well be bread as flesh; if you can read the Bible and think it is myth and fable as much as truth and history; if you can look at pre-marital sex, second and third marriages, gay marriages and think they fall more into preference and biology than morality; and if you can look at all religions and think well-meaning people are essentially all invisible Catholics ...

Well, If you can do that, and want to push it, don't be surprised if you effectively let all the air out of your 'religion.' As Flannery O'Connor thought, people can easily think "To Hell With It!"

Meanwhile, I see InterVarsity Press is releasing this little book to further dialog.

Richard J. Mouw and Robert L. Millet, eds, Talking Doctrine: Mormons and Evangelicals in Conversation (InterVarsity Press)

Which makes me another point: At some juncture, if all strange religious beliefs start seeming like your own, it is reasonable to find your own not sounding reasonable but strange. Genesis is myth, the Book of Mormon is bogus but beautiful, and I am supposed to get hyped for Bible Study? I am not so sure...!

Why Francis is not a fan of Benedict's Anglican Ordinariate

Sandro Magister, "Ecumenism Behind Closed Doors" (www.chiesa, February 2, 2015): "While Benedict XVI made it easier for Anglicans in disagreement with the “liberal” direction of their Church to enter into the Catholic Church, Francis is not, he prefers that they remain where they are. The revelations of two Anglican friends of the pope." An interesting and revealing study.

[Hat tip to Sir A.S.]

How some Calvinists view Catholicism today

"Party lines, hope & change, and inconvenient truths"

Thus read the title of the telegram I received from Guy Noir - Private Eye, the beginning of a long missive full of miffed musings and vented aggravations. Here's what the telegram said:

I have not even read this rather head-turning piece... in Christianity Today ... by R.R. Reno!  And I am not at all sure I can, especially after reading a similar take in the evangelical zine Relevant this summer (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/current/why-pope-so-popular)

The CT media event: https://twitter.com/CTmagazine/status/537370148177313792/photo/1  

But I will make this one comment. Here is a post from a very Reformed [a.k.a. "Calvinist"]--and unfortunately very antagonistic to contemporary Catholic converts--website. How come they can make this rather arguably astute observation, but it would be like speaking in a foreign tongue if addressed to a smart guy like Reno. The antagonist Protestant take goes like this:

I think the point is that Bryan Cross and the whole Called to Communion project is almost entirely out of step with modern Roman Catholicism post-V2. ... It’s why you don’t see very many cradle RCs calling us to communion. They understand that the Vatican now sees us as true Christians, having in practice renounced the anathemas of Trent even while still nominally claiming them. The religion that Bryan and CtC promote is very heady and not at all in touch with the average RC in the pew. …[T]he church basically renounced its earlier doctrines and practices at V2… Bryan et al don’t see it at all, which is why we get 10,000 word tomes trying to make the square peg of Tridentine Romanism fit the round hole of post-V2 RCism. The blindness of CtC is seen in their refusal to admit that if Francis and any nineteenth century pope sat down together, neither one of them would recognize each other as a true RC.

Guy Noir continues:

I really don't know. Does proposing something that seems simply beyond the pale -- just because it seems beyond the pale -- make a suggestion out of the question? If a nagging suspicion or claim won't go away, is the best policy simply to ignore it? If Francis to so many Catholics sounds unCatholic, isn't that a reason to address to underlying issues, versus continuing to exist in a faith-anestithizing environment where we just pretend it ain't so? And while I am at it, since when is a Pope who talks like Universalism is an option and Being Good is good enough, a pope than evangelicals think sounds evangelical?! B. B. Warfield and Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, please call you offices, stat!

Thoughts?

The Pope of Pentecostal "Mere Christianity"

From some weeks ago, a meeting between Pope Francis and the heirs of "bishop" Tony Palmer, the Pentecostal pastor friend of the Pope who recently died in a motorcycle accident. In the video you see the Holy Father sitting beside the Mr. Palmer's widow and a number of other gentlemen dressed as bishops.

The video is somewhat plodding and a bit painful to watch, but as the accompanying post suggests in Spanish, in terms of the claims asserted it is quite significant: the differences between Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant are minimized -- minor details to be left to the theologians. What counts is their common Christian baptism. Ecumenismus in excelsus. No "self-absorbed promethean neo-pelagians" here, evidently. Source: Otro pellizco (November 14, 2014; the video was published originally on October 22, 1014)


Related: "Pope Francis and the Future of Charismatic Christianity" (Musings, February 21, 2014).

[Hat tip to N.C.]

Interesting debate between Jimmy Akin and Louie Verrecchio on "whether Mortalium Animos is still the faith of the Catholic Church"

Posted as: The Ecumenical Question, beginning with an opening statement by Jimmy Akin on November1st.

Comments are closed, but there is an independent Forum where readers can comment elsewhere.

The debate was publicized by Verrecchio on November 4th HERE, and was provoked initially by a challenge he posed to men like Karl Keating, Michael Voris, Jimmy Akin, Marcellino D’Ambrosio and others HERE. Only my friend Jimmy Akin has responded so far, and the dialogue has been courteous and constructive, as far as I have read it.


As Francis A. Schaeffer used to insist: "Serious answers for serious questions."

Cardinal Siri's banned forgotten book on ecumenism

Our undercover corresponded we keep on retainer in an Atlantic seaboard city who knows how to keep its secrets, Guy Noir - Private Eye, wired me the following telegram back on June 20, and the footman from the telegraph office in Reno, Nevada (of all places!), just arrived at my door with it this evening. Here's what he wrote:

[Cardinal Giuseppe] Siri! Talk about counter-Resourcement, or a name unlikely to be on any recent papal bedside reading stand. LOL. Forgotten in under a century, akin to Garrigou-Lagrange. His "Gethsemeni" appears available now only in French.

Actually, he is happily mistaken, though, unhappily, used copies of the bad English translation run between $65.98 and $284.62. Anyway, he continued:

I very much doubt I could persuade Ignatius Press to republish what is essentially a polite take down of Henri de Lubac. Despite the premium currently placed on dialog and diversity, people really want to hear just what they want to hear. Siri's common sense can't really be answered, so it will remain simply discredited by official disfavor versus any sustained theologizing. Reminds me to of Romano Amerio, whose Stat Veritas may we yet someday see in English. It's not that I enjoy insurgency so much as I enjoy Catholic theology and clear thinking.

Related: "Catholics and Ecumenism - considerations by Cardinal Siri" (RC, June 19, 2014).

[Hat tip to GN]