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| from Cardinal O'Malley's blog |
Sat, 31 January 2009 05:15  |
Anne
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Cardinal Seán shares his reflections & experiences.
http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/2009/01/30/it-is-never-too- late-to-arise/
January 30, 2009
Hello to you all!
The Vatican announced this week that the Holy Father has lifted the excommunications of four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X. I was pleased with the news which shows, once again, the Holy Father’s concern for unity and reconciliation in the Church.
In 1988 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was critical of some elements of the Second Vatican Council, ordained four bishops without the approval of the Holy Father, incurring in automatic excommunication on himself and the four bishops he ordained.
This action follows the publication of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum a year and a half ago, in which the Holy Father lifted previous restrictions on the celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Missal, commonly known as the Tridentine Mass.
Just before the publication of the Apostolic Letter, I was privileged to be a part of a meeting of cardinals and bishops with the Holy Father in which he expressed his hope that his action would help convince those disaffected Catholics to return to full union with the Catholic Church.
So, his outreach to the communities who follow these bishops is just one more manifestation of his ardent desire to bring these people (which some estimate to be as many as 1.5 million) back into the fold. We know that these are generally people who practice their faith and try to live a Christian life seriously but, unfortunately, I believe that they have been misled by their leadership.
Of course, lifting the excommunications was a first step; it does not regularize these bishops or the Society of St. Pius X, but it opens the way for a dialogue. This step was in response to a letter in which they professed their desire for full participation in the life of the Church.
It was tragic that one of the four bishops, Bishop Richard Williamson, had made outrageous statements about the Holocaust and about the September 11 attacks on the United States. It certainly raises questions as to the caliber of the leadership that the Society has. Additionally, as terrible as the comments were, it underscores the importance for the Holy Father to have increasing influence over those communities.
We are very sorry that the people in the Jewish community have been so pained and outraged by Bishop Williamson’s statements. I think the Holy Father’s statements and those of Cardinal Walter Kasper, chairman of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, have been very clear to dissociate the Catholic Church from those kinds of sentiments. I was pleased that the head of the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, also repudiated the statements of Bishop Williamson.
It is very important for us to always remember the Holocaust so that such an atrocity could never take place again. I recall the words of the Holy Father this week: “May the Shoah be for everyone an admonition against oblivion, negation and reductionism, because violence against a single human being is violence against all.”
[Updated on: Sat, 31 January 2009 06:05]
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| Re: from Cardinal O'Malley's blog |
Sat, 31 January 2009 06:12  |
 Augsburg Boy
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Well said, but I do have to agree with some other posters, that besides the horror of the Holocaust, there have been many examples of genocide, for which we need to repent, the Armenian slaughter always come to mind for me. Having been raised in Watertown, MA, one of the most populated areas of Armenians, it has always been on my radar! Never mnd what has happened in Africa.
This in no way makes me anti semetic, just concerned that repeated examples of genocide cease.
But still, good words, and IMO leadership, from Cardinal Sean.
Randy
"The Lord so loved the world that He did not send a committee."
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| Re: from Cardinal O'Malley's blog |
Sat, 31 January 2009 06:29 |
Karl
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And we have closer to home the treatment of various indigenous peoples by varied European peoples. While I think it is historically inaccurate to describe each instance as genocide, some instances would well qualify.
Good books from the past few years to start: "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus", "Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830", "Champlain's Dream" and "Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War".
All of the books have the felicitous aspect of undermining conventional wisdoms on both sides of the aisle, as it were, and demonstrate a much greater complexity of reality.
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| Re: from Cardinal O'Malley's blog |
Sat, 31 January 2009 07:06 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
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"I do have to agree with some other posters, that besides the horror of the Holocaust, there have been many examples of genocide, for which we need to repent,"
Indeed that is true. I know that you are not an antisemite. However, the way it was presented in a couple of posts here it is as if the Jewish people whine too much about the Holocaust. That is antisemitism.
Maybe you could start another thread on the subject of genocide without trying to justify the the actions of the SSPX.
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| Re: from Cardinal O'Malley's blog |
Sat, 31 January 2009 07:19 |
Karl
Messages: 1306
Registered: April 2004 |
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Anne
I assume that, since you quote Randy, that your invitation was to Randy, though it was in reply to my reply to him.
I've been spending a good chuck of my blog-commenting time the past week calling out weasels and worse on a couple of very prominent traditionalist boards on precisely this issue (including the whining crap). And getting deleted in the process (like last night on NLM's discussion of Williamson's partial apology. This issue is attracting the mosquitos like a single cow in the middle of a damp summer pasture at dusk.
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| Re: from Cardinal O'Malley's blog |
Sat, 31 January 2009 08:08 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
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In case anyone hasn't seen the letter of "apology" on Williamson's blog...here it is:
http://dinoscopus.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter.html
He never retracted his stupid comments about the Holocaust. Some apology! Makes things worse, IMO.
Karl,
Yes, my reply was to Randy but you could start a separate thread on the topic of genocide or other atrocious crimes against humanity.
[Updated on: Sat, 31 January 2009 08:15]
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