Concluding remarks from the address to the priests of Rome (14 February 2013):
... there was the Council of the
Fathers - the true Council - but there was also the Council of the
media. It was almost a Council in and of itself, and the world perceived
the Council through them, through the media. So the immediately
efficiently Council that got thorough to the people, was that of the
media, not that of the Fathers. And while the Council of the Fathers
evolved within the faith, it was a Council of the faith that sought the
intellectus, that sought to understand and try to understand the signs
of God at that moment, that tried to meet the challenge of God in this
time to find the words for today and tomorrow.
So while the whole
council - as I said - moved within the faith, as fides quaerens
intellectum, the Council of journalists did not, naturally, take place
within the world of faith but within the categories of the media of
today, that is outside of the faith, with different hermeneutics. It was
a hermeneutic of politics. The media saw the Council as a political
struggle, a struggle for power between different currents within the
Church. It was obvious that the media would take the side of whatever
faction best suited their world. There were those who sought a
decentralization of the Church, power for the bishops and then, through
the Word for the "people of God", the power of the people, the laity.
There was this triple issue: the power of the Pope, then transferred to
the power of the bishops and then the power of all ... popular
sovereignty. Naturally they saw this as the part to be approved, to
promulgate, to help. This was the case for the liturgy: there was no
interest in the liturgy as an act of faith, but as a something to be
made understandable, similar to a community activity, something profane.
And we know that there was a trend, which was also historically based,
that said: "Sacredness is a pagan thing, possibly even from the Old
Testament. In the New Testament the only important thing is that Christ
died outside: that is, outside the gates, that is, in the secular
world". Sacredness ended up as profanity even in worship: worship is not
worship but an act that brings people together, communal participation
and thus participation as activity. And these translations, trivializing
the idea of the Council, were virulent in the practice of implementing
the liturgical reform, born in a vision of the Council outside of its
own key vision of faith. And it was so, also in the matter of Scripture:
Scripture is a book, historical, to treat historically and nothing
else, and so on.
And we know that this Council of the media was
accessible to all. So, dominant, more efficient, this Council created
many calamities, so many problems, so much misery, in reality:
seminaries closed, convents closed liturgy trivialized ... and the true
Council has struggled to materialize, to be realized: the virtual
Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real strength of the
Council was present and slowly it has emerged and is becoming the real
power which is also true reform, true renewal of the Church. It seems to
me that 50 years after the Council, we see how this Virtual Council is
breaking down, getting lost and the true Council is emerging with all
its spiritual strength. And it is our task, in this Year of Faith,
starting from this Year of Faith, to work so that the true Council with
the power of the Holy Spirit is realized and Church is really renewed.
We hope that the Lord will help us. I, retired in prayer, will always be
with you, and together we will move ahead with the Lord in certainty.
The Lord is victorious. Thank you.
“Most High, glorious God, enlighten the shadows of my heart, and grant me a right faith, a certain hope and perfect charity, sense and understanding, Lord, so that I may accomplish your holy and true command. Amen.” Saint Francis of Assisi. “I plead with you! Never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.” Saint John Paul II. This Blog covers, in particular, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, the papacy and the Order of Saint John.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Vatican Council II according to Benedict XVI
Labels:
Benedict XVI,
liturgy,
Rome,
Vatican Council II,
Year of Faith
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment