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Newsletter of the District
of Asia
Jan
- June 2003
St
Pius X :
“The Saint and the Guide for today’s men!”
(Pope
Pius XII, 1954)
By Fr. Daniel Couture
continued
from page 1
6) The Structure of the
Church
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St
Pius X
Encyclical 'Gravissimo Munere'
Aug.
10,1906
On the French Association of worship
Historical
Note: The French government, having voted the law of separation
of Church and State, tried also to force St Pius X to accept
committee-run dioceses and parishes. These committees —
Associations of Worship — would have been composed of clergy
and laymen.
"
It is for this reason that, with reference to the associations
for public worship as the law establishes them, we decree
that it is absolutely impossible for them to be formed without
a violation of the sacred rights pertaining to the very
life of the Church. But as this hope fails Us while the
law remains what it is, We declare that it is not permissible
to try this other kind of association as long as it is not
established in a sure and legal manner that the Divine Constitution
of the Church, the immutable rights of the Roman Pontiff
and of the Bishops, as well as their authority over the
necessary property of the Church and particularly over the
sacred edifices, shall be irrevocably placed in the said
associations in full security. To desire the contrary is
impossible for us, without betraying the sanctity of Our
office and bringing about the ruin of the Church of France."
*********** |
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The
Conciliar Church
Vatican
II
Constit.
'Lumen Gentium', Nov. 21, 1964
On Collegiality
"37.
(...) Let the spiritual shepherds recognize and promote
the dignity as well as the responsibility of the laity in
the Church. Let them willingly employ their prudent advice.
Let them confidently assign duties to them in the service
of the Church, allowing them freedom and room for action.
Further, let them encourage lay people so that they may
undertake tasks on their own initiative. Attentively in
Christ, let them consider with fatherly love the projects,
suggestions and desires proposed by the laity. However,
let the shepherds respectfully acknowledge that just freedom
which belongs to everyone in this earthly city.
A great
many wonderful things are to be hoped for from this familiar
dialogue between the laity and their spiritual leaders:
in the laity a strengthened sense of personal responsibility;
a renewed enthusiasm; a more ready application of their
talents to the projects of their spiritual leaders. The
latter, on the other hand, aided by the experience of the
laity, can more clearly and more incisively come to decisions
regarding both spiritual and temporal matters. In this way,
the whole Church, strengthened by each one of its members,
may more effectively fulfill is mission for the life of
the world."
Code
of Canon Law (1983)
"Can.
536 §1 If, after consulting the council of priests, the
diocesan Bishop considers it opportune, a pastoral council
is to be established in each parish. In this council, which
is presided over by the parish priest, Christ's faithful,
together with those who by virtue of their office are engaged
in pastoral care in the parish, give their help in fostering
pastoral action. §2 The pastoral council has only a consultative
vote, and it is regulated by the norms laid down by the
diocesan Bishop.
Can.
537 In each parish there is to be a finance committee to
help the parish priest in the administration of the goods
of the parish, without prejudice to can. 532. It is ruled
by the universal kw and by the norms laid down by the diocesan
Bishop, and it is comprised of members of the faithful selected
according to these norms."
Comments:
Diocesan and Parish Councils composed of priests and laity
are paralyzing the power of Bishops and Parish priests,
not just in financial matters but also in truly ecclesiastical
ones. Two very recent, simple and typical examples:
1)
In the Angelus of May 2003, p-14, we read the letter of
the bishop of Phoenix, USA to a priest, Fr. Polycarpio,
rebuking him for having returned to the traditional Mass
recently:
"(This
issue) has come up for discussion at meetings both of the
Presbyteral Council and Diocesan Pastoral Council. The last
time the issue was addressed, it was strongly recommended
to me by both my priests and members of the laity that I
not grant permission for this Mass to be celebrated. My
decision was not an arbitrary one, but involved consultation
with both clergy and laity."
2)
This May 2003, in an Asian country, a Traditional Funeral
Mass was allowed in a parish church by permission of the
parish priest. Afterwards, the parish priest was severely
rebuked by his parish Council, mostly lay people, for having
given this permission.
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7)
Conversion or Ecumenism?
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St
Pius X
Apostolic Letter 'Our Apostolic Mandate'
Aug.
25, 1910
Against the French movement "Sillon"
"The
same applies to the notion of Fraternity which they found
on the love of common interest or, beyond all philosophies
and religions, on the mere notion of humanity, thus embracing
with an equal love and tolerance all human beings and their
miseries, whether these are intellectual, moral, or physical
and temporal. But Catholic doctrine tells us that the primary
duty of charity does not he in the toleration of false ideas,
however sincere they may be, nor in the theoretical or practical
indifference towards the errors and vices in which we see
our brethren plunged, but in the zeal for their intellectual
and moral improvement as well as for their material well-being.
Catholic doctrine further tells us that love for our neighbor
flows from our love for God, Who is Father to all, and goal
of the whole human family; and in Jesus Christ whose members
we are, to the point that in doing good to others we are
doing good to Jesus Christ Himself. Any other kind of love
is sheer illusion, sterile and fleeting.
Indeed,
we have the human experience of pagan and secular societies
of ages past to show that concern for common interests or
affinities of nature weigh very little against the passions
and wild desires of the heart. No, Venerable Brethren, there
is no genuine fraternity outside Christian charity. Through
the love of God and His Son Jesus Christ Our Saviour, Christian
charity embraces all men, comforts all, and leads all to
the same faith and same heavenly happiness. (...)
We
fear that worse is to come: the end result of this developing
promiscuousness, the beneficiary of this cosmopolitan social
action, can only be a Democracy which will be neither Catholic,
nor Protestant, nor Jewish. It will be a religion (for Sillonism,
so the leaders have said, is a religion) more universal
than the Catholic Church, uniting all men become brothers
and comrades at last in the 'Kingdom of God'. - 'We do not
work for the Church, we work for mankind.'
And
now, overwhelmed with the deepest sadness, We ask Ourselves,
Venerable Brethren, what has become of the Catholicism of
the Sillon? Alas! this organization which formerly afforded
such promising expectations, this limpid and impetuous stream,
has been harnessed in its course by the modern enemies of
the Church, and is now no more than a miserable affluent
of the great movement of apostasy being organized in every
country for the establishment of a One-World Church which
shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, neither discipline
for the mind, nor curb for the passions, and which, under
the pretext of freedom and human dignity, would bring back
to the world (if such a Church could overcome) the reign
of legalized cunning and force, and the oppression of the
weak, and of all those who toil and suffer."
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|
The
Conciliar Church John Paul II
Message to Heads of State
Feb. 24, 2002
False ecumenism, the meetings of Assist. Towards One
World Church
"The
inspired reflections of these men and women, representatives
of different religious confessions, their sincere desire
to work for peace, and their common quest for the true progress
of the whole human family, found a sublime and yet concrete
form in the 'Decalogue' proclaimed at the end of this exceptional
day.
I have
the honor of presenting to Your Excellency the text of this
common agreement, convinced that these ten propositions
can inspire the political and social action of your government.
I observed
that those who took part in the Assisi Meeting were more
than ever motivated by a common conviction: humanity must
choose between love and hatred. All of them, feeling that
they belong to one and the same human family, were able
to express their aspiration through these ten points, convinced
that if hatred destroys, love, on the contrary, builds up.
I hope
that the spirit and commitment of Assisi will lead all people
of goodwill to seek truth, justice, freedom and love, so
that every human person may enjoy his inalienable rights
and every people, peace. For her part, the Catholic Church,
who trusts and hopes in 'the God of love and peace' (II
Cor 13,11), will continue to work for loyal dialogue, reciprocal
forgiveness and mutual harmony to clear the way for people
in this third millennium."
"Assisi"
Decalogue for Peace
1.
We commit ourselves to proclaiming our firm conviction that
violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic
Spirit of religion, and, as we condemn every recourse to
violence and war in the name of God or religion, we commit
ourselves to doing everything possible to eliminate the
root causes of terrorism.
2.
We commit ourselves to educating people to mutual respect
and esteem, in order to help bring about a peaceful and
fraternal coexistence between people of different ethnic
groups, cultures, and religions.
3.
We commit ourselves to fostering the culture of dialogue,
so that there will be an increase of understanding and mutual
trust between individuals and among peoples, for these are
the premises of authentic peace. (...)"(Zenit, March
4, 2002)
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8) Teach all
nations!
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St
Pius X
Encyclical
Acerbo nimis April 20,1905
Publication
of a universal catechism, 1912
On the necessity of teaching catechism as
the great means of evangelization
"We
are forced to agree with those who hold that the chief cause
of the present indifference and, as it were, infirmity of
soul, and the serious evils that result from it, is to be
found above all in ignorance of things divine. This is fully
in accord with what God Himself declared through the Prophet
Osee: 'And there is no knowledge of God in the land. Cursing
and lying and killing and theft and adultery have overflowed:
and blood hath touched blood. Thereafter shall the land
mourn, and everyone that dwelleth in it shall languish.'
It
is a common complaint, unfortunately too well founded, that
there are large numbers of Christians in our own time who
are entirely ignorant of those truths necessary for salvation.
And when we mention Christians, We refer not only to the
masses or to those in the lower walks of life — for these
find some excuse for their ignorance in the fact that the
demands of their harsh employers hardly leave them time
to take care of themselves or of their dear ones — but We
refer to those especially who do not lack culture or talents
and, indeed, are possessed of abundant knowledge regarding
things of the world but live rashly and imprudently with
regard to religion. It is hard to find words to describe
how profound is the darkness in which they are engulfed
and, what is most deplorable of all, how tranquilly they
repose there.
And
so Our Predecessor, Benedict XIV, had just cause to write:
'We declare that a great number of those who are condemned
to eternal punishment suffer that everlasting calamity because
of ignorance of those mysteries of faith which must be known
and believed in order to be numbered among the elect.' "
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|
The
Conciliar Church
Since
Vatican II, we have noticed a complete destruction of the
teaching of catechism. "The new catechesis has become
a search rather than a teaching, and seeks to produce existential
answers rather than intellectual convictions. "(Iota
Unum, P-259)
Multiplicity
of catechisms have been encouraged, with a contempt of memorization.
The
modern catechisms have changed so much that after 10-12
years in Catholic schools, most Catholic students barely
know their faith.
Many
catechisms — approved by the national Bishops' Conferences—actually
deny some articles of faith or points of morality. The infamous
Dutch Catechism denied the existence of angels, of a sacramental
priesthood, of the real presence; the Canadian Catechism
promoted Marxism; the French "Pierres Vivantes"
denied the Ascension, etc.
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9) Fight against or promotion
of Modernism
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St
Pius X
Syllabus
'Lamentabili', July 3,1907
Encyclical 'Pascendi Dominici'
Sept. 8, 1907
Condemnation of the errors of
Modernism, and indicating thomistic
philosophy as the first means to eradicate modernism
Decree
'Sacrorum Anstitistum'
Sept. 1, 1910
Practical rules to fight Modernism in
seminaries, Anti-modemist-oath
"Although
(the modernists) express their astonishment that We should
number them amongst the enemies of the Church, no one will
be reasonably surprised that We should do so, if, leaving
out of account the internal disposition of the soul, of
which God alone is the Judge, he considers their tenets,
their manner of speech, and their action. Nor indeed would
he be wrong in regarding them as the most pernicious of
all the adversaries of the Church. For, as We have said,
they put into operation their designs for her undoing, not
from without but from within. Hence, the danger is present
almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose
injury is the more certain from the very fact that their
knowledge of her is more intimate. Moreover, they lay the
axe not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root,
that is, to the faith and its deepest fibers. And once having
struck at this root of immortality, they proceed to diffuse
poison through the whole tree, so that there is no part
of Catholic truth which they leave untouched, none that
they do not strive to corrupt. Further, none is more skillful,
none more astute than they, in the employment of a thousand
noxious devices; for they play the double part of rationalist
and Catholic, and this so craftily that they easily lead
the unwary into error; and as audacity is their chief characteristic,
there is no conclusion of any kind from which they shrink
or which they do not thrust forward with pertinacity and
assurance. To this must be added the fact, which indeed
is well calculated to deceive souls, that they lead a life
of the greatest activity, of assiduous and ardent application
to every branch of learning, and that they possess, as a
rule, a reputation for irreproachable morality. Finally,
there is the fact which is all but fatal to the hope of
cure that their very doctrines have given such a bent to
their minds, that they disdain all authority and brook no
restraint; and relying upon a false conscience, they attempt
to ascribe to a love of truth that which is in reality the
result of pride and obstinacy. (...)
Remedies
to Modernism
In
the first place, with regard to studies, We will and strictly
ordain that scholastic philosophy be made the basis of the
sacred sciences. (...) And let it be clearly understood
above all things that when We prescribe scholastic philosophy
We understand chiefly that which the Angelic Doctor has
bequeathed to us, and We, therefore, declare that all the
ordinances of Our predecessor on this subject continue fully
in force, and, as far as may be necessary, We do decree
anew, and confirm, and order that they shall be strictly
observed by all. In seminaries where they have been neglected
it will be for the Bishops to exact and require their observance
in the future; and let this apply also to the superiors
of religious orders. Further, We admonish professors to
bear well in mind that they cannot set aside St. Thomas,
grave disadvantage." ('Pascendi' nn. 3,45)
Motu
Proprio 'Doctoris Angelici'
June 29, 1914
"So
far as studies are concerned, it is Our will and We hereby
explicitly ordain that the Scholastic philosophy be considered
as the basis of sacred studies. . . . And what is of capital
importance in prescribing that Stochastic philosophy is
to be followed, We have in mind particularly the philosophy
which has been transmitted to us by St. Thomas Aquinas.
It is Our desire that all the enactments of Our Predecessor
in respect thereto be maintained in full force; and, where
need be, We renew and confirm them and order them to be
strictly observed by all concerned. Let Bishops urge and
compel their observance in future in any Seminary in which
they may have been neglected. The same injunction applies
also to Superiors of Religious Orders. St. Thomas perfected
and augmented still further by the almost angelic quality
of his intellect all this superb patrimony of wisdom which
he inherited from his predecessors and applied it to prepare,
illustrate and protect sacred doctrine in the minds of men.
Sound reason suggests that it would be foolish to neglect
it and religion will not suffer it to be in any way attenuated.
And rightly, because, if Catholic doctrine is once deprived
of this strong bulwark, it is useless to seek the slightest
assistance for its defence in a philosophy whose principles
are either common to the errors of materialism, monism,
pantheism, socialism and modernism, or certainly not opposed
to such systems.
Letter "I answer with my own hand"
Oct. 20, 1912
On the attitude towards newspapers 'of penetration',
i.e. which appear Catholic but ignore the modernist crisis
raging.
"How
can We approve certain newspapers, hiding under the banner
"Catholic", because they sometimes relate papal
audiences and reproduce Vatican notes, while not only do
they never say a word on the liberty and independence of
the Church, but also pretend not to see the war done to
the Church? (These newspapers), without converting any of
our adversaries (who despise them for their sole Catholic
appearance), cause the greatest harm to good people: these
latter seeking light find only darkness; needing food, they
suck poison; instead of finding truth and strength to maintain
themselves firm in the faith, they find arguments to become,
in such a grave matter, careless, apathetic, indifferent.
Oh, how much harm do these newspapers do to the Church and
to souls! And what great responsibility, especially for
the clerics who spread them, encourage them, recommend them!"
('Documents Pontificaux de St Pie X', Editions du
Courrier de Rome, vol. 2, p. 480-481) |
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The
Conciliar Church
Vatican
II
Decree
'Optatam Totius', Oct. 28, 1965
"15.
The philosophical disciplines are to be taught in such a
way that the students are first of all led to acquire a
solid and coherent knowledge of man, the world and of God,
relying on a philosophical patrimony which is perennially
valid and taking into accounts the philosophical investigations
of later ages. This is especially true of those investigations
which exercise a greater influence in their own nations.
Account should also be taken of the more recent progress
of the sciences. The net result should be that the students,
correctly understanding the characteristics of the contemporary
mind will be duly prepared for dialogue with men of their
time.
The
history of philosophy should be so taught that the students,
while reaching the ultimate principles of the various systems,
will hold on to what is proven to be true therein and will
be able to detect the roots of errors and to refute them.
In
the very manner of teaching there should be stirred up in
the students a love of rigorously searching for the truth
and of maintaining and demonstrating it, together with an
honest recognition of the limits of human knowledge. Attention
must be carefully drawn to the necessary connection between
philosophy and the true problems of life, as well as the
questions which preoccupy the minds of the students. Likewise
students should be helped to perceive the links between
the subject matter of philosophy and the mysteries of salvation
which are considered in theology under the higher light
of faith."
Comments:
The specific mention of Thomism is omitted in the above.
15 on the formation of priests, a mention that was ordered
by Leo XIII in 'Aeterni Patris' and by Canon Law
(1917), c. 1366.
With
Vatican II, and the New Theology re-habilitated by Vatican
II, we have witnessed the flooding of all these condemned
errors, the rejection of thomistic philosophy, in most seminaries.
"Scholasticism
doesn't adapt itself to non Western people... The Council
should not take position on philosophical systems"
Cardinal Leger, Intervention during Vatican II (Iota Unum
(French) p.439.) This was the exact attitude of many bishops
during the Asian Synod, in 1998.
The
anti-modernist oath was suppressed in 1967. Why?
In
the fight against modernism by maintaining the Tridentine
Mass, those who have accepted the Indult and put themselves
under Ecclesia Dei Commission, have never the less been
obliged to remain silent on the very existence of the modernist
crisis and of its causes (compare with the letter of St
Pius X, Oct. 20, 1912, below) as can be seen by the first
condition of the 1984 Indult.
Indult
for the Traditional Mass
Oct. 3, 1984
"(T)he
Supreme Pontiff... grants ... an indult whereby priests
and faithful, who shall be expressly indicated in the letter
of request to be presented to their own bishop, may be able
to celebrate Mass by using the Roman Missal according to
the 1962 edition, but under the following conditions:
1.
That it be made publicly clear beyond all ambiguity that
such priests and their respective faithful in no way share
the positions of those who call in question the legitimacy
and doctrinal exactitude of the Roman Missal promulgated
by Pope Paul VI in 1970."
Comments:
On the occasion of Assist II, the Apostolic Administration
of St John Vianney of Campos, which had been very vocal
in condemning Assist I, in 1986, kept mysteriously silent.
"You see, there is a time to speak and a time to be
silent.." (Bishop Rifan, in Versailles, Sept.
2002, BTAG 148, 20 April, 2003). They had been approved
by Rome one week earlier... |
10)
Principles of Social Issues
|
St
Pius X
Motu Proprio 'Fin dalla Prima'
Dec.
18,1903
Apostolic Letter 'Our Apostolic Mandate'
Aug.
25,1910
"Human
society, as God established it, is composed of unequal elements,
just as the members of the body are unequal; to make them
all equal is impossible, and would be the destruction of
society itself.
To
calm the strife between rich and poor, it is necessary to
distinguish between justice and charity. Only when justice
has been violated is there a right to make a claim in the
strict sense of the word. (...)
The
poor, on their part, ought not to blush for their poverty,
nor disdain the charity of the rich above all when they
think of Jesus Our Redeemer who... made Himself poor. ('Fin
dalla Prima' nn. 1, 2, 7)
"We
know well that they flatter themselves with the idea of
raising human dignity. (...) But... by ignoring the laws
governing human nature and by breaking the bounds within
which they operate, the human person is lead, not toward
progress, but towards death. This, nevertheless, is what
they want to do with human society; they dream of changing
its natural and traditional foundations; they dream of a
Future City built on different principles, and they dare
to proclaim these more fruitful and more beneficial than
the principles upon which the present Christian City rests.
No,
Venerable Brethren, We must repeat with the utmost energy
in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone
takes it upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker
- the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built
it; society cannot be setup unless the Church lays the foundations
and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something
yet to be found, nor is the New City to be built on hazy
notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian
civilization, it is the Catholic City. It has only to be
set up and restored continually against the unremitting
attacks of insane dreamers rebels and miscreants. OMNIA
INSTAURARE IN CHRISTO. (...)
Finally,
at the root of all their fallacies on social questions he
the false hopes of Sillonists on human dignity. According
to them, man will be a man truly worthy of the name only
when he has acquired a strong, enlightened, and independent
consciousness, able to do without a master, obeying only
himself, and able to assume the most demanding responsibilities
without faltering. Such are the big words by which human
pride is exalted, like a dream carrying man away without
light, without guidance, and without help into the realm
of illusion in which he will be destroyed by his errors
and passions whilst awaiting the glorious day of his full
consciousness." ('Our Apostolic Mandate', nn.
10, 11, 25) |
|
The
Conciliar Church
Liberation
theology
Liberation
theology, a term first used in 1973 by Gustavo Gutierrez,
a Peruvian Roman Catholic priest, is a school of thought
among Latin American Catholics according to which the Gospel
of Christ demands that the church concentrate its efforts
on liberating the people of the world from poverty and oppression.
The
liberation-theology movement was partly inspired by the
Second Vatican Council and the 1967 papal encyclical Populorum
progressio. The liberationists have received encouragement
from the Latin American bishops, especially in resolutions
adopted at a 1968 conference in Medellin, Colombia.
Liberation
Theology pretends that the Gospel is a principle conformed
to the Marxist revolution, and among other tenets, it sees
poverty as an evil and demands that social justice be not
given to the poor but taken, grabbed from the rich by the
poor themselves.
Human
rights, Human dignity
John
Paul II
Discourse
after the signing of the new
concordate with Italy, June 2,1984
"Recognition
and the guarantee of the inviolable rights of man as an
individual and in social groups in which he can develop
and expand his personality; (...) dignity and equality of
all citizens without discrimination before the kw (...)
These are some of the fundamental principles placed prominently
in the Italian charter. May Italy continue to be an example
in the defense of human rights and the values of liberty
and justice..." (Peter, lovest Thou Me, p.27)
Letter
to Heads of State, Feb. 24, 2002
"I
hope that the spirit and commitment of Assisi will lead
all people of goodwill to seek truth, justice, freedom and
love, so that every human person may enjoy his inalienable
rights and every people, peace."
|
11) For the honor
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
| St
Pius X
Encyclical
'Ad diem illum', Feb. 2, 1904
Note:
This encyclical is a theological landmark for the doctrine
of Our Lady Mediatrix of all graces and Cored.
"Moreover
it was not only the prerogative of the Most Holy Mother
to have furnished the material of His flesh to the Only
Son of God, Who was to be born with human members of which
material should be prepared the Victim for the salvation
of men; but hers was also the office of tending and nourishing
that Victim, and at the appointed time presenting Him for
the sacrifice. Hence that uninterrupted community of life
and labors of the Son and the Mother, so that of both might
have been uttered the words of the Psalmist 'My life is
consumed in sorrow and my years in groans' (Ps 30., 11).
When the supreme hour of the Son came, beside the Cross
of Jesus there stood Mary His Mother, not merely occupied
in contemplating the cruel spectacle, but rejoicing that
her Only Son was offered for the salvation of mankind, and
so entirely participating in His Passion, that if it had
been possible she would have gladly borne all the torments
that her Son bore. And from this community of will and suffering
between Christ and Mary she merited to become most worthily
the Reparatrix of the lost world and Dispensatrix of
all the gifts that Our Savior purchased for us by His Death
and by His Blood.
It
cannot, of course, be denied that the dispensation of these
treasures is the particular and peculiar right of Jesus
Christ, for they are the exclusive fruit of His Death, who
by His nature is the mediator between God and man. Nevertheless,
by this companionship in sorrow and suffering already mentioned
between the Mother and the Son, it has been allowed to the
august Virgin to be the most powerful mediatrix and advocate
of the whole world with her Divine Son.
We
are then, it will be seen, very far from attributing to
the Mother of God a productive power of grace — a power
which belongs to God alone. Yet, since Mary carries it over
all in holiness and union with Jesus Christ, and has been
associated by Jesus Christ in the work of redemption, she
merits for us 'de congruo', in the language of theologians,
what Jesus Christ merits for us 'de condigno', and she
is the supreme Minister of the distribution of graces." |
|
The
Conciliar Church
Our Lady Mediatrix and Ecumenism
Pre-Council
Vota of the Bishops
311
bishops (about 10%) requested Pope John XXIII to define
the doctrine of the Mediation of Our Lady, during Vatican
II. But it was purposely avoided in the name of ecumenism
with the Protestants. (Acts of II SiSiNoNo Congress, 1996,
p. 93)
Pope
John Paul II
Osservatore
Romano, May 9,1996
"In
the case of the Blessed Virgin, God's action appears truly
surprising. Mary doesn't possess any human title to receive
the announcement of the coming of the Messiah. (...) There
is no allusion to the behavior of Mary. With such a literary
criterion, Luke highlights that all in her comes from a
sovereign grace. None of what is granted her comes from
any title of merit, but uniquely from the free and gratuitous
divine predilection."
Theological
Commission of the Czestochowa Congress, Aug, 18-24 1996
The
Holy See asked this Congress to study the possibility and
opportunity of the definition of the Marian titles of Mediatrix,
Coredemptrix and Advocate.
"The
titles, as they are proposed are ambiguous, since they can
be understood in various way. Consequently, we must not
abandon the theological orientation of Vatican II which
did not want to define any of these terms. (...) Their definition
in the present situation would not be theologically obvious.
(...)
Finally, theologians, especially the non-Catholic, have
expressed their worries in regards to the ecumenical difficulties
that would follow the definition of the titles mentioned."
Groupe
des Dombes
Between
1991 - 1997, the 'Groupe des Dombes' (France), a group of
39 theologians (19 Catholic, 20 Protestants!) studied the
place of the Blessed Virgin in the ecumenical debate. They
produced a text in 1997 that was approved later by the International
Marian Pontifical Academy.
"It
is not opportune to abandon the path traced by Vatican II,
and to proceed to the definition of a new dogma. "The
Academy even expressed its surprised at the request of the
dogmatic definition of “a title towards which the Magisterium
has some reserves and which it keeps aside systematically."
"But
on the structural point of view, or concerning her statute,
her 'cooperation' is no different than any other person
justified by grace. (...) One can not therefore speak of
an action of Mary independent of that of Christ.
Mary
is also present at the Cross. She does not cooperate to
the unique sacrifice which Christ alone accomplishes. The
case of Mary is an example of what happens for all the saved."
(Groupe des Dombes, Document, 1997, nn. 217-219,
in Documentation sur la Révolution dans 1'Église,
No. 8, p.76)
Comments:
On
one side, Our Lady's very special cooperation to the mystery
of Redemption is explicitly denied, on the other hand, every
faithful 'saved', is also a Mediator. |
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