Reflecting on the the past week's announcement of the pope's lifting the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops and the publication of the painfully inane remarks of of one of them, Richard Williamson, John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter asks:
What might a more effective communications strategy have looked like?Perhaps John Allen might apply for the job I proposed in an earlier post: Help Wanted!
Rather than dropping this decree on an unsuspecting world, the Vatican could have called a press conference to present it, with senior officials such as Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews -- so that the interpretation would be simultaneous, not after-the-fact. At that time, four key points could have been made:
* This move is not an endorsement of the personal views of these four bishops. In particular, in light of Williamson's past comments, the pope wishes to clearly repudiate any attempt to diminish or deny the horror of the Holocaust.
* Catholicism's commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, and to good relations with the Jewish people, is unchanged.
* Lifting the excommunication gets the traditionalists in the door, but it does not mean they have arrived. If they are to be fully reintegrated, they must accept official Catholic teaching, including religious freedom and respect for other religions.
* The pope feels he'll have more leverage to nudge traditionalists in this direction by opening a dialogue, rather than keeping them on the outside.
That might not have been enough to short-circuit all the negative reaction, but it surely would have softened the blow. All four points were implied in the Jan. 25 statement from Ricard, as well as the Jan. 28 comments by Benedict XVI, but coming only in the wake of negative public reaction they inevitably smack of
spin.
(read the complete article)
-ConcordPastor
Concord Pastor,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry I have waited to write, because I did read John Allen's article as soon as you linked it, and enjoyed it very much. I do wish, however, that more had been asked of SSPX in the way of demonstrating their actual Catholc faith before they were "let back in." At least Bp. Williamson does not seem to believe in caritas -
Again, the SSPX has not been "let back in." The excommunications have been lifted which opens a door to them talking to the Vatican about their possible reconciliation with the Church. They remain without permission to celebrate the sacraments.
ReplyDeleteDear Concord Pastor,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your continued patience with me. I do understand the lifting of excommunication does not let the SSPX all the way "back in". I understand that they cannot legally celebrate the sacraments, even though said sacraments would be valid. (So that, if I understand correctly, an attendee at one of their Masses would still fulfill a Mass obligation. Is this correct?)
I still wish that the Pope had not made the decision he did make, apparently without complete information.