Photo: Reuters
The Vatican has released the letter Pope Benedict XVI has sent to all the bishops regarding the lifting of the excommunication of the four SSPX "bishops." It is lengthy but worth the time for those who followed this story over the last month or so.
Related to this story, Rocco has the goods on the reconciliation of an important group of Jewish leaders:
(A)longside this morning's release of the Pope's letter of reflection to the world's bishops on the SSPX de-excommunications and their fallout, B16 held a private audience with a delegation of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, accompanied by members of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
The leaders of Judaism's two major groups in the Holy Land had severed relations with the Holy See in the immediate wake of the late January "remit" for the ultra-traditionalist group.
Following is the Pope's address to the audience -- originally given in English -- as released by the Holy See Press Office.
...
(See Rocco for the text of the papal address)
-ConcordPastor
I think there are some who would say that the Holy Father's actions are "too little, too late." And, of course, there are others who would likely say that it was the right thing to do at the right time.
ReplyDeleteIs it either? Personally, I don't know. But the letter, as well as his remarks to the Rabbinate, are thoughtful, and I got the impression that he is not only trying to mend fences, but that he and those in the Curia who are responsible for (and I can't think of a better choice of words) intelligence gathering need to pay closer attention to what happens out on the Web.
Thanks for posting this.
I thought the pope's letter seemed quite sincere. It had a very pastoral tone. I sensed that he felt personally very wounded by attacks to him directly. I hope that the pope will tune in himself to the blogosphere. He will see how divisive, mean, unkind and hateful much of the commentary on certain topics is from supposedly Christian Catholics. I think this would be an eye-opener for him that would be quite worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI still wonder why he didn't consult with Cardinal Walter Kaspar before he issued his invitation to the four SSPX bishops. It would have saved him a lot of heartache.
Meanwhile, is the same term "ordained validly but not legitimately" used in conjunction with the women bishops who were ordained by valid bishops? Do you think someday the pope will issue an invitation of reconciliation to them?!
"Anonymous" asked if "ordained validly but not legitimately" is also applied to "women bishops who were ordained by valid bishops."
ReplyDeleteDid "anonymous" mean "women priests who were orained by valid bishops"?
No validly ordained Catholic bishops have claimed to have ordained women.
Another difference is that canonically, by gender, women cannot be candidates for ordination. So, even if a valid bishop "ordained" a woman, it would not be valid because of the gender question.
The Pope's letter came as somewhat of a relief but I think we still need to see some major reform in how church communications are handled. We in the liturgical churches are so far behind the Evangelical Protestants in this regard, it's pitiful.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that the Vatican will be paying more attention to the internet from now on.
ReplyDeleteI am the anonymous above. I did mean to say ordained women bishops not women priests. I believe that validly ordained male bishops (I think in Germany) were the ones who ordained women as bishops. In turn, those women bishops are now ordaining women priests.
ReplyDeleteSome, I believe, have claimed that validly ordained bishops have ordained women secretly - but none of those bishops has been named nor have any stepped forward. In the case of the SSPX, Archbishop Lefebvre publicly ordained the four who were excommunicated.
ReplyDelete