Where have I been!

Or rather, where did time go? I have a post for you later

Vatican II and the Year of Faith

Let's start this off pleasantly.

We now turn to the one who convoked the Second Vatican Council and inaugurated it: Blessed John XXIII. In his opening speech, he presented the principal purpose of the Council in this way: “What above all concerns the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine be safeguarded and taught more effectively […] Therefore, the principal purpose of this Council is not the discussion of this or that doctrinal theme… a Council is not required for that… [but] this certain and immutable doctrine, which is to be faithfully respected, needs to be explored and presented in a way which responds to the needs of our time” (AAS 54 [1962], 790,791-792).

These were the words which our Holy Father had in his homily today, in the Mass celebrating the 50th Anniversary of VII and today to open the Year of Faith. These words directly defy the average progressive's ignorance of the documents of the Council. We must remember, that most liberals who say they do things "In keeping with the spirit of the Council, the spirit of Vatican II" hardly know WHAT the council was about or what the documents really dictated.

Today, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops also published a pastoral letter on Vatican II. Now, particular bishops of the CCCB are known on getting the Second Vatican Council wrong. I have not read the document, but if anyone has please send me an email regarding it's contents.

Rest assured: the Pope knows what Vatican II was, he was there. It's a council....out of many other councils such as the first Vatican Council, Trent, as well as the Lateran councils. Of course there are more.

He knows how the documents were read in a spirit of disobedience, and that they were intentionally used as an excuse for dissent. Even 50 years later the problems still linger and we must pray they disappear. What Blessed Pope John XXIII meant by a "breath of fresh air" was ignored.

NOT THE BREATH OF FRESH AIR

courtesy of eponymousflower.blogspot.com

THIS IS MORE LIKE IT

For this year of Faith, please pray for Holy Mother Church, our Holy Father, and for the spread of the EF Mass, the Mass of the saints and our Patrimony as Catholics.

A profession of Hate

This morning, I had the horrible pleasure of stumbling upon this article from the Toronto Star. I have skipped a few of the beginning paragraphs, because i want to get down to the brass tacks of this.

The major crisis in the church right now is we’re not talking to one another,” says theologian Margaret Lavin of Toronto’s Regis College. “We’re screaming and shouting at each other and naming and blaming one another.”

This summer, Oxford professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, a leading historian[therefore as an historian he must have some infallible authority over the matters in Christendom] of Christianity, described the church on the verge of schism “over the Vatican’s failure to listen to European Catholics” about Vatican II. Few repeat that warning, and rebels insist they want to work within the church.[Here we go. The Vatican has failed to listen to European Catholics? This doesn't have to do with VII. The Vatican is a city-state, therefore it can not listen nor see. However, the Vicar of Christ lives in the Vatican. When people say "the Vatican" it's just a cover-up because he's afraid to say the Pope. The Pope does not have to listen to European Catholics, Catholics have to listen to him. There are certain cases where we must follow our conscience, but only when it's well-formed. And how many people have well-formed consciences?]
“I’m insulted when people call me a dissident,” says Rev. Brendan Hoban, a founder of the Irish reform group, the Association of Catholic Priests. “I’ve been at the heart of the church for 40 years.”
Still, many warn of a Roman Catholic Church reduced to a sect, or worse.[He's been at the heart of dissent for 40 years. The Association of Catholic Priests is not a reform group, it's just a dissident group]
“The church has to listen to its people,” Hoban says. “The stakes are huge. This is about the implosion of a church. This is about something disappearing.”[Again with the listening to the People stuff; like I said the Church is not a democracy. It's the Mystical Body of Christ! We are not Park Street First Foursquare Congregationalist.]
In many ways, the church is being torn by a classic power struggle. [/s/ what an epiphany /s/] Reformers say Vatican II calls for a more decentralized and democratic church; the Vatican has instead centralized control while cracking down on doctrinal opposition for the past 30 years.[If John Doe went around and broke into 500 houses, wouldn't the government go and crack down on his crime? If this was the case would it be a controversy? So many "Catholics" have misrepresented the Church, and have lied about the teachings of the Church. Instead of teaching Cathechism in school, they've taught their own made-up doctrines and have encouraged opposition to God.]
A church in tune with modernity was a central theme of Vatican II, and reformers believe a more grassroots institution is the way to achieve that. In the process, doctrines preventing women from being ordained, priests from being married, contraceptives from being used and divorced Catholics from receiving communion must at least be reviewed, if not changed.[This is a classic case of  journalists lacking understanding proper theology and canon law. This is also a classic excuse]
The backdrop to the battle is a Roman Catholic Church in crisis in Europe and North America. Vocations to the priesthood are drying up and sex abuse scandals reveal a hierarchy often more interested in protecting the institution than protecting children.[drying up like water in a warm fridge. But there were bishops who covered up the abuse scandals, although I guarantee you ihttp://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1267473--vatican-ii-roman-catholic-church-still-deeply-divided-50-years-after-historic-reforms

t was not our of love and protection of the Church.]

(skipped over some things about Cardinal Montini, We are Church, the Preachers Initiative...)

Then we focus on a man named McCann who before this mentioned the abuse crisis. 

The final straw for McCann came when the Vatican introduced a new translation of the mass late last year without consultations. Some priests have described the new wording as sexist and awkward, and are refusing to use it. [Sexist and awkward. Does he know what the Mass is? It's not about us]

Pope Benedict XVI, whose pontificate has been marked by missteps, scandal and jostling to succeed him, has responded with a characteristic No. He has silenced dissident priests, and in his Holy Thursday homily this spring, told rebels to practice a “radicalism of obedience.”[Missteps? Scandal and jostling to succeed him? When?]

There is so much BS in this article. So much, so so so much. It is merely a journal of one journalist's desire to blame every problem on the Church. Please readers, pray for her.

The point of my post is this: the secular media has no right to comment on the matters of the Church, as the secular media is full of lies and contempt anyhow. The only thing that will get good press is if Lady Gaga comes out and defends her openly homosexual boyfriend's seventy-four lovers.

And we are the bigots? The article is quite long but if you have the extra hour or so, feel free to read it.

Two new Doctors of the Church

St John of the Cross

St Hildegard von Bingen

Today, there were two great saints: St John of Avila, and St Hildegard von Bingen, proclaimed as Doctors of the Church! Please pray for us!

Happy feast day!