marboniface Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Is it just me, or is everyone waiting to see what major things Pope Benedict is going to do? I guess that Europe is in a mess, in terms of the faith, and I want to see how Pope Benedict is going to act to bring Christianity back into Europe. Marboniface Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Didacus Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I believe, though this is just speculation, that he will make efforts towards reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants. though this does not address directly the issue of europe loosing faith, I believe there will be positive fallback in that respect should he suceed in significant progress. JPII left him an excellent base to work with in this regards. Wasn't it the archbishop of Cantebury who said the differences in these faiths where agreed to be traditional in nature? I don't know the holy Father's plans, but I think this would be an excellent starting point as far as Europe is concerned. I trust him, he knows what he is doing... for the rest of us, it's a matter of observing the events unfold and try to find ways of taking part in them in support of Benedict XVI. God Bless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy the Ninja Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 It would be nice if our Holy Father would get the Catholic house in order before he tried tackling Catholic/Protestant reconcilliation. The Catholic Church here in America, and in a great many places in Europe, looks like a hurricane has gone through it, punching out walls and ripping off roofs and foundations of people and we need the Papal FEMA to come in and fix things. We've been shaken up, now we need the straightening up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezic Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 papal action can't make people believe. What we "need" is the leaders to again act like our Apostle friends. Bring the fire of Africa to the intellectual tradition of America and Europe. the entire new evangelization thing is what the world needs, but no pope can "give" us that. When it is time it will happen. Until then we must act everyday to correct the errors around us and be the best Catholics possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 yeah, the Pope sin't Superman. It's up to local clergy to deal with local issues, under the guidance of the Pope. They have to restore the faith among their parishoners, especially the young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good Friday Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Personally, I'm anxiously waiting for Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical. I think that will say a lot about the kind of direction his pontificate is going to take. I think that, under his pontificate, the focus will be more on cleaning up the Church, as Kilroy said. It's a bit silly to invite other Christians to move into a disorderly, and in some places filthy, house with a family that is constantly screaming at each other and even at times being violent with one another. Who would want to do that? I do think that Pope Benedict XVI will focus also on unity with the Orthodox (which he may well achieve), Anglo-Catholics (but not necessarily the Anglican Communion as such), and Lutherans. Impediments to unity with the Orthodox are relatively minor. Impediments to unity with the Anglican Communion and the Lutherans are a bit more serious. For instance, there could be no unity with the Anglican Communion while it ordains women and practicing homosexuals, allows the blessing of same-sex unions, approves of artificial birth control, and denies the transubstantiated Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the Catholic doctrine of holy orders. (And these are just a few of the problems). Our relationship with the Lutherans is in a similar situation. The Lutheran World Federation has as president the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, who has allowed: the ordination of women, the ordination of practicing homosexuals, the blessing of same-sex unions, the approval of artificial birth control, etc. And as with the Anglicans, the Lutherans do not believe the same thing as we do about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist or the sacrament of holy orders. Lutherans believe, for instance, that what occurs in the Eucharist is consubstantiation -- the Body and Blood of Christ exist alongside the bread and wine. Transubstantiation holds that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. It's a subtle difference, but nevertheless crucially important -- it goes to the question: Are we receiving bread and wine, or are we receiving Jesus? Not to mention both of these churches' ambiguous positions on abortion. I think the best we can hope for right now is unity with the Orthodox. Meanwhile, I wish Pope Benedict XVI would move away from the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, etc. and focus more on Evangelical Christians. We currently have much more common ground with them, i.e. in moral theology, than we do with the mainstream Protestant denominations. If the Church's focus is going to continue to be on mainstream Protestant Christianity, then it needs to be more on traditional groups within those traditions which agree with us on moral theology. But then again, I'm sure Pope Benedict XVI will know what to do better than I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp15 Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Nathan, glad to see you coming back a bit more. Stay around a while will ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 yeah, do. I always enjoy reading your posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JeffCR07 Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I agree, I can't wait for his first encyclical. I heart Pope Benedict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conservativecatholic Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 There is no doubt in my mind that our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, will heavily emphasize the necessity to correctly interpret the Second Vatican Council especially regarding the Liturgy. I'm in the process of reading Benedict's "Spirit of the Liturgy" which in my opinion foreshadows numerous items of business. I highly reccomend the book to everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I agree, Orthodox first. I think he's already met with Orthodox leaders in some places. John Paul's funeral was a great example of what the Church could look like when it breathes with both lungs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marboniface Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 I hope that Pope Benedict focuses more on the Orthodox than the protestants/anglicans - my impression from the state of these 'denominations', at least here in my home country is that they will about 90% die off in the next ten years. Looking at the Church as a living body, I can't see the point of trying to incorporate 'rotting flesh' into living tissue. Mind you, the Catholic Church here seem likely to shrink somewhat over the next ten years, but not completely die off. More than anything else, I hope that Pope Benedict takes the 'brakes off' those things in the Church which are good and are flourishing. Here in a particularly crazy Archdiocese, a latin Mass community was told on the feast of Corpus Christi that they were no longer alowed to have daily Mass, but only Sunday Mass because they were growing too quickly and were upsetting the priests of the Archdiocese. This directive came just before Corpus Christi, so the eucharistic procession had to be cancelled - a major bummer! Marboniface Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apotheoun Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 I agree with others in this thread; the Pope should focus on restoring communion with the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizlarAgha Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Totally agree with restoring communion with Orthodoxy. I just attended a special divine liturgy on Wednesday at an Antiochan Orthodox Church I used to attend. Beautiful service, very reverent, much more so than the Roman rite Catholic parish down the street. The biggest barrier I see to restoring communion with Orthodoxy is the state of the Catholic Church. After leaving Orthodoxy because of a belief in the Pope, I searched around and around and around. Every Catholic parish was liberal irreverent and very new age. It was terrifying. Now that I've switched over to Eastern rite, I've really found my home. However, I definitely agree with what was said about inviting people into a messy house. I hope the pope really uses a heavy handed policy on the US and European Churches so that we might be prepared for reconciliation with the Orthodox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conservativecatholic Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 [quote]Here in a particularly crazy Archdiocese, a latin Mass community was told on the feast of Corpus Christi that they were no longer alowed to have daily Mass, but only Sunday Mass because they were growing too quickly and were upsetting the priests of the Archdiocese. This directive came just before Corpus Christi, so the eucharistic procession had to be cancelled - a major bummer! Marboniface [/quote] That infuriates me... What diocese do you belong to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now