Friday, August 26, 2005

More Schismatic Pre-Game

I can see how much you're all enjoying this.... I ask questions, I get character assassination in return. Defending Pope Fellay a little too heartily now, snowflakes?

But regardless, Neil Dhingra of Notre Dame reminds me of something over at Amy's:

Last February, John Allen reported on a 50-page booklet released by the SSPX entitled “From Ecumenism to Silent Apostasy.” I don't really know that much about the SSPX's theology, so I'll give you Allen's analysis:

"'As attractive as he seems at first sight,' the booklet concludes about John Paul, 'as spectacular as his ceremonies appear on TV, and however large the crowds that follow him, the realty is extremely sad: ecumenism has transformed the holy city that is the church into a city in ruins.'

"Other than the pope, the villain of the story as told by the Lefebvrites is Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who is accused of heresy three times in the 50-page document....

"Interestingly, there isn’t one word on what has long been the signature issue for the Lefebvrites: the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass. This confirms what experts have always understood, that the Latin Mass is the tip of the iceberg. The real theological issues, such as ecumenism and inter-faith relations, run much deeper. This is why, Vatican experts on traditionalism say, it was futile to believe that allowing permission for wider celebration of the pre-conciliar Mass, as John Paul did in 1988, would solve the problem."

OK, my query is, if Fellay & Co. want the 1988 excommunications lifted, will they retract their tarring of Kasper as a heretic?

Rich Leonardi says:

[T]he examples of anti-semitism I found among SSPX adherents via a simple Google search was surprising.

If you're surprised, you haven't been paying attention.

Check this point-counterpoint on the Shoah:

"[T]here was not one Jew killed in the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies. The Jews created the Holocaust so we would prostrate ourselves on our knees before them and approve of their new State of Israel.... Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil, and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism." -- Richard Williamson, SSPX bishop, 1989

"This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, in which millions of Jews – men, women and children – were put to death in the gas chambers and ovens. I make my own the words written by my venerable Predecessor on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and I too say: “I bow my head before all those who experienced this manifestation of the mysterium iniquitatis.” The terrible events of that time must “never cease to rouse consciences, to resolve conflicts, to inspire the building of peace”." -- Benedict XVI, Cologne, August 2005

Papa Fellay or Papa Ratzi, Trads? Day of reckoning's here.

More soon.

-30-

4 Comments:

Blogger Ian said...

Just as inside the Catholic Church there are complete nuts, the SSPX has its own nuts. In this case, Bishop Williamson.

26/8/05 18:22  
Blogger Matthew Lickona said...

Rock,
Where is the character assassination? Somebody accused you of hating Traditional Catholics, which is over the top, but surely you cannot argue that you enjoy pulling the wings off of those particular butterflies? After that, I thought the comment thread for "Pre-Gaming for the Schismatics" was remarkably civil and illuminating on both sides.

26/8/05 19:02  
Blogger Tattercoats said...

Holocaust denial is simply beyond the pale. It must not be allowed to stand unremarked. Even if this Williamson character doesn't represent the official position of the SSPX, his position must be brought to light so that the SSPX as a body will be forced to either disavow him or join him in this repulsive position.

Count me in with Papa Ratzi on this -- the memory of the Holocaust must always be sharp in our minds, prodding us not merely to feel bad about what happened, but to stand up and act for justice when others are subjected to such atrocities.

26/8/05 20:59  
Blogger Disgusted in DC said...

"I'll bet the wise, old liturgist/historian would not have been any happier using the Rite of Lyons than the one he had grown up with! Which kind of reduces the punch of his point and makes it more like an expert's facile "gotcha" and less like a substantive disagreement."

Yes, a well-deserved "gotcha" to a stupid, impertinent question.

Gyrovagus: great stories. Tell us more about where the Credo materials are wrong.

27/8/05 14:09  

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