Fr. Z's Blog

Today is the Feast of John XXIII in the new, Novus Ordo, calendar.   He died in 1963 during the Second Vatican Council.  His greatest achievement was being a military chaplain.

Today is the anniversary of the opening of Vatican II when John XXIII read his famous speech Gaudet Mater Ecclesia.

Today in the “Walking Together about Walking Togetherity” Francis’ liturgical sicarius Arthur Carnifex … darn that auto-correct… Cardinal Roche delivered a speech in which he quoted at length from Gaudet Mater Ecclesia.  HERE

A little on the nose, really, for those who think that the “W-T” is sort of Vatican III in a permanent revolution sort of way.

He read, with a straight face, this passage from Gaudet with the famous passage about the “medicine of mercy”.

Two points… there is something in what he read that we should underscore and then there is something that he did NOT read which was the most important and most IGNORED thing in Gaudet.  My emphases.

At the outset of the Second Vatican Council, it is evident, as always, that the truth of the Lord will remain forever. We see, in fact, as one age succeeds another, that the opinions of men follow one another and exclude each other. And often errors vanish as quickly as they arise, like fog before the sun. The Church has always opposed these errors. Frequently she has condemned them with the greatest severity. Nowadays however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity. She consider that she meets the needs of the present day by demonstrating the validity of her teaching rather than by condemnations. Not, certainly, that there is a lack of fallacious teaching, opinions, and dangerous concepts to be guarded against an dissipated. But these are so obviously in contrast with the right norm of honesty, and have produced such lethal fruits that by now it would seem that men of themselves are inclined to condemn them, particularly those ways of life which despise God and His law or place excessive confidence in technical progress and a well-being based exclusively on the comforts of life. They are ever more deeply convinced of the paramount dignity of the human person and of his perfection as well as of the duties which that implies. Even more important, experience has taught men that violence inflicted on others, the might of arms, and political domination, are of no help at all in finding a happy solution to the grave problems which afflict them.

Tell that last part to Catholics in China.

Anyway, certain things are such “lethal fruits” that people in general are rejecting them?  Today people are rejecting false teachings with lethal consequences?   They are?

It seems to me that one of the most lethal has been brought into the “W-T” itself, that is, the homosexualist agenda.

What Carn. Roche did not quote from Gaudet is the most important part.

I make here the observation that it is not especially easy to find an English translation of Gaudet Mater Ecclesia online.  HERE  The Vatican website has only Spanish, Italian, Latin and Portuguese.  No English, French, German….

The most important thing John said in Gaudet, however, was (my emphases):

The manner in which sacred doctrine is spread, this having been established, it becomes clear how much is expected from the Council in regard to doctrine. That is, the Twenty-first Ecumenical Council, which will draw upon the effective and important wealth of juridical, liturgical, apostolic, and administrative experiences, wishes to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion, which throughout twenty centuries, notwithstanding difficulties and contrasts, has become the common patrimony of men. It is a patrimony not well received by all, but always a rich treasure available to men of good will.

Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands of us, pursuing thus the path which the Church has followed for twenty centuries. […]
… But from the renewed, serene, and tranquil adherence to all the teaching of the Church in its entirety and preciseness, as it still shines forth in the Acts of the Council of Trent and First Vatican Council, the Christian, Catholic, and apostolic spirit of the whole world expects a step forward toward a doctrinal penetration and a formation of consciousness in faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine, which, however, should be studied and expounded through the methods of research and through the literary forms of modern thought. The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another. And it is the latter that must be taken into great consideration with patience if necessary, everything being measured in the forms and proportions of a magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in character.

There may be new ways of presenting Catholic doctrine but its meaning must not be compromised in finding new expressions.

John goes on to speak about how in dealing with errors in the past, the Church had often issued severe condemnations.  Now, however, “the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”  That’s where Carn. Roche picked up.  He didn’t read the most important part.

Meanwhile… some W-T members have tested positive for COVID.

It will be interesting to see how many don the virtue signaling face diaper.

Oh look!  A certain Jesuit leads the way!

.@JamesMartinSJ & Cynthia Bailey Manns (from controversial St Joan of Arc Community) have been assigned by @Synod_va to same small group (Table 28) in week 2 of the #Synod. Table 28 will discuss the Instrumentum Laboris B 1.2 Worksheet on “LGBTQ+” issues.?Photo: @EdwardPentin. pic.twitter.com/dF4q1FGemr

— Diane Montagna (@dianemontagna) October 11, 2023

UPDATE:   I just noticed in Diane’s tweet that the inexplicable rep from the lunatic parish in my native place Minneapolis, St. Joan of Arc – how it irritates me that her name is so dishonored – is there with Jasmine working things out for their pet agenda item.