> how long will it be before they arrive in the U.S.?
Or: what shall laypeople do to humbly and obediently and charitably express dismay, when these arrive? The enemy would prefer one of these instead: 1. we roll over and do nothing, or 2. we act with pride or vanity, or endorse disobedience (more generally than reminding one another "no one can order you to commit a sin"), or say or write uncharitable things, when pushing back against the idea that it is possible to bless sin in one's own diocese. The enemy would also prefer it if we despair or if we think that prayer and penance, as a body, will not do anything useful and are a cop-out and we counsel one another only to take material actions.
It is a good occasion to pray Psalm 37 ( https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/37 though every time I look up a psalm I'm like "man, the translation i have semi-memorized in the breviary is completely different", somewhat jarring) as a reminder that this generation will pass away, as every other generation before it has passed away; I have no particular reason to believe that we are in the final days of the world, but it is always a good idea to have the four last things in mind (and to be prepared to resist evil as though this moment is our last opportunity to do so) because we do not know whether we are in "the final days of my own life".
All of the diocesan seminarians in my state attend the seminary of the archdiocese. We currently have 80+ seminarians. But I have heard that the prospects for future classes are not quite as bright and this one issue could be a big reason why.
I think we are back in the world of that great play "A Man for all Seasons", except that those faithful to Church teaching on marriage do not face the axeman (not yet, anyway). St Thomas More's reply to his vile accusers "Silence betokens consent" seems to apply here. If Pope Francis remains silent in the face of these blessings, both in Belgium AND in Germany, and takes no action against the anti-Catholic bishops, he will inevitably be seen to approve of the blessings. And, with or without Papal action, more and more bishops will follow the Belgian example.
The Pope won't intervene. He is far too concerned with more critical issues, such as curtailing the Extraordinary Form, and having his nuncio ride herd over those troublesome (some of them) American bishops.
no, they are Catholic and one good confession (with sincere desire to amend one's life, which is a really big chore but possible with grace) will put them right back on track. This is the same thing I said to myself one time when a self-described-to-be-edgy-"satanist" was shouting at me outside a church before a 40DFL kickoff Mass (not this year) and the burden of her song was that she had been to Catholic school and been confirmed (prior to rejecting the faith as an adult because she loves abortion), which was supposed to upset me (more than if she was just some random cradle-atheist) for some reason. One good confession and the devil is robbed of his prey which he has put years of effort into.
I didn’t say that they were sinners, I just said that objectively Bishop Weisemann and I believe different things. I don’t think that there is any such thing as “believers whose marriages have broken down and who have remarried,” for the reason that I believe Christ meant it when he said marriage can’t be broken down. We follow different a Jesus. We are not in communion any more, so either he has broken it, or I have.
It is thoughtful (in some sense of the word) of him to also ask his priests to bless adultery. I can see that he really desires to be compassionate; however, when we walk with people we should not walk off a cliff like some Wile E. Coyote cartoon.
I will ask St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross to pray for the Church in Germany.
And you might want to include Blessed Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Münster in that request as well. He is the sort of bishop Germany (and Münster) needs today.
At first turn a blind eye. Then allow. Then encourage. Then require. They're on step 3 here, but it's only a matter of time before the "bigot" priests who refuse will be hounded out of ministry. Following to a T the protestant model.
The scandal it will cause is worse than the action itself. Even if he could find some narrow way or formula to bless some kind of friendship or person, this is is not worth the angst and the inevitable splinter. I would make a comparison to beachwear. What is normative today was scandalous decades ago, and, while the beachwear may not be objectively sinful, it would likely have been better had we never gone down that path.
Why pick on this bishop? He is merely exercising the pastoral prudence that Pope Francis encouraged in his above-quoted dubia response. Speaking of quotes...
Compare:
“The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh.” - Our Lady of Fatima, 1917.
With:
"What I don’t like at all, is we look at the so-called 'sin of the flesh' with a magnifying glass." - Pope Francis 2023
I guess Francis must be wiser and holier than the BVM.
It's not surprising given Pope Francis' encouragement in so many ways. Certainly the pope says all the right things: there is no correspondence at all between so-called same-sex unions and marriage; we must respect divine revelation; all abuse is evil. But then his actions reveal his mind: go ahead and find a way to bless a couple of guys or gals living together; he writes that revelation includes “the knowledge of the common sense of the people who are in fact a theological place in which so many images of God dwell, often not corresponding to the Christian face of God” (This from his most recent motu propio, in paragraph 8); and Rupnik is his own special case, not to be considered under the pope's strong words. I agree with the person who wrote "Either I'm Catholic, or they are." It really does seem that we're getting to that point. And yet, I refuse to give in to despair, because I do believe that Jesus is the head of the Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I'm sure I will need to open myself more to Jesus, and to keep trying to put on his mind. But the Christian face of God is Jesus, and Jesus is the fullness of revelation. All theology starts with him. We certainly do not want to dismiss the experience of people, but their common sense needs to correspond with Jesus. Didn't Jesus say to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
> how long will it be before they arrive in the U.S.?
Or: what shall laypeople do to humbly and obediently and charitably express dismay, when these arrive? The enemy would prefer one of these instead: 1. we roll over and do nothing, or 2. we act with pride or vanity, or endorse disobedience (more generally than reminding one another "no one can order you to commit a sin"), or say or write uncharitable things, when pushing back against the idea that it is possible to bless sin in one's own diocese. The enemy would also prefer it if we despair or if we think that prayer and penance, as a body, will not do anything useful and are a cop-out and we counsel one another only to take material actions.
Your second question is probably one worth a lot of thought. How do we react when/if this lands on our doorstep?
Even if we are in a good diocese or parish, we still are impacted by surrounding churches & dioceses.
It is a good occasion to pray Psalm 37 ( https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/37 though every time I look up a psalm I'm like "man, the translation i have semi-memorized in the breviary is completely different", somewhat jarring) as a reminder that this generation will pass away, as every other generation before it has passed away; I have no particular reason to believe that we are in the final days of the world, but it is always a good idea to have the four last things in mind (and to be prepared to resist evil as though this moment is our last opportunity to do so) because we do not know whether we are in "the final days of my own life".
A priest can always ask to be incardinated elsewhere so as not to be put in this position.
Excellent questions.
All of the diocesan seminarians in my state attend the seminary of the archdiocese. We currently have 80+ seminarians. But I have heard that the prospects for future classes are not quite as bright and this one issue could be a big reason why.
Bernie,
I think we are back in the world of that great play "A Man for all Seasons", except that those faithful to Church teaching on marriage do not face the axeman (not yet, anyway). St Thomas More's reply to his vile accusers "Silence betokens consent" seems to apply here. If Pope Francis remains silent in the face of these blessings, both in Belgium AND in Germany, and takes no action against the anti-Catholic bishops, he will inevitably be seen to approve of the blessings. And, with or without Papal action, more and more bishops will follow the Belgian example.
The Pope won't intervene. He is far too concerned with more critical issues, such as curtailing the Extraordinary Form, and having his nuncio ride herd over those troublesome (some of them) American bishops.
I am not the same religion as these people. Either I’m Catholic, or they are.
no, they are Catholic and one good confession (with sincere desire to amend one's life, which is a really big chore but possible with grace) will put them right back on track. This is the same thing I said to myself one time when a self-described-to-be-edgy-"satanist" was shouting at me outside a church before a 40DFL kickoff Mass (not this year) and the burden of her song was that she had been to Catholic school and been confirmed (prior to rejecting the faith as an adult because she loves abortion), which was supposed to upset me (more than if she was just some random cradle-atheist) for some reason. One good confession and the devil is robbed of his prey which he has put years of effort into.
I didn’t say that they were sinners, I just said that objectively Bishop Weisemann and I believe different things. I don’t think that there is any such thing as “believers whose marriages have broken down and who have remarried,” for the reason that I believe Christ meant it when he said marriage can’t be broken down. We follow different a Jesus. We are not in communion any more, so either he has broken it, or I have.
It is thoughtful (in some sense of the word) of him to also ask his priests to bless adultery. I can see that he really desires to be compassionate; however, when we walk with people we should not walk off a cliff like some Wile E. Coyote cartoon.
I will ask St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross to pray for the Church in Germany.
And you might want to include Blessed Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Münster in that request as well. He is the sort of bishop Germany (and Münster) needs today.
I am delighted to read about him and will add him to my list of intercessors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemens_August_Graf_von_Galen
There is a good biography of him in English, "The Lion of Münster" by Daniel Utrecht.
This is a scandal to the faithful! And we wonder why there are so many non-practicing? Bring on the orthodoxy!
Blessing sins will surely lead souls further down the path to Hell.
Pray that the shepherds and the sheep repent and learn to love God more than sin.
At first turn a blind eye. Then allow. Then encourage. Then require. They're on step 3 here, but it's only a matter of time before the "bigot" priests who refuse will be hounded out of ministry. Following to a T the protestant model.
The scandal it will cause is worse than the action itself. Even if he could find some narrow way or formula to bless some kind of friendship or person, this is is not worth the angst and the inevitable splinter. I would make a comparison to beachwear. What is normative today was scandalous decades ago, and, while the beachwear may not be objectively sinful, it would likely have been better had we never gone down that path.
Why pick on this bishop? He is merely exercising the pastoral prudence that Pope Francis encouraged in his above-quoted dubia response. Speaking of quotes...
Compare:
“The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh.” - Our Lady of Fatima, 1917.
With:
"What I don’t like at all, is we look at the so-called 'sin of the flesh' with a magnifying glass." - Pope Francis 2023
I guess Francis must be wiser and holier than the BVM.
She is a bit rigid though, isn’t she? Maybe even clericalist.
Why why why is this allowed to happen???
"Wiesemann promised to respect the consciences of pastors who opposed the blessings."
They ALWAYS say that.
It NEVER happens.
Do something, Francis.
See the Episcopal Church and its tolerance for more traditional view of these matters . Going, going , gone
God can not bless sin.
It's not surprising given Pope Francis' encouragement in so many ways. Certainly the pope says all the right things: there is no correspondence at all between so-called same-sex unions and marriage; we must respect divine revelation; all abuse is evil. But then his actions reveal his mind: go ahead and find a way to bless a couple of guys or gals living together; he writes that revelation includes “the knowledge of the common sense of the people who are in fact a theological place in which so many images of God dwell, often not corresponding to the Christian face of God” (This from his most recent motu propio, in paragraph 8); and Rupnik is his own special case, not to be considered under the pope's strong words. I agree with the person who wrote "Either I'm Catholic, or they are." It really does seem that we're getting to that point. And yet, I refuse to give in to despair, because I do believe that Jesus is the head of the Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I'm sure I will need to open myself more to Jesus, and to keep trying to put on his mind. But the Christian face of God is Jesus, and Jesus is the fullness of revelation. All theology starts with him. We certainly do not want to dismiss the experience of people, but their common sense needs to correspond with Jesus. Didn't Jesus say to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Don't worry. I am sure Rome will issue a sternly worded warning about making sure those blessings are performed in an eco-friendly manner.
Schism
Wealth can be an infantilizing burden.