More concerning the alleged “commission” to reinterpret ‘Humanae vitae’
Andrea Gagliarducci has a thought provoking offering for his weekly Vatican Monday.
He raises the question of who will defend the legacy, the magisterium of Pope John Paul II.
He writes about the Left, liberal sex-obsessed agenda: Humanae vitae and those issues that devolve once sexual activity is separated from procreation and marriage.
Remember: HV was Paul VI. But John Paul II was the stalwart defender of HV. Through attacks on the HV the whole of the magisterium of John Paul II was targeted.
Of course, before anyone burbles that we can’t reduce the magisterium of John Paul solely to sexual issues, let’s stipulate that we can’t reduce the magisterium of John Paul solely to sexual issues. No one would do that unless they were attempting a ridiculous ploy to derail the discussion.
Nevertheless, elements hostile to HV are coming into prominence during this pontificate of Pope Francis, those who are willing to use this pontificate for their own ends.
The other day I said (HERE) that the alleged (according to Marco Tosatti and Roberto de Mattei) commission set up by Pope Francis to reinterpret HV, is not really a commission nor is it set up by Pope Francis. I believe, with respect, that Tosatti and de Mattei got it wrong.
As I said before, this isn’t an official group, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous.
Via Gaglarducci,
[Msgr. Gilfredo Marengo – member of the alleged commission and instructor at the JPII Institute] denied any “imaginary reconstruction” concerning a commission to reinterpret Humanae Vitae. “Certainly,” he said “I don’t think the theme of a reconciliation of Humanae Vitae and Amoris Laetitia is part of the current agenda. I find it dangerous to invent responses to useless questions.” [Right now I don’t believe that, but… keep going…]
And also,
However, the group allegedly gathered around him is not a commission appointed by Pope Francis. It is mostly a study group, and it is likely they will come out with a paper on the issue. If this paper is published, it will have an impact. [As I said, it will be dangerous.]
According to Corrispondenza Romana, the study group involves Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri. Another member of the group is Professor Philippe Cheneaux, a well-known authority on the history of the modern Church. Msgr. Angelo Maffeis, President of the Paul VI Institute in Brescia, is also working with the group.
It would not be a commission, then, but a research group. The final aim of this research would be to give a new perspective on Humanae Vitae, 50 years after its promulgation. Pope Francis is apparently not the initiator of the project. He was informed of it, however, and he encouraged it, according to the principle that has always distinguished his pontificate.
So, let’s be clear. Something is afoot, but it isn’t wearing the shoes people think it wears.
When I say that it isn’t a commission, but it is dangerous, take a look at this insight in Andrea’s piece:
In the end, papal addresses in “light” documents – not encyclicals, but apostolic exhortations – are exploited in order to generate a “habit of thought” that can then take root – [“habit of thought”] in the same way that the rationale of discernment has always been followed, since a confessor is hardly unable to understand when the sin is a voluntary one and when it is not, or when a sinner has repented and when he has not.
The Pope’s words are then employed in other publications, and their authors seek the Pope’s backing. This happened, for example, with the interpretation of Amoris Laetitia published by some Argentinian bishops: the Pope’s document was given a very progressive interpretation, but the bishops took cover behind a letter from the Pope that approved their rationale.
This is how the propaganda machine works. It is a complex mechanism, as it involves people outside of the Catholic Church. But they are good allies. No one speaks about those words of Pope Francis that condemn ideological colonization and gender theory while they also commend the natural family. Instead, Pope Francis’s less controversial themes are emphasized, such as the war on poverty and human trafficking. Pope Francis never takes a sharp position. He has always maintained that he wants to evangelize via attraction, and controversies are really not attractive.
But the agenda goes beyond this limited goal, and targets St. John Paul II’s thought – 27 years of a pontificate that marked an era in the appointment of bishops and the establishment of a Catholic culture. The final aim seems to be the nullification of St. John Paul II’s thought.
Andrea goes on to describe how the Lateran University’s John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family will be enervated by fusing it together with the Lateran’s Institute “Redemptor Hominis” for “pastoral theology” (whatever that is). As Andrea points out, “pastoral theology” is “a subject that has often been compartmentalized away from pastoral care, as if the latter needed no theological foundation.”
There is a huge war going on in the Church right now. It has been going on for a long time, but it is heating up. Those in the liberal ascendency are pitting “pastoral” against “intellectual” etc. They instrumentalize less than clear statements of the Holy Father to further their agenda.
Another note to think about. Remember that the bishops’ conference in Poland paid for the translation and the publication of The Five Cardinals Book™, Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church (now in 10 languages). This most important book (which I am told sound priests are using in their marriage preparation work) was sent to all the members of the 1st Synod (“walking together”) on the Family. When the organizers of the Synod learned what was in those postmarked envelopes they confiscated them (thus breaking postal laws).
Early on the Polish bishops sniffed out what was in the air: the nullification of the magisterium of their beloved John Paul II. Notice that they took a strong stance regarding chapter 8 of Amoris laetitia and, having concluded that AL doesn’t change the Church’s teaching, will not give Communion to the divorced and civilly remarried. But step across the border into Germany and you have quite a different situation.
This is an important book.
Don’t forget Edward Pentin’s The Rigging of a Vatican Synod (aka The Smoking Gun Book™.) UK HERE. This is an e-book – not published in paper. Don’t have a Kindle yet? Get a Paperwhite HERE. Kindle Fire HERE. UK buy a Kindle HERE. You can also read online.
