Monthly Archives: November 2017

Canon Law-1917-2017 Part 1

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

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So far there has not been much notice taken of one of this year’s centenaries. Pope Francis of course mentioned it, stressing its positive value. Like the Bible , it is, of course not so much a book as a bookshelf, and it has always reminded us of those wonderful Newnes handbooks produced for every car ever heard of, in the days when normal human beings could service their own car, with instructions for everything from repairing the car cigarette lighter upwards,.
We are not cynical on this blog- now just imagine if we really were. Moreover, all we’re saying about conspiracy theories is that they can’t all be wrong. OK? But we are saying that given the enormous value of Canon Law to our bishops, both as an administrative instrument and and a removal of the necessity for thinking, we must ask one question,. Do they not want the general public to realise that Canon Law as it stands dates only back to 1917 ? Hell, we’ve got members not much younger than that. Is it possible that there are Catholics who believe it was put together on the Sunday after Pentecost in the upper room by the Apostles ? In passing, it is interesting how often the word ‘apostolic’ is misused. Wasn’t the word often used to describe Papal Delegates ? Maybe this is why Archbishop Mennini did not reply to Feed The Flock’s registered letter- I mean were there stamps and postmen then ? Sorry.
Ray Bradbury, in his short story ‘A Sound Of Thunder’, describing how a Tyrannus Rex is killed, mentiones how this process took quite a while, parts of it still clicking and whirring for possibly hours later. You may think it fanciful’ although we quite like the idea, to compare this to the slow death of the First Vatican Council before Vatican 2. Clicking and whirring , we put it to you, still goes on in two particular areas as the movement towards confining the provision of the Eucharist in general to the Tridentine priesthood grows stronger.
Two of the obstacles to this from Canon Law are of course the insistence on celibacy and the ban on general absolution. This blog has many reference to the celibacy thing and many wonderful quotations from clerics about its value to them which we hope you constantly refer to and enjoy, especially the parts about it being invaluable for the Church’s possession of so many buildings in the 12th century which are now mere heaps of ruins all over Europe.
The other obstacle is General Absolution, and the necessity of having sins forgiven twice by the recipient. We cannot hope to reach the heights of textual exegesis no doubt attained in our seminaries- remember them? –but we simply cannot find in the Gospels any reference to this at the Last Supper. It must be mentioned here, keeping in mind the number of convicted paedophile priests allowed to return to parish work, and therefore to hear confessions, that this may be an explanation of the moribund nature of the Sacrament of Reconciliation., another of course being a calcification of the Humane Vitae thing. But that is not for us to comment on just now.
What is really quite remarkable is the attachment of some priests to the actual process of giving absolution. We don’t imagine that this comes up much in conversation with priests, for those of us who undertake this, but the invaluable internet certainly tells us how they feel about it. The emphasis is very frequently on how wonderful an experience this is for the priest, one of them pointing out that he would rather hear confessions than provide the Eucharist. Google ‘general absolution’ and you’ll find them.
Lacking years of theological education we may do, but to be quite blunt, we do not think that providing wonderful experiences for priests is what the Sacrament of Reconciliation is for . And if the bizarre insistence of Canon Law on auricular confession of already forgiven sins is taking people away from the Eucharist, then Canon Law is acting against the Eucharistic imperative at the Last Supper.

Celibacy? It’s Alive !

12 Sunday Nov 2017

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Until today, we thought there were no more laughs to be gained from necessity of being celibate to bring the Eucharist to the Flock as Christ told us. And we are including the contribution made by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, already mentioned. In all charity, we’re not going to mention this priest’s name, or the website it’s in. We don’t make these things up, as you will know, If only we had to ! But it’s worth a laugh .
As we all know, it is beginning to be recognised what a stupid thing it was to make celibacy compulsory in the 12th century, to prevent the priest’s family from selling off the church buildings once he died. It should have taken only a century or so’s thought to find some other way. Instead it’s been going on since then, with who knows what damage to the Church. Like, say, the Reformation for starters?
Anyway, God bless him, he’s doing his best.
He says that the debate on married clergy ‘often focuses on pragmatic questions , it usually ignores the rich theological reasons behind the celibate priesthood’. If there has ever been the slightest doubt about celibacy being an obstacle in providing the Eucharist, we would say that that is so pragmatic a question it takes us right back to the Last Supper. Even after a minute or two’s thought, we have to admit that this is a point which has to put the Incarnation in question. Just a thought.
‘Jesus Christ Himself never married, and there’s something about imitating the life our Lord in full that is very attractive’ he tells us. I think we have to wonder how far making the lives of priests in the 21st century attractive is part of the Gospel message . It is certainly not mentioned at the Last Supper.
We have often felt that the Tridentine priesthood likes to give itself a pat n the back for celibacy, but his next remark takes this point of view unbelievably far into the next world. Ready?
‘Christ himself said that no one would be married or given in marriage in heaven and therefore celibacy is a sign of the beatific vision’ (name of priest) pointed out.
We recovered only briefly from paroxsysms of laughter, to fall into them again at the phrase ‘pointed out’. ‘Married life will pass away when we behold God face to face and become part of the bridal church’ (name) added. ‘The celibate is more of a direct symbol of that ‘
As we used to say when we were young, ‘Waow!’
It’s quite sad, all this. All we can do is pray for people who still think making sure that world gets the Eucharist is less important than getting it from unmarried men.

Must We Have Old Priests Where is it written?

07 Tuesday Nov 2017

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After a pause caused by house selling , we hasten back to assure you that the person holding a card with an offensive comment about the Pope at a darts competition in Glasgow which was on television is not immediately identifiable. It’s just a kind of local thing , and not just the kind of anti-Francis stuff which is so brilliantly described in the current edition of La Croix International, which we have just discovered on the net, and can strongly recommend . We’re quite used to this here , and can now almost see it as a kind of folk festival.
The man of the moment is again Bishop Krautler of Brazil. Now retired as bishop, he is still as active as ever , motivated by the simple fact that 90% of his former flock cannot receive the Eucharist , because of the shortage of Tridentine priests. This interest does not make him unique among bishops- the bishops in Indonesia, for instance, have been complaining about this for years- but it certainly makes him an unusual figure among the rest of the bishops world-wide who were asked to present possible schemes for the ordination of parishioners to ensure that the Flock receives the Eucharist In other words, he is still trying to do something about it. Yes, about making sure that people receive the Eucharist , as Christ asked.
He reminds us of Bishop Fritz Lobinger of South Africa, who some years ago suggested that priests be ordained from parishes without seminary education, for the simple purpose of providing the Eucharist. We had not come across Bishop Lobinger before we started this blog . All we say is- well there you are now. It’s not just us. We are prepared to accept that it is not just great minds which think alike, but anybody with common sense.
In one version of his recent statements , however, there has been attached to his comments, the idea of viri probati . We doubt if he meant by this the idea that the ordination of some elderly parishioner in place of some elderly Tridentine priest is going to lead to a storming of our churches by age-obsessed teenagers .
We know teenagers. You know teenagers. If it didn’t happen last Thursday, and it wasn’t on their phones, it could not have happened. This is not a criticism , we hasten to add, all of us having teenage relations. It’s a thing they’re stuck with . It’s the intellectual equivalent of the Black Death. But apart from that, they are always going to have to live with the cultural phenomenon that has made, is making, and will continue to make the Tridentine priest a possible or previous or future paedophile. It is a cultural fact, happening, event. Or milestone
What is this viri probati nonsense all about? We have an idea, but it’s not for this blog. Away back when , before television, priests were ordained all over the world usually on the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul . Thousands of them ! And they were all about 25! Yes, 25! Young men, and warmly welcomed despite that dreadful handicap of being young and living in the present century and with at least a rough idea of what life was about for teenagers, despite their seminary education.
Why not now? Why not ordain in a parish a taxi driver or a newsagent or a supermarket assistant manager, somebody they know who can bring them the Eucharist without all the horrendous baggage of association with the paedophile scandals and their cover up ?
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