Thursday, June 20, 2013

Cardinal Burke: Catechism of Pius X is Also Today a Sure and Indispensible Reference Point

"St. Pius X saw with clarity how religious ignorance not only leads individual lives, but also to the decay of society and a lack of balanced thinking in the most serious problems," said Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura at event surrounding the Catechism of St. Pius X 100 years after its publication, by the Kulturkreis of John Henry Newman on the 24th of May.  It was organized in Seregno.
In his "extraordinary and brilliant lectio" says Catholic writer Cristina Siccardi,  Cardinal Burke maintains of Saint Pius X (1835-1914) that "ignorance of Christian doctrine is recognized as the main cause of the decline of faith and therefore  sound catechesis is of paramount importance for the restoration of faith. It is not difficult to see how current the observations and conclusions of St. Pius X are. They are really recognizable in the motives that has led Pope Benedict XVI. to proclaim the year of the faith. "
The observations and conclusions of Pope Sarto were the result of his long and deep experience as a shepherd. He described the effects of lack of catechesis in the spiritual life of Christians with a very specific words and also the dangerous consequences for their salvation:
"In fact, the actions that the heart of the Christian people nowadays are very many who need to go live in complete ignorance of the salvation of knowing, and this is generally not unjustified. We understand Christian people not only the quantity or the members of the lower class, the ignorance of this can often be somewhat excused by the fact that the strict and obedient service to their masters can be left them no time for themselves. Also in the circles where it is not lacking in spirit and form, so here most of all, providing you with ample Although secular science, but lives very measured and kenntnislos in religious terms there. "(Encyclical Acerbo nimis of Pius X)
Cardinal Burke recalled  Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) in this context, who in his autobiographical masterpiece Apologia pro Vita Sua , in a discussion about the true teachings of the Catholic Church, took up the Eighth Commandment, specifically, mainly on the question of whether it is morally allowed to say the wrong thing:

"And now, if Protestants wish to know what our real teaching is, as on other subjects, as did one of lying, let them look, not at our books of casuistry, but at our catechisms. Works on pathology do not give the best insight into the form and the harmony of the human frame, and, as it is with the body, so is it with the least The Catechism of the Council of Trent that drawn up for the express purpose of providing preachers with subjects for their Sermons, and, as my whole work has been a defense of myself, I may say here I did rarely preach a sermon, but that I would go to this beautiful and complete Catechism to get both my matter and my doctrine. "((Since my German edition of the Apologia pro Vita Sua just is not available, the original quotation from Cardinal Newman's book, as it was presented by Cardinal Burke.))

 The core message of the talk by Cardinal Burke was to emphasize the practical importance of the Catechism published in 1912, which is not merely a religious artifact, which now belongs to the past. The Catechism of St. Pius X, the cardinal said, was a safe and indispensable reference point today. 

Text: CR / Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Corrispondenza Romana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches...

12 comments:

Geremia said...

Deo volente he'll recommend the Catechism on Modernism next. ☺

Also, the entire St. Pius X Catechism is here.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link, very useful!

ANNE said...

Please clarify.
The "Catechism of the Council of Trent" was promulgated about 1566 AD.
The "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition" was promulgated in 1997 (correctly 2000 in the USA).
As far as I can find the Church has never promulgated any other Catechism world-wide.
What is the Catechism of Pius X who lived 1835-1914?
The article is confusing.

ANNE said...

"Catechism of the Council of Trent" was promulgated by Pius V (5th), not Pius X (10th).

ANNE said...

All of our Popes want us to know our Faith. We have the responsibility to educate ourselves - no excuses.
The Magisterium of the Church has provided us with the tools we need.

"St. Pius X saw with clarity how religious ignorance not only leads individual lives, but also to the decay of society and a lack of balanced thinking in the most serious problems."

“ The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved ... and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. “ – Pope John Paul II. (CCC pg 5)

“In this Year of Faith let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments.” - Pope Francis, May 15, 2013.

For more quotes from our Popes regarding the CCC - on the net go to: "What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE"
http://whatcatholicsreallybelieve.com/

ANNE said...

Thank you. I have sent an email question to EWTN asking them what the Catechism of Pope Pius X (10th) is.
Will get back with answer if I get one within the next week or so.
Please see my posts below asking for clarification.

Anonymous said...

The Catechism of Pius X was a small catechism issued
by Pope St. Pius X.

Anonymous said...

This article did not say That the Council of Trent
Catechism was promulgated by Pope St. Pius X. I'm just a reader of this blog. But I think I read this
Post correctly.

Tancred said...

I'm not sure what all the didacticism is about.

Torquemada said...

Not all popes want us to know our Faith. Some only want us to know THEIR version of our Faith. Maybe the reason is that they do not know the Faith themselves. Or worse, they know it yet attempt to create their own "faith" by inserting utter nonsense, heresy and pure evil. The false catechism of JPII is the one I have in mind. It is riddled with falsehoods, distortions, nonsense and absurdities such as the Moslems worshipping the same God as Christians. Insanity! I bought the Conciliarist catechism when it came out because I understood that it was being promulgated in order to actually stop the heresies and lies. Well, I read it and tossed it into the garbage. It was the same with their New American Bible. Filled to the absolute brim with distortion and lies. Quite intentional of course. Claiming that St. Matthew did not write the gospel attributed to him? And that was just a preface! That book got what all false bibles and bibles with transcribe errors get...fire. It got the burn barrel in my backyard.

Charles Woodrow said...

EWTN has this Catechism in their library: http://www.ewtn.com/library/catechsm/piusxcat.htm

Anonymous said...

Thanks Woodrow.