Showing posts with label Alessandro Gnocchi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alessandro Gnocchi. Show all posts

Monday, March 9, 2015

Vita christiana militia est -- Mario Palmaro Died One Year Ago Today

Edit:  a reader let us know, and we worked this out from Nardi's beautiful obituary on a truly great man.

(Rome) Exactly one year ago, on March 9, 2014,  Catholic legal philosopher Mario Palmaro died after a long illness at the age of only 44 years.
 Palmaro was in his last year, an internationally-known and most astute critic of Pope Francis.
He dedicated his life to defending the Catholic Church. Until his last breath he was an active publicist. "Those who knew him personally, heard his lectures at universities, attended his lectures and read his books, know that he was a real Miles  Christi, and led his good fight to the end with the elegance of a gentleman with mental clarity and lucidity, firmness and freedom of apologists of very different times," wrote the weekly magazineTempi.

Impressive criticism of the pontificate of Pope Francis

Mario Palmaro: "The good seed will bear fruit"
Because of his criticism of the Argentine Pope, he was dismissed a few months before his death, after ten years of service at Radio Maria Italy. The immediate cause was that he published together with Alessandro Gnocchi on October 9th, an article in the daily newspaper Il Foglio  "Christ is not an option among many, certainly not for his representative on earth - Why we do not like this pope ". A convincing critique of the pontificate of Pope Francis,  whose validity has not changed.
It was a text that was obviously read at the Holy See, for three weeks after his dismissal by Radio Maria for "criticism of the Pope," Mario Palmaro received a phone call from Pope Francis, where he was "surprised, astonished and moved above all". The dismissal by Radio Maria was still not withdrawn.
"For me, as a Catholic, what I experienced was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I have assured the pope my unconditional loyalty as a son of the Church.  But also pointed to my duty to remind the Pope that I expressed together with Alessandro Gnocchi very precise criticism of his actions. The Pope  almost didn't let me finish the sentence and said he had understood that this criticism was made ​​of love and how important it is for him to get those," said Palmaro after the announcement of the call in an interview with the newspaper Libero.

"The hope is our certainty"

Immediately before the Pope's call Palmaro and Gnocchi had released another article critical of the Pope: The Church as a Field hospital of the Followers - encouragement inversely proportional to the clarity of the message? In it they wrote the following almost touching, Catholic, descriptive and also prophetic statement:
"In some small isolated church there will always be a priest, who celebrates the holy sacrifice of the Mass, in some small apartment there will always be a lonely old woman who prays the rosary with unwavering faith, and in some hidden corner there will always be a nun, who provides for a child whose life is regarded by all as worthless. Even when everything seems to be lost, the Church, the city of God continues to exude its light on those human beings."

Short CV

Mario Palmaro was born on June 5, 1968 in Cesano Maderno, a small town in the northern Lombardy. He studied law at the University of Milan, he graduated with a thesis on abortion. After he specialized in studies at the Institute San Raffaele in Milan on bioethics, he was a research associate at the Center for Bioethics at the Catholic University of Milan. Finally, he taught bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome and Theoretical Philosophy, Ethics, Bioethics and Philosophy of Law at the European University of Rome. A rich intellectual exchange with another defender of the Catholic cause, the historian Roberto de Mattei, arose at the European University. Palmaro was one of the most passionate defenders of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. and was one of the strongest critics of a "miserable, sometimes seedy small mind" with which some bishops impede the Motu Proprio.
Palmaro was the President of the Right to Life Association Committee  of Truth and Life and was a member of the Association of Lawyers for Life and the Catholic Lawyers Association of Italy.
Together with the Catholic journalist, Alessandro Gnocchi, Palmaro published several books and numerous essays and articles. Palmaro and Gnocchi were a congenial duo of sharpness of thought and  fluency.
Mario Palmaro is survived by his wife and four minor children.

Books for the first anniversary of death

Since 2000 Palmaro has published in the Catholic monthly magazine Il Timone.  Now all of  his contributions have been collected in one volume. "A period piece and a chronicle of events in the Church and the world at the beginning of the third Christian millennium by an unerring chronicler," writes the magazine. The proceeds will go to support the widow and four children.
Already since 2 March, a book about Mario Palmaro available in bookstores. "Il buon seme fiorirà" (the good seed will bear fruit), edited by his longtime friend Alessandro Gnocchi. Last Saturday it was presented by Gnocchi and his friends and colleagues in the Cathedral Bookstore of Monza, in Palmaro's  hometown. Following this, a requiem for Mario Palmaro in the traditional Roman rite was celebrated in Monza. On today's memorial an office of the dead will be celebrated in Monza Cathedral.
Edit: At present we know of no titles available in English.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Riscossa Christiana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Monday, March 10, 2014

Mario Palmaro is Dead -- The Suffering Critic of Pope Francis is Silenced

(Monza) The well-known Catholic legal philosopher and journalist Mario Palmaro has  died on Sunday night ,  Catholic who was one of the sharpest and most perceptive critics of the pontificate of Pope Francis, of the consequences of a long illness. 
"This evening it has pleased God to dismiss him from his earthly life. The pain we feel about it can be found only in the consolation of the Catholic faith, the intrepid defender and witness he always was. Our affection goes out to his wife and his children, to whom we are close with our heart. We ask all friends to pray  with that confidence of Providence, which He has taught us, by accepting the suffering in Christian humility and is also to become an edifying example to us. “ With these words  the editors of Riscossa Cristiana, with whom Mario Palmaro had worked since its inception, greeted his death.

A Life for the Right to Life and  Catholic Tradition

Mario Palmaro was born on 5 June in 1968 in Cesano Maderno, a small town in northern Lombardy. He studied law at the University of Milan , he graduated with a thesis on abortion. After, he specialized in studies at the Institute San Raffaele in Milan on bioethics, he was a research associate at the Center for Bioethics at the Catholic University of Milan. Finally, he taught bioethics at the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome and Theoretical Philosophy, Ethics, Bioethics and Philosophy of Law at the European University of Rome. A rich intellectual exchange with another defender of the Catholic cause, the historian Roberto de Mattei, there was at the European University.Palmaro was one of the ardent defenders of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. and was one of the strongest critics of a "miserable, partly shabby small mind" that impede with some bishops the Motu proprio.
Palmaro was chairman of the Right to Life Association Committee truth and life and belonged to the Association of Lawyers for Life and the Catholic Lawyers Association of Italy.
Together with the Catholic journalists Alessandro Gnocchi, Palmaro published several books and a variety of essays and articles. Palmaro and Gnocchi were the congenial duo of  sharp thinking and linguistic dexterity.

A Life in the Defense of the Catholic Church

Palmaro’s rich journalistic output included, among others, his essays in the newspapers Il Foglio and Il Giornale , the monthly journal Studi Cattolici and his work as editor of the Catholic monthly magazine Il Timone . For ten years, he designed his own show at Radio Maria Italy  "encounters with bioethics".  In the fall of 2013 Radio Maria discontinued its association with them because of Palmaro’s "criticism of the Pope." The immediate cause was his collaboration with Alessandro Gnocchi on 9 October in the daily newspaper  Il Foglio published essay, " Christ is Not an Option Among Many, and Certainly Not  His Deputy on Earth - Why we do not like this Pope ."  A convincing criticism of the papacy of Pope Francis, to whose validity has not changed.

Pope's Criticism, Dismissal by Radio Maria and Papal call

On 1 November, the feast of All Saints   Mario Palmaro was already seriously ill, on three weeks after his dismissal by Radio Maria he received a call from Pope Francis. Palmaro later said that this phone call "surprised, astonished and moved" him.
"For me as a Catholic, was what I experienced was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I have assured the Pope my unconditional loyalty as a son of the Church. But I looked also  recalled my duty, and  expressed to the Pope,    together with Alessandro Gnocchi’s, my very accurate criticism of his actions. The Pope   almost made me not finish the sentence and said he had understood that this criticism was made ​​out of love and how important it is for him, to get those,” said Palmaro to the newspaper Libero in an interview about  the call. 
Immediately prior to the Pope's call,  Palmaro and Gnocchi had released another essay critical of the pope:  The Church as a Field Hospital of  Twitter Followers - Encouragement inversely proportional to the clarity of the message?   Therein they wrote the almost touching Catholic, descriptive and certainlyl prophetic statement:
In some little, out of the way church there will be always be a priest who celebrates the Mass in a holy way; in a little apartment a solitary old woman with unshakeable faith will say the Rosary; in a hidden corner of a House of Divine Providence a Sister will look after a baby considered by all as having no worth. Even when all seems lost, the Church, the City of God, continues to radiate its light on the City of Man.

A Kingdom of Journalistic Work

Among the numerous books, often published Mario Palmaro in collaboration with Alessandro Gnocchi, only those of recent years may be mentioned to give an idea of ​​the tireless work of this Catholic intellectual.
  • L 'ultima messa di padre Pio. L'anima del santo segreta delle stigmate (The last Mass of Padre Pio. The hidden soul of stigmatized saints), Milano, Piemme, 2010
  • Cronache since Babel. Viaggio nella crisi della modernità (Babylonian Chronicle. Journey through the crisis of modernity), Verona, Fede e Cultura, 2010
  • La Bella Addormentata. Perché dopo il Vaticano II è la Chiesa entrata in crisi, perché si risveglierà, Firenze (Dornröschen. Why the Church came after the Second Vatican Council in a crisis. Why they will recover), Vallecchi, 2011
  • Ci salveranno le vecchie zie. Una certa idea della Tradizione (The old aunts will save us. A certain idea of ​​the tradition), Verona, Fede e Cultura, 2012
  • Truth Be Told: diritto o delitto? Il Conflitto tra i principi Autonomia di e di indisponibilità della vita (Euthanasia: Right or offense, the conflict between free will and the unavailability of life), Torino, Giappichelli, 2012

"This Pope Likes Too Much" - Palmaros’ last book being printed

The last book by Mario Palmaro is currently under pressure. Written by Alessandro Gnocchi and Giuliano Ferrara, the editor of the daily newspaper Il Foglio , it bears the title " This Pope Likes Too Much. The passionate and critical reading of a pontificate," Piemme, 2014. The book will be presented on 25 March  in Rome. Mario Palmaro will no longer be among the three announced authors.
Whether the two critics will change something because of the phone call of the Pope, he was asked in November of last year? No, replied Mario Palmaro, "we will continue down the path we have always gone by, we follow our conscience, always connected to the Pope and the Church in faithfulness, but we will continue on our way, just because of this loyalty and love.”  The book is also  committed to this principle. 

From the Catholic Faith of the Disease and his Family

In an interview with a magazine of Dehonianerordens he said after the Pope's call about his disease and his family:
"Man looks at the cross and understands that this is the heart of faith: without sacrifice,  Catholicity does not exist. Then you thank God that he has made ​​you a Catholic, a very small Catholic, a sinner, but in the Church has a caring mother.

"The disease is therefore a time of grace, despite the vice of meanness that  has accompanied us for a lifetime, or even worse. It is as if the agony would have been used and you fight the destiny of the soul, for its own salvation no one can be sure.
On the other hand, the disease allowed me to get to know an impressive number of people who want good for me and who pray for me, families who pray the rosary at night with the kids   for my recovery, and I lack the words to describe the beauty of this experience. It is a preview of God's love in eternity. The biggest pain I feel, is the idea of ​​having to leave this world. I like it so much, that is so tragic but at the same time so beautiful, to let go of so many friends, my relatives, but most of all to leave behind my wife and  my children, who are still children. Sometimes I imagine my house, my empty study and life will go on there even if I will not. It is a painful, but very realistic idea. It makes me understand that I was an unprofitable servant, and I am, and that all the books I have written, all the lectures I held and the articles that I have written, are ultimately only straw.
But I hope for a merciful Lord and that other parts of my work, my aspirations and my struggles to pick up and carry on, will continue with the eternal duel. "
Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat egg.
Requiescat in pace.
Amen.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Corrispondenza Romana / Pierre
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Friday, February 14, 2014

Radio Maria Separates Itself from Roberto de Mattei: "Critical Attitude" to Pope Francis

Update: here is the exchange between Dr. Mattei and the program director, Father Livio at Rorate.

(Erba) The layoffs at Radio Maria continue to roll. Now the famous historian, Roberto de Mattei's coooperation has been terminated because of his "critical attitude" towards Pope Francis.

Last fall, Mario Palmaro and Alessandro Gnocchi were dismissed and their broadcasts cancelled. Both the legal philosopher Palmaro and the Catholic publicist Gnocchi made their own broadcasts on Radio Maria Italy: Palmaro had the show "Encounters with Bioethics" and Gnocchi the program "People and Literature. Encounter in the light of the Gospel." Both belong to the most astute Catholic intellectuals of our time. On 10 October 2013 they collaborated together with an article in the daily newspaper Il Foglio, under the title "The Pope Does not Like Us", an accentuated criticism of the previous pontificate of Pope Francis published (see German text Christ is Not an Option Among Many, and Certainly not for his Deputy on Earth - Why We Do Not Like This Pope ). On the same day they were therefore were shown the door by program director Father Livio Fanzaga. "Father Livio is of the opinion that one can not simultaneously be a presenter of Radio Maria, and criticize the Pope," is what he told the dismissed workers.

Now Radio Maria has also separated itself from historian Roberto de Mattei. Unlike Palmaro and Gnocchi, who were already engaged during the pontificate of John Paul II, by the largest Catholic radio stations in Italy, the historian Roberto de Mattei was employed first under Benedict XVI. at the Catholic station. Since the 17th In February 2010, he produced once a month the broadcast of "Christian Roots." With the start of his broadcast Radio Maria grew close also to the traditional Rite. Since then, the broadcaster has transmitted the Holy Mass in the Old Rite.

But since the pontificate of Benedict XVI. is over and since then, break lines are forming. The reason for the termination of the collaboration is the recent essay by Roberto de Mattei "Motu in fine velocior", on 12 February of Corrispondenza Romana has been published (see German [Soon to be translated] text Roberto de Mattei: The End of Civilization - "Whoever Loves The Church, Defends Her").

Radio Maria Italy is the mother and main transmitter of the largest independent Catholic radio networks in the world. In the German-speaking areas is included Radio Horeb, Radio Maria Austria, Radio Maria Südtirol and Radio Maria German-Switzerland as well.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 image: Corrispondenza Romana
 Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Saturday, November 23, 2013

"Who in the Catholic Camp Makes Common Cause With the Enemy?" Palmaro and Gnocchi After the Telephone Call of the Pope


(Rome) The traditionalist legal philosopher Mario Palmaro, upon whom Pope Francis bestowed a phone call on All Saints Day, and the journalist Alessandro Gnocchi, deal in their recent essay with the criticism of "Denzinger", which has been in vogue. It refers to the "Enchiridion Symbolorum" which is first published in 1854 by Heinrich Denzinger, Würzburg dogmatic theologian, as a collection of the most important teaching documents of the Catholic Church. Palmaro and Gnocchi distinguish a deep-seated aversion to this dogmatic precision, which always distinguished the Church, and considered the reasons for this aversion. The starting point here is the interview that Pope Francis had granted to the atheist Eugenio Scalfari, now deleted from the Vatican website. It is an interview that caused a lot of confusion by its content, by the uncritical absorption in some Catholic circles, by defending it against internal Church criticism and not least, because of the way it was handled by the Vatican, such as the statements of Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi and the full publication without comment by the Osservatore Romano and the website of the Holy See. The two Catholic journalists were sympathetic to the recent criticism of Pope Francis in the "Spirit of the World". Consequently, however, those who make "common cause with the enemy" in the Catholic camp should also be called out by name, who makes the Catholic camp "common cause with the enemy," according to the invitation to the Pope, because the confusion is great that many Catholics no longer know what is actually Catholic and no it is hard to distinguish friend from enemy any longer. So it shall be, that Catholics, often without realizing it, defend uncatholic positions against other Catholics who hold to the Catholic doctrine.

Pope Francis thanked Mario Palmaro for the criticism that he "needs" in a telephone conversation. Radio Maria Italy had dismissed the two Catholic journalists for their comments critical of the papacy. Whether they will be reinstated after the Pope's call, is not known. Program Director Father Livio Fanzaga justified the expulsion in recent weeks several times with counter criticism of the "Denzinger-Catholics".

Palmaro and Gnocchi's essay appeared on 20 November in the daily newspaper "Il Foglio". The intertitles were chosen by the editors.

The "Denzinger" and Half-Worldly

by Mario Palmaro and Alessandro Gnocchi

It was recorded "with joy," as is customary in the Church today, defended without ifs and buts, hermeneutisized as needed and eventually deleted from the website of the Vatican, where it was published for one and a half months: the discussion of the interview Pope Francis gave to Eugenio Scalfari. It was established with a simple click on the file. It is reliable as a whole, said the director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Lombardi, but not in some single site, even if the controversial passage on the conscience is "completely compatible with the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

"Broker no Horse Trading with God's Faithfulness" or the Church as Equidistant Mediator Between God and the World?

Although it is now stored in the file folders for a mere chronicle of events, the incident remains an indicator of a degree of confusion, which is too much even for a field hospital. It's strange that no one asked the question before, and as a precaution, if the interviewer of the Voltaire-press was a patient who came to be healed, or a not particularly well-camouflaged poisoner. Seeing what the concern of the secular interlocutor was, is a question that referred to as fundamental by Pope Francis himself in his sermon in Santa Marta last Monday. Expounding on a passage from the Book of Maccabees, the Pope warned against using the faithfulness of God to engage in horse trading, because the spirit of the world negotiates everything. But the actual state of the postmodern Church has presents itself for decades more as a neutral place for mediation instead of a fortress which is determined to resist the world. It seems to be a place where many complacent standards, methods and tools to use with which both the flattery of the world are understood also as the complaints toward the Church.

The tension of a justified rigor, which under Benedict XVI had begun to return and along with asceticism and prayer protecting from the siren songs of the world, seems to evaporate. Today, it is sufficient to call the razor-sharp but loving precision in memory, with which the Church is always expressed to faith, doctrine and morals, to be disparaged as the ideologized specialist of the Logos. Woe to those who dare to mention the great work of a deserving pioneer of dogmatic theology of Henry Denzinger: he is immediately accused of wanting to replace the gospel with the Enchiridion Symbolorum, that crystal clear compendium of the main texts of the Magisterium, which should serve as a dam, where the world challenges, provokes, negotiates and corrupts. Constantly updated over the decades, the "Denzinger" is named after its first editor, one of the safest points of reference for those who want to know and practice the always valid thinking of the Church. But he is not liked. He irritates and annoys.

Aversion to "Denzinger"? Karl Rahner Knows Why

To find out the reason for this aversion, it is sufficient to read Wikipedia. In a pathetic single line it says in the Italian version: "The great fundamental theologian, the Jesuit Karl Rahner, warned students and scholars of the danger of a reductionist, Denzinger theology." When you consider that the inventor of the theory of the "anonymous Christians" has replaced St. Thomas Aquinas in the Church of today as Doctor Communis, the general dislike of the "Denzinger" of course becomes understandable, which is a severe judge against anyone who the likes to abandon it for some quite personal encounter with the Gospel. Somehow, the issue of personal conscience is coming back to the surface, which Rahner, a brother of Pope Francis, that concepts are believed with difficulty that has been made into a ​​school without a doubt and that: Everyone follows his own conscience, whether it because he thinks he has to be Christian or non-Christian, or because he thinks he's an atheist or a believer, such an individual is accepted and accepted by God and can reach that eternal life, which we call in our Christian faith, the professed goal is for all people. In other words, the grace and justification, the unity and communion with God, the way to have eternal life, everything is just a hurdle only people's bad conscience.

Before the Gospel such a thought can't be anything else, than a revision shying away from the compelling austerity of "Denzinger", which is the compelling austerity of the Church. The Catholic Faith can not just be settled by a personal encounter with the Gospel itself. The Dominican Roger Thomas Calmel explains the why in the "Short Apologetics of the Eternal Church": "There is a strong interaction between the Scriptures and the Conciliar texts and the Catechism. So we change from the reading of the Old and New Testaments to the definitions of the Councils or the popes in order to understand the exact content of the true meaning of the holy texts. Then we return from the Councils and the Catechism back to the Scriptures to never lose the living, concrete, supernatural, inexhaustible text from the eyes, the necessary precision and the depth of the mystery is expressed in the texts of the Church's Magisterium."

Truth of Faith Incomprehensible for Modern People?

The war against the "Denzinger" and thus against the harmonious exposition and concretization of the eternally valid teaching of the Church, has come a long way. It is no coincidence, says Rahner, that the "pronouncements of the traditional faith are not suitable to a large extent, at least as regards the first and most important thing: the proclamation of the faith." Specifications such as "God consists of three persons" or "we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ," were "for the modern man simply incomprehensible". They would convey the same impression as the mythology of a religion of yesteryear. According to the Jesuit theologian, Jesus, who Lazarus was raised from the dead, has the same taste for modern man as Heracles, Hydra, or Theseus, who defeated the Minotaur. Therefore, nothing else than to reform the Annunciation remains, to adapt to the wavelength of modernity and to transpose the words for the needs of the new audience.

Giuseppe Siri, a cardinal, who was elected pope, grasped the question with a brilliant clarity when, he wrote in "Gethsemane": "With the beginning of secularization the great death began: the world contains the forces for full development of the human and is also the environment in which the purpose of human life must be achieved, and it would therefore be sufficient to abolish the distinction between the sacred and the profane, between the Church and the world." The diagnosis was thought to be acquiescence, as confirmed by Edward Schillebeeckx, who said in 1970: "In Christ, it is now possible to say Amen to the reality of the world and to consider it as a cult, because since the appearance of Jesus the perfection of God lives on earth."

Church as a Field Hospital: But in Effect, There Are The Doctors Who Cure the Patient and Those who Euthanize Him

If the world is the object of the new cult, it is obviously impossible to encounter her in any conflict. The American bishops, who resist Barack Obama, so of course do not follow Rahner and Schillebeeckx. But hundreds of Jesuits with their Catholic universities and hundreds of rebellious nuns say Amen to the U.S. President and perform the worship of the world. The real problem of the field hospital, it is therefore to identify and distinguish who it distributes the salutary medicine and on the other hand who euthanizes the patient.

If it is true that the worldly spirit even tempts God's faithfulness to negotiate, as the Pope said in his homily, then you should also have the courage to say who makes common cause with the enemy in the Catholic camp. It is not possible to point the finger to the flattery of the world, but to tolerate Rahner, who says: "With the progress of the history of grace, the world will become more independent, mature, profane and must think to realize itself. This growing historical worldliness (...) is not a misfortune that obstinately resists grace and the Church, but in the way grace slowly realizes itself in creation."

In the wake of ambiguous and obsessive "primacy of the word" and the Lutheran sola fide, the church has come so far that it is reflected in the perverted horizon of Pelagianism, denies the sin and celebrates the world.

The result is in any case a weakening of tradition and its mission as Mater et Magistra. The free conscience, subjectivism, the sola scriptura, take control and undermine the importance of the bishops and the Pope. The logical framework of this operation is, however, feebly expssed because it is tradition that precedes the word and defines it. It is the Church that determines what the Holy texts are and how they are to be interpreted. A fact that makes it ultimately impossible to label Christianity as a "religion of the book," a misunderstood term that has entered from Protestantism to the Catholic Church. The church is historically and logically in written advance and therefore, Cardinal Siri said, "whoever makes tradition subjective, undermines the Scriptures."

The Eternal and Unique Beauty of the Catholic Church

The eternal and unique beauty of the catholicity consists in the ability to put together all these elements and harmonize. In the constant tension between reason and mystery, between worldly desire and heavenly, there is an impression in patience, in which the magmatic and formless creature prays to rise again like a butterfly from pupa. For to know the doctrine, he is called to love and follow by one agrees with its forms and definitions, and she accepts. There are prayers according to formulations that were formulated by unfathomable inspiration, but with precision, from others. Then it fulminates, away from feelings, digressions, unnecessary speeches and without one iota too much, what is granted by the happiness on this earth, a whisper, a practice and life instead of prattling: "Whoever gives many speeches does not benefit the soul", teaches the Imitation of Christ, "but a good life gives strength to the spirit".

The Annunciation to Mary by St. Luke the Evangelist, would not produce in the praying soul the same tension for the God bearer, as St. Ambrose preached, had not the Council of Ephesus in 431 so permeated and defined the truth in teaching the Virgin as Theotokos, Mother of God. There it is, if anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth and the Holy Virgin is therefore Theotokos because she gave birth to the incarnate, Who came from word of God according to the flesh, let him be anathema. The Christians loved nothing more than this clarity. "All the people of the city waited from morning to evening on the decision of the Holy Synod," says the Saint Cyril of Alexandria, who was instrumentally involved in bringing about the decision. "When we stepped out of the church, we were escorted to our accommodation. It was evening, the whole town was illuminated, women went ahead with incense. Those that flew to His name, the Lord showed His omnipotence."

To those who read it, who read it in a loving interaction with Scripture, which is told in "Denzinger" these testimonies of history and thus nourishes the righteous life, which in turn nourishes the spirit. This is the life of the Church, which flows through the centuries and gives them shape, it is the tradition, which always anew and imperiously, knocks on the soul and calls it to make a decision.

There is no Alternative to the Fight Against the Spirit of the World

There is no alternative to the fight against the spirit of the world. The temptation, even to negotiate the faith and faithfulness of God, one can only oppose the immutability and eternal validity of the Magisterium. For its entire life, the church has done this by disputing the world of time and space, the two dimensions in which tradition unfolds. The definitions that are collected in "Denzinger" were passed without change over the centuries, they came up with no change to the farthest ends of the earth and of faith. These pages, which you can so easily purchase in bookstores today, put the most adventurous way back through all the continents, as Arold Innis told in his epic work of Empire and Communications (Oxford 1950). They traveled on parchment, "heavy support", suitable for the preservation of unchangeable and eternally valid religious truth as opposed to what went on papyrus and paper, "ephemeral carriers", as they are preferred in secular bureaucracy, transitory and illusory.

Thus the Church of Rome has announced the kingdom of Christ and won from soul to soul for souls of simple and more sophisticated intelligence, but all require the same food. If the Blessed John Henry Newman had not seen the truth expressed in constant statements in space and time, he would never have had the strength and the desire to leave the Anglican community in order to belong to the Church of Rome. In his Apologia, explained the Cardinal, as he only made ​​the big move back home when he became aware that the arguments of the Anglicans against the Council Fathers of Trent were the same that were also raised against the Fathers of Chalcedon, and that to condemn the popes of the 16th century, meant to also condemn the Popes of the 5th Century. The drama of religion, the struggle between truth and error was always the same. The principles and procedure of the Church today are the same as those of the Church of that time. The principles and procedure of the heretics of that time are the same as those of the Protestants of today. "I have noted with horror," said Newman.

But the Church can not have a soul alone before a truth, which could frighten. Each offers them the strict and gentle caress of the Rite. The tradition of the people is becoming through a sacred poem, in its catholicity, which has its heavenly expression in the Eucharistic Celebration as Domenico Giuliotti writes: "It is the Holy Mass, and not the Divine Comedy, which is really sacred', applied to the heavens and the earth have on hand (...) God, the Trinity, and all the angels form the argument. The conversion, which renews the Incarnation, is the highlight of this immense mystery. And the priest is at the same Thaumaturge and Poet". The radiance of the heavens to the earth, tradition and liturgy are almost consubstantial even in the method by which the people have contributed to their formation. While one is the repertory of thought, purified from all that is purported not to be definitely divine, the other is the composition of gestures and words unchanging, free from all that is human.

The Church has always Forgave the Sinner. Forgives Sin Today?

There are two approaches to the same world where everyone always gets what is due to him, wherever he is located and in whatever age he lives. On earth there is nothing fairer. John Henry Newman explained this with gentle precision in his novel Loss and Gain (London, 1848), when he describes the thoughts and impressions of the young main character who attends a Catholic Mass for the first time. At that time, the same doctrine and the same liturgy were good for all, for the saints and for sinners, for the living and for the dead, for the Romans and the barbarians. There was still not that complaint, which Nicolas Gomez Davila should perceive later: "The Church once forgave sinners, now It has decided to forgive sins."

Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: publisher / Polis (assembly)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches...

AMGD

Monday, November 18, 2013

Pope-Critic Mario Palmaro Received Call From Pope Francis -- "It is important, to receive criticism."



(Rome) For several days the news has circulated that Pope Francis had called a traditional Catholic who is also one of his harshest critics. The name of the Catholic was not initially announced, so there were doubts as to its authenticity. The daily newspaper Libero confirmed the call through an interview with the critically ill legal philosopher Mario Palmaro.

In the interview published today, Palmaro is said to have been, "surprised, amazed and moved, above all," from the phone call from Pope Francis. Mario Palmaro wrote together with journalist Alessandro Gnocchi, intellectually high-value, but also the toughest, criticism of the pontificate of Pope Francis. The essay of the two Catholic journalists were published in the daily newspaper Il Foglio.

Pope Francis called Palmaro on 1 November on the feast of All Saints. The Pope and the legal philosopher agreed not to disclose the private conversation. But the news appeared in mid-November on the Internet without naming the callee and so other journalists began to be interested. In an interview with Libero, Palmaro has now said: "If it were up to me and Alessandro Gnocchi, this would never gotten into the public. For this reason alone, because the Pope had no intention to make this public, either the gesture or the content of our conversation," he said.

The Sickness and the Criticism, the Pope is Grateful

"Pope Francis said to me,  to be near to me, that he had learned of my health situation and my serious illness. And he expressed his his deep empathy very clearly, an interest in my person as such, regardless of the ideas and opinions, as I'm going through a time of trial and suffering. "

"For me, as a Catholic, what I experienced one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I also expressed my unconditional loyalty to the Pope, as a son of the Church. However, I also saw the duty to recall to the Pope that I had expressed together with Alessandro Gnocchi, very accurate criticism of his actions. The Pope almost did not allow me to finish the sentence and said he had understood that this criticism was made out of love and how important it is for him to get those."

Conscience and Loyalty

The intention of the Catholic Pope's critics has always been, that their criticism is "put forward as alert and lucid with regard to the contents of Catholic doctrine, but never to put their loyalty to the Pope as such into question... And I humbly remind you that the deletion of the Scalfari interviews of Pope Francis can assume from the Vatican side, that there was something wrong with the interview, as we noted, among other things." Whether now, the position of the critics will change somewhat in the position? No, replies Mario Palmaro, "we will go on the way we have always gone, we follow our conscience, always connected to the Pope and the Church in faithfulness, but we will continue on our way, just because of this loyalty and love."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Corrispondenza Romana / Riscossa Cristiana (assembly)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katolisches...

AMGD