Editor’s note: this the article was originally published for kath.net in german i was translated i republished with permission of Bishop Marian elegant.
(LifeSiteNews) — For the philosopher of religion and priest Romano look at, Tradition was the wealth of knowledge of the many who preceded us in the faith. His vision of faith, which he has entered into faith The Tradition of the Church, in relation to many issues that still concern us today, proves to be the superior experience of faith and vision of faith, coming from a long history, compared to a single person, generation or time. Therefore, the Church sees diachronically (across the centuries) rather than synchronically (just today).
Because? Because the object to be conceived: Jesus Christ, in other words that is God — presupposes a subject which, according to Look atunites all the possibilities of human experience and knowledge, a community of understanding that extends throughout history and captures the performance of different eras to form Tradition.
This diachronic community of faith sees more. In this sense, the faith Tradition of the Church is always superior to any era. This is also true for our time. The popes, therefore, have always referred to their predecessors and to the previous teaching of the Church in order to update it in our time and interpret it more and more deeply, without ever contradicting it or declaring it inadmissible. Here Look at he also sees the importance of dogma, liturgy, and the law for a “sociology of Catholic cognition, action, and being.” Look at he calls them the three “laws of construction” of the Church.
So it’s kind of hubris and self-delusion for an age that wants it reinvent the wheel as to the Church and its teachings on many essential issues of today, such as marriage or the priesthood (to name just two areas). As the saying goes, you he can not reinvent it And also the new theories of human science, which are always valid until they are falsified, do not oblige ctheft in this regard ah review of revealed truths of the faith A departure from them is doomed to failure, and generations to come will been at most.
My statement has absolutely nothing to do with traditionalism because I am not a traditionalist, but a defender of Tradition (Traditionis Custos). In accordance with Keepers of Tradition, this is the task of every bishop. So, it is about what has always been believed everywhere and by everyone (Vicent de Lérins): the treasure of the faith of the Church (the so-called Deposit of faith [deposit of faith]), which we must not give up. It is a treasure for every generation, an enrichment for all humanity.
The deposit of faith of the Church, not the processes, are irreversible. If a widespread reformation of the Church departs from it, it will fail, not without first having caused much disturbance, chaos and division. The faith of the Church of all times remains the foundation of unity. And all those who have lost the latter have moved away from it and abandoned it in revolutionary processes (cf. Reformation).
I simply observe: since the 1970s, the reformers have wanted the same thing: majority democratic decisions on bishop appointments and matters of doctrine (participation); married priests (abolition of celibacy); a review of sacramental practice regarding the indissolubility of marriage (Holy Communion for newly divorced; weddings); the relativization of the essential difference between the sacramental priesthood and the general priesthood of the baptized (flat hierarchy; functionalization of the ministry); the priesthood of women or women in all ministries; a review of sexual morality in relation to contraception and procreation; the review of the condemnation of homosexual or intrinsically bad acts (the so-called “homosexual marriage”). In addition, today there is the dissolution of the normativity of heterosexuality; transgender and polyamory. The relativization of the universal significance of Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and man already spread in my first study seminars; the relativization of baptism and the plurality of religions as paths equal to God are a consequence and are not new either. The list is not intended to be exhaustive. In essence, it’s been the same for decades.
I, at least, have known these claims since my youth and am now 68 years old. However, they are packaged in sophisticated and constantly changing semantics. this it is a great effort of words and directed processes to finally be able to implement the same old demands and produce a pauthenticatedwithout success curch that fits the spirit of the age whatever you want: let’s call it a bit controversial the synod
Because everything also has some truth. But that’s not the point. At the end of the seventies, I heard lectures in Innsbruck on the four attributes of the Church: onesaint catholic, you apostolic (one, holy, catholic and apostolic). The synodal onein which everything is supposed to be fluid and debatable, therefore open and inclusive of dissidents, diverse and equal, has not yet appeared in the creed of the Church. What is forgotten: the doctrine and morals of the Church at all times also meant “exclusivity” or “exclusion”. Errors were excluded and condemned; sins never were blessed though called by name; moral errors were not approved, but condemned; the order of creation was not dissolved, but remained; heresy was not declared the (new) truth, but rejected. Those were the days! The Church fought: for the truth! The latter makes martyrs.
What amazes and amazes me is the perfidy, the cunning, and the intelligence of how new postulates are implemented and disguised linguistically. I have always considered theologians to be the greatest and most gifted the sophists. The phenomenon always makes me think of the Antichrist, who in Soloviev appears very kind and inclusive; it doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings; let everyone have their own opinion; it does not condemn anyone; fraternizes everyone; it only disembowels the faith of the vindication of the absolutism and exclusivity of Jesus Christ and is therefore radically inclusive, a friend of diversity and equality, a fraternization of all.. You just have to recognize it. There is no way around this. At this point, knows no commitment.
For years, the Church has worried about itself and its structures. she just talk about her mode of operation (listening). The questions, not the answers, are important she; feelings, not the hard truth. she it does not exclude anyone and has thus called all the spirits that fit within without obstacles she. He does not teach but listens and learns from those who reject his faith. The latter should join in in decision making or at least have a voice (depends on the subject).
Christ, however, she no longer proclaims as the only valid and definitive revelation of God, as the door beyond which no one reaches the Father, as the one pearl (singularity) that eclipses all the rest, that Jesus called thieves and that concerns all people .
This would not be contemporary and could offend or devalue someone. But maybe this He offends Him, Jesus Christ, who has given him the mission to do everything men his disciples and teach them to keep all that he has commanded and revealed to us. This is their mission. No one can change it. But previous generations, and especially the martyrs, shame us in this sense and leave us poor today. Instead of Mother and teacher (Mother and Teacher or pillar of truth), the Church has become a debating society where everything begins again. Because already the previous Synods on Family, Amazon, and Joventut have tried the same with regard to the review of the previous refers to the doctrine. It has never been debatable. It has always wanted to change from the point of view of the world. Tragically, reformers want the same thing. Their hopes turn again to 2024. The Holy Spirit is invoked, who has never contradicted himself regarding the faith of the Church. HE leads her to the truth. She has it, but not everyone does. Whoever invokes it with too much confidence leftovers suspicious i don’t do it so, I just wait and give my opinion.