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Letter #47, 2017: Mock the Logos...[2017-07-28][Engleză]July 28, 2017, Friday...And Attack the Brother "The Lord does not abandon His Church, even when the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing." —Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, in remarks he prepared in Rome for the July 15 funeral in Cologne, Germany, of his old friend Cardinal Joachim Meisner, who died on July 5. The remarks were read by Archbishop Georg Gaenswein in Cologne; Emeritus Pope Benedict did not attend the funeral but remained in the Vatican where he has lived since his resignation in 2013 "It is in Heraclitus that the theory of the Logos appears for the first time, and it is doubtless for this reason that, first among the Greek philosophers, Heraclitus was regarded by St. Justin (Apol. I, 46) as a Christian before Christ. For him the Logos, which he seems to identify with fire, is that universal principle which animates and rules the world... "The concept of the Logos reappears in the writings of the Stoics, and it is especially by them that this theory is developed. God, according to them, 'did not make the world as an artisan does his work, but... by wholly penetrating all matter'... He penetrates the world 'as honey does the honeycomb' (Tertullian, Adv. Hermogenem, 44)... "This Logos is at the same time a force and a law, an irresistible force which bears along the entire world and all creatures to a common end, an inevitable and holy law from which nothing can withdraw itself, and which every reasonable man should follow willingly... "What is the precise value of this concept in the writings of St. John? The Logos has not for him the Stoic meaning that it so often had for Philo: it is not the impersonal power that sustains the world... the Word is for him the Word of God, and thereby he holds with Jewish tradition, the theology of the Book of Wisdom, of the Psalms, of the Prophetical Books, and of Genesis; he perfects the idea and transforms it by showing that this creative Word which from all eternity was in God and was God, took flesh and dwelt among men." —The definition of The Logos, in the Catholic Encyclopedia (link) ================= Stories left out In my account two days ago of some of the events of the last 30 days in the Church, I left something out. In fact, two things. (At least two things...) I listed a certain number of events in late June and the first half of July: -- the departure of the Vatican's chief accountant, Libero Milone, and of Cardinal George Pell, who had a leading role in the Pope's financial reform project; -- Pope Francis' abrupt dismissal of Cardinal Gerhard Mueller in early July; -- Mueller's reaction to that dismissal; the death in Germany on July 5 of Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne (one of the four signers of the "dubia" -- "doubts" -- concerning the moral teaching of Amoris Laetitia; only three of the signers are still living, Cardinals Carlo Caffara, Walter Brandmueller and Raymond Burke); -- the reaction of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI to Meisner's death (Meisner was his friend), and Benedict's written tribute to Meisner, read at the July 15 funeral of the German cardinal; -- the various interpretations of that text as a veiled criticism of Pope Francis, and the denial of that intrepretation by Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the personal secretary of Emeritus Pope Benedict, and the reader of the text at the funeral; -- the turning off of the fountains in St. Peter's Square due to drought in Italy, while rumors swirled throughout the City concerning a number of possible future administrative, doctrinal, and liturgical initiatives of the now 81-year-old Pope Francis. But several things were left out. And all "Vatican observers," arguably, ought to know about at least two of these things, if they are to form a more complete picture of the Church's present situation. One matter left out was the story of... a scandalous Vatican party. ================== Join me in Rome for an extraordinary pilgrimage. See the mysterious Face of Christ in Manoppello and the Eucharistic Miracle in Lanciano. See the breath-taking Assisi of Sts. Francis and Clare... Pilgrimages@Inside the Vatican.com September 20-29, 2017 Click Here Unforgetable, unrepeatable, informative, transformative... ============= That story first broke on June 28, and continued to be reported on throughout July, particularly in the days after July 8. (see below) The second matter left out was the story of allegations of child abuse over 40 years in the famous Catholic boys' choir of the cathedral of Regensburg, Germany. The special significance of this story was that the choir had been directed for 30 years by the now 93-year-old older brother of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, Father Georg Ratzinger. So, the story related to Emeritus Pope Benedict, because it involved his older brother. The story broke on July 18, just three days after the funeral Mass of Cardinal Meisner, where Archbishop Gaenswein read Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI's text which included the phrase cited above: "The Lord does not abandon His Church, even when the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing." This remark was widely interpreted in the media -- though not by all -- as a veiled criticism of Pope Francis' leadership of the Church (an interpretation flatly denied as false by the secretary of the Emeritus Pope, Archbishop Gaenswein). And, in this context, some in the media saw the release of the allegations against the Emeritus Pope's brother as a counter-attack against the Emeritus Pope -- though others scoffed at this "conspiratorial" interpretation of events. The important point here, then, would be that many "Vatican watchers" were seeing every development in the Church this summer, every decision, every remark, as part of a continuing struggle, mediated by the media, by various web sites in various parts of the world, to "control the narrative" regarding the direction of the Church. That is, to control the direction and speed of the barque of Peter's course, in the Church's journey toward the eternal Logos, guided by the eternal Logos, during the years ahead... The Party Strikingly, the "Vatican party" story is one for which there is no named source whatsoever. This is a principal reason why I at first resisted writing anything about the matter. (I wrote "no comment" in my Letter #41 of July 7, three weeks ago.) In fact, what useful comment can one make about a story which has no named sources? Isn't it the height of journalistic sensationalism to run, and run, and run, with an un-sourced story? Think about it: no sources. Hearsay. Rumor... The perfect ground in which to plant and grow... fake news... Yet this story was spread around the world, spread from website to website in the same way all rumors pass, whisperingly, as happens among washerwomen on the shores of a river as they beat their clothes and linens free from the encrusted dirt of work and use, and whisper among themselves of what has happened, or is believed to have happened, in their village... ================================= If you appreciate and enjoy this newsletter, please considering a subscription to Inside the Vatican magazine. It is a very simply and fairly inexpensive way to support this work. ================================= Only the washerwomen's village is now a global one... Ok... What about this "Vatican party" story? I have now managed to confirm that some sort of a party did in fact take place, and that the Vatican police did come to investigate the party, entering a Vatican apartment where the party was being held, and breaking up the party. Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com Contor Accesări: 812, Ultimul acces: 2026-09-27 23:30:52
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