During the 5th National Ecclesial Convention in Florence Italy, Pope Francis gave 45 minutes of remarks reflecting upon the Convention's theme of "In Jesus Christ, the New Humanism".
The Holy Father warned that Pelegianism (a heresy denying original sin) and Gnosticism (a heresy denying Christ's divinity) are temptations which defeat a true Christian humanism.
In this context, Pope Francis' exhortation to companion in Christ to all not limited by a closed system of doctrine makes more sense. Pope Francis voiced a desire of a happy church with a face of a mother who understands, caresses and accompanies.
These pastoral pronouncements echo the weltanshaaung of this papacy and look forward to the year of mercy.
What is concerning is the inference that Catholic doctrine can change, that moves and grows in the flesh of Jesus Christ. This doctrinal ambiguity led to much of the consternation concerning the recent Synod on the Family, in which "Mercy driven" (liberal) prelates may bend doctrine on marriage to accommodate civilly divorced and remarried Catholics so they receive Communion.
In order to discern what Cardinal Donald Wuerl meant about the fruits of the Ordinary Synod on the Family, it was necessary to learn the term antinomian,
The gradulalist penitential path for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion was proffered by Cardinal Walter Kasper, the 82 year old President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
At the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Francis opined that Cardinal Kasper was a superb theologian, for ideas that were contained in "The Gospel of the Family" (2014).
[R] Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea, President of the Association of Catholic Doctors of Bucharest
Along with the 270 Synod Fathers participating in the Ordinary Synod on the Family, there were some laity participating. Planners asked for a variety of input, including a couple of Catholic Pre Cana Marriage Counselors from India.
But among the Synod interventions which have found their way out of the Paul VI Audience Hall was a pointed speech by Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea, the President of the Association of Catholic Doctors of Bucharest (Romania). Her views having come from a culture which had been wrecked by political Marxism, was insightful in interpolating how cultural Marxism could skew our weltanschauung and threaten our salvation.
Dr. Cernea's intervention in its entirety:
Your Holiness, Synod Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, I represent the Association of Catholic Doctors from Bucharest.
I am from the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.
My father was a Christian political leader, who was imprisoned by the communists for 17 years. My parents were engaged to marry, but their wedding took place 17 years later.
My mother waited all those years for my father, although she didn’t even know if he was still alive. They have been heroically faithful to God and to their engagement.Their example shows that God’s grace can overcome terrible social circumstances and material poverty.
We, as Catholic doctors, defending life and family, can see this is, first of all, a spiritual battle.
Material poverty and consumerism are not the primary cause of the family crisis.The primary cause of the sexual and cultural revolution is ideological.
Our Lady of Fatima has said that Russia’s errors would spread all over the world.It was first done under a violent form, classical Marxism, by killing tens of millions.Now it’s being done mostly by cultural Marxism. There is continuity from Lenin’s sex revolution, through Gramsci and the Frankfurt school, to the current-day gay-rights and gender ideology.
Classical Marxism pretended to redesign society, through violent take-over of property.
Now the revolution goes deeper; it pretends to redefine family, sex identity and human nature.
This ideology calls itself progressive. But it is nothing else than the ancient serpent’s offer, for man to take control, to replace God, to arrange salvation here, in this world.
It’s an error of religious nature, it’s Gnosticism.
It’s the task of the shepherds to recognize it, and warn the flock against this danger.“Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The Church’s mission is to save souls. Evil, in this world, comes from sin. Not from income disparity or “climate change”.
The solution is: Evangelization. Conversion.
Not an ever increasing government control. Not a world government. These are nowadays the main agents imposing cultural Marxism to our nations, under the form of population control, reproductive health, gay rights, gender education, and so on.
What the world needs nowadays is not limitation of freedom, but real freedom, liberation from sin. Salvation.
Our Church was suppressed by the soviet occupation. But none of our 12 bishops betrayed their communion with the Holy Father. Our Church survived thanks to our bishops’ determination and example in resisting prisons and terror.
Our bishops asked the community not to follow the world. Not to cooperate with the communists.
Now we need Rome to tell the world: “Repent of your sins and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”.
Not only us, the Catholic laity, but also many Christian Orthodox are anxiously praying for this Synod. Because, as they say, if the Catholic Church gives in to the spirit of this world, it is going to be very difficult for all the other Christians to resist it.
It was remarkable that Dr. Cernea felt empowered to rail against the Church involving itself in climate change politics, particularly after Pope Francis' ecological cri-de-coeur Laudato Si. It is a good thing that Pope Francis takes a broad view of Synodality. The question is how he will use this information.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput had the privilege of hosting Pope Francis in the City of Brotherly Love a fortnight before the Ordinary Synod on the Family. The World Meeting of Families was planned before Synod '15 but Archbishop Chaput hoped that those discussions would influence the discernment amongst the Synod Fathers.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther wrote the Archbishop of Mainz and Magdelberg Albrecht to object to the sale of indulgences. Luther wrote "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" (which later became known as the 95 theses) and posted them on door of the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg, (also known as the Church of All Saints). This defiant act by the Augustinian monk lead to the Protestant Revolution. Luther's major theological insight from the 95 Theses is Justification by Faith (sola fides), which undercuts indulgences.
Two points of history underlie the Reformation protest. The issuing of indulgences were fueled by the existence of the secular Papal States. Indulgences were sold to support the Holy See. Since the Holy See lost the Papal States in 1871 (and came to terms with the loss of secular power as embodied in the 1927 Treaty of Lateran) the Vatican can concentrate on pastoring the faithful. A marker in intellectual history is why the Protestant Reformation was spread so successfully. The circulation of Luther's ideas in the 95 Theses was greatly aided by the advent of the Gutenberg printing press in the Fifteen Century. Many have likened the ease of exchanging ideas via the internet with the revolution brought about by the Gutenberg press. Social media is another cyber revolution which has religious reverberations to date. During the recent Synod on the Family at the Vatican, some of the organizers tried to insert language which the secular press called an earthquake. A great majority of the Synod Fathers dissented but this was going against the machine. However, social media proved to be an ideal platform for bishops to disseminate information and for the Catholic vox populi to share their concerns. Disseminating information and allowing the faithful to voice their views proved successful. Pope Francis had the Synod vote on every paragraph and the three egregious parts did not receive adequate support and were removed. Although it took 482 years, the Lutheran World Federation and Catholic Church did come to terms with their differences in a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), in which a common understanding of our justification by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ." Catholics maintain that it did not negate the Council of Trent but that its canons are non-applicability to concrete Christian bodies in the modern world. Still, some Christian soldiers want to fight, but like the Hatfields and McCoys, they have forgotten what they are fighting over. During a thoughtful conversation about faith, a Protestant was unphased when he learned of the agreement on sola fides between the Churches and wanted to continue to haggle over the other 94 points-- and he was not even Lutheran! As we live in a time when Christians around the world are being persecuted for their faith, we ought to remember the wisdom of the Lutheran
Theologian Peter Meiderlin (a.k.a. Ruptertus
Meldenius) : "[U]nity
in necessary things; liberty in doubtful things; charity in all things." It is commendable to mark a point of history like Reformation Day. It is cute but quixotic to try to have an alternative to Halloween with a holiday for theology nerds. That is almost as futile as First Lady Michelle Obama's advice to kids about Trick or Treats. But we should join with our brothers and sisters in faith on the many things on which we agree to help build the Kingdom of God rather than continue to form a spiritual circular firing squad.
