The above question is more a cheeky attempt at a link to Mary and Martha’s post from the other day, rather than a legitimate questioning concerning the role of the Bishop. I’m sure we are all aware of the apostolic origin and importance of the bishop. Here’s Benedict:
Dear friends, this is the purpose of the ministry of Bishops: that this chain of communion be not broken. This is the essence of the Apostolic Succession: to preserve communion with those who have encountered the Lord in a visible and tangible way and thus to keep Heaven open, the presence of God in our midst. It is only through communion with the Successors of the Apostles that we are also in touch with God incarnate.
If only most Catholics could read and understand that passage!!
Anyway, back to my point…
I watched the movie Romero last night. It is a 1989 film that portrays the episcopal reign of Archbishop Oscar Romero. My wife bought if for me for Christmas and I wasn’t sure if they date of production and the fact that it was made by a religious order (Paulist Productions – linked to the Paulist Fathers) would somewhat stymie its effectiveness. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
I have always been attracted to the firgure of Romero, an orthodox bishop actively striving for justice for his flock – looking out for not just their economic welfare but their spiritual welfare too. Also, the image of a priest being assasinated at the altar is a particularly striking one – His very life explicitly linked with the sacrifice of Christ.
However, I have still not arrived at my main point…
There is part early in the film where some Jesuit priests are discussing who would become the next Archbishop (Romero was not yet appointed) and they noted that it needed to be a radical choice. They openly scoffed at the possibility of Romero being chosen by Rome. They wanted someone radical. Someone who make a strong stand. How important is it for the bishop to chosen to lead a diocese to have a certain radical nature? To want to make a big difference, to want to proclaim Christ crucified in a clear, audible, visual manner?
Romero turned out to be a radical in a way. He stepped out of the mold of his predecessor and differentiated himself from the rest of the bishop’s conference. But that’s not necessarily what anyone would have predicted. One of my more brilliant parish priests used to remark when our bishop would do something particularly noteworthy -”You can see the grace of ordination working in him!”.
Does Rome pick radicals, or do they try for safe bets? While we all know about apostolic succession, trust me, it’s political too. Man, after all, is a political animal - almost as much as he is a religious one.
Let’s look at a NZ context. I have heard that certain people in the Hamilton diocese are praying for a certain priest to be named their next bishop. That, dear friends, is political. And I say, good on them! They want a strong bishop to lead them.
I can’t say that I have heard of our bishops doing anything radical. Sure, when you contrast the Catholic worldview with the Secular, anything could be considered radical. I am probably wrong here though, not being an expert on all things episcopal.
St Ignatius of Antioch (Also called Theophorus (ho Theophoros); born in Syria, around the year 50; died at Rome between 98 and 117.)
As therefore the Lord does nothing without the Father, for says He, “I can of mine own self do nothing,”so do ye, neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman, do anything without the bishop. Nor let anything appear commendable to you which is destitute of his approval. For every such thing is sinful, and opposed [to the will of] God. Do ye all come together into the same place for prayer. Let there be one common supplication, one mind, one hope, with faith unblameable in Christ Jesus, than which nothing is more excellent. Do ye all, as one man, run together into the temple of God, as unto one altar, to one Jesus Christ, the High Priest of the unbegotten God.
and then again…
from Michael Davies’ “Saint Athanasius: Defender of the Faith”
CHAPTER VI: THE TRUE VOICE OF TRADITION
What, then, are the lessons that can be learned from the fall of Liberius, the apparent triumph of Arianism, the witness of Athanasius, and the fortitude of the body of the faithful? Newman provides us with the answers, recognizing that what has happened once can happen again. In his July 1859 Rambler article he wrote:
I see, then, in the Arian history, a palmary example of a state of the Church, during which, in order to know the tradition of the Apostles, we must have recourse to the faithful; for I fairly own, that if I go to writers, since I must adjust the letter of Justin, Clement, and Hippolytus with the Nicene Doctors, I get confused: and what revives me and reinstates me, as far as history goes, is the faith of the people. For I argue that, unless they had been catechized, as St. Hilary says, in the orthodox faith from the time of their baptism, they never could have had that horror which they show of the heterodox Arian doctrine. Their voice, then, is the voice of tradition…
In Part 5 of the appendix to The Arians of the Fourth Century Newman stresses the fact that:
It is in no sense doctrinally false that a Pope, as a private doctor, and much more bishops, when not teaching formally, may err, as we find they did err in the fourth century. Pope Liberius might sign a Eusebian formula at Sirmium, and the mass of bishops at Ariminum or elsewhere, and yet they might, in spite of this error, be infallible in their ex cathedra decisions.
What the history of this period proves is that, during a time of general apostasy, Christians who remain true to their traditional faith may have to worship outside the official churches, the churches of priests in communion with their diocesan bishop, in order not to compromise that traditional faith; and that such Christians may have to look for truly Catholic teaching, leadership, and inspiration not to the bishops of their country as a body, not to the bishops of the world, not even to the Roman Pontiff, but to one heroic confessor whom the other bishops and even the Roman Pontiff may have repudiated or even excommunicated. And how would they recognize that this solitary confessor was right, and the Roman Pontiff and the body of the episcopate (not teaching infallibly) were wrong? The answer is that they would recognize in the teaching of this confessor what the faithful of the fourth century recognized in the teaching of Athanasius, the one true faith into which they had been baptized, in which they had been catechized, and which their confirmation gave them the obligation of upholding. In no sense whatsoever can such fidelity to tradition be compared with the Protestant practice of private judgment.
p.s. “I have been profoundly touched by the news of the death of Michael Davies. I had the good fortune to meet him several times and I found him as a man of deep faith and ready to embrace suffering. Ever since the Council he put all his energy into the service of the Faith and left us important publications especially about the Sacred Liturgy. Even though he suffered from the Church in many ways in his time, he always truly remained a man of the Church. He knew that the Lord founded His Church on the rock of St Peter and that the Faith can find its fullness and maturity only in union with the successor of St Peter. Therefore we can be confident that the Lord opened wide for him the gates of heaven. We commend his soul to the Lord’s mercy.” Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger 9 November 2004
Voice ITW,
This Bishop is certainly doing his bit to try to protect not only his own flock but flock beyond his borders … God Bless him and may this bill be defeated in many other places where it has not yet been passed.
Shalom,
Mrs Mac
http://www.courageouspriest.com/children-emotional-fulfillment-marriage-bigotry-oh-boy?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+courageouspriest%2FqTKF+%28Courageous+Priest%29
Woah, withhope!!!
I so totally disagree with this! A person might as well become a Protestant.
Well, there was the Bishop of Auckland who was charged with sedition: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/religion-and-society/6/3
Our Holy Father spoke about the important work and spiritualcourage and drive needed by all the bishops in our Holy church.
THE THREE WISE MEN WERE SEEKERS AFTER GOD
Vatican City, 6 January 2013 (VIS) – Today, Sunday the Solemnity of the Lord’s Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Holy Mass in the Vatican Basilica and conferred episcopal ordination on Angelo Vincenzo Zani, elected titular archbishop of Volturno and named secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education; Fortunato Nwachukwu, elected titular archbishop of Acquaviva and named apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua; Georg Ganswein, private secretary to Benedict XVI, named titular archbishop of Urbisaglia and prefect of the pontifical household; and Nicolas Henry Marie Denis Thevenin, elected titular archbishop of Eclano and named apostolic nuncio to Guatemala. Concelebrating with the Holy Father were Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, and the four archbishops-elect. The rite of ordination took place after the proclamation of the Gospel and the announcement of the date of Easter, which will be celebrated on 31 March this year.
During the homily the Holy Father spoke of the Three Wise Men, referring to them as “seekers after God”, for whom “the truth meant more than the taunts of the world”. Speaking about what it means to be a bishop the Pope affirmed that he “must be courageous” and have “the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset”.
Below you will find the complete text of Benedict XVI’s words:
“For the Church which believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who, guided by the star, made their way to the manger of Bethlehem, are only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout history. Thus the liturgy reads the Gospel which relates the journey of the Wise Men, together with the magnificent prophetic visions of the sixtieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah and Psalm 71, which depict in bold imagery the pilgrimage of the peoples to Jerusalem. Like the shepherds, who as the first visitors to the newborn Child in the manger, embodied the poor of Israel and more generally those humble souls who live in deep interior closeness to Jesus, so the men from the East embody the world of the peoples, the Church of the Gentiles – the men and women who in every age set out on the way which leads to the Child of Bethlehem, to offer him homage as the Son of God and to bow down before him. The Church calls this feast “Epiphany” – the appearance of the Godhead. If we consider the fact that from the very beginning men and women of every place, of every continent, of all the different cultures, mentalities and lifestyles, have been on the way to Christ, then we can truly say that this pilgrimage and this encounter with God in the form of a Child is an epiphany of God’s goodness and loving kindness for humanity (cf. Tit 3:4).
Following a tradition begun by Pope John Paul II, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord also as the day when episcopal ordination will be conferred on four priests who will now cooperate in different ways in the ministry of the Pope for the unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ in the multiplicity of the Particular Churches. The connection between this episcopal ordination and the theme of the pilgrimage of the peoples to Jesus Christ is evident. It is the task of the Bishop in this pilgrimage not merely to walk beside the others, but to go before them, showing the way. But in this liturgy I would like to reflect with you on a more concrete question. Based on the account of Matthew, we can gain a certain idea of what sort of men these were, who followed the sign of the star and set off to find that King who would establish not only for Israel but for all mankind a new kind of kingship. What kind of men were they? And we can also ask whether, despite the difference of times and tasks, we can glimpse in them something of what a Bishop is and how he is to carry out his task.
These men who set out towards the unknown were, in any event, men with a restless heart. Men driven by a restless quest for God and the salvation of the world. They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society. They were looking for something greater. They were no doubt learned men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably possessed of a fine philosophical formation. But they desired more than simply knowledge about things. They wanted above all else to know what is essential. They wanted to know how we succeed in being human. And therefore they wanted to know if God exists, and where and how he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can encounter him. Nor did they want just to know. They wanted to understand the truth about ourselves and about God and the world. Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward journey, the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God and were ultimately on the way towards him. They were seekers after God.
Here we come to the question: What sort of man must he be, upon whom hands are laid in episcopal ordination in the Church of Jesus Christ? We can say that he must above all be a man concerned for God, for only then will he also be truly concerned about men. Inversely, we could also say that a Bishop must be a man concerned for others, one who is concerned about what happens to them. He must be a man for others. But he can only truly be so if he is a man seized by God, if concern for God has also become for him concern for God’s creature who is man. Like the Wise Men from the East, a Bishop must not be someone who merely does his job and is content with that. No, he must be gripped by God’s concern for men and women. He must in some way think and feel with God. Human beings have an innate restlessness for God, but this restlessness is a participation in God’s own restlessness for us. Since God is concerned about us, he follows us even to the crib, even to the Cross. “Thou with weary steps hast sought me, crucified hast dearly bought me, may thy pains not be in vain”, the Church prays in the Dies Irae. The restlessness of men for God and hence the restlessness of God for men must unsettle the Bishop. This is what we mean when we say that, above all else, the Bishop must be a man of faith. For faith is nothing less than being interiorly seized by God, something which guides us along the pathways of life. Faith draws us into a state of being seized by the restlessness of God and it makes us pilgrims who are on an inner journey towards the true King of the world and his promise of justice, truth and love. On this pilgrimage the Bishop must go ahead, he must be the guide pointing out to men and women the way to faith, hope and love.
Faith’s inner pilgrimage towards God occurs above all in prayer. Saint Augustine once said that prayer is ultimately nothing more than the realization and radicalization of our yearning for God. Instead of “yearning”, we could also translate the word as “restlessness” and say that prayer would detach us from our false security, from our being enclosed within material and visible realities, and would give us a restlessness for God and thus an openness to and concern for one another. The Bishop, as a pilgrim of God, must be above all a man of prayer. He must live be in constant inner contact with God; his soul must be open wide to God. He must bring before God his own needs and the needs of others, as well as his joys and the joys of others, and thus in his own way establish contact between God and the world in communion with Christ, so that Christ’s light can shine in the world.
Let us return to the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above all, men of courage, the courage and humility born of faith. Courage was needed to grasp the meaning of the star as a sign to set out, to go forth – towards the unknown, the uncertain, on paths filled with hidden dangers. We can imagine that their decision was met with derision: the scorn of those realists who could only mock the reveries of such men. Anyone who took off on the basis of such uncertain promises, risking everything, could only appear ridiculous. But for these men, inwardly seized by God, the way which he pointed out was more important than what other people thought. For them, seeking the truth meant more than the taunts of the world, so apparently clever.
How can we not think, in this context, of the task of a Bishop in our own time? The humility of faith, of sharing the faith of the Church of every age, will constantly be in conflict with the prevailing wisdom of those who cling to what seems certain. Anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the prevalent way of thinking, even in our own day. Today’s regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs. Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset is particularly urgent for a Bishop today. He must be courageous. And this courage or forcefulness does not consist in striking out or in acting aggressively, but rather in allowing oneself to be struck and to be steadfast before the principles of the prevalent way of thinking. The courage to stand firm in the truth is unavoidably demanded of those whom the Lord sends like sheep among wolves. “Those who fear the Lord will not be timid”, says the Book of Sirach (34:16). The fear of God frees us from the fear of men. It liberates.
Here I am reminded of an episode at the very beginning of Christianity which Saint Luke recounts in the Acts of the Apostles. After the speech of Gamaliel, who advised against violence in dealing with the earliest community of believers in Jesus, the Sanhedrin summoned the Apostles and had them flogged. It then forbade them from preaching in the name of Jesus and set them free. Saint Luke continues: “As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus. And every day… they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah” (Acts 5:40ff.). The successors of the Apostles must also expect to be repeatedly beaten, by contemporary methods, if they continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that can be heard and understood. Then they can rejoice that they have been considered worthy of suffering for him. Like the Apostles, we naturally want to convince people and in this sense to obtain their approval. Naturally, we are not provocative; on the contrary we invite all to enter into the joy of that truth which shows us the way. The approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is not the criterion to which we submit. Our criterion is the Lord himself. If we defend his cause, we will constantly gain others to the way of the Gospel. But, inevitably, we will also be beaten by those who live lives opposed to the Gospel, and then we can be grateful for having been judged worthy to share in the passion of Christ.
The Wise Men followed the star, and thus came to Jesus, to the great Light which enlightens everyone coming into this world (cf. Jn 1:9). As pilgrims of faith, the Wise Men themselves became stars shining in the firmament of history and they show us the way. The saints are God’s true constellations, which light up the nights of this world, serving as our guides. Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians, told his faithful that they must shine like stars in the world (cf. 2:15).
Dear friends, this holds true for us too. It holds true above all for you who are now to be ordained Bishops of the Church of Jesus Christ. If you live with Christ, bound to him anew in this sacrament, then you too will become wise men. Then you will become stars which go before men and women, pointing out to them the right path in life. All of us here are now praying for you, that the Lord may fill you with the light of faith and love. That that restlessness of God for man may seize you, so that all may experience his closeness and receive the gift of his joy. We are praying for you, that the Lord may always grant you the courage and humility of faith. We ask Mary, who showed to the Wise Men the new King of the world (cf. Mt 2:11), as a loving mother, to show Jesus Christ also to you and to help you to be guides along the way which leads to him. Amen.
Shalom
Mrs Mac
Lucia maria
we don’t have to become protestants – vii and the way a lot of bishops have brought calvin to the diocese means we get the biggest dose of protest against catholic tradition at the Mass.
‘The Church…as a loving mother, to show Jesus Christ also to you and to help you to be guides along the way which leads to Him.’ How are we shown, these days?
Maybe it was a mistake, but in learning about Catholicism and I read the classics, and when I lived overseas the Catholicism I got used to was not so abusively different from that which had grown organically and anonymously (throught the work of the Holy Spirit) over 1900 years. Granted as I travelled around many a Sunday the Mass was simply a new age mess, but there were also many parishes they worked hard not to suffer from the obivous rupture with tradition that most bishops ran with several decades ago. During the protestant reformation, they stripped the altars; during the vii reformation, catholics smashed the altars. The altar was always incensed by the priest because it represented the body of the dead Christ which had been treated with spices – showing that the altar is Christ – which is also why relics of Saints were kept beneath the altar – the souls of the saintly in heaven, the ressurection bodies waiting to rise from beneath. Most a-historical catholics don’t realise that the table with the bread and wine were the celebrant faces the people is a protestant Lord’s Supper – built to deny the real presence and built to eschew the catholic ‘misconception’ of the ‘sacrifice’ of the mass. for 1900 the Holy Spirit shaped the Liturgy and in a few decades the untrustworthy inheritors decided that the Holy Spirit’s work was somehow flawed (excuse me, but isn’t that the sin which cannot be forgiven in this world or the next?) Who any more knows what When people meet royalty they never turn their backs but must always face the King or Queen out of respect. Now the parishes not only smashed the altar of Christ (who knows what they did with the relics of the saints) but they turn their back on heaven, on Our Lord and address the entire liturgy with the their backs to the King of Kings. The Tabernacle is now floating free of an context just like the miserable protestant Mass that is built to abuse Our Lord and make heretics of parishoners.
How many Catholic’s these days have a clue what a Communion Paten is? It’s golden “plate” that is used at the Communion of the faithful to catch any particle of the Host that may accidentally fall at that time. Why is this important? Because every particle and fragment contains the Real Presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Our Saviour. The Greeks before Consecration call the host ‘bread’, ‘gifts’, or ‘particles’; after the Consecration, ‘pearls’.
Anyone interested check out the following pdf and see how many of these traditional means of worship you recognise or still exist as laid out in the document. My question is, how Catholic is the catholic church anymore? The answer is, most parishes in the west aren’t Catholic and don’t have clue about it.
http://resources.ipsissima-verba.org/documents/church-symbols.pdf