UPDATED: B16's Chrism Mass Sermon: Call to Obedience

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You may recall that on this blog we have been following the story of the "Call to Disobedience" taking place among priests in Austria and other European countries. The group organized and is calling for the ordination of women, abolition of celibacy, acceptance homosexual marriage and abortion. Very little to nothing has been said by local bishops, the immediate pastors of these priests--any by no means anything in the form of a consequence for disobedience. But on Holy Thursday the Holy Father took the time out of this important day's sermon to articulate what the local archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn would not: disobedience is not the answer. Here follows the relevant part of the sermon: "...Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church’s Magisterium, such as the question of women’s ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the Church has received no authority from the Lord. Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? We would like to believe that the authors of this summons are motivated by concern for the Church, that they are convinced that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date. But is disobedience really a way to do this? Do we sense here anything of that configuration to Christ which is the precondition for true renewal, or do we merely sense a desperate push to do something to change the Church in accordance with one’s own preferences and ideas?... The significance of this to me isn't as much in what Pope Benedict said, as it is in how he said it. (dissenters and non-dissenters know that the question of women's ordination was closed by John Paul II...problem is they don't believe in teaching authority, much less the doctrine of papal infallibility established at Vatican I. He didn't need to cite documents.) The significance is first in the fact that the Holy Father had statement that was more strongly worded than anything Cardinal Schönborn has said up until this point.  Cardinal Schönborn is the vicar in the diocese where the problem originated and usually problems like these are left to the local bishop to deal with. It is rare, especially given Pope Benedict's support at Vatican II of a reduction of the role of the Pope in his involvement in individual diocesan affairs, that he would become so publicly involved in trying to resolve the issue. It suggests that someone, either isn't doing their job or feels they are unable to. When 600 priests publicly state that they are no longer obedient to their bishop, and the bishop does not condemn the action, the system is breaking down somewhere. That would be like half of a platoon telling their commander they will no longer follow their commander. Passivity can either be a sign of fear, despair or sympathy for their complaints. I wonder if Cardinal Schönborn requested that Pope Benedict say something, or if Cardinal Schönborn didn't even know it was coming. The second reason this is significant is the simple fact that, while addressing the world, the Holy Father chose Holy Thursday, the important day of the founding of the priesthood to call out a specific group of people as an example of "how priest's should not act" if they wish to be faithful to Christ's idea for his priesthood. How embarrassing! If these men have anything left in them that resembles Catholicism and the vows of obedience they took at their ordination, they would disperse from embarrassment. Obedience is what redeemed the world, obedience of Christ to his Father and it has become a virtue very much forgotten today. For three years the "Western Mass" was allowed by Cardinal Schönborn in the Archdiocese of Vienna. This has also been a recent controversy. Pope Benedict was really on a roll this Easter season. UPDATE from Rorate: 12/04/2012 Following two more incidents since the Holy Father's sermon.... Austria, Ireland... His Holiness is moving. Following the Holy Father's strong words during Chrism Mass against the rebel priests of the Pfarrer-Initiative in Austria (words that have been accompanied by strong secret letters ordering the Austrian episcopate and its leader, the incredible Cardinal of Vienna, to take real charge of the matter), now the most outspoken and influential rebel-priest in Ireland is also on the receiving end of Roman orders. Not only is he under investigation, as we first reported on April 7, he has in effect been silenced during this same investigation: Just days before Easter, Flannery, a prolific and longtime columnist for the Redemptorist Order’s monthly magazine, Reality, was told he can no longer write on any of the church-doctrine issues. ... Reality editor Gerard Moloney has also been reprimanded for allowing Flannery’s prose to make it into print. Future editions of the magazine will now have to be reviewed by a Vatican-approved theologian. In the meantime, Flannery has reportedly been sent to a monastery for six weeks of prayer and contemplation. [From the Daily Beast, and several secular sources.] We wish Fr. Flannery weeks, months, and years of silent contemplation - very contemplative and, especially, very silent! Sounds like good news....we'll see what happens

You may recall that on this blog we have been following the story of the "Call to Disobedience" taking place among priests in Austria and other European countries. The group organized and is calling for the ordination of women, abolition of celibacy, acceptance homosexual marriage and abortion. Very little to nothing has been said by local bishops, the immediate pastors of these priests--any by no means anything in the form of a consequence for disobedience. But on Holy Thursday the Holy Father took the time out of this important day's sermon to articulate what the local archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn would not: disobedience is not the answer. Here follows the relevant part of the sermon:

"...Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church’s Magisterium, such as the question of women’s ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the Church has received no authority from the Lord. Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? We would like to believe that the authors of this summons are motivated by concern for the Church, that they are convinced that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date. But is disobedience really a way to do this? Do we sense here anything of that configuration to Christ which is the precondition for true renewal, or do we merely sense a desperate push to do something to change the Church in accordance with one’s own preferences and ideas?...

The significance of this to me isn't as much in what Pope Benedict said, as it is in how he said it. (dissenters and non-dissenters know that the question of women's ordination was closed by John Paul II...problem is they don't believe in teaching authority, much less the doctrine of papal infallibility established at Vatican I. He didn't need to cite documents.)

The significance is first in the fact that the Holy Father had statement that was more strongly worded than anything Cardinal Schönborn has said up until this point.
 Cardinal Schönborn is the vicar in the diocese where the problem originated and usually problems like these are left to the local bishop to deal with. It is rare, especially given Pope Benedict's support at Vatican II of a reduction of the role of the Pope in his involvement in individual diocesan affairs, that he would become so publicly involved in trying to resolve the issue. It suggests that someone, either isn't doing their job or feels they are unable to. When 600 priests publicly state that they are no longer obedient to their bishop, and the bishop does not condemn the action, the system is breaking down somewhere. That would be like half of a platoon telling their commander they will no longer follow their commander. Passivity can either be a sign of fear, despair or sympathy for their complaints. I wonder if Cardinal Schönborn requested that Pope Benedict say something, or if Cardinal Schönborn didn't even know it was coming.

The second reason this is significant is the simple fact that, while addressing the world, the Holy Father chose Holy Thursday, the important day of the founding of the priesthood to call out a specific group of people as an example of "how priest's should not act" if they wish to be faithful to Christ's idea for his priesthood. How embarrassing! If these men have anything left in them that resembles Catholicism and the vows of obedience they took at their ordination, they would disperse from embarrassment. Obedience is what redeemed the world, obedience of Christ to his Father and it has become a virtue very much forgotten today.

For three years the "Western Mass" was allowed by Cardinal Schönborn in the Archdiocese of Vienna. This has also been a recent controversy.

Pope Benedict was really on a roll this Easter season.


UPDATE from Rorate: 12/04/2012

Following two more incidents since the Holy Father's sermon....

Austria, Ireland... His Holiness is moving.

Following the Holy Father's strong words during Chrism Mass against the rebel priests of the Pfarrer-Initiative in Austria (words that have been accompanied by strong secret letters ordering the Austrian episcopate and its leader, the incredible Cardinal of Vienna, to take real charge of the matter), now the most outspoken and influential rebel-priest in Ireland is also on the receiving end of Roman orders. Not only is he under investigation, as we first reported on April 7, he has in effect been silenced during this same investigation:

Just days before Easter, Flannery, a prolific and longtime columnist for the Redemptorist Order’s monthly magazine, Reality, was told he can no longer write on any of the church-doctrine issues. ... Reality editor Gerard Moloney has also been reprimanded for allowing Flannery’s prose to make it into print. Future editions of the magazine will now have to be reviewed by a Vatican-approved theologian. In the meantime, Flannery has reportedly been sent to a monastery for six weeks of prayer and contemplation.

[From the Daily Beast, and several secular sources.]

We wish Fr. Flannery weeks, months, and years of silent contemplation - very contemplative and, especially, very silent!

Sounds like good news....we'll see what happens