Spanish court throws out ‘hate crime’ complaint against archbishop

Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus on the Solemnity of All Saints, Nov. 1, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 21, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

In times when the truth offends and Christian principles and values seem diluted or relativized, it is worth remembering the great doctor of the Church St. Peter Damian, whom the Church remembers every Feb. 21.

Peter Damian (1007–1072) initially lived as a Benedictine monk but, sensitive to the needs of his time, accepted to be ordained bishop and then a cardinal. He made a very important contribution to the ecclesial renewal of the 11th century, which had its high point in the Gregorian reform.  

Prayer and discernment

Peter Damian was a man of deep prayer and recollection. Precisely because of this, he knew how to distinguish what is essential to attain the perfection of charity. The reformist impulse that characterized him throughout his life sprang from an authentic interior life and from assiduous contact with God and with his own inner self. 

This saint was well aware that in order to follow Christ it is necessary to form and strengthen the soul, particularly the mind. This is how he himself expresses it beautifully: “May hope raise your joy, may charity kindle your fervor. Thus your mind, well satiated, will be able to forget exterior sufferings and will progress in the possession of the goods it contemplates within itself.” 

‘Damiani’

The saint was born in 1007 in Ravenna, Italy. He lost his parents while very young and was left in the care of one of his brothers who did not treat him well. However, to his good fortune, another of his brothers, archpriest of Ravenna, took pity on him and took charge of his education. At his side, Peter felt like a son, which is why he decided to take this brother’s name: “Damiani” (Damian).

As Peter grew up, he showed an increasing inclination to prayer, meditation, and fasting while at the same time being generous with those whom God loved the most — the poor. The saint shared his food with those who were hungry, whom he used to welcome into his home. 

Food of the soul, strength of the mind

Peter Damian’s spiritual journey began with the Benedictines. Enthused by the reform of St. Romuald (951–1027), he became a monk in the monastery of Fonte Avellana. Moved by a very great fervor, Peter devoted himself to the practice of the harshest disciplines and rigors. He wore sackcloth, fed himself with only bread and water, and flagellated himself; however, his body could not endure for long and became noticeably weakened. This forced him to moderate himself.

The monk thus understood that these practices alone do not guarantee virtue and that in most cases being patient can be the best penance; all the more so in the midst of the sorrows of this life, which God allows to teach us.

Reformer of the monastic life

On the death of the abbot of the monastery of Fonte Avellana, Peter took over as prior. His desire to strengthen and improve the life of the monks was concretized in reforms that yielded good results. 

He founded five more communities of Benedictine hermits while encouraging the monks to always seek the spirit of silence, charity, and humility. St. Dominic Loricato and St. John of Lodi, his disciples, are sons of those reforms.

In 1057 Peter Damian was created cardinal and bishop of Ostia, renouncing what pleased him most: his life in silence and solitude. 

His good name became known to all, and he considerably increased the contact he already had with the Roman Curia, and even with the pope. He wrote numerous letters criticizing “simony” — the purchase of spiritual goods as if they were material goods, which included ecclesiastical offices, performance of sacraments, sacramentals, the trade of relics, and promises of prayer.

He wrote the so-called Book of Gomorrah (a title alluding to the Old Testament city of Gomorrah) and spoke out strongly against the impure customs of his time. He also wrote about the duties of clerics and monks, to whom he recommended spiritual discipline rather than prolonged fasting.

The future of the Church

“It is impossible to restore discipline once it has fallen into decay; if we, through negligence, allow the rules to fall into disuse, future generations will not be able to return to the primitive observance. Let us guard against incurring such a fault, and let us faithfully transmit to our successors the legacy of our predecessors,” the saint wrote sharply, concerned about the responsibility we have toward future generations of Christians.

A curious fact about St. Peter Damian: In his spare time, he used to make wooden spoons and other utensils for his brothers in the faith.

The final episode 

Pope Alexander II sent Peter Damian to solve a problem in Ravenna, where the archbishop had declared himself in open rebellion and had incurred excommunication. Unfortunately, the saint arrived after the prelate had died, but such was his example of justice and charity in fraternal correction that the accomplices of the rebel recognized their error, assumed their penance, and reformed their conduct. 

On his way back to Rome, Peter Damian fell ill during his stay in a monastery on the outskirts of Faenza and died there on Feb. 22, 1072. 

Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy, in the XXI canto of “Paradise,” places St. Peter Damian in the heaven of Saturn, destined for high contemplative spirits. He was declared a doctor of the Church in 1828 by Pope Leo XII.

This article was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Rome, Italy, Apr 7, 2018 / 03:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking Saturday in Rome, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke said that the pope is the highest authority in the Church, but because his power is derived from the divine law, the faithful are obligated to reject his teaching if it falls outside that divine law.  

“According to the Holy Scriptures and the Sacred Tradition, the Successor of St. Peter enjoys a power that is universal, ordinary and immediate on all the faithful,” Burke said at a conference on confusion within the Church, held in Rome April 7.

“Since this power comes from God himself, it is limited by natural law and by divine law,” he continued, “which are the expressions of the eternal and immutable truth and goodness that come from God, are fully revealed in Christ and have been transmitted in the Church uninterruptedly.”

“Therefore, any expression of doctrine or practice that is not in conformity with the Divine Revelation, contained in the Holy Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church, cannot constitute an authentic exercise of the Apostolic or Petrine ministry and must be rejected by the faithful.”

Burke spoke alongside Cardinal Walter Brandmueller, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, philosopher Marcello Pera, professors Renzo Puccetti and Valerio Gigliotti, and journalist Francesca Romana Poleggi.

The conference, which was put on partly to honor the last wishes of the late Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, archbishop emeritus of Bolona, was titled: “Church, where are you going?”

The subtitle, “Only the blind would deny there is confusion in the Church,” was taken from one of Caffara’s last interviews before his death on Sept. 6, 2017.

Topics at the conference included questions about the Church’s doctrine on matters of sexual morality; the issue of conscience and the concept of “discernment;” and the limits of papal authority and infallibility, which the Church teaches is applicable only in cases of certain public statements on faith and morals.

Cardinal Burke presented a lengthy speech outlining both what papal power is and what its limits are. He also discussed what he believes to be the role of the bishops and the faithful when the pope is thought to have stepped outside these bounds.

Burke explained that while it is both the pope and the bishops who share in the care of the universal Church, it is only the pope who “exercises the fullness of power, so that the unity of the universal Church may be effectively safeguarded and promoted.”

“It is clear that the fullness of power has been given by Christ himself and not by any human authority or popular constitution, and that, therefore, it can only be exercised in obedience to Christ,” he continued.

He argued that from the beginning of the Church, this idea of the “fullness of power” has been well-defined and that it was well understood that it did not allow certain actions to be performed by the Roman Pontiff.

“For example,” Burke stated, “[the pope] could not act against the Apostolic Faith. Moreover, for the good of the good order of the Church, it was a power to be used sparingly and with the greatest prudence.”

Asking how we should correct the pope if he does overstep the limits of his power, Burke pointed to two steps, which he called “a brief and preliminary answer, based on natural law, on the Gospels and on the canonical tradition.”

First, he said, “the correction of the presumed error or abandonment of his duty should be addressed directly to the Roman Pontiff; and then, if he continued to err or not answer, a public declaration should be made.”

“The Roman Pontiff is – like all the faithful – subject to the Word of God, to the Catholic faith and is the guarantor of the obedience of the Church and, in this sense, servus servorum [servant of the servants].”

He noted that he believes devout Catholics must always teach and defend the fullness of power that Christ gave to “His Vicar on earth.” But at the same time, they must teach and defend the power “within the teaching of the Church and the defense of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.”

Cardinal Joseph Zen, a bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, was not present, but sent a brief video message recorded in February 2018, stating that though he was not able to travel to the conference, he was there with his prayers and with his heart.

Zen, who has spoken out strongly against a possible forthcoming agreement between the Holy See and the Chinese government, said that the Church is a great family, and that at the center of the family is the Holy See, which is very important.

He noted how Pope Francis likes to emphasize the importance of the peripheries, but said that “in this moment, our periphery, China… is in much difficulty, great difficulty,” and that “many voices from this periphery do not arrive at the center [of the Church.]”

“We have a great desire to have more communication between the center and the periphery,” he continued, “because if one wants to help the Church in China, one should know [the country]” and not only statistics or what can be read in books.

“At the moment, we are afraid that at the center they do not bring a decision that will truly help to grow the Church. This is the worry of many,” he stated.
 

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Armagh, Northern Ireland, Oct 5, 2018 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Catholic leaders fear a revival of border tensions in Ireland following Brexit. As the United Kingdom prepares for its withdrawal from the European Union, Catholics in parishes and dioceses split… […]