Munich, Germany, Feb 10, 2019 / 01:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Walter Kasper has released a criticism of Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s “Manifesto of Faith,” accusing it of containing half-truths and blanket statements that could lead to division and confusion in the Church.
In a statement on katholisch.de, Kasper said that while the manifesto “contains many statements of faith that every upright Catholic can wholeheartedly affirm,” some of the truths in it “are pointed out so pointedly that it fades out the other half.”
On Feb. 8, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, published a “Manifesto of Faith,” which he described as a response to Catholics who have requested that he issue a “public testimony about the truth of revelation” in response to “growing confusion about the doctrine of the Faith.”
The manifesto addresses five areas of Catholic doctrine: Christology, ecclesiology, sacraments, morality, and eschatology, the branch of theology that addresses death, judgment, heaven, and hell. Each section draws heavily from references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
In his document, Müller quotes the catechism, noting that “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.” He adds that “from the internal logic of the sacrament,” that norm applies to “divorced and civilly remarried persons, whose sacramental marriage exists before God, as well as those Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Faith and the Church.” He also reiterated that the Church cannot ordain women to the priesthood and affirmed Church teaching on the existence of heaven and hell.
Kasper, who has been an outspoken advocate of the admission of the divorced-and-remarried to Holy Communion, accused Müller of making “unacceptable blanket statements,” such as the assertion that “the conscience of the faithful is not sufficiently formed.”
“It is undoubtedly true that the confession of the Triune God constitutes a fundamental difference in belief in God and the image of man from other religions. But are there not similarities, especially with the Jews and the Muslims, in the belief in the one God? And are not these similarities today fundamental to peace in the world and in society? Half the truth is not the Catholic truth!” Kasper charged.
He also said that he was “totally horrified” to read Müller’s statement that failing to teach the truths of the Catholic faith “it is the fraud of Antichrist.”
Kasper suggested that Müller was following the path of Martin Luther: “One who rightly advocates reforms in the Church, but wants to pursue these behind the Pope’s back and enforce them in opposition to him? I would find that hard to believe. For that could only lead to confusion and division. That could unhinge the Catholic Church.”
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Paris, France, Jan 11, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- A leading architect in France has urged that the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris be reconstructed out of wood, for the sake of the building’s structural integrity.
Eric Wirth of the Guild of French Architects, expressed at a French parliamentary hearing Jan. 8 that rebuilding the roof with concrete or metal would be a mistake.
“We have to be sceptical of seemingly brilliant solutions” involving metal or concrete rafters he said, according to AFP.
“The most modern and ecological material today is wood,” Wirth said.
He said the cathedral is still at risk of collapse after a fire struck the cathedral in April, destroying the roof and spire and damaging the windows and vaults. He said alternative materials to wood might have resulted in further damage to the cathedral.
“The cathedral has been there for 800 years. Had it been built in concrete or steel it would not still be there,” he further added.
“Even with all the (chemical) protection treatments, given the intensity of the blaze… the steel would have held for half an hour and then it would have twisted, pulling on the walls and everything would have collapsed.”
He said that even if metal or concrete roofs were lightweight, the building’s structure is built for a heavy roof, and that such Gothic cathedrals “stand up structurally because there is a large mass on the vaulted ceiling … they only work because the roof is heavy.”
“We are lucky to have all the information we need to rebuild an identical roof.”
The comments came after Jean-Louis Georgelin, army general in charge of the restoration, said the call for an oak roof is just “lobbying” by wood industries. He said all options will be analyzed before anything is put in place.
“There will be a study, and all possible options will be examined,” said Georgelin, according to AFP.
In November, Georgelin had disagreed over whether the cathedral’s new spire should look modern or medieval. Georgelin, who supports a “contemporary” spire, reportedly told the architect Philippe Villeneuve that he should “shut his mouth” over the spire’s design.
The French parliament over the summer passed a bill declaring that Notre-Dame must be rebuilt exactly the way it was prior to the fire
Since the adoption of the 1905 law on separation of church and state, which formalized laïcité, a strict form of public secularism, religious buildings in France have been property of the state.
In December, the cathedral’s rector expressed concern that the Church is still at risk of destruction and may not be able to be reconstructed safely.
The church “is not out of danger,” Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said to the Associated Press Dec. 24. “It will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffolding.”
“Today we can say that there is maybe a 50% chance (the cathedral) will be saved,” said Chauvet. “There is also (a) 50% chance of scaffolding falling onto the three vaults, so as you can see, the building is still very fragile,” he added.
The scaffolding, present at the time of the fire on April 15, had melted together, and there are still about 551 tons of metal still present on top of the cathedral.
He said that after the scaffolding has been removed, the team will be able to better assess the state of the cathedral and begin the restoration. He said the scaffold will not likely be removed until 2021 and does not think the cathedral will be completed in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as French president Emmanuel Macron has vowed.
Four men carry a statue of St. Bonaventure during a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, his birthplace, on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. / Patrick Leonard/CNA
Bagnoregio, Italy, Jul 15, 2023 / 12:15 pm (CNA).
The birthplace of St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century intellectual giant now revered as a doctor of the Church and the “second founder” of the Franciscans, paid homage to its patron Friday night on the vigil of his feast day with music, prayers, and a candlelight procession.
For the citizens of Bagnoregio, an idyllic town nestled in Italy’s Lazio region about a 1½ drive north of Rome, the July 15 feast is both a solemn holy day and a wellspring of civic pride. Bonaventure’s “braccio santo,” or holy arm — the only surviving relic of the saint — is kept in a silver, arm-shaped reliquary housed in a side chapel of Bagnoregio’s Cathedral of San Nicola and San Donato.
Religious sisters participating in a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, in honor of the town’s patron saint and native son, St. Bonaventure. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Friday’s procession, which commenced at the cathedral, was led by the town’s confraternities of the Most Blessed Sacrament, St. Francis, and St. Peter. Following them were a brass band, a statue of the saint adorned with flowers and carried by four men, and a priest carrying the holy arm. Then came Cardinal Fortunato Frezza, numerous priests, and this year’s first communicants, followed by other religious and residents.
As the participants made their way down the candlelit Via Roma, onlookers watched from windows, balconies, and restaurants bustling with patrons on a warm summer evening.
A resident of Bagnoregio, Italy, watches a candlelight procession through the streets of the town in honor of its patron saint, St. Bonaventure, on July 14, 2023. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Arriving at the piazza Sant’Agostino, Cardinal Frezza, standing beneath a monument of Bonaventure, offered a brief reflection on the importance of the saint and of procession as a form of popular devotion.
The relic “gives us strength to sustain our weakness … It is a relic that is alive and active,” observed the cardinal, a noted biblical scholar. It is “an arm that teaches,” he said, the very right arm that “wrote his works of great intellect and wisdom.”
The cardinal closed his brief catechesis by saying “our life is a holy procession, an itinerary of the mind towards God.” Here he was playing on the title of one of Bonaventure’s most important theological works, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, “The Journey of the Mind to God.” Following a benediction with the relic, the procession continued down Via Fidanza, looping around the main gate and then back up Via Roma to the cathedral. The faithful entered and Cardinal Frezza imparted the final blessing, again with the relic.
Cardinal Fortunato Frezza leads a prayer service on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, in honor of the town’s patron saint and native son, St. Bonaventure. Patrick Leonard/CNA
The Franciscans’ ‘second founder’
Born in 1217 (or 1221, according to some accounts) as Giovanni Fidanza in Civita di Bagnoregio (then in the territory of the Papal States), he displayed great acumen and intellectual curiosity. He was, however, plagued by ill health in his youth. His mother called upon the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, and he was, according to the legend, miraculously cured.
The young Bonaventure studied at the nearby Franciscan convent. Given his great talent, at 18 he left Bagnoregio to study in Paris, then the intellectual capital of Europe.
He joined the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in 1243. At the University of Paris, he studied under the renowned Franciscan theologian Alexander de Hales; in 1257 he earned his teaching license (magister cathedratus) in theology there. Bonaventure was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, whom he met as they were both teaching at the university. The two future doctors of the Church were united in defending the then-nascent Franciscan and Dominican orders, whose orthodoxy was called into question by the secular clergy.
A statue of St. Bonaventure is shown during a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, his birthplace, on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Bonaventure’s teaching career was cut short; in 1257 when he was appointed minister general of the Franciscan order, which was then plagued by internal factionalism due to divergent understandings of Francis’ spirituality following his death.
To rectify this, Bonaventure spent much time traveling around Europe to help maintain the unity of the order. In 1260 went to Narbonne, France, to solidify the rule of the order and that same year he started writing (which was completed three years later in 1263) the Legenda Maior, “The Major Legend,” considered the definitive biography of St. Francis. For Bonaventure, the key to righting the order lie in Francis’ ideals of obedience, chastity, and poverty, which he re-established as the Franciscans’ guiding principles.
A woman venerates the “braccio santo,” or holy arm, of St. Bonaventure on July 14, 2023, the vigil of the saint’s feast day, at the Cathedral of San Nicola and San Donato in his hometown, Bagnoregio, Italy. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Enduring influence
In addition to his contributions as the “second founder” of the Franciscans, Bonaventure had a profound impact on the papacy. Following the chaos of the three-year conclave in Viterbo that elected Gregory X in 1271 (the longest papal election in the history of the Church), the new pontiff, also a Franciscan, entrusted Bonaventure with preparing many of the key documents for the Second Council of Lyon (1272-1274) which sought to unify the Latin and Greek Churches.
He was made a cardinal in the consistory of May 28, 1273. He did not, however, see the end of the council, as he died on July 15, 1274. He was canonized in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Sixtus V in 1588.
A candlelight procession through the streets of Bagnoregio, Italy, on July 14, 2023, honors the town’s native son and patron saint, St. Bonaventure. Patrick Leonard/CNA
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI, who was a great admirer of Bonaventure, visited the saint’s birthplace to venerate the relic and address the faithful. In 2010 he dedicated three consecutive Wednesday audiences on the saint, outlining the importance of his governance of the Franciscans and his theological, philosophical, and mystical works. Bonaventure’s writings, Benedict observed, demonstrate that “Christ’s works do not go backwards, they do not fail but progress.”
“For St. Bonaventure, Christ was no longer the end of history, as he was for the Fathers of the Church, but rather its center; history does not end with Christ but begins a new period,” Benedict said.
“The following is another consequence: Until that moment the idea that the Fathers of the Church were the absolute summit of theology predominated, all successive generations could only be their disciples,” Pope Benedict explained.
“St. Bonaventure also recognized the Fathers as teachers forever, but the phenomenon of St. Francis assured him that the riches of Christ’s word are inexhaustible and that new light could also appear to the new generations,” he said. “The oneness of Christ also guarantees newness and renewal in all the periods of history.”
Denver Newsroom, May 16, 2022 / 14:39 pm (CNA).
The Attorney General for Northern Ireland, Brenda King, has asked the U.K. Supreme Court to rule whether a ban on “influencing” women or protesting abortion outside a… […]
Now it is “behind the Pope’s back” to teach the basic truths of the faith? I read Mueller’s whole “Manifesto”: it is nothing more than basic Catholicism. If such a document brings condemnation from cardinals, we really are in de facto schism already.
Kasper’s replies shows an intellectual bankruptcy regarding the Catholic Church and the absurdity of a ‘Catholic truth’ that is only a ‘half truth’ because the world may come to believe in one God and a bartered peace is better than none. It has not stopped Muslim bloodshed no matter how many times prelates of Christianity have defined down the triune God or even denied Him for the sake of peace.
A Kasper church does the world no favor in denying the truths of the Catholic Church in believing that will bring a theological and secular piece to the world.
How does Kasper reconcile John 8:32…”and the truth shall set you free”???
“Half the truth is not the Catholic truth!” pontificates Cardinal Kasper who, in his now predictable mindset, seems to imply that the whole Catholic truth is, what, less incarnational than it is big-tent syncretic (“catholic” small c)?
Of other religions, Kasper pronounces, “…are not these similarities [among religions] today fundamental to peace in the world and in society?”
What? Of course, ALL such platitudes are true—but, is it now inadmissible for Cardinal Muller to simply present the real Catholic Faith—except by immediately overlaying and obscuring the Catechism picture with distinctly other religions? Except by decoying the reader away from the question of personal salvation?
Kasper even equates Muller with Luther! Hah! The shoe is on the other foot…With Cardinal Muller and the Second Vatican Council and the entire Apostolic Succession—might the whole Catholic truth be BOTH in harmony with important parts of other religions AND decisively more?
“…The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light…Christ the Lord…by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, FULLY REVEALS MAN TO HIMSELF [caps added] and makes his supreme calling clear” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).
Allowing for and even fostering prudential actions toward “peace in the world,” yes with those of other religions, might it be that the very-most “fundamental” thing in any human flourishing (as well as in eternal salvation!) is still the whole truth about the human person?
Ironically, “half the truth (really) is not the Catholic truth!”
Kasper, A man who himself is known for rejecting perennial Church doctrine on marriage, communion, the Real Presence, and the Divinity of Christ, and has dedicated his life to undermining these unchangeable truths, has the gall to accuse Cardinal Muller of causing divisions.
Kardinal Kasper long admired by the Pontiff who glowingly described during the Synod on the Family that the Cardinal’s proposal D&R be allowed Holy Communion was piously made “on his knees”. Member of the St Galen Group instrumental for his elevation to the papacy that Group [inclusive of Pope Francis in rigging the election] have no issue whatsoever now that Laity are freely receiving Holy Communion even without the journey of hand holding clergy discernment. As evidenced in the Malta Bishops exchange entered in the Acta Apostolicae followed by that Conference’s total submission to the apparent intent of Francis that D&R Laity simply follow their conscience. The whole pietistic agonizing over D&R in Amoris was a ruse. Now there is nothing to be bothered with and smiles. The fear is how much more coincidence is there between the two. They seem less surreptitiously than before to be two Peas in a Pod.
This manifesto is not stating anything new. Cardinal Mueller is simply restating succinctly what the Church has always taught, and what the CCC makes very approachable and understandable for our times…therefore it rings with clarity and truth. Thank God for faithful shepherds. Thank you Cardinal Mueller.
It is those apostates, who profess to be Catholic, while denying that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, Through The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, thus denying Genesis, that have caused confusion and chaos in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, Church, making it appear as if we can transform Christ, The Word Of God Made Flesh.
That should read, It is those apostates, who profess to be Catholic, while denying that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, Through The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, thus denying Genesis, that have caused confusion and chaos in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, making it appear as if we can transform Christ, The Word Of God Made Flesh.
Time for bishops to respond to Kasper.
They can’t even respond to infanticide…..
Failing to teach the truth of the faith leads souls to hell. Kasper is a modernist, liberal heterdox and needs to just go away.
Now it is “behind the Pope’s back” to teach the basic truths of the faith? I read Mueller’s whole “Manifesto”: it is nothing more than basic Catholicism. If such a document brings condemnation from cardinals, we really are in de facto schism already.
Kasper’s replies shows an intellectual bankruptcy regarding the Catholic Church and the absurdity of a ‘Catholic truth’ that is only a ‘half truth’ because the world may come to believe in one God and a bartered peace is better than none. It has not stopped Muslim bloodshed no matter how many times prelates of Christianity have defined down the triune God or even denied Him for the sake of peace.
A Kasper church does the world no favor in denying the truths of the Catholic Church in believing that will bring a theological and secular piece to the world.
How does Kasper reconcile John 8:32…”and the truth shall set you free”???
“Half the truth is not the Catholic truth!” pontificates Cardinal Kasper who, in his now predictable mindset, seems to imply that the whole Catholic truth is, what, less incarnational than it is big-tent syncretic (“catholic” small c)?
Of other religions, Kasper pronounces, “…are not these similarities [among religions] today fundamental to peace in the world and in society?”
What? Of course, ALL such platitudes are true—but, is it now inadmissible for Cardinal Muller to simply present the real Catholic Faith—except by immediately overlaying and obscuring the Catechism picture with distinctly other religions? Except by decoying the reader away from the question of personal salvation?
Kasper even equates Muller with Luther! Hah! The shoe is on the other foot…With Cardinal Muller and the Second Vatican Council and the entire Apostolic Succession—might the whole Catholic truth be BOTH in harmony with important parts of other religions AND decisively more?
“…The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light…Christ the Lord…by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, FULLY REVEALS MAN TO HIMSELF [caps added] and makes his supreme calling clear” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).
Allowing for and even fostering prudential actions toward “peace in the world,” yes with those of other religions, might it be that the very-most “fundamental” thing in any human flourishing (as well as in eternal salvation!) is still the whole truth about the human person?
Ironically, “half the truth (really) is not the Catholic truth!”
Kasper, A man who himself is known for rejecting perennial Church doctrine on marriage, communion, the Real Presence, and the Divinity of Christ, and has dedicated his life to undermining these unchangeable truths, has the gall to accuse Cardinal Muller of causing divisions.
We need to pray for the well-being and good health of Cardinals, bishops and their tribe.
Yaawn. Next.
“Better a millstone…”
Kardinal Kasper long admired by the Pontiff who glowingly described during the Synod on the Family that the Cardinal’s proposal D&R be allowed Holy Communion was piously made “on his knees”. Member of the St Galen Group instrumental for his elevation to the papacy that Group [inclusive of Pope Francis in rigging the election] have no issue whatsoever now that Laity are freely receiving Holy Communion even without the journey of hand holding clergy discernment. As evidenced in the Malta Bishops exchange entered in the Acta Apostolicae followed by that Conference’s total submission to the apparent intent of Francis that D&R Laity simply follow their conscience. The whole pietistic agonizing over D&R in Amoris was a ruse. Now there is nothing to be bothered with and smiles. The fear is how much more coincidence is there between the two. They seem less surreptitiously than before to be two Peas in a Pod.
This manifesto is not stating anything new. Cardinal Mueller is simply restating succinctly what the Church has always taught, and what the CCC makes very approachable and understandable for our times…therefore it rings with clarity and truth. Thank God for faithful shepherds. Thank you Cardinal Mueller.
It is those apostates, who profess to be Catholic, while denying that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, Through The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, thus denying Genesis, that have caused confusion and chaos in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, Church, making it appear as if we can transform Christ, The Word Of God Made Flesh.
That should read, It is those apostates, who profess to be Catholic, while denying that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, Through The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, thus denying Genesis, that have caused confusion and chaos in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, making it appear as if we can transform Christ, The Word Of God Made Flesh.