July 14, 2007 >> 10:04 PM
reaction to responses

1. First, if I hear or read one more person talking about "Benedict XVI's new statement" or what that darned Benedict has said now, I think I my head may spin around on my shoulders. Whatever you think of the content, this is NOT a statement from the Pope. It just isn't -- No, it is not either, now stop that. "But Alan, he signed off on it and gave the final go-ahead, so yes..." NO! Stop! Sure he signed off on it. He signs off on everything that comes out of the Vatican in this way. This is the Catholic Church - but he didn't write it, didn't initiate it, and didn't get a meeting with himself to ask permission to publish it, so don't be talkin' about how the Pope said this or that. Holler at William Cardinal Levada about it.
   
   
2. It was suggested over at the Boar's Head that Dr. Al Mohler's response to this was the best whomever it was had seen on the net. It was fairly well-natured and balanced... at first. It seemed to degrade a bit by the end though into a bit of a tit-for-tat - a kind of a "well, if you're going to say this then we can say a couple of things ourself" kind of deal. Oh well, sure, anyone's free to do that. The thing is, this Responses statement wasn't put out as part of a debate or to be a shot across anyone's bow. It's being treated that way but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. The document doesn't read like a snarky, pick-a-fight sort of thing. So, it wouldn't seem helpful to come back at it with that kind of attitude. A lot of that is going around. Like I said, most of Dr. Mohler's post doesn't seem that way, so there really didn't seem a need for it to go there. And, just for the record, it's the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It's a long name, maybe that's why everyone wants to say this is the Pope's thing. I don't know, but if you're trying for a serious response, it might be good to get the name right.
   
   
3. OK, those first two were more reactions to reacations - sorry about that. I'll be better now. My honest first reaction when I heard about this was, "now why did they have to do that? why now?" Seriously, I'm this guy, right, who's been deep in a certain ecclesiastical world for a while, and I've gone through this fairly major re-shift in the last year or so, and have ended up, very recently, going back into the --- you know already, the big time, the Catholic Church - Pope, Apostolic Succession and all. This was not what you'd call a fun transition, and it's still going on to some extent. It has been personally tumultuous frankly. It has torn my insides in all different directions. I don't think my spiritual stomach is through churning just yet. And now, the whammie was laid down. How easy is that mess going to make my mission (of sorts, as it has come to be) to help Protestants and Catholics understand each other any easier? Good Lord, I know this is nothing new but couldn't you guys just "publish" this stuff internally and not bust it out to the whole freakin' world?
   
   
4. More reasoned reaction: This is nothing new. It's a theological department of the Church putting out a document in order to clarify, for the members of the Catholic Church, what it actually teaches on this particular subject, which has, in recent years, become fuzzy. The language used in this document is somewhat technical theological language. Even though it's a short document, it's a little thick for the general public I think. That's my opinion. I think the Congregation boys could do with a cultural translator. And I'm not talking about "dumbing down" so chill out. I'm talking about using language that people understand and can interact with. Although this document says nothing new at all and is NOT at ALL saying that anyone is not a Christian in a very real sense, you see how it is being misconstrued and misunderstood. If by not "...'Churches' in the proper sense" you hear "not in Christ," you do not understand what is being said. This thing, even if you do not agree with it's premise or conclusions ultimately, is not saying that other Christians aren't just that, Christians. Ecclesial Communities - you really might as well say little "c" churches, just not big "C" Churches. It's basically the same thing. Again, this is not about getting anyone to fully agree with all the theological ground of this piece, it's just, perhaps for some, a little clarification. Hopefully.
   

Labels: catholic, church

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