Apart from the Liturgy, Cardinal Muller warns bloggers! Rome is watching:
"The Prefect went on to issue a word of warning about the potential problems caused by the “new media”, particularly through blogs. He said that some of the ordinariate clergy and faithful wrote blogs, which, while being a helpful tool of evangelisation, could also “express un-reflected speech lacking in charity”. The image of the ordinariate was not helped by this, he said, and it fell to the ordinaries to exercise vigilance over these blogs and, where necessary, to intervene."What (now-)Cardinal Müller said to the Ordinaries
“All eyes are upon you”, CDF Prefect Tells OrdinariesThe Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has spoken to the three ordinaries of the personal ordinariates of the delicacy and importance of their task “in these first key years” in the ordinariates’ existence.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller told the ordinaries that, because the unity of the Church was the ostensible reason for the establishment of the ordinariates, effective communion would be a principal measure against which ordinariate communities would be judged. “You will come under scrutiny from many quarters”, he said. “All eyes are upon you”!
Cardinal Müller’s comments were made to the three ordinaries – Mgr. Keith Newton of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the UK, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the United States and Canada and Msgr. Harry Entwistle, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia – when they visited him in Rome [on 18th February] in the days running up to his being created a Cardinal.
Turning his attention to the importance of the sacred liturgy as the expression of communion, Cardinal Müller said that the ordinaries’ role in this regard was critical. “By ensuring that the sacred liturgy is celebrated worthily and well, you further the communion of the Church by drawing people into the worship of God who is communio”. He said that the sacred liturgy was also the “privileged place” for encountering Anglican patrimony, which was how ordinariate parishes and communities distinguished themselves, bearing witness to the faith in the diversity of its expression.
“In this sense, the celebration according to the approved Divine Worship [or Ordinariate Use] texts is both essential to the formation of the identity of the Ordinariate as well as being a tool for evangelisation”, Cardinal Müller said.
The Prefect went on to issue a word of warning about the potential problems caused by the “new media”, particularly through blogs. He said that some of the ordinariate clergy and faithful wrote blogs, which, while being a helpful tool of evangelisation, could also “express un-reflected speech lacking in charity”. The image of the ordinariate was not helped by this, he said, and it fell to the ordinaries to exercise vigilance over these blogs and, where necessary, to intervene.
Cardinal Müller said that, in responding to the Holy Father’s invitation to serve as Ordinary, each of the three men had demonstrated great courage and deep faith and that their journey had called for considerable personal sacrifice. “I want you to know that I have spoken to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, about the ordinariates and the particular gift they are to the Church. The Holy Father is following the development of the ordinariates with great interest”.
The ordinaries’ visit to Rome – three years after the first of the three ordinariates was established – was the first time the three of them had all met together.
11 comments:
Cardinal Mueller's comments about 'ensuring that the sacred liturgy is celebrated worthily and well' is an enormous compliment to the Ordinariate, for whom this is of great importance.
Ah, so the thought and speech police have come out.
This Pope really needs a lot of help, doesn't he!
Not encouraging, especially since the Pope brought it all on with careless speech and irresponsible statements and actions. Yeah, go ahead, censor me. You'll be right in step with the apologists...
Again, I cannot abide people who say stuff like if "if you can't be positive, then be quiet." It reminds me of some brain-dead blonde whining, "Ewww, you're just mean!" If the reality is negative then, dammit, it is negative.
Gene, I often speculate that had I been born a hundred years earlier I might have been better off, although I would have missed the First World War. Or fifty years earlier, in which case I would probably have missed the Second. But at least I might have been spared the near-destruction of the Catholic Church, that great exemplar and guarantor of western civilization, which is unravelling as we speak.
I see no need for the Church to tolerate "unreflected speech lacking in charity" within her ranks. Negative speech is fine, as long as it is considered and considerate.
That said, I have little awareness of, and little interest, the affairs of these ordinariates, since we have very few Anglicans here and even fewer post-Anglican converts.
John Nolan,
I wonder if you would clarify something for me for which I can't seem to get a clear answer elsewhere? Is the Established Church only established in England, or is it established for the whole U.K.? I know Wales once had an established ecclesial communion, as did poor Ireland, but that was at the "regional" level. So, is there a state religion for the U.K as a whole? And, to the extent that there is an established religion, what privileges does it have in the daily life of the nation?
My concern is that there are people who can't abide criticism and conflict and will say someone is being mean, or uncharitable, when they are really just defending a closed mind.
Fr JBS
The Church of England is 'by law established' and the Queen is the 'Supreme Governor'. Bishops are appointed by the Crown (this prerogative, like most others, is exercised by the Prime Minister, who in turn is advised by the Church). The 26 senior bishops sit in the House of Lords, reflecting the earliest parliaments of Edward I which included the Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal and the Commons. The Presbyterian Church of Scotland is the national Kirk, but is not established, and although the Queen is not its Supreme Governor, she attends its services when north of the border. However, it is the minority Episcopal Church of Scotland which is part of the 'Anglican Communion'.
The Church of Ireland (65 percent of whose members are in Northern Ireland) was disestablished in 1869, and the Church in Wales in 1920. Probably the greatest privilege of the Established Church of England is its absolute right to solemnize matrimony on its own terms without reference to the State. Anyone marrying in another denomination must apply to the registrar and fulfil the conditions of a civil marriage, although larger Catholic churches are licensed for marriage, so the registrar does not have to be physically present.
In many countries the Catholic Church has a privileged position. One of these is Argentina.
It sounds like another word for "censorship" to me but then if we can't say anything negative then that means none of Pope Francis' sermons can be repeated because most of what I have read have been very negative.
Jan
Jan- It's not about saying negative things at all.
It's about the ugly, dismissive, and downright vulgar things that get posted here (and elsewhere) under the protection of anonymity. Too many people simply react, making absurd allegations, casting vitriolic aspersions, and engaging in ad hominem attacks.
I don't think Fr. McDonald will censor any thoughtful, fact-based criticism.
yes, yes, the double standard.
Someone is concerned that the ordinariate is too orthodox !
Those who uphold the true teaching of the church are often the ones being censored, and those promoting heresy and innovative are often welcomed and encouraged to spread their ideas...
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