Fr. Tom Euteneuer, as usual, has a gift for insight into current events. This time, he discusses the Motu Proprio and the declaration that the Catholic Church is the One True Church.
"These two subjects, the Mass and the Church, are the most fundamental matters of our Catholic identity, and because of that, they are also the doctrinal sticking points that have been the cause of more schism in the Church than any others. From the Great East-West Schism of the 11th Century to Henry VIII's usurping of authority in England in the 16th Century to the schism of Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, doctrinal clarity on the Mass and the Church literally holds Christianity together, and without that clarity, the very mission of Christ is damaged. The average Catholic may not appreciate how vitally important these truths are to our religious identity, but thank heaven Benedict does."
"Those who downplay, deny or denigrate one or both of these teachings are really hurting the cause of Christian unity rather than helping it. Despite the somewhat hostile reactions of other non-Catholic Christian leaders complaining that the Pope has set back the cause of ecumenism, the Pope has done a service to those whose religious traditions have rejected the truths about the Mass or the Church."
"Similarly, a predictable cast of aging, so-called "progressive""Catholic" theologians have been wringing their hands about both of these documents all week claiming that we are going backwards. But I say, let them rage: Peter has spoken and his judgment is infallible! He is calling all Christians to unity by challenging them to accept the truth of Christ which is experienced in its fullness only in the Roman Catholic Church."
read Fr Tom's full text here
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