Sunday, February 13, 2005
BISHOP OPPOSING BISHOP ?
A reader sent in this story from the Tablet:
Lay sermons permitted, Vatican tells Swiss bishops. Proposals by Swiss bishops to allow lay theologians to give sermons and Protestants to receive Communion have met with the approval of the Curia in Rome, Bishop Amédée Grab, president of the Swiss bishops' conference, said this week. ...
Accusations that the declarations were against canon law and contradicted last year's Vatican edict that only priests could give sermons, were quick to follow. Pro Ecclesia, a conservative Catholic group, said it looked very much as if, shortly before setting out for Rome, the Swiss bishops were determined to "present the Vatican with a fait accompli". It was also reported that Austrian and German bishops had berated the Swiss bishops at the annual liturgical conference (for bishops in German-speaking countries, including South Tyrol and Luxembourg) in Augsburg at the end of January for "pressing ahead of the world Church" on such matters.
Can anyone confirm or deny this?
According to the article "The Swiss bishops' conference has now declared that the assistants (who hold university degrees in theology) are to be allowed to preach during Mass and baptise whenever a priest was not available." Preach "during Mass" means that a priest is available. Why then is there any need for this?
According to the article, the Swiss bishops received permission for these practices at their ad limina visit. "The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had told the Swiss bishops that in emergency cases lay theologians could hold a "brief sermon-like discourse" or a meditation based on the Mass for the day..." "Emergency cases" implies no priest available. If a priest is saying Mass, what possible reason for a lay homily could there be?
Of course if your objective is to teach the laity a new religion, there would be plenty of reason, wouldn't there? Is it just a coincidence that the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina has turned up in an investigation of Guenonian Traditionalism?
Perhaps the above article should be read in the light of this article, which mentions the Old Catholic service that was held when the charter was signed.
