Tuesday, October 04, 2005
ECUMENISM
A reader sent in this article about a forum at Georgetown University on conciliarity:
If the papacy is to be exercised in a way that serves Christian unity better, the Catholic Church must become more conciliar, with broader participation at all levels in church governance, several ecumenists said at forum Sept. 26 at Georgetown University.
"Hierarchy without conciliarity is tyranny. ... Conciliarity without hierarchy is anarchy," said Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, a veteran ecumenist and dean emeritus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y.
Justin often tells us that the Orthodox frown on ecumenism. I guess they have a liberal contingent as well.
There is no doubt that this conference was coming from our liberal contingent. The evidence is right there in the last paragraph:
Moderating the forum was theologian Monika K. Hellwig, who taught at Georgetown for more than 30 years and is now a research fellow at Woodstock Theological Center.
Monika likes liberalism.
Woodstock likes Teilhard. Well, hey...it's Georgetown afterall. It's Jesuits.
There is enough in the rest of the article to make your hair fall out--or rather your Catholic fall out.
Forum title was "Re-envisioning the Papacy." As, I suppose, in "We can't tolerate the current vision so let's see how we can tweak with it to make it accommodate our own brand of religion a little better."
Episcopal Bishop Mark Dyer would see the pope as one who "intentionally lifts up all people's gifts." Would that be as in "active homosexuals make good bishops," one wonders?
The article tells us that "conciliarity" and "synodality" have become synonymous. We need to keep that in mind. We already have "synodality" in our Bishops Synods, so now we know that "conciliarity" is a done deal.
Lutherns want to get rid of "the extent of papal jurisdiction, the reach of the papacy." Rev. Ickert sees the papacy as less of an obstacle if the local churches are given "greater freedom in the selection of bishops." Well, it's true Rome hasn't done such a stellar job over the recent decades, but I doubt the people in the Catholic pews would have done better. Just think about how many parishes defended their abusing priests and ostracized the whistleblowers among them.
Protopresbyter Hopko wants the Pope to be the Dalai Lama equivalent for the Christians. Mostly the Dalai Lama jets around the world from interreligious dialogue conference to interreligious dialogue conference, making nice and smiling a lot. Come to think of it that's pretty much what John Paul II did. Just don't call him "bishop of bishops" of you want Protopresbyter Hopko on board.
Franciscan Fr. John J. Burkhard wants the name of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople inserted into the Euchristic prayers. So, are you going to slight the other Patriarchs by leaving them out of the canon, Fr. Burkhard? Patriarch Alexi might not like that!
Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches Ann K. Riggs left her personal convictions as a Quaker at home but packed her theologian's credentials so she could speak for the Pentecostals, Baptists, evangelicals and others outside of the mainstream ecumenical churches. She wanted the Forum to know that "The conceptual traditions of the Catholic Church are almost incomprehensible to members of those churches." Apparently they don't like sacraments and need them to disappear for ecumenism to include these denominations. (Don't tell it to the Charismatics who are joining up with the Pentecostals to have prayer events all the time. The Charismatics are consumed with denying that the sacramental system of the Roman Catholic Church is being undermined by their activity.) Instead Riggs wants everybody to do mission. One wonders, though what this mission is? Perhaps the mission is the ushering in of the Gnostic Christ?
From the perspective of this person in the pew, it looks like the Mad Hatters Tea Party. What do you suppose Pio Nono is thinking about this effort to put the Church into the hands of the heretics? Maybe he's thinking what I'm thinking about now--that Freemasonry and Catholicism have become synonymous...ahhhh, make that conciliar.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
