NEWSLETTER NO. 158 JUNE 2009
1. Pope Benedict XVI's Letter
concerning the remission of the excommuncation of the four
Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre [10th March, 2009]
2. Comment (Mgr Gordon Read)
3. Pope Benedict XVI, Liturgy and
the 'Hermeneutic of Continuity' (Mgr Gordon Read)
4. Revised English Translation of
the Order of Mass (Mgr Gordon Read)
5. Holy Days in the Extraordinary
Form
6. Discerning Vocations among
Persons with Homosexual Tendencies (Mgr Gordon Read)
7. Statement of the Bishops of the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles on 'Same-Sex Marriage' [16th June,
2008] (Mgr Gordon Read)
8. The Response of a Diocese to the
Challenge Presented by a Shortage of Priests (Rt Rev John Jukes,
OFM Conv)
9. Obituary - Bishop Hugh Lindsay
[2nd February, 2009] (Rev John Butters)
10. A Doctrinal and Jurisprudential
Analysis of the Canon 1097 on Error of Fact (Prof. Augustine
Mendonça)
11. Minutes of the AGM of the CLSGBI
[8th May, 2008]
Everyone will have read, or at least
read of, the Pope’s Letter to the Catholic Bishops throughout the
world of 10 March this year. The letter concerned a fracas which
arose about the removal of the excommunication of the four Bishops
of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX). The document lifting the
excommunication was dated 21 January 2009 (CLSN No.157, pp.1-2,
13-21).
However, the document concerning the excommunication was
ill-explained; and then the statement of Bishop Williamson (SSPX)
more-or-less denying the holocaust came at the same time. All hell
broke loose in the press; there were bitter recriminations by some
about the removal of the excommunications by the Holy See. The whole
of the background of SSPX came up, relations between Christians and
Jews became fragile, and there was involved the implicit (and
occasionally explicit) rejection of parts of the teaching of Vatican
II.
One of the most astonishing things in the present age is for the
Pope to apologise for mistakes that were clearly made by the Vatican
staff. These days no Minister has ever made such an apology for
mistakes made by political underlings in this country since the
Falklands War. No Vatican statement has ever been made like this; no
apology, no withdrawal, no backing down ever. This Pope has gone on
record with such an apology. Whatever else, this says something
about the present Holy Father. His letter is attached at Document
No.I. Monsignor Gordon Read has written a comment on the letter and
the situation which includes a communiqué from the Principal Bishop
of SSPX, Bishop Bernard Fellay of 12 March 2009; and the press
release of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. [See
Document No.II].
The secular press have had a field day
in an area of which they know nothing. All this concerns papal
dress, the liturgy, and the suggestion that the Pope acquires his
red shoes from Prada. Unfortunately, the comments by some members of
the Holy See (e.g. someone writing in L’Osservatore Romano)
have made rather po-faced comments on pieces which appeared in the
media.
However, Monsignor Read has linked all this up with the present
discussion by the Pope of the Hermaneutic of Discontinuity
with its contrary, namely the Hermaneutic of Continuity.
The former he describes also as the Hermaneutic of Rupture;
this has frequently availed itself of the sympathies of the mass
media. One immediately thinks of the comments of Mr Tony Blair
concerning the Church “getting with it” with special reference to
its teaching about homosexuality. The Holy Father sets against this
Hermanuetic of Discontinuity the reverse, namely the
Hermaneutic of Reform. Monsignor Read has written a comment on
this which can be seen at Document No.III.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and
the Discipline of the Sacraments has written to the
Conference of Bishops in the USA approving the new Order of the
Mass. This is the first part of the revised translation of the
missal to receive the recognitio of the Holy See. There are
yet another eleven sections of the missal to receive the Holy See’s
recognitio.
Monsignor Gordon Read has studied the correspondence between the
Congregation and the US Bishops. He has pointed to two questions
which arise at this stage. The questions are:-
1. Why has the Holy See given the recognitio to this one
section of the missal and at this stage?
2. Why is this letter addressed only to the US Conference of Bishops
rather than to all the Bishops’ Conferences involved in ICEL?
Monsignor Read considers the possible answers to these questions and
their implications. [See Document No. IV]
A muddle was caused by the transfer of
some Holydays of Obligation and their Masses to some Sundays; and
the celebration of Mass in the extraordinary rite. As a result the
Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales sought a ruling from the
Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. This was in April 2008; but for
some impish reason the Conference did not advise the reply from the
Commission.
Consequently the Latin Mass Society sent its own dubium to
the Commission in July 2008 and received a reply (signed by the
Vice-President of the Commission, Monsignor Camille Perl) dated 20
October 2008. The reply confirmed that the Mass and office of
holydays can continue to be said on the days prescribed in the
calendar for the Extraordinary Form. [See Document No.V for the
exchange of correspondence between the LMS and the Pontifical
Commission].
The Congregation for Catholic Education
issued an Instruction concerning the criteria for the discernment of
vocations with regard to persons with homosexual tendencies in view
of their admission to the seminary and Holy Orders. This document
was dated 4 November 2005. Following the issue of this document
there was a large number of queries and dubii about the
precise application of the Instruction (e.g. Dicasteries for the
Eastern Churches, Evangelisation of Peoples, for Institutions of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life).
These particular questions of applicability had obviously not been
thought through; hence the Secretariat of State thought it necessary
to publish a further document clarifying these issues. This appeared
in L’Osservatore Romano on 8 April 2008; approved by the Holy
Father. The rescript stated that the rules in the Instruction
applied to all Houses of Formation for the priesthood. The
rescript as well as a commentary appears below at Document No. VI.
On 16 June 2008, the Bishops of the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued a statement on the matter of
so-called “same sex marriages”. This statement followed a ruling of
the California Supreme Court of 15 May 2008. The ruling stated that
“any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will
be constitutionally suspect in California”. The Bishops whilst
condemning discrimination in all its forms, still reiterated the
Church’s teaching about marriage.
One of the points made in this exchange has been as follows:
obviously “persons with homosexual inclinations have the same basic
rights as all peoples….. Nevertheless, sexual orientation does not
constitute equality comparable to race, ethnic background etc in
respect of non-discrimination. The earlier statement of the US
Conference of Bishops goes on to say: “therefore, it is not unjust,
for example, to limit the bond of marriage to the union of a woman
and a man…… [See the comment by Monsignor Gordon Read Document
No.VII]
Bishop John Jukes has also considered
the shortage of priests and its consequences; and the response of
the diocesan Bishop. He considers that the Code has to offer three
courses: namely, The Suppression and Amalgamation of parishes; or
the grouping of a number of parishes under a team of priests, led by
a Moderator; or one parish priest being in charge of several
parishes. The Bishop gives his comment on each of these courses. He
also stresses the need of a specific priest or priests being
responsible for vocations work. [See Document No.VIII]
Everyone (or almost everyone) had known
Bishop Hugh Lindsay and they no doubt knew that because of health
problems the Bishop had to resign his See in 1992. Prior to becoming
Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, he had been its Auxiliary from 1969
until 1974 when he became the Diocesan Bishop and he remained for
another eighteen years. He spent a very active retirement, with much
communication to the press. He was a great one for advancing
important opinions. As his obituary recalls he told the story of his
participation in the proceedings of the Bishops’ Conference and its
change of rule so as to allow retired Bishops to speak at Conference
meetings but not to vote. Bishop Lindsay chuckled when he remarked
following that Bishops’ meeting; “I am sure they would have
preferred retired Bishops to vote but not speak”. His obituary takes
the form of the panegyric preached by Father John Butters at his
funeral this year in February 2009. [See Document No. IX].
In a decision coram Canals of
1970, the matter of error of fact had been dealt with. It was
suggested in that decision that the term “person” could be
identified, not merely as one’s physical qualities “but also by
moral, juridical, ethical and social qualities”. In a Sentence in
1992, Monsignor Mario Pompedda essentially rejected this view.
Pompedda says that “the broader interpretation of “person”
individuated by moral, ethical, juridical and social qualities is
contrary to the principles of correct interpretation of Canon Law.
In January 1993, Pope John Paul II addressed this issue in his
allocution to the Roman Rota and re-affirmed the understanding that
error in the quality of the person can only be a ground of nullity “quando
qualitas prae persona intendatur”. The result is that the error
of quality in Canon 1097 §2 is to be interpreted in accordance with
established jurisprudence. However, it would seem that despite what
has been said, more recent Rotal Sentences seem to be taking a fresh
look at the content of Canon 1097. Over 60 Rotal Sentences have
examined the concept and Mendonça states “the approaches by
different turni reveal an openness to consider all legitimate
ways of interpreting the Canon.
Professor Augustine Mendonça has written an article which examines
the whole question. He dips into the history of the concept from
Gratian to Peter the Lombard; and then on to St Thomas. The
expression of the Thomistic thinking here is rejected by Navarette
as “no longer tenable”. Sanchez and St Alphonsus make their
contributions. Moreover, it is stated that because in 1917 the Code
used the expression “error of quality redounding in error of person”
without any further qualification it left the door open to a variety
of interpretations and Professor Mendonça presents an exploration
into Canon 1097. The article is reproduced at Document No. X with
the kind permission of the Author and of the Editor of Forum (cf.
Vol. 16, no. 2, 2005, pp.362-435).
The Society’s Annual Conference this
year was in the beautiful setting of the Scottish Highlands within
view of the snow-capped Cairngorms. It was held at the MacDonald
Highland resort at Aviemore between 4 and 8 May. Over 100 delegates
attended including the Presidents of the Canon Law Societies of
America, Canada and Australia and New Zealand. Our own President,
Monsignor David Hogan, opened the Conference and gave a warm welcome
to everyone. The principal celebrant at the opening Mass was Bishop
Peter Moran, Bishop of Aberdeen. The paper on the first evening was
by Monsignor Gordon Read on ‘Declaration of Nullity of Marriage in
cases of Canonical Form’. The following morning, the Lord Advocate,
the Rt.Hon Elish Angiolini, Q.C., spoke on ‘The Role of the Lord
Advocate in the Legal System of Scotland’ and in the afternoon the
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,
the Most Rev. Brian Farrell, LC, gave a paper on ‘Ecumenism and its
Prospects for the 21st Century’. ‘Plotting a Future for the
Apostolate of Religious: The Canonical Figure of a Public Juridical
Person’ was the subject of the paper given by Sister Sharon Holland,
IHM, of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic life. The Very Rev. Francis Marini, Judicial
Vicar of the Eparchy of St Maron of Brooklyn, unravelled many a
problem in his paper on the Sacraments involving Latin and Oriental
Catholics and Fr Simon Blakesley considered the canonical issues in
parish reorganization. There were stimulating question and answer
sessions on Marriage and Tribunal Matters and on General Canonical
Matters. The Annual General Meeting was held on the Thursday morning
of the Conference [see Document No, XI] and at the Gala Dinner,
Monsignor Hogan wittily put the final touches on what had been an
excellent Conference. Next year the Conference will take place in
Derry, Northern Ireland.
When he was promoted to the Signatura
Apostolica, a piece was included in the December (2008) number
of CLSN sending the Society’s congratulations to Archbishop Burke.
The Archbishop (shortly to become a Cardinal) wrote to the Editor
thanking the Society for its good wishes. Inter alia he said:
“It has been a great pleasure for me, over the years, to be
associated with the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Be assured that I will continue to follow the work of the Society.
Please continue to pray for me as I strive to face the present
serious challenges for the sake of the administration of justice in
the Church”. It is interesting to know that the CLSN is read in
Signatura Apostolica!
The 2009 (44th year) Conference of the
CCLS is to be held in Edmonton at the Westin Hotel between 19 and 22
October. Information can be obtained from:-
The Secretary
Canadian Canon Law Society
223 Main Street
Ottawa
Ontario K1S 1C4
Canada
The 43rd Annual Conference of the CLSN
will be held at Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales
between 14 -17 September 2009. The programme includes papers by
Father John Lodge (The Natural Law and St Paul); Father Dan Smilanic
(Ecclesiastical and Natural Law in the Code); Father James Conn, SJ
(Ecumenism); Father Peter Slack (Invalid Convalidations); Father
Kevin Matthews (The Eastern law and the Code of Canon Law). The
Presidential elections will take place on Tuesday 15 September at
4.15 pm. Father Ian Watters, having completed his term is not able
to stand again.
Father Aidan McGrath has been appointed
as the Secretary General of his Order. His appointment
starts in September 2009. He has been associated with the Dublin
Tribunal for some 25 years; and became its Judicial Vicar on the
death of Monsignor Gerard Sheehy. The Dublin Tribunal will miss him
very considerably. On the other hand, all the members of the CLS
will have another friend in Rome.
Many congratulations are extended to the
Judicial Vicar of the Metropolitan Tribunal of Westminster.
Monsignor Conneely was appointed as a Privy Chamberlain to His
Holiness the Pope in January; although he only received word of this
in March. Ad multos annos.
