«Ad Rem» N° 32 (4/24/2007): Soloviev’s Meditation on the Papacy - Father Feeney and the Bloggers, Part II

Summary:

1. News Notes

2. Soloviev’s Meditation on the Papacy

3. Father Feeney and the Bloggers, Part II

News Notes

» SPLC at it Again: Please see our Press Release — SPLC, with Local Enemies, Attacks Center again. This has gotten national coverage by Matt C. Abbott on the Renewamerica.us site.

» Limbo: There are three things to say about the recent document on Limbo: It was expected; it is problematic; it has no authority. The remainder of our thoughts on the issue were already been said, back in January and repeated in October. It was predictable.

Soloviev’s Meditation on the Papacy

Vladimir Soloviev gives this wonderful meditation on the Petrine office in Russia and the Universal Church. He is writing about St. Peter’s being made the Rock of the Church by our Lord and then, almost immediately, being called “Satan” (Mt. 16:18, 23).

“This confession of Peter is, then, an act sui generis, an act whereby the moral being of the apostle entered into a special relationship with the Godhead; it was this relationship which enabled human utterance to declare infallibly the absolute truth of the Word of God and to create an impregnable foundation for the universal Church. And as though to remove all possible doubt on the subject, the inspired record of the Gospel at once goes on to show us this very Simon, whom Jesus has just declared to be the rock of the Church and the key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven, immediately left to his own resources and speaking — with the best of intentions in the world, no doubt, but without divine assistance — under the influence of his own individual and uninspired personality:

{Here he quotes Mt. 16:21-23.}

“Are we to follow our {schismatic} Greco-Russian controversialists in placing this text in opposition to the one before, and so make Christ’s words cancel one another out? Are we to believe that the incarnate truth changed his mind so quickly and revoked in a moment what he has only just announced? And yet on the other hand how are we to reconcile “blessed” and “Satan”? How is it conceivable that he who is for our Lord himself a “rock of hindrance” {a “scandal”} should yet be the rock of his Church which the gates of Hades cannot shake? Or that one who thinks only the thoughts of men can receive the revelation of the heavenly Father and can hold the keys of the kingdom of God?

“There is only one way to harmonize these passages which the inspired evangelist has with good reason placed side by side. Simon Peter as supreme pastor and doctor of the universal Church, assisted by God and speaking in the name of all, is the faithful witness and infallible exponent of divine-human truth; as such, he is the impregnable foundation of the house of God and the key-bearer of the kingdom of Heaven. The same Simon Peter as a private individual, speaking and acting by his natural powers and merely human intelligence, may say and do things that are unworthy, scandalous, and even diabolical. But the failures and sins of the individual are ephemeral, while the social function of the ecclesiastical monarch is permanent. “Satan” and the “hindrance” have vanished, but Peter has remained.”

We pray that the divine infallible magisterium of the ecclesiastical monarch will soon overcome the human frailties which have plagued our Lord’s Church for so long.

Father Feeney and the Bloggers, Part II

This is about where I left off in the last Ad Rem, with my (slightly edited) “blogger swan song”:

1. Father Feeney’s statements on Judaism were very strong, yes. So were the statements of St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and a host of other saints on that subject. A great modern apostle of the social Kingship of Christ, Father Dennis Fahey, wrote extensively concerning Jewish-related issues with a penetrating depth. He, like Father Feeney, is calumniated as an “Anti-Semite.” His beautiful piece “On Anti-Semitism” is something we consider an apt expression of our thinking on that subject. We have a Jew who works in our office (named Cohen — “priest” in Hebrew). His Father, Israel, was a convert catechized by our Chaplain, Father Jarecki, and baptized in an emergency baptism by Brother Francis, my Arab Superior! See Robert Cohen’s Letter to the Keene Sentinel.
   
   
2. Despite the leading statements and shameful innuendo of some persons on this blog, our Center is not a hub of anti-social or unlawful activities of any sort. We do not harbor “pistol-packing priests,” or, for that matter, martial monks, ninja nuns, or paramilitary quacks waiting to take over Richmond in a Catholic jihad. Any time I have challenged bizarre calumnies of this nature, exactly zero evidence has been put forth by those who make them. Traditional Catholics are often accused of harboring strange conspiracy theories. In this matter, it is our opponents who have crafted the most bizarre conspiracy theories. Contrary to these theories, we have dedicated priests, prayerful religious, a chapel filled with big, beautiful families for Sunday Mass, and lots of energetic youth learning wholesome truths in our school. We’re sinners, each one, but we are trying to live a decent, normal, and vibrantly Christian life.
   
   
3. As a corporation, Saint Benedict Center stands up to all the state and federal scrutiny necessary to remain a recognized non-profit with a 501(c)(3) status. This implies legal compliance, ethical standards, and a high degree of financial accountability. Further, we go to great pains and expense to pass applicable state and / or local fire, water, and safety inspections. We also successfully maintain a registered New Hampshire public water system, heavily scrutinized by NHDES. Besides all that, we teach an unvarnished moral code. Reckless comments on a blog notwithstanding, our eighteen-year history in Richmond carries the record of a responsible and law abiding organization. Clearly, we are being put in a false light.

Blogs are very convenient places for people to deposit baseless accusations. As with the twisted headlines of the National Enquirer, there will always be people lacking enough in critical faculties to believe it all without a rational critique. If this present exercise in journalistic anarchy proves anything, it is what fallen human nature is capable of when faced with creedal certitude, moral absolutes, and those who stand for them.

We are hated because of our unflinching Catholic orthodoxy and unyielding adherence to the Divine Moral Law. The former contains “harsh truths” that the world hates; the latter makes painful demands of fallen human nature. We are against atheism, heresy, schism, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and contraception. We are for social, moral, and ecclesiastical normalcy. In short, we want Jesus Christ, the most gentle Monarch, to be King of men and nations, including our own. Today, a group of people like that, with real convictions, will be labeled a “cult.” So be it. While we still have the freedom to defend our Faith in the public square, we will do so. When that becomes a hate crime, we may get arrested for it. In all these things may God be glorified.

The next Ad Rem will likely take more than a fortnight to be published. God bless you and may Our Lady watch over you.