5 anglikaani piiskoppi ühinevad Katoliku Kirikuga

LONDON, NOV. 8, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Eile teatasid viis anglikaani piiskoppi oma tagasiastumisest ja astumisest täielikku ühendusse Katoliku Kirikuga:

Like many in the catholic tradition of Anglicanism, we have followed the dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics, the ARCIC process, with prayer and longing. We have been dismayed, over the last thirty years, to see Anglicans and Catholics move further apart on some of the issues of the day, and particularly we have been distressed by developments in Faith and Order in Anglicanism which we believe to be incompatible with the historic vocation of Anglicanism and the tradition of the Church for nearly two thousand years.

The Apostolic Constitution, "Anglicanorum cœtibus," given in Rome on 4th November 2009, was a response to Anglicans seeking unity with the Holy See. With the Ordinariates, canonical structures are being established through which we will bring our own experience of Christian discipleship into full communion with the Catholic Church throughout the world and throughout the ages. This is both a generous response to various approaches to the Holy See for help and a bold, new ecumenical instrument in the search for the unity of Christians, the unity for which Christ himself prayed before his Passion and Death. It is a unity, we believe, which is possible only in eucharistic communion with the successor of St Peter.

As bishops, we have even-handedly cared for those who have shared our understanding and those who have taken a different view. We have now reached the point, however, where we must formally declare our position and invite others who share it to join us on our journey. We shall be ceasing, therefore, from public episcopal ministry forthwith, resigning from our pastoral responsibilities in the Church of England with effect from 31st December 2010, and seeking to join an Ordinariate once one is created.

We remain very grateful for all that the Church of England has meant for us and given to us all these years and we hope to maintain close and warm relationships, praying and working together for the coming of God’s Kingdom.

We are deeply appreciative of the support we have received at this difficult time from a whole variety of people: archbishops and bishops, clergy and laity, Anglican and Catholics, those who agree with our views and those who passionately disagree, those who have encouraged us in this step and those who have urged us not to take this step.

The Right Revd Andrew Burnham
The Right Revd Keith Newton
The Right Revd John Broadhurst
The Right Revd Edwin Barnes
The Right Revd David Silk

"Kahetsusväärne" kogemus

Isa Richard Simon kirjeldab oma üleelamisi seoses Missa pühitsemisega ad orientem, st. nagu ta arvab et Vatikani II Kirikukogu isad seda silmas pidasid. (Viide: isa Z) Siinkohal lühike katkend sellest:

[...] I, however, wish I had not said Mass facing away from the congregation, and not because of the anger directed at me. I am a Catholic priest. I am used to people being angry with me. I wish I had not said Mass in what I believe to be the posture assumed by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, because it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my priestly life. You cannot imagine what it was like to say words like “we” and “our Father” and “us” while standing at the head of a congregation that was turned together in a physical expression of unity. No matter how one might argue to the contrary, it is impossible to say “we” while looking at 500 people and not be speaking to them.

The Mass is a prayer addressed to the Father, and despite our best intentions, we clergy address it to the congregation at whom we are looking. You cannot help it. The human face is a powerful thing. Last Saturday night I realized for the first time that I was part of a family of faith directed toward the same heavenly Father. I felt as if I was part of a church at prayer. It was not my job. It was my church. I never realized how very lonely it is to say Mass facing the people. I am up there looking at you. I am not part of you. For 13 or 14 minutes. You weren’t looking at me. We were looking at God. [...]

Isa Mikelis

Eile oli paater Miikaeli sünnipäev.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,

et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Kui ma Kirikusse jõudsin 84. aasta sügisel, käisime sageli isa Krumpansil, või paater Miikaelil, nagu teda kutsuti, abiks sütt tassimas ja aknaid kittimas ja muud nipet-näpet tegemas. Pärast hommikust Missat kutsus ta meid tihti oma kooripealsesse toakesse hommikusöögile ja juttu puhuma. 7. novembril, kui tänavatel marssisid kolonnid ja mürtsus muusika, rõõmustas paater Miikael, et näe, kus tema auks ikka vägev pidu korraldatud. Sünnipäeva puhuks oli paatril oma toakeses aknalaul karuke, kellel sai pea ära keerata ja kes peitis eneses üllast joogikest. Nii me siis tähistasime seal 7. novembrit pitsi konjakiga.

Teenisin sel ajal mõnda aega ministrandina. Missad olid siis teistsugused. Ehkki pühitsetud uue missaali järgi, oli pühitsuskord teatud järjepidevuses nn. vana missakorraga. Toona ma muidugi ei teadnud veel midagi uuest ja vanast missakorrast. Alles tagantjärele tarkuse korras saan aru, et Vatikani II Kirikukogu poolt soovitud missakorra reform oli ehk kõige orgaanilisemalt teostunud just sellisena nagu paater Miikael Missat pühitses -- järjepidevuses missakorra traditsiooniga sedavõrd, kuivõrd uued normid seda järjepidavust võimaldasid ja uuendatud just sedavõrd, kuivõrd uued normid seda ette nägid.

Intervjuu Püha Isaga lennul Santiago de Compostelasse

[Minu rõhuasetused]
VATICAN CITY, 6 NOV 2010 (VIS) - This morning during his flight to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela the Holy Father responded to a number of questions prepared by the journalists accompanying him on the papal plane. The questions were put to the Pope by Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.

The first question concerned a congress on shrines held recently in Santiago de Compostela. "You have said you are living your own pontificate 'as a pilgrim' and your coat-of-arms contains the scallop shell. Please can you tell us something of your views on pilgrimage, also in your personal life and spirituality, and on the feelings with which you are going to Santiago as a pilgrim".

"I could say that the fact of being 'on the road' is already part of my own biography", said the Pope in his reply. "But that perhaps is an exterior aspect. Nonetheless it has made me think of the instability of this life, of the fact of being on a journey. Of course, against the idea of the pilgrimage it could be said that God is everywhere, that there is no need to go anywhere else. But it is also true that faith, by its very essence, is a pilgrim. ... Sometimes it is necessary to escape from daily routine, from the world of practicality and utility, to undertake a journey towards transcendence, transcending self, transcending daily life and so discovering a new freedom, a time for interior thought and for identifying oneself, for seeing others, seeing God. This is what pilgrimage has always meant. ... It is clear that the routes of Santiago are an element in the formation of the spiritual unity of the European continent. By making pilgrimages here, people have discovered themselves, they have discovered a shared European identity; and this movement is re-emerging today, this need for spiritual and physical movement, finding one another and thus discovering silence, freedom, renewal, God".

The second question was: "What significance can consecrating a church such as the Sagrada Familia have at the beginning of the twenty-first century? Is there some aspect of Gaudi's vision that has struck you in particular?"

"The truth is", said the Holy Father, "that this church is also an appropriate sign for our own times. In Gaudi's vision there are above all three elements that call my attention. The first is the blending of continuity and novelty, tradition and creativity. Gaudi had the courage to make himself part of the great tradition of the cathedrals. Using a completely new approach, he dared in his own time to make the cathedral a place for the solemn meeting between God and man. And this courage to remain within tradition, but with a creativity that renews tradition and shows the unity and progress of history, is a beautiful thing. Secondly, Gaudi chose the tripartite structure of the book of nature, the book of Scripture and the book of liturgy. This is of great importance. Scripture is made present in the liturgy, it becomes real today, it is no longer a Scripture of two thousand years ago but is celebrated, made real. In the celebration of Scripture creation speaks and finds its true response because, as St. Paul tells us, creation suffers and ... awaits the children of God; i.e., those who see it in the light of God. This fusion between meaning and creation, between Scripture and adoration, is a very important message for today. Finally, the third point is that this church was born of a typically nineteenth-century form of devotion: St. Joseph, the Holy Family of Nazareth, the mystery of Nazareth. But this devotion of the past could be said to have a great deal of importance today because the problem of the family, the renewal of the family as society's fundamental cell, is the great theme showing us the way to build society and to create a unity of faith and life, of religion and society. The main theme here is that of the family, for God Himself became a child in a family and He calls us to build and live in families".

"Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia are a very effective expression of the relationship between faith and art", said the third questioner. "How can faith today regain its place in the world of art and culture? I this an important theme for your pontificate?"

"It is indeed", said the Pope. "You know that I have given a lot of emphasis to the relationship between faith and reason; that faith, Christian faith, has its identity only in openness to reason, and that reason becomes authentic if it transcends itself towards faith. But the relationship between faith and art is equally important, because truth, which is the aim and goal of reason, finds expression and authenticity in beauty, where it reveals itself as truth. ... The relationship between truth and beauty is unbreakable, and this is why we need beauty. From earliest times the Church, even in the great modesty and poverty of the age of persecutions, used art and painting, expressions of God's salvation in the images of the world, singing, and later building. All this is and remains a constituent part of the Church. For this reason the Church has been mother to the arts for many centuries. The great treasures of Western art - music, architecture, painting - were born from the faith of the Church. Today there is some dissent, but this harms both art and faith. An art which loses its transcendent roots no longer tends towards God, it is a truncated art without a living root. A faith which only has the art of the past, is no longer faith in the present, and today it must again express itself as everlasting truth. And so the dialogue and meeting between art and faith is inscribed in the profound essence of the faith. We must do all we can so that today too faith is expressed in authentic art, as in the case of Gaudi, with continuity and novelty, so that art does not lose contact with faith".

The next question concerned the recent creation of a council for new evangelisation. "Many people have asked whether Spain, with the growth of secularisation and the fall in religious practice, is one of the countries you considered as the target of the new dicastery, even the principal target".

Benedict XVI replied: "In creating this new dicastery, my thoughts went per se to the whole world, because new schools of thought and difficulties in reflecting on the concepts of Scripture and theology are universal. Yet there is of course a centre, and that centre is the Western world with its secularism and the continuity of its faith, which must seek to renew itself in order to remain as faith today and to respond to the challenge of secularism. All the great countries of the West have their own experience of this problem. ... Spain has always been, on the one hand, a country of origin of the faith: we recall how the rebirth of Catholicism in the modern age came about above all thanks to Spain. St. Ignatius of Loyola, St, Teresa and St. John of the Cross were figures who truly renewed Catholicism and moulded its modern face. Yet it is equally true that Spain also saw the birth of laicism, of anticlericalism, a strong and aggressive secularism such as that of the 1930s. And this dispute, this clash between faith and modernity, both very lively, is coming about again in Spain today. Thus, the future of the faith and of the meeting (meeting not clash) between faith and secularism has its focal point in Spanish culture. In this sense I thought of all the great countries of the West but especially also of Spain".

The final question was: "With your trip next year for World Youth Day, you will have made three visits to Spain, more than to any other country. Why this privilege? Is it a sign of love or of particular concern?"

"Naturally it is a sign of love", the Holy Father explained. "It could be said that it is by chance that I will have made three trips to Spain. The first was for the great international gathering of families in Valencia. How could the Pope remain absent if the families of the world come together? Next year is World Youth Day, the meeting of young people from all over the world in Madrid. The Pope cannot be absent from such an occasion. Finally, we have the Compostela Holy Year and the consecration ... of the church of the Holy Family in Barcelona. How could the Pope not come? Of themselves, then, these occasions are challenges, almost a compulsion to attend. But precisely the fact that in Spain there are so many occasions shows how it truly is a country full of dynamism, full of the strength of faith. And the faith responds to challenges which are also present in Spain. Therefore, chance has brought me here, but this chance reveals a profound reality, the strength of the faith and the strength of the challenge to the faith".

Paavsti jutlus Santiago de Compostela juubeliaasta-missal

www.vatican.va:

[...] With admirable simplicity, the first reading states: “The apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord with great power” (Acts 4:33). Indeed, at the beginning of all that Christianity has been and still is, we are confronted not with a human deed or project, but with God, who declares Jesus to be just and holy in the face of the sentence of a human tribunal that condemned him as a blasphemer and a subversive; God who rescued Jesus from death; God who will do justice to all who have been unjustly treated in history.

The apostles proclaim: “We are witnesses to these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who are obedient to him” (Acts 5:32). Thus they gave witness to the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, whom they knew as he preached and worked miracles. Brothers and sisters, today we are called to follow the example of the apostles, coming to know the Lord better day by day and bearing clear and valiant witness to his Gospel. We have no greater treasure to offer to our contemporaries. In this way, we will imitate Saint Paul who, in the midst of so many tribulations, setbacks and solitude, joyfully exclaimed: “We have this treasure in earthenware vessels, to show that such transcendent power does not come from us” (2 Cor 4:7).

Beside these words of the Apostle of the Gentiles stand those of the Gospel that we have just heard; they invite us to draw life from the humility of Christ who, following in every way the will of his Father, came to serve, “to give his life in ransom for many” (Mt 20:28). For those disciples who seek to follow and imitate Christ, service of neighbour is no mere option but an essential part of their being. It is a service that is not measured by worldly standards of what is immediate, material or apparent, but one that makes present the love of God to all in every way and bears witness to him even in the simplest of actions. Proposing this new way of dealing with one another within the community, based on the logic of love and service, Jesus also addresses “the rulers of the nations” since, where self-giving to others is lacking, there arise forms of arrogance and exploitation that leave no room for an authentic integral human promotion. I would like this message to reach all young people: this core content of the Gospel shows you in particular the path by which, in renouncing a selfish and short-sighted way of thinking so common today, and taking on instead Jesus’ own way of thinking, you may attain fulfilment and become a seed of hope.

The celebration of this Holy Year of Compostela also brings this to mind. This is what, in the secret of their heart, knowing it explicitly or sensing it without being able to express it, so many pilgrims experience as they walk the way to Santiago de Compostela to embrace the Apostle. The fatigue of the journey, the variety of landscapes, their encounter with peoples of other nationalities - all of this opens their heart to what is the deepest and most common bond that unites us as human beings: we are in quest, we need truth and beauty, we need an experience of grace, charity, peace, forgiveness and redemption. And in the depth of each of us there resounds the presence of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. Yes, to everyone who seeks inner silence, who keeps passions, desires and immediate occupations at a distance, to the one who prays, God grants the light to find him and to acknowledge Christ. Deep down, all those who come on pilgrimage to Santiago do so in order to encounter God who, reflected in the majesty of Christ, welcomes and blesses them as they reach the Pórtico de la Gloria.

From this place, as a messenger of the Gospel sealed by the blood of Peter and James, I raise my eyes to the Europe that came in pilgrimage to Compostela. What are its great needs, fears and hopes? What is the specific and fundamental contribution of the Church to that Europe which for half a century has been moving towards new forms and projects? Her contribution is centred on a simple and decisive reality: God exists and he has given us life. He alone is absolute, faithful and unfailing love, that infinite goal that is glimpsed behind the good, the true and the beautiful things of this world, admirable indeed, but insufficient for the human heart. Saint Teresa of Jesus understood this when she wrote: “God alone suffices”.

Tragically, above all in nineteenth century Europe, the conviction grew that God is somehow man’s antagonist and an enemy of his freedom. As a result, there was an attempt to obscure the true biblical faith in the God who sent into the world his Son Jesus Christ, so that no one should perish but that all might have eternal life (cf. Jn 3:16).

The author of the Book of Wisdom, faced with a paganism in which God envied or despised humans, puts it clearly: how could God have created all things if he did not love them, he who in his infinite fullness, has need of nothing (cf. Wis 11:24-26)? Why would he have revealed himself to human beings if he did not wish to take care of them? God is the origin of our being and the foundation and apex of our freedom, not its opponent. How can mortal man build a firm foundation and how can the sinner be reconciled with himself? How can it be that there is public silence with regard to the first and essential reality of human life? How can what is most decisive in life be confined to the purely private sphere or banished to the shadows? We cannot live in darkness, without seeing the light of the sun. How is it then that God, who is the light of every mind, the power of every will and the magnet of every heart, be denied the right to propose the light that dissipates all darkness? This is why we need to hear God once again under the skies of Europe; may this holy word not be spoken in vain, and may it not be put at the service of purposes other than its own. It needs to be spoken in a holy way. And we must hear it in this way in ordinary life, in the silence of work, in brotherly love and in the difficulties that years bring on.

Europe must open itself to God, must come to meet him without fear, and work with his grace for that human dignity which was discerned by her best traditions: not only the biblical, at the basis of this order, but also the classical, the medieval and the modern, the matrix from which the great philosophical, literary, cultural and social masterpieces of Europe were born.

This God and this man were concretely and historically manifested in Christ. It is this Christ whom we can find all along the way to Compostela for, at every juncture, there is a cross which welcomes and points the way. The cross, which is the supreme sign of love brought to its extreme and hence both gift and pardon, must be our guiding star in the night of time. The cross and love, the cross and light have been synonymous in our history because Christ allowed himself to hang there in order to give us the supreme witness of his love, to invite us to forgiveness and reconciliation, to teach us how to overcome evil with good. So do not fail to learn the lessons of that Christ whom we encounter at the crossroads of our journey and our whole life, in whom God comes forth to meet us as our friend, father and guide. Blessed Cross, shine always upon the lands of Europe!

Allow me here to point out the glory of man, and to indicate the threats to his dignity resulting from the privation of his essential values and richness, and the marginalization and death visited upon the weakest and the poorest. One cannot worship God without taking care of his sons and daughters; and man cannot be served without asking who his Father is and answering the question about him. The Europe of science and technology, the Europe of civilization and culture, must be at the same time a Europe open to transcendence and fraternity with other continents, and open to the living and true God, starting with the living and true man. This is what the Church wishes to contribute to Europe: to be watchful for God and for man, based on the understanding of both which is offered to us in Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, let us raise our eyes in hope to all that God has promised and offers us. May he give us his strength; may he reinvigorate the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela; may he renew the faith of his sons and daughters and assist them in fidelity to their vocation to sow and strengthen the Gospel, at home and abroad.

May Saint James, the companion of the Lord, obtain abundant blessings for Galicia and the other peoples of Spain, elsewhere in Europe and overseas, wherever the Apostle is a sign of Christian identity and a promoter of the proclamation of Christ. Amen!

Paavsti jutlus Sagrada Familia kiriku ja altari õnnistamismissal

www.vatican.va:

[...] Today marks an important step in a long history of hope, work and generosity that has gone on for more than a century. At this time I would like to mention each and every one of those who have made possible the joy that fills us today, from the promoters to the executors of this work, the architects and the workers, all who in one way or another have given their priceless contribution to the building of this edifice. We remember of course the man who was the soul and the artisan of this project, Antoni Gaudí, a creative architect and a practising Christian who kept the torch of his faith alight to the end of his life, a life lived in dignity and absolute austerity. This event is also in a certain sense the high point of the history of this land of Catalonia which, especially since the end of the nineteenth century, has given an abundance of saints and founders, martyrs and Christian poets. It is a history of holiness, artistic and poetic creation, born from the faith, which we gather and present to God today as an offering in this Eucharist.

The joy which I feel at presiding at this ceremony became all the greater when I learned that this shrine, since its beginnings, has had a special relationship with Saint Joseph. I have been moved above all by Gaudí’s confidence when, in the face of many difficulties, filled with trust in divine Providence, he would exclaim, “Saint Joseph will finish this church”. So it is significant that it is also being dedicated by a Pope whose baptismal name is Joseph.

What do we do when we dedicate this church? In the heart of the world, placed before God and mankind, with a humble and joyful act of faith, we raise up this massive material structure, fruit of nature and an immense achievement of human intelligence which gave birth to this work of art. It stands as a visible sign of the invisible God, to whose glory these spires rise like arrows pointing towards absolute light and to the One who is Light, Height and Beauty itself.

In this place, Gaudí desired to unify that inspiration which came to him from the three books which nourished him as a man, as a believer and as an architect: the book of nature, the book of sacred Scripture and the book of the liturgy. In this way he brought together the reality of the world and the history of salvation, as recounted in the Bible and made present in the liturgy. He made stones, trees and human life part of the church so that all creation might come together in praise of God, but at the same time he brought the sacred images outside so as to place before people the mystery of God revealed in the birth, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this way, he brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ. In this he accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty. Antoni Gaudí did this not with words but with stones, lines, planes, and points. Indeed, beauty is one of mankind’s greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.

We have dedicated this sacred space to God, who revealed and gave himself to us in Christ so as to be definitively God among men. The revealed Word, the humanity of Christ and his Church are the three supreme expressions of his self-manifestation and self-giving to mankind. As says Saint Paul in the second reading: “Let each man take care how he builds. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:10-11). The Lord Jesus is the stone which supports the weight of the world, which maintains the cohesion of the Church and brings together in ultimate unity all the achievements of mankind. In him, we have God’s word and presence and from him the Church receives her life, her teaching and her mission. The Church of herself is nothing; she is called to be the sign and instrument of Christ, in pure docility to his authority and in total service to his mandate. The one Christ is the foundation of the one Church. He is the rock on which our faith is built. Building on this faith, let us strive together to show the world the face of God who is love and the only one who can respond to our yearning for fulfilment. This is the great task before us: to show everyone that God is a God of peace not of violence, of freedom not of coercion, of harmony not of discord. In this sense, I consider that the dedication of this church of the Sagrada Familia is an event of great importance, at a time in which man claims to be able to build his life without God, as if God had nothing to say to him. In this masterpiece, Gaudí shows us that God is the true measure of man; that the secret of authentic originality consists, as he himself said, in returning to one’s origin which is God. Gaudí, by opening his spirit to God, was capable of creating in this city a space of beauty, faith and hope which leads man to an encounter with him who is truth and beauty itself. The architect expressed his sentiments in the following words: “A church [is] the only thing worthy of representing the soul of a people, for religion is the most elevated reality in man”.

This affirmation of God brings with it the supreme affirmation and protection of the dignity of each and every man and woman: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple? … God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor 3:16-17). Here we find joined together the truth and dignity of God and the truth and dignity of man. As we consecrate the altar of this church, which has Christ as its foundation, we are presenting to the world a God who is the friend of man and we invite men and women to become friends of God. This is what we are taught in the case of Zacchaeus, of whom today’s gospel speaks (Lk 19:1-10), if we allow God into our hearts and into our world, if we allow Christ to live in our hearts, we will not regret it: we will experience the joy of sharing his very life, as the object of his infinite love.

This church began as an initiative of the Association of the Friends of Saint Joseph, who wanted to dedicate it to the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home formed by Jesus, Mary and Joseph has always been regarded as a school of love, prayer and work. The promoters of this church wanted to set before the world love, work and service lived in the presence of God, as the Holy Family lived them. Life has changed greatly and with it enormous progress has been made in the technical, social and cultural spheres. We cannot simply remain content with these advances. Alongside them, there also need to be moral advances, such as in care, protection and assistance to families, inasmuch as the generous and indissoluble love of a man and a woman is the effective context and foundation of human life in its gestation, birth, growth and natural end. Only where love and faithfulness are present can true freedom come to birth and endure. For this reason the Church advocates adequate economic and social means so that women may find in the home and at work their full development, that men and women who contract marriage and form a family receive decisive support from the state, that life of children may be defended as sacred and inviolable from the moment of their conception, that the reality of birth be given due respect and receive juridical, social and legislative support. For this reason the Church resists every form of denial of human life and gives its support to everything that would promote the natural order in the sphere of the institution of the family.

As I contemplate with admiration this sacred space of marvellous beauty, of so much faith-filled history, I ask God that in the land of Catalonia new witnesses of holiness may rise up and flourish, and present to the world the great service that the Church can and must offer to humanity: to be an icon of divine beauty, a burning flame of charity, a path so that the world may believe in the One whom God has sent (cf. Jn 6:29).

Dear brothers and sisters, as I dedicate this splendid church, I implore the Lord of our lives that, from this altar, which will now be anointed with holy oil and upon which the sacrifice of the love of Christ will be consumed, there may be a flood of grace and charity upon the city of Barcelona and its people, and upon the whole world. May these fruitful waters fill with faith and apostolic vitality this archdiocesan Church, its pastors and its faithful.

[In Catalan:] Finally, I wish to commend to the loving protection of the Mother of God, Mary Most Holy, April Rose, Mother of Mercy, all who enter here and all who in word or deed, in silence and prayer, have made this possible this marvel of architecture. May Our Lady present to her divine Son the joys and tribulations of all who come in the future to this sacred place so that here, as the Church prays when dedicating religious buildings, the poor may find mercy, the oppressed true freedom and all men may take on the dignity of the children of God. Amen.

Securus judicat orbis terrarum

Oma ettekandes TriaLogosel mainis Dr. Nash, et see fraas oli võtmetähtsusega Newmani pöördumisel oma via media kontseptsioonilt katoliikluse tõelise tähenduse mõistmisele. Kahjuks ei saanud ta piiratud aja tõttu seda mõtet põhjalikumalt selgitada. Siin aga on klaver põõsas, kus õnnelikul kombel selgitatakse selle fraasi päritolu, tähendust ja selle osa Newmani vaimsel kujunemisel.

Vastukajasid TriaLogosele maailmast läbi aastate

Sirvisin veidi internetti ja leidsin mitmeid kunagi TriaLogosel külalisena osalenute poolt kirjapandud muljeid. Põnev ja liigutav lugemine!

• The Hermeneutic of Continuity: Fr. Timothy Finigan, "TriaLogos Festival in Estonia"
• Emil's Errands: Emil, "Tallinna ja Tampere syksy 2009"
• Christian Order: James Likoudis, "Heroic Catholics in Estonia"
• InsideCatholic: Benjamin D. Wiker, "The Unsure Revival of Estonia"
• Culture Wars: Lawrence J. Dickson, "Icon in Tallinn: The 2007 Trialogos Festival"

Kui teil on veel linke, andke teada.

Peapiiskop Léonard vastab kriitikale

Anna Arco Catholic Heraldist on tõlkinud inglise keelde Brüsseli peapiiskop André-Joseph Léonardi vastuse tema sõnade manipulatiivsele esitlemisele meedia poolt, millega on kaasnenud avalikkuse pahameeletorm:

I owe you some explanations…

The wave of the extremely negative reactions which have arisen by what have been called “my remarks” have no doubt shaken some of you. Maybe even these indignant reactions were also yours. I myself would react strongly to those “remarks” such as they have been presented to you.

Among so many other possiblities, three scandalous “remarks” have been put forward by the media: 1) one concerning the Aids which I was said to have presented as a just punishment sent by the heavens on those who have adopted a certain daring sexual behaviours; 2) one concerning homosexuals whom I am said to have stigmatised as abnormal beings; 3) one concerning the priests or religious guilty of grave sexual abuses, whom it is said I would like to spare a trial by the civil justice system, when they are old or ill. Let us examine one after the other these three controversies

Aids: a divine punishment well deserved?

In the press, there has been much emotion about my “declarations” about aids. In fact I have not recently made any “declaration” on the subject. Instead, the Dutch translation of a work by Louis Mathoux, published in French four years ago, under the title, Monsignor Leonard. Conversations with Louis Mathoux” by the Edition Mols, in Brussels. At the time the book was reviewed by a number of newspapers without giving rise to the least bit of emotion. But the day on which it appeared in Dutch, a media wave was unleashed concerning the pages 173-174 (Dutch edition) of this book. That said, I admired the capacity to read of some journalists, who in a few hours had already got so far in the work…I only regret that the fatigue which resulted from this reading frenzy did not permit them to get to page 175.

Let me explain. In a book of interviews, the person being questioned depends cruelly on the preoccupations and obsessions of him/her who is questioning him. In my last response, reported in the original French, I said, not without some teasing that I thanked my interviewer for his interest, even if he had questioned me very little about what is at the heart of my life and the heart of the Christian faith. Spontaneously, I only very rarely speak about the neuralgic issues (ordination of women, priestly celibacy, questions of sexual morality and of bioethics, etc), but politeness required that I respond to the questions which had been asked…

I haven’t therefore, I repeat, made any “declaration” about Aids. I simply responded, in 2005 (date of the interviews) to a question and my response that followed has then been quoted in part recently in the press. This was the question: “What do you think about Aids? And do you see it as the punishment of God following the sexual revolution?” Nothing is more instructive than to read the response I gave in pages 173-174 (243-244 in the French edition). I will summarise it but first I will underline the context of the question.

It was a question of knowing whether the “incubation” of this illness was a punishment from heaven. It was therefore a question about the first spreading of Aids in the human race. Without question, in this context the contamination by blood transfusions or by syringes filed with drugs or even less the contagion passing from a mother to her child. Although the interviewer might have been happy (I know nothing of it) if I said that Aids was a divine punishment (the more a remark is shocking, the better papers sell) I began by underlinling that I did not reason in any way in those terms and I did not consider, in any way, the spread of Aids as a heavenly punishment.

But as the journalist appeared to be taken, by the very nature of his question, by this category of “punishment”, I added that “as well” one “might eventually” consider the first spreading of the illness as a “sort” of “immanent justice”. Three precautions, therefore, (the expressions in quotation marks), to introduce the classical concept of “immanent justice”.

I admit that the expression is not known to everyone. But when one is responding to a journalist one responds to a person, by definition cultivated, who works from dawn to dusk with words and therefore knows their meaning perfectly. Without counting that he has at least two dictionaries to hand.

As to the concept of immanent justice has precisely as its meaning to exclude all idea of a “punishment” coming from above or outside. This means that the adjective “immanent”, which means “interior to the thing in itself” (from the Latin manere in = to dwell in) without needing to call in an external cause or a “transcendent”. If, then, there is “justice” then in this expression it is absolutely not that which results from a “justice” divine or human, but one which flows from the nature itself of the actions we commit. To illustrate the meaning of this phrase (which I never use spontaneously, but which I used in 2005 in order to try to put myself in the frame of mind of the person interviewing me) I gave examples (which one took care not to quote). If we harm the earth through irresponsible environmental behaviour, one must expect that in her turn the earth starts harming us (climate change, rising sea levels, extinction of species etc). For that not a single divine decision is needed. It flows from the nature of our behaviour itself.

Similarly when ministers of health have “Tobacco seriously damages your health” written on packages of cigarettes, their idea is not that your chronic bronchitis or your lung cancer will be the results of divine punishment or from a decision of the minister of justice, but simply that it arises from your smoking. According to a number of articles I have read, it appears that the first diffusion of Aids was due, at least by one part, to a contamination linked to risky sexual practices (multiple partners, anal intercourse etc).

I therefore do not really see why it is unseemly to say that our polluting risks giving a nasty turn to the ecological plan, or that the immoderate consumption of alcohol which can damage our brain or our liver or to consider that the contamination by HIV was linked, from its beginnings, in part to risky sexual behaviours.

But I am told, you have stigmatised and discriminated against Aids sufferers. It is here that the readers who arrived with avidity to page 174 would have done well to also read page 175 (page 245 in the French edition) where I explicitly and forcefully say that the Aids sufferers ought never be discriminated against. Since when did [trying] to prevent the ravages caused by tobacco discriminate againstand stigmatise smokers? The same thing concerns the question of Aids.

Homosexuals: Abnormal?

Already in the past, one had attempted to get me to say this monstrosity, to acknowledge that homosexuals are abnormal or ill [people]. Having explained myself a number of times on this question (on which I almost never speak spontaneously but only ever in response to the questions that have been imposed on me), I shall be more short. I think, from a philosophical point of view, that there is in the homosexual tendency and homosexual practices, an orientation which is not coherent with the objective logic of sexuality.

This logic of sexuality (vegetal, animal and also human) which consists of differentiation and in some ways, to separate the masculine and the feminine, thereby permitting their complementarity. It is furthermore the meaning itself of the word “sex” which probably comes from the Latin “secare”, a verb which means cut, divide . “Sexuality” consists of sundering the masculine and the feminine in light of their re-unions (in coupling, for animals, or in the loving encounter between persons with the human being) through a gesture (sexual union) which also permits the transmission of life. The philosophical problem posed by homosexuality is, in this case, that the sexual tendency strikes out the sort of polarity between the masculine and the feminine and turns to a person of the same sex.

Some express this by saying that the homosexual tendency is not “normal” or is “abnormal. For my part I avoid this kind of language like the plague, except when the questioner uses it insistently. At a push one could, if one really holds to it, risk saying that that tendency is not normal, in the sense that there is no coherence with the objective logic of sexuality. But it is worth avoiding the ambiguity of the term for a reason. And, at all counts, this does not authorise us in any way to say that homosexuals are “abnormal”, which would be gravely injurious.

To make the difference between a philosophical judgment about “homosexual tendencies” and the hurtful discrimination in respect to “homosexual persons”, I risked, during a television panel, a comparison of the attitude which we adopt in regard to anorexic persons and that which we need to have in regard to homosexual persons.

Certain organs of the press pretended to believe that I was therefore comparing homosexuality to anorexia and therefore treated homosexuals as ill people. But I never compared homosexuality with anorexia, which would sere no purpose, especially as homosexuality is no longer considered as an illness today.

I was simply comparing the attitudes which we adopt or can adopt in respect to people living in these two totally different situations. Oh well. The majority of us believe that anorexia is a development of appetite which is not coherent with the objective logic of the appetite, which drives us to eat, allowing us to regain strength. But I hope that the people who reason in this way would never therefore consider anorexics as “abnormal”. Similarly, even if you think that homosexuality is not coherent with the objective logic of sexuality, this does not authorise you in any way to treat homosexuals as “abnormal” or “sick”.

Elderly or ill paedophiles: shield them from justice?

A recent broadcast presented one of my responses as though I wanted to shield from civil justice, priests or religious guilty of sexual abuse when they are infirm or elderly. But does one believe me to be really incoherent on this point, when actually, like the other bishops, I have not stopped repeating since April 23, that the victims should always address themselves to civil justice in the first instance, which is alone equipped to determine the grave reality of the actions and to define if they are prescribed or not? All of this is the exclusive jurisdiction of justice. And so this is very clear, we have held back from established any form of new “Adrianssens Commission”, despite the services which this had given to numerous victims. We therefore systematically send the alleged victims to the civil authority and to the public organisations set up for taking this type of complaints.

On the level of the Church, in the meantime, for each case of grave sexual abuse we need to compile a dossier which we are required to send to Rome. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would like in effect to insure that in each concerned diocese, the Bishop will fulfil his duty. Such a file was sent to Rome concerning the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe. While waiting for the Roman decisions for each case the bishop must of course, if the facts appear to be established, take immediate preventative measures, especially when there is a risk of re-offending.

It is in this context, then that I was asked at the time of the recording what sort of measures I wished to take concerning priests who were often very aged and guilty of such abuses. As a pre-amble during the course of the interview, which lasted for an hour and a half I had of course as always emphasised how important it was for victims to address themselves to civil authorities and/or the relevant public authorities. But what to do when the complaints were closed by the law because the facts were prescribed in its eyes or when the victims obstinately refuse to address justice? Must I, on learning of the facts, often from a long time ago, immediately impose a public canonical punishment without even awaiting the judgment of Rome?

In answering this delicate question (was it a trap?) I had in my heart the deeply moving experience which I recently lived. Some victims came to tell me their tragic tales experienced [at the hands of] a priest who had seriously abused them. They explicitly told me: “We do not want to go to the courts; it is too late; we simply ask that you go and find them, and that in front of you they recognise the evil they have done to us and from which we still suffer today.” I therefore took up contact with these priests, elderly, ill, a bit confused but still able to express themselves.

One of them told me, after I told him of my meeting with the victim: “I had never spoken to anyone of this black chapter of my life: I am happy to be able to recognise it in front of you before I die. I asked him if he would accept to meet the victim and finally recognise in front of her, the evil which he inflicted on her and he said, “yes”, and that it would be a great relief to be able to do it, finally, before his death. I took up contact with the victim who told me their profound joy on hearing this and confirmed their intention of meeting this priest. I was very deeply moved by this, to tears.

I do not know if I did the right thing in proceeding in this manner. But I believe that, in similar cases, when no civil procedure is possible or at least wanted by the victim, it is not unreasonable to finally allow an abuser to recognise his guilt in having abused. It is perhaps more profitable for one and the other than to simply forbid this old priest to concelebrate regardless at the Mass celebrated by the chaplain in his house of rest. In the cases I have personally experienced, the victims resolutely did not wish this public punishment in extremis, this sort of final vengeance. They wished mostly that the hateful truth of these actions was finally recognised by their author himself.

It is precisely the pastoral responsibility of the Church that, when civil justice has finished its work where it is still possible, that the victims should be listened to with respect and that the abusers finally recognise their crime. If I am wrong, no one will miss out on telling me that I am.

–
Here the clarification which I felt the need to give concerning the recent upheavals. It seems to me that I owed this explanation to those whom I involuntarily have made suffer on being the source of so much criticism, misunderstanding and incomprehension. I hope in this way to contribute to the peace in [people’s] hearts. In the meantime, who knows which new controversy will emerge which I absolutely do not seek. I am, of course, conscious to always say what I think in conscience, to be the truth. This can surprise sometimes, but my goal is never to shock.

Mgr A-J Leonard

Archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles

Paavsti kõne Santiago de Compostelas

Zenit:

To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe. Above all, Christians go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to the places associated with the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. They go to Rome, the city of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, and also to Compostela, which, associated with the memory of Saint James, has welcomed pilgrims from throughout the world who desire to strengthen their spirit with the Apostle’s witness of faith and love.

In this Holy Year of Compostela, I too, as the Successor of Peter, wished to come in pilgrimage to the "House of Saint James", as it prepares to celebrate the eight-hundredth anniversary of its consecration. I have come to confirm your faith, to stir up your hope and to entrust to the Apostle’s intercession your aspirations, struggles and labours in the service of the Gospel. As I embraced the venerable statue of the Saint, I also prayed for all the children of the Church, which has her origin in the mystery of the communion that is God. Through faith we are introduced to the mystery of love that is the Most Holy Trinity. We are in some sense embraced by God, transformed by his love. The Church is this embrace of God, in which men and women learn also to embrace their brothers and sisters and to discover in them the divine image and likeness which constitutes the deepest truth of their existence, and which is the origin of genuine freedom.

Truth and freedom are closely and necessarily related. Honestly seeking and aspiring to truth is the condition of authentic freedom. One cannot live without the other. The Church, which desires to serve unreservedly the human person and his dignity, stands at the service of both truth and freedom. She cannot renounce either, because what is at stake is man himself, because she is moved by love for man, "the only creature on earth which God has wanted for its own sake" (Gaudium et Spes, 24), and because without this aspiration for truth, justice and freedom, man would lose his very self.

From Compostela, the spiritual heart of Galicia and at the same time a school of unbounded universality, allow me to exhort all the faithful of this beloved Archdiocese, and those of the Church in Spain, to live their lives enlightened by the truth of Christ, confessing the faith with joy, consistency and simplicity, at home, at work and in their commitment as citizens.

May the joy of knowing that you are God’s beloved children bring you to an ever deeper love for the Church and to cooperate with her in her work of leading all men and women to Christ. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that many young people will devote themselves to this mission in the priestly ministry and in the consecrated life: today, it is as worthwhile as ever to dedicate one’s whole life to the proclamation of the newness of the Gospel.

I cannot conclude without first expressing my appreciation and gratitude to the Catholics of Spain for the generosity with which they support so many institutions of charity and of human development. Continue to maintain these works which benefit society as a whole, and whose effectiveness has been shown in a special way in the present economic crisis, as well as when grave natural disasters have affected certain countries.

[In Galician:]

With these sentiments, I ask Almighty God to grant all of you the boldness which Saint James showed in bearing witness to the Risen Christ. In this way, may you remain faithful in the ways of holiness and spend yourselves for the glory of God and the good of our brothers and sisters in greatest need. Thank you.

Teine kevad

TriaLogosel kutsus James Bogle üles lugema Newmani "Teist kevadet" -- "The Second Spring". Lugesin ja sain elamuse. Siinkohal katkend sellest:

[...] What! those few scattered worshippers, the Roman Catholics, to form a Church! Shall the past be rolled back? Shall the grave open? Shall the Saxons live again to God? Shall the shepherds, watching their poor flocks by night, be visited by a multitude of the heavenly army, and hear how their Lord has been new-born in their own city? Yes; for grace can, where nature cannot. The world grows old, but the Church is ever young. She can, in any time, at her Lord's will, "inherit the Gentiles, and inhabit the desolate cities." {177} "Arise, Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see; all these are gathered together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side." "Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. For the winter is now past, and the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land … the fig-tree hath put forth her green figs; the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come." It is the time for thy Visitation. Arise, Mary, and go forth in thy strength into that north country, which once was thine own, and take possession of a land which knows thee not. Arise, Mother of God, and with thy thrilling voice, speak to those who labour with child, and are in pain, till the babe of grace leaps within them! Shine on us, dear Lady, with thy bright countenance, like the sun in his strength, O stella matutina, O harbinger of peace, till our year is one perpetual May. From thy sweet eyes, from thy pure smile, from thy majestic brow, let ten thousand influences rain down, not to confound or overwhelm, but to persuade, to win over thine enemies. O Mary, my hope, O Mother undefiled, fulfil to us the promise of this Spring. A second temple rises on the ruins of the old. Canterbury has gone its way, and York is gone, and Durham is gone, and Winchester is gone. It was sore to part with them. We clung to the vision of past greatness, and would not believe it could {178} come to nought; but the Church in England has died, and the Church lives again. Westminster and Nottingham, Beverley and Hexham, Northampton and Shrewsbury, if the world lasts, shall be names as musical to the ear, as stirring to the heart, as the glories we have lost; and Saints shall rise out of them, if God so will, and Doctors once again shall give the law to Israel, and Preachers call to penance and to justice, as at the beginning.

Yes, my Fathers and Brothers, and if it be God's blessed will, not Saints alone, not Doctors only, not Preachers only, shall be ours—but Martyrs, too, shall reconsecrate the soil to God. We know not what is before us, ere we win our own; we are engaged in a great, a joyful work, but in proportion to God's grace is the fury of His enemies. They have welcomed us as the lion greets his prey. Perhaps they may be familiarized in time with our appearance, but perhaps they may be irritated the more. To set up the Church again in England is too great an act to be done in a corner. We have had reason to expect that such a boon would not be given to us without a cross. It is not God's way that great blessings should descend without the sacrifice first of great sufferings. If the truth is to be spread to any wide extent among this people, how can we dream, how can we hope, that trial and trouble shall not accompany its going forth? And we have already, if it may be said without presumption, to commence our work withal, a large store of merits. We have no slight outfit for our opening warfare. Can we religiously suppose that the blood of our martyrs, three centuries ago and since, shall never receive its recompense? Those priests, secular and {179} regular, did they suffer for no end? or rather, for an end which is not yet accomplished? The long imprisonment, the fetid dungeon, the weary suspense, the tyrannous trial, the barbarous sentence, the savage execution, the rack, the gibbet, the knife, the cauldron, the numberless tortures of those holy victims, O my God, are they to have no reward? Are Thy martyrs to cry from under Thine altar for their loving vengeance on this guilty people, and to cry in vain? Shall they lose life, and not gain a better life for the children of those who persecuted them? Is this Thy way, O my God, righteous and true? Is it according to Thy promise, O King of saints, if I may dare talk to Thee of justice? Did not Thou Thyself pray for Thine enemies upon the cross, and convert them? Did not Thy first Martyr win Thy great Apostle, then a persecutor, by his loving prayer? And in that day of trial and desolation for England, when hearts were pierced through and through with Mary's woe, at the crucifixion of Thy body mystical, was not every tear that flowed, and every drop of blood that was shed, the seeds of a future harvest, when they who sowed in sorrow were to reap in joy?

And as that suffering of the Martyrs is not yet recompensed, so, perchance, it is not yet exhausted. Something, for what we know, remains to be undergone, to complete the necessary sacrifice. May God forbid it, for this poor nation's sake! But still could we be surprised, my Fathers and my Brothers, if the winter even now should not yet be quite over? Have we any right to take it strange, if, in this English land, the spring-time of the Church should turn out to be an English spring, {180} an uncertain, anxious time of hope and fear, of joy and suffering,—of bright promise and budding hopes, yet withal, of keen blasts, and cold showers, and sudden storms?

One thing alone I know,—that according to our need, so will be our strength. One thing I am sure of, that the more the enemy rages against us, so much the more will the Saints in Heaven plead for us; the more fearful are our trials from the world, the more present to us will be our Mother Mary, and our good Patrons and Angel Guardians; the more malicious are the devices of men against us, the louder cry of supplication will ascend from the bosom of the whole Church to God for us. We shall not be left orphans; we shall have within us the strength of the Paraclete, promised to the Church and to every member of it. My Fathers, my Brothers in the priesthood, I speak from my heart when I declare my conviction, that there is no one among you here present but, if God so willed, would readily become a martyr for His sake. I do not say you would wish it; I do not say that the natural will would not pray that that chalice might pass away; I do not speak of what you can do by any strength of yours;—but in the strength of God, in the grace of the Spirit, in the armour of justice, by the consolations and peace of the Church, by the blessing of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and in the name of Christ, you would do what nature cannot do. By the intercession of the Saints on high, by the penances and good works and the prayers of the people of God on earth, you would be forcibly borne up as upon the waves of the mighty deep, and carried on out of {181} yourselves by the fulness of grace, whether nature wished it or no. I do not mean violently, or with unseemly struggle, but calmly, gracefully, sweetly, joyously, you would mount up and ride forth to the battle, as on the rush of Angels' wings, as your fathers did before you, and gained the prize. You, who day by day offer up the Immaculate Lamb of God, you who hold in your hands the Incarnate Word under the visible tokens which He has ordained, you who again and again drain the chalice of the Great Victim; who is to make you fear? what is to startle you? what to seduce you? who is to stop you, whether you are to suffer or to do, whether to lay the foundations of the Church in tears, or to put the crown upon the work in jubilation? [...]

Veel "intelligentsest disainist"

Rahvusvahelise Teoloogilise Komisjoni (mis on paavsti nõuandev organ teoloogilistes küsimustes) poolt 2004. aastal avaldatud dokumendis "Communion and Stewardship" sisalduvad mõned punktid, mis puudutavad seda küsimust:

68. Elu tekkimist soodustavate tingimuste evolutsiooni osas kinnitab katoliiklik traditsioon, et universaalse transtsendentse põhjusena on Jumal mitte ainult olemasolemise vaid ka põhjuste põhjus. Jumala tegevus ei takista ega asenda loodud põhjuste toimimist, vaid võimaldab neil toimida vastavalt nende loomusele ning tuua sellele vaatamata esile tulemused, mida Ta on kavatsenud. Vabas tahtes universum luua ja seda alal hoida, tahab Jumal panna toimima ja hoida toimimas kõik need teisesed põhjused, mille toimimine aitab kaasa selle loomuliku korra lahtirullumisele, mida ta on kavatsenud tekitada. Loomulike põhjuste toimimise kaudu põhjustab Jumal nende tingimuste kujunemise, mis on vajalikud elusorganismide tekkimiseks ja püsimiseks, ning veelgi enam, nende taastootmiseks ja eristumiseks. Ehkki käib teaduslik debatt nendes arengutes sisalduva ja on empiiriliselt vaadeldava eesmärgipärasuse ja disaini määra üle, on need de facto soodustanud elu tekkimist ja õilmitsemist. Katoliiklikud teoloogid saavad sellises arutluses näha tuge kinnitusele, mis tuleneb usust jumalikku loomisse ja ettehooldusse. Loomise ettehooldavas kavas (design) soovis Kolmainus Jumal mitte ainult anda inimolenditele koht universumis, vaid samuti, ja ülimalt, anda neile koht iseenese trinitaarses elus. Veelgi enam, toimides tõeliste, ehkki teiseste põhjustena, annavad inimesed oma panuse universumi ümberkujundamisse ja uuendamisse (transformation).

69. Käesolev teaduslik debatt evolutsioonis toimivate mehhanismide üle nõuab teoloogilist kommentaari, kuivõrd kohati ilmneb selles jumaliku põhjuslikkuse loomuse vääritimõistmist. Paljud neo-darvinistlikud teadlased, nagu ka mõned nende kriitikud, on jõudnud järeldusele, et kui evolutsioon on radikaalselt sattumuslik materialistlik protsess, mis toimub loomuliku valiku ja juhuslike geneetiliste variatsioonide kaudu, siis ei saa selles olla kohta jumalikul ettehooldaval põhjuslikkusel. Kasvav hulk neo-darvinismi teaduslikke kriitikuid osutavad tõendusmaterjalile disaini kohta (n. bioloogilised struktuurid, mis ilmutavad spetsiifilist keerukust), mida ei saa nende käsituses seletada üksnes sattumusliku protsessiga ja mida neo-darvinistid on ignoreerinud või vääriti tõlgendanud. Selle praeguse elava vastasseisu tuum sisaldab vaatlust ja üldistust küsimuse suhtes, kas kättesaadav andmestik toetab disaini või juhuse põhist argumentatsiooni, ega saa lahendatud teoloogia abil. Ent on oluline märkida, et vastavalt jumaliku põhjuslikkuse katoliiklikule käsitusele ei ole loodud korra tõeline sattumuslikkus vastuolus eesmärgistatud jumaliku ettehooldusega. Jumalik põhjuslikkus ja loodud põhjuslikkus erinevad radikaalselt oma liigi, mitte ainult määra poolest. Nii võib ka tõeliselt sattumusliku loomuliku protsessi tulemus sisalduda Jumala ettehooldavas kavas loodu jaoks. Aquino p. Thomase sõnul: "Jumaliku ettehoolduse toime ei ole ainult see, et asjad peavad mingil moel juhtuma, vaid et need peavad juhtuma kas paratamatult või sattumuslikult. Seetõttu, mida jumalik ettehooldus iganes seab toimuma eksimatult ja paratamatuse tõttu, toimub eksimatult ja paratamatult; ja sattumuslikult toimub see, mida jumalik ettehooldus seab toimuma sattumuslikult" (Summa theologiae, I, 22,4 ad 1). Katoliiklikust perspektiivist nähtuna ületavad neo-darvinistid, kes osutavad juhuslikule geneetilisele variatiivsusele ja loomulikule valikule kui tõendusele, et evolutsiooniprotsess on absoluutselt suunamata (unguided), teadsuliku demonstreeritavuse piirid. Jumalik põhjuslikkus saab toimida protsessis, mis on nii sattumuslik kui ka suunatud. Mistahes evolutsiooniline mehhanism, mis on sattumuslik, saab olla sattumuslik vaid selle tõttu, et Jumal on selle sellisena teinud. Suunamata evolutsioonilist protsessi -- sellist, mis jääks väljapoole jumaliku ettehoolduse piire -- ei saa lihtsalt olemas olla, sest "Jumala -- kes on esmapõhjus -- põhjuslikkus ulatub kõige olevani, mitte ainult liike konstitueerivate printsiipidena, vaid ka individualiseerivate printsiipidena... Sellest järeldub paratamatult, et kõik asjad, sedavõrd kui nad osalevad olemises, peavad niisamuti alluma jumalikule ettehooldusele" (Summa theologiae I, 22, 2).

70. Mis puutub inimese hinge vahetusse loomisse, siis kinnitab katoliiklik teoloogia, et Jumala partikulaarsed teod põhjustavad tagajärgi, mis ületavad oma loomuse kohaselt toimivate loodud põhjuste suutlikkuse. Tuginemine jumalikule põhjuslikkusele selgitamaks tõeliselt põhjuslikke, mitte pelgalt seletuslikke lünki, ei too jumalikku toimimist sisse "lünkade" täitmiseks inimlikus teaduslikus teadmises (tekitades seeläbi nn. "lünkade-jumala"). Maailma struktuure saab näha avatuna mitte-katkestavale jumalikule toimimisele maailma sündmuste otseses põhjustamises. Katoliiklik teoloogia kinnitab, et inimliigi esimeste liikmete tekkimine (olgu indiviidide või populatsioonidena) esindab sündmust, mis ei allu ükspäinis loomulikule selgitusele ja mille saab õiguspäraselt omistada jumalikule sekkumisele. Tegutsedes kaudselt kosmilise ajaloo algusest toimivate põhjuslike ahelate kaudu valmistas Jumal teed sellel, mida paavst Johannes Paulus II on nimetanud "ontoloogiliseks hüppeks ... ülemineku hetkeks vaimsele". Kuigi teadus saab uurida neid põhjuslikke ahelaid, jääb teoloogia rolliks selle inimese hinge erilise loomise arusaama paigutamine Kolmainsa Jumala kõikehõlmavasse kavasse jagada trinitaarse elu osadust inimisikutega, kes on loodud eimillestki Jumal sarnaseks ja Tema näo järgi, ja kes teostab Tema nimel ja Tema kava kohaselt loovat ülevaataja- ja valitsejafunktsiooni füüsilise universumi üle.

Paavsti jutlusest piiskoppide ja kardinalide hingede eest

Eilsel Missal aasta jooksul surnud kardinalide ja piiskoppide hingede eest pidas paavst Benedictus XVI jutluse, millest järgneb väljavõte (Zenit):

Eternal life was opened to us by Christ's Paschal Mystery and faith is the way to reach it. It is what follows from Jesus' words to Nicodemus and expressed by John the Evangelist: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). Here is the explicit reference to the episode narrated in the book of Numbers (21:1-9), which highlights the salvific force of faith in the divine word. During the exodus, the Hebrew people rebelled against Moses and against God, and was punished by the plague of venomous serpents. Moses asked for forgiveness, and God, accepting the repentance of the Israelites, ordered them to "make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." And so it happened.

Jesus, in the conversation with Nicodemus, revealed the more profound meaning of this event of salvation, referring it to his own death and resurrection: the Son of Man must be lifted on the wood of the Cross so that whoever believes in him will have life. St. John sees precisely in the mystery of the cross the moment in which the real glory of Jesus is revealed, the glory of a love that gives itself totally in the passion and death. Thus, paradoxically, from a sign of condemnation, of death, of failure, the cross becomes sign of redemption, of life, of victory, in which, with the look of faith, the fruits of salvation can be gathered.

Continuing the dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus reflects ultimately on the salvific meaning of the cross, revealing with ever greater clarity that it consists in the immense love of God and in the gift of the Only-Begotten Son: "God so loved the world that he gave his Only-Begotten Son." This is one of the central words of the Gospel. The subject is God the Father, origin of the whole creating and redeeming mystery. The verbs "to love" and "to give" indicate a decisive and definitive act that expresses the radicalism with which God approached man in love, to the total gift, to the threshold of our ultimate solitude, throwing himself into the abyss of our extreme abandonment, passing through the door of death.

The object and beneficiary of divine love is the world, namely, humanity. It is a word that erases completely the idea of a distant God, stranger to man's journey, and reveals rather his true faith: He gave us his Son out of love, to be the close God, to make us feel his presence, to come to meet us and carry us in his love, so that all of life is animated by this divine love.

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life. God does not take possession but loves without measure. He does not manifest his omnipotence in punishment, but in mercy and in forgiveness. To understand all this means to enter into the mystery of salvation: Jesus came to save, not to condemn; with the sacrifice of the cross he reveals the loving face of God. And precisely by faith in the superabundant love that has been given to us in Christ Jesus, we know that even the smallest force of love is greater than the greatest destructive force and can transform the world, and by this same faith we can have the "reliable hope," in eternal life and in the resurrection of the flesh.

Isa Vello 85

Palju õnne isa Vello Salole 85. sünnipäeva puhul!

Opus Angelorum

Eile ilmus L'Osservatore Romanos Usudoktriini Kongregatsioon ringkiri ühenduse Opus Angelorum asjus, milles Kongregatsioon teavitas piiskoppe antud ühenduse osas toimunud arengutest. Ühendus, mille tegevust mõni aeg tagasi oluliselt piirati, on stabiliseerunud ja leidnud Kirikus täieliku heakskiidu. Samas hoiatab Usudoktriini Kongregatsioon hälbiva grupi jätkuva tegevuse eest, kes peab end "tõeliseks" Opus Angelorumiks ja tegutseb vastuolus Kirikuga.

Huvitav on seejuures märkida, et Opus Angelorumiga on seotud ka hiljuti Eestit külastanud piiskop Athanasius Schneider, raamatu "See on Issand" autor.

P. Carlo Borromeo

Paavst saatis Milaano peapiiskopile kardinal Dionigi Tettamanzile sõnumi püha Carlos Borromeo (Cath.Enc, Wikipedia) kanoniseerimise 400 aastapäeva puhul, millest järgnevalt väike väljevõte (VIS):

  "The time in which Charles Borromeo lived was a very delicate one for Christianity", writes the Pope. "In a period obscured by many trials facing the Christian community, with divisions and doctrinal confusion, the clouding of the purity of faith and custom, and the bad example of many sacred ministers, Charles Borromeo did not limit himself to deploring and condemning, nor simply to expressing hope that others would change; rather, he began to reform his own life".

  St. Charles "was aware that serious and credible reform had to begin with pastors". To this end he focused on "the centrality of the Eucharist, ... the spirituality of the cross, ... assiduous participation in the Sacraments, ... the Word of God, ... and love and devotion for the Supreme Pontiff, readily and filially obedient to his directives as a guarantee of true and complete ecclesial communion".

  "May St. Charles encourage us always to begin with a serious commitment to personal conversion", writes the Holy Father, going on to encourage priests and deacons "to make of their lives a courageous path of sanctity" and expressing the hope that the Church in Milan may always find in her ministers "a clear faith and a sober and pure life, renewing that apostolic ardour which characterised St. Ambrose, St. Charles and so many of your holy pastors".

  "... Let us make the Eucharist the true centre of our communities, let us allow ourselves to be educated and moulded by that well of charity. Each apostolic and charitable action will draw strength and fruitfulness from that source".

Toonase olukorra kirjeldus kõlab väga tänapäevaselt. Küllap on ka pühaku järgitud lahendus samamoodi rakendatav tänapäeval: "the centrality of the Eucharist, ... the spirituality of the cross, ... assiduous participation in the Sacraments, ... the Word of God, ... and love and devotion for the Supreme Pontiff, readily and filially obedient to his directives as a guarantee of true and complete ecclesial communion".

Järelmõtteid Trialogose akadeemilisele sessioonile

Sel aastal õnnestus kuulata kõiki loenguid. Oli hariv ja huvitav. Tänud korraldajatele! Pretendeerimata mingile ülevaatele ettekannetest, panen kirja mõningad hajali mõtted, mis neid kuulates ja tagantjärele tekkisid.

Kõigepealt stiililistest erinevustest; selle poolest rühmitusid esinejad selgelt eestlasteks, inglasteks ja ameeriklasteks. Eestlased, nagu võikski arvata, esinesid väga vaoshoitult, rõhutatult akadeemiliselt, jättes kohati ehk isegi veidi igavleva või tüdinud mulje. Ameeriklased, vastupidi, rääkisid kõrgendatud tonaalsusega, erutatult, pingeliselt. Ent erutus oli kummagi puhul veidi erinevt tüüpi. Dr. Rao oli silmnähtavalt sisse võetud oma ettekande teemast ja lendas selle grandioosse, Euroopa 2000 aastase haridusrännaku vaimustunud kõrgustes ja sügavustes, Matt (The Remnant toimetaja) aga väljendas pigem entusiastliku kultuurisõdalase lahinguerutust, kutsudes kõiki relvile. Inglased seevastu kõnelesid ehkki ka vaoshoitult, ometi elavalt ja dr. Nashi puhul võiks koguni öelda, et teatud show-elementidega, mille tipuks oli ovatsiooni pälvinud itaalia-aktsendiga tsitaadi ettekanne. Vladimir Martõnov erines oluliselt kõigist teistest oma apokalüptilise sürreaalsusega. Jätmata küll tüdinud muljet, väljendas ta sügavat tüdimust uue "liigi" pealetungi suhtes, ehkki väliselt erutumata, jättis ta oma hüpliku kõnega sisemise erutatuse mulje, ehkki rääkides sellest "kuidas kõik enne oli", näis ta pidevalt tajuvat ajaloo immanentset lõppu, ehkki rõhutades sõnades oma erapooletust arengute suhtes, ilmutas ta oma olemisega ühemõttelist seisukohavõttu nende osas.

Huvitav mikrovastandus toimus dr. Nashi ja Matti vahel "intelligentse disaini" küsimuses, mille Matt tõstatas dr. Nashi ettekande järel küsimustevoorus, esitades selle allasurumist ühe näitena kultuurilisest ülekohtust kristlaste suhtes. "Intelligentse disaini" küsimust võib mõista kaheti. Ühel juhul -- mõistes selle disainerina Jumalat kui kõiksuse Loojat -- on see kristliku ja sh. katoliikliku maailmanägemise pea-aegu triviaalne osa. Probleem on aga selles, et "intelligentse disaini" teooria ei esitle Jumalat mitte niivõrd maailmakõiksuse Loojana, kuivõrd teatud, teadusele (seni) püüdmatute üleminekute või hüpete seletusprintsiibina, niinimetatud lünkade-jumalana. Jagan selles osas täielikult dr. Nashi seisukohta, et "intelligentse disaini" teooria sellisena nähtuna on ekslik ja eksitav, ning teeb kristlusele pigem karuteene. Matt küll ei kommenteerinud dr. Nashi vastust, ent kahtlen, kas ta seletusega rahule jäi. Kogenud kultuurisõdalasena oli ta küllap selle seisukohaga ennegi tuttav.

Dr. Rao kolmeosaline ülevaade Euroopa kristliku hariduse kujunemisloost oli niivõrd ambitsioonikas, et oleks võinud iseenesest täita kogu kolmepäevase sessiooni algusest lõpuni. Seetõttu on arusaadav, et ta pidi suure osa tekstist kõrvale jätma ja mahutas siiski tohutu infohulga kolme tundi. Lisaks kõrgendatud emotsionaalne ettekandmisviis. Kokkuvõttes... mmm ... nõuab see veel kõvasti seedimist.

Minu lemmikuks jäi dr. Nashi ettekanne õndsa John Henry Newmani ülikooli-käsitusest ja väike ülevaade tema doktriini-arengu teooriast, mis ta lõpuks ka katoliiklusesse tõi, või lektori väljenduse kohaselt: "Ta kirjutas end katoliiklaseks." Nagu tunnistast teine inglise lektor James Bogle (kes rääkis distributsionismist ja on Suur-Britannia Katoliku Uniooni päälik, st. chairman), ei kirjutanud ta selle teosega katoliiklaseks ainult ennast, vaid ka palju teisi, sh. mr. Bogle'i.

Paavsti üleskutse ilmikute harimiseks Kiriku sotsiaaldoktriini osas

VATICAN CITY, 4 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The Pope has sent a Message to Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to mark that body's plenary assembly which is currently being held in Rome. The assembly is focusing on how the Encyclical "Caritas in veritate" has been received in various communities.

"Only with charity, supported by hope and illuminated by the light of faith and reason, is it possible to achieve the goals of the integral liberation of man and universal justice", the Holy Father writes.

Referring to the "fundamental problems affecting the destiny of peoples and of world institutions, as well as of the human family", which are examined in "Caritas in veritate", Benedict XVI points out that social and national inequalities "have by no means disappeared. ... Co-ordination among States - which is often inadequate because, rather than aiming to achieve solidarity, it aims only at a balance of power - leaves the field open to renewed inequalities, to the danger of the predominance of economic and financial groups which dictate - and intend to continue to do so - the political agenda at the expense of the universal common good".

The Holy Father stresses the urgent need "for commitment to educating Catholic laity in Church social doctrine". Lay Catholics "must undertake to promote the correct ordering of social life, while respecting the legitimate autonomy of worldly institutions".

"A profound understanding of the social doctrine of the Church is of fundamental importance, in harmony with all her theological heritage and strongly rooted in affirming the transcendent dignity of man, in defending human life from conception to natural death and in religious freedom. ... It is necessary to prepare lay people capable of dedicating themselves to the common good, especially in complex environments such as the world of politics".

The Pope concludes his Message by expressing the hope that the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace may continue "to prepare fresh 'aggiornamenti' of Church social doctrine". In order to globalise this doctrine, he writes, "it may be appropriate to create centres and institutions for its study, dissemination and implementation throughout the world".

"In collaboration with others, seek more effective ways to transmit the contents of social doctrine, not only in the traditional itineraries of Christian formation and education of all kinds and at all levels, but also in the great centres where world thought is forged - such as the organs of the lay press, universities and economic and social study centres - which in recent times have come into being in every corner of the earth".

Paavsti visiit Hispaaniasse

MADRID, Spain, NOV. 2, 2010 (Zenit.org).- With his visit this weekend to Spain, Benedict XVI will fulfill two desires he has had for a long time: to go on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and to contemplate Barcelona's Church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), designed by Antonio Gaudí.

Isidro Catela, director of the press office of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, said this Tuesday during an informative press breakfast at the conference's headquarters in Madrid, during which he reviewed the intense program of the Holy Father's visit, which should last 32 hours.

On Saturday and Sunday, Benedict XVI will visit the two Spanish cities of Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona for the first time. Catela reported that the Pope had made plans in the past to visit Santiago de Compostela with his brother, as well as the Holy Family Church in Barcelona, but in the end it was not possible.

The spokesman said that on Sunday in Barcelona, the Holy Father will consecrate the Church of the Holy Family, and designate the church a basilica. He added that the Pontiff will also visit the Spanish charity "Niño Dios" (God-child), which was founded with the mission to care for persons with Down syndrome.

"However, at present," the spokesman explained, "the number of these persons has decreased notably given that a good many of them are eliminated before being born."

"Legislation has propitiated this," he added, "which sees abortion as a 'right' and includes it among the allegedly necessary means to care for health."

During the Pope's visit to the charity, Catela continued, "the great work done by the Church in the defense of the dignity of all human life, from conception until natural death, as well as the life of all, regardless of physical, psychic or intellectual capacities, will be highlighted."

Benedict XVI will meet with the king and queen of Spain, Juan Carlos I and Sophía, in the museum hall of the Holy Family Church on Sunday. On Saturday, he will greet the Prince of Asturias, Felipe, son of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sophía, and the Princess of Asturias, the prince's wife, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, in Santiago de Compostela.

The Holy Father will also hold a brief meeting with Spain's president, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in Barcelona's El Prat airport before the farewell ceremony, and in Santiago de Compostela the Pontiff will greet in Mariano Rajoy, who is a member of the conservative People's Party and the leader of the opposition in the Spanish Parliament.

For this two-day papal visit, 3,250 journalists of 327 news outlets have been accredited, 646 of whom will follow the whole trip. Only 931 will be in Santiago, and 1,673 will be in Barcelona.

It is estimated that the television audience will reach some 150 million viewers.

Selle maailma printsist

Järgnev on väljavõte peapiiskop Chaput kõnest 27. jaanuaril k.a. Roomas sümpoosiumil "Preestrid ja ilmikud misjonil":

Part of what blocks a serious awareness and rethinking of our current culture is the "knowledge economy" we have created. In its 1999 statement Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture, the Pontifical Council for Culture saw that the constant flow of "information provided by [today's] mass media . . . affects the way things are perceived: What people come to know is not reality as such, but what they are shown. [The] constant repetition of selected items of information involves a decline in critical awareness, and this is a crucial factor in forming what is considered public opinion." It also causes "a loss of intrinsic value [in the specific] items of information, an undifferentiated uniformity in messages which are reduced to pure information, a lack of responsible feedback, and a . . . discouragement of interpersonal relationships." This is all true. Much of modern technology isolates people as often as it brings them together. It attacks community as easily as it builds it up. It also forms the human mind in habits of thought and expression that are very different from traditional culture based on the printed word. And that has implications both for the Word of God and for the Church.

There is one other important point here that even strong religious believers often find hard to talk about. Let me explain it this way.

Referring to artists, John Paul II said that, "In shaping a masterpiece, the artist not only summons his work into being, but also . . . reveals his own personality by means of it." In other words, "works of art speak of their authors; they enable us to know their inner life." This is quite normal. But it also poses a danger. A key temptation of our age is the will to power. It is most obvious in our politics and science; in the constant erosion of our respect for the weak, the infirm, the unborn and the disabled. But the impulse to pride -- that hunger to smash taboos and inflate the self - appeals most naturally to artists and other creators of high culture. Genius breeds vanity. And vanity breeds conflict and suffering. The vanity of creative genius has a pedigree that leads back a very long way; all the way back to the very first non serviam from Satan himself.

It is very odd that in the wake of the bloodiest century in history - a century when tens of millions of human beings were shot, starved, gassed and incinerated with superhuman ingenuity - even many religious leaders are embarrassed to talk about the devil. In fact, it is more than odd. It is revealing. Mass murder and exquisitely organized cruelty are not just really big "mental health" problems. They are sins that cry out to heaven for justice, and they carry the fingerprints of an Intelligence who is personal, gifted, calculating and powerful. The devil is only unbelievable if we imagine him as the black monster of medieval paintings, or think The Inferno is intended as a literal road map to hell. Satan was very real for Jesus. He was very real for Paul and the other great saints throughout history. And he is profoundly formidable. If we want a sense of the grandeur of the Fallen Angel before he fell, the violated genius of who Satan really is, we can take a hint from the Rilke poem The Angels:

. . . when they spread their wings
they waken a great wind through the land:
as though with his broad sculptor-hands
God was turning
the leaves of the dark book of the Beginning.

This is the kind of Being - once glorious, but then consumed by his own pride -- who is now the Enemy of humanity. This is the Pure Spirit who betrayed his own greatness. This is the Intellect who hates the Incarnation because through it, God invites creatures of clay like you and me to take part in God's own divinity. There is nothing sympathetic about Satan; only tragedy and loss and enduring, brilliant anger.

In 1929, as the great totalitarian murder-regimes began to rise up in Europe, the philosopher Raissa Maritain wrote a forgotten little essay called The Prince of This World. It is worth reading. We need to remember her words today and into the future. With no trace of irony or metaphor, Maritain argued:

"Lucifer has cast the strong though invisible net of illusion upon us. He makes one love the passing moment above eternity, uncertainty above truth. He persuades us that we can only love creatures by making Gods of them. He lulls us to sleep (and he interprets our dreams); he makes us work. Then does the spirit of man brood over stagnant waters. Not the least of the devil's victories is to have convinced artists and poets that he is their necessary, inevitable collaborator and the guardian of their greatness. Grant him that, and soon you will grant him that Christianity is unpracticable. Thus does he reign in this world."

If we do not believe in the devil, sooner or later we will not believe in God. We cannot cut Lucifer out of the ecology of salvation. Satan is not God's equal. He is a created being subject to God and already, by the measure of eternity, defeated. Nonetheless, he is the first author of pride and rebellion, and the great seducer of man. Without him the Incarnation and Redemption do not make sense, and the cross is meaningless. Satan is real. There is no way around this simple truth.

Let me underline that even more strongly. Leszek Kolakowski, the former Marxist philosopher who died just last year, was one of the great minds of the last century. He was never a religious person in the traditional sense. But Kolakowski had few doubts about the reality of the devil. In his essay Short Transcript of a Metaphysical Press Conference Given by the Demon in Warsaw, on 20th December 1963*, Kolakowski's devil indicts all of us who call ourselves "modern" Christians with the following words:

"Where is there a place [in your thinking] for the fallen angel? . . . Is Satan only a rhetorical figure? . . . Or else, gentlemen, is he a reality, undeniable, recognized by tradition, revealed in the Scriptures, commented upon by the Church for two millennia, tangible and acute? Why do you avoid me, gentlemen? Are you afraid that the skeptics will mock you, that you will be laughed at in satirical late night reviews? Since when is the faith affected by the jeers of heathens and heretics? What road are you taking? If you forsake the foundations of the faith for fear of mockery, where will you end? If the devil falls victim to your fear [of embarrassment] today, God's turn must inevitably come tomorrow. Gentlemen, you have been ensnared by the idol of modernity, which fears ultimate matters and hides from you their importance. I don't mention it for my own benefit - it is nothing to me - I am talking about you and for you, forgetting for a moment my own vocation, and even my duty to propagate error."