Much discussed these last days, the Pope disregarded the rubrics surrounding the washing of feet.
Also much discussed, the Pope has rejected tradition in multiple other very visible ways.
Also, widely reported is the Pope’s commentary that the Church should not be inwardly focused.
It is not my intent here to discuss whether the Pope is right or wrong, authorized or not, to do what he has done. Father Z and Ed Peters do an excellent job of summing this up and I recommend you read it. My concern now is elsewhere.
The Pope’s disregard for established law and rubrics coupled with his statements has an effect and I am afraid it is not all good.
I fear that the Pope is inadvertently setting people in the Church against each other.
This is how the Pope’s actions are now being framed in the popular mindset:
If you think that law and rubrics are there for a reason, the reason being the order and good of the Church and the faithful, and you are troubled about the violations then you are part of the problem. You are one of the inwardly focused people that the Pope is trying wrest the Church back from. If you think that law, rubrics, and tradition matter, you are the other–you are the problem. You are not humble and simple like the Pope. You are the past.
If, on the other hand, law, rubrics, and majesty in the worship of God have never been your thing, then life is good. The Pope, by example if not by word, is validating your worldview. You have never really cared about such things and have often violated them. The Pope has just shown that, as you always suspected, these things don’t really matter, that things like law, rubrics, and majesty hinder evangelization and are simply the products of an inwardly focused Church. You are part of future Church.
But this unfortunately sets the good of the Church against itself, truly a house divided. This division makes its way down to the people. Look how quickly that happened forty years ago.
Is it alright, in the name of simplicity, for a Catholic not to go to Church on Sunday as long as he keeps the day holy in some way? Why not?
If you think that abstaining from meat on Fridays is silly and anachronistic and a sign of an inwardly focused Church, can you dispense with it if you abstain from something with more meaning to you? Why not?
Which laws, rubrics, and traditions still matter? Which are still binding?
But see, if you even ask the question, then you are part of the problem and part of the past.
I don’t believe that this is the intent of the Holy Father, but to some degree it is already the result. If Pope Francis continues to show disregard for law, rubrics, and tradition, I fear this dreadful result.
There are many things the Pope can change, law and rubrics among them. If the Pope wishes to change them, he should do so properly. For one thing the Pope cannot change is human nature. Disregard for the law breeds only more disregard for the law.
[Note. I love the Pope and want him to succeed. I think renewed focus on the poor is wonderful and I support it wholeheartedly. But I do not accept, as some would have you believe, that law, rubrics, and tradition must be thrown overboard to achieve this renewed focus on the poor. I don’t think the Pope supports this either, but I fear some of his actions give encouragement to those who do.]
March 30, 2013 at 5:12 pm
I don't consider Francis to be 'the Pope', simply because it is increasingly clear to me that he does not consider himself to be such, and so it seems false to perpetuate the pretence through the duration of his tenure. I believe that he would agree with this viewpoint. He is however the Bishop of Rome, and the legitimate Successor of Peter. His Holiness Benedict XVI, on the other hand, is no longer the Pope, but he will always be a pope, and he is still with us in the Church militant, and is very close to us. So although I pray for Francis, when I think of the pope, I still think of Benedict, our former pope (and all the holy Popes down through the ages of the Church).
It is also evident to me that the events from February 11th have caused an intense disorientation in the Church, moreso than at any other point in my lifetime, (I was born some years after Vatican II). Even so, we can do no more than to take each day as it comes. If, through the permissive will of Our Lord, an arrogant maverick was ever licitly entrusted with the power of the keys, and chose to fulfil his petrine ministry with a great admixture of error, as merely a first among equals, then we would simply have to stop acting like spoilt children, ask Our Lady for the grace of acceptance, (and for fortitude, prudence etc), and grow up. Truth will not change, even if a Bishop of Rome, through words or deeds, tries to witness to falsehood. It is never sinful to defend Truth, regardless of whom one may have to oppose to do so. If such a situation ever did arise, how far the persecution of the mystical Body of Christ by the Institutional Church may be permitted to go, could not yet be known in any concrete way. In such a situation, the greatest target would of course be the Mass, especially the traditional Roman Mass.
Far-fetched? I can see the day looming ever closer when we must start acting and speaking in defence of the 'old religion'.
kfca
March 30, 2013 at 5:43 pm
I've heard a Jesuit explain away the rubrics – even as a cause of neurosis. He may be smart but I say he is uncaring of the sensibilities of other people. He might have forgotten the lesson that St. Paul taught about the head covers. My two copper coins.
March 30, 2013 at 6:34 pm
In Christianity, charity is job 1. The question is, is charity to some, uncharitable to others?
And if you can't please everyone, whom do you choose to offend?
It is always the elder son who has been loyal and responsible to the Merciful Father who gets the shaft because he is the one who is more mature, more likely to understand, more stable in his faith.
March 30, 2013 at 6:40 pm
… and more holy for he has been with the Father all the time and never strayed away.
March 30, 2013 at 6:58 pm
Those who dissent shouldn't be attributed to the Pope; they are responsible for their own choices. Those who are on the fence may be drawn from dissension by his efforts. Those who are faithful need only to remain faithful.
Christ founded the Church. If the gates of hell won't prevail against it, this present conundrum won't either.
March 30, 2013 at 7:09 pm
I really hope that the Pope has someone to warn him about the damage he's doing over here– I don't begrudge the rest of the world some possible goods, since I don't really know where and how and such, but I can see the damage happening here so I hope he's being well informed.
March 31, 2013 at 3:11 am
Believe me, the damage is not confined to one place.
March 30, 2013 at 7:09 pm
I agree with what you say, Patrick. It disturbs me that Pope Francis is rushing. Why rush? I hope that a number of old heads among his brother bishops are taking courage enough to advise him privately (we don't need their public statements) to slow down and take prudent counsel on whether it is wise to translate absolutely every part of his Argentine ministry to his new area of responsibility.
March 30, 2013 at 7:48 pm
I am afraid. I am really afraid.
I am confused with Pope Francis, I can manage that his homolies are not that profound as Benedict XVI's, but he is changing so many things in so short time.
I outright agree with you, Patrick
March 30, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Disregard for the law breeds only more disregard for the law.
What makes Pope Francis so different from JPII, who disregarded centuries of teaching from Scripture and Tradition regarding capital punishment for murder because he wanted to replace them with his own revisionist, abolishionist approach?
What makes Pope Francis so different from BXVI, who refused to discipline pubicly the president of the German bishops' conference, who denied on German TV the fundamental doctrine that Christ received God's justified anger against sin on the cross?
What makes Pope Francis so much more different that Cdl. Wuerl, who disregards Canon 915 and makes excuses not to enforce it?
Pope Francis' actions on Holy Thursday pale by comparison. At the same time, they reflect the centuries-old tendency of the hierarchy to view itself as above God Himself, let alone above the beliefs and values they claim to uphold.
Catholics, if you want to know where your church is going, just look where it has been.
Plus ca change…
March 30, 2013 at 8:00 pm
I seem to recall a recent Pope having something to say about inwardly-directed, self-referential communities. They got that way because they had abandoned authentic liturgical orientation, not only outwardly but also in spirit, having cast aside liturgical law.
Does Francis not see that the law itself is rooted in love? Does he not see that his stunts are far more inward and severed from the Mystical Body than frustrated trads who grieve at the scandal of a father who holds his duty in contempt?
Romulus
March 30, 2013 at 8:00 pm
Disregard for the law breeds only more disregard for the law.
What makes Pope Francis so different from JPII, who disregarded centuries of teaching from Scripture and Tradition regarding capital punishment for murder because he wanted to replace them with his own revisionist, abolishionist approach?
What makes Pope Francis so different from BXVI, who refused to discipline pubicly the president of the German bishops' conference, who denied on German TV the fundamental doctrine that Christ received God's justified anger against sin on the cross?
What makes Pope Francis so much more different that Cdl. Wuerl, who disregards Canon 915 and makes excuses not to enforce it?
Pope Francis' actions on Holy Thursday pale by comparison. At the same time, they reflect the centuries-old tendency of the hierarchy to view itself as above God Himself, let alone above the beliefs and values they claim to uphold.
Catholics, if you want to know where your church is going, just look where it has been.
Plus ca change…
March 30, 2013 at 8:01 pm
What is the Vatican's official justification for the foot fight? "That the Holy Father, Francis, washed the feet of young men and women on his first Holy Thursday as Pope, should call our minds and hearts to the simple and spontaneous gesture of love, affection, forgiveness and mercy of the Bishop of Rome, more than to legalistic, liturgical or canonical discussions."
This could justify absolutely ANY infringement of any canon, rule, rubric or law. Even the natural law. He bends the law as he sees fit, according to his affections and sentiments. So can I! I could follow my affections to a divorce, to contraception, to abortion, to homosexuality, to Mother Earth reggae masses with paper mâché puppets performed for the homeless in shopping carts beneath underpasses. For as long as we both shall love.
The facts must be faced: this Papacy is already an internal disaster, a public relations nightmare, and a cause of confusion in every parish. And it's just begun. But we must always tell the truth about what we see, and call things by their proper names. Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a train.
March 31, 2013 at 3:16 am
The Holy See's press release is an insult to our intelligence, and an insult to the laws of the Church which serve the Faith.
March 30, 2013 at 8:06 pm
One thing I saw on Rome Reports yesterday is that at the Good Friday Ceremony they showed Pope Francis lying prostrate on the floor on a Pillow if as to say this is yet another "first" for him but its NOT. Pope Emeritus Benedict made this gesture first early in his Papacy and Francis decided to imitate him at least in this area. I also know the two talked on the phone on Thursday.I hope Benedict can straighten him out.
March 30, 2013 at 8:08 pm
There is no need to pit charity against following the rubrics of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We can have both. We should have both. We need to have both. They must work together.
Christ teaches us that there is a time to serve the poor and a time to serve him and the Mass is when we serve and worship him. Every time people throw out the term "pharisee" when confronted with the notion that we should follow the rubrics, I think about Christ actually saying to every "do as the Pharisees say, and not as they do." In other words, follow the law but don't be hypocritical about it.
Further, I also look to Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Christ, anointing them with perfume and thenJudas remarking that the perfumes could have been sold for the benefit of the poor. Christ rebuked him saying that "You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." At the Mass, we have Jesus on the altar and it seems to me that that we should keep the Mass focused on Him while He is there and not change things for out own purposes. After Mass, we will continue to have poor and it is then that we should serve them as the Pope asks.
The foot washing could have been done outside of Mass and had and even greater and more powerful effect if staged correctly. As it stands now, the original message is being lost. Pity the sub-optimized execution of it all.
April 1, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Awesome!! Well said, that passage as well stood out for me. Also when the three kings came to visit the baby Jesus, Mother Mary and Joseph never said to the kings, "oh give your gifts to charity not us." Im sure Mother Mary did in fact give away her gifts to charity, but im sure she did it quietly without anyone knowing, as a truly humble person.
March 30, 2013 at 8:17 pm
I wonder what will happen if Pope Francis liquidates the Vatican treasures – auctioning off paintings at Sotheby's and giving proceeds to buy food for the starving North Koreans. Just to push this envelope further.
March 30, 2013 at 8:48 pm
The juveniles in prison are probably the closest persons Pope Francis could find to respect who have not respected themselves. Does anyone know if Pope Francis did not also wash the feet of twelve men as part of Holy Thursday Rite?
March 30, 2013 at 8:49 pm
I am finding all of Pope Francis' actions confusing. I don't know what to think. Last week while visiting friends, we attended an Eastern Orthodox liturgy and loved it. Perhaps that is a better home for us. . . . and yes, I know the docrtrinal differences. . .
March 30, 2013 at 10:05 pm
I am far more disquieted by the fact that Francis chose to offer Mass on that night, of all nights, when the Church celebrates the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Institution of the sacerdotal priesthood, outside of a Roman Basilica: that he offered the Mass of the Last Supper in the multi-cultural setting of a Young Offenders Centre. I think that all the scandal that he has formented over footwashing outside of the Household of Faith, and of the washing of womens' feet is obscuring a much deeper issue than that of a blatant disregard for the law.
March 30, 2013 at 10:27 pm
Come on people.
Christ is Risen!
It is Easter! Christ is, and always will be, the Light of the world!
Let's shift our focus to him today.
Let's not talk about our fears today, of all days.
Let's not be suspicious of one another today, of all days.
Christ is Risen!
Indeed, He is Risen!
March 30, 2013 at 10:52 pm
@PattyinCT
I travel often, and always attend the TLM, for the most part, I've found trads to be relatively uninterested in what goes on in the NO. I've seen moments, of belligerence toward Vatican II, but I wouldn't call it typical. Most often Vatican II will be quoted to support the TLM.