Spiritual Healing After Sexual Abuse - Dawn Eden interview by John Burger

 In CWR

Dawn Eden sees herself as a missionary. Herself a victim of sexual abuse as a child, abuse that was healed in part through her journey of faith, she now envisions bringing God's healing to other victims, particularly those who are underserved, such as prisoners. 

Eden, a Catholic convert who grew up Jewish, weaves her story of abuse with those of saints who suffered abuse of various kinds. In My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints, she offers advice on how victims can heal through learning some of those stories, through prayer, and through forgiveness. 

In an interview with Catholic World Report, the author of the 2006 best-seller The Thrill of the Chaste offers suggestions on how the Church can reach out more effectively to victims of abuse, whether that abuse took place in the Church or in the victim’s very own home. 

CWR: What led you to write this book?

Dawn Eden: I myself am a victim of childhood sexual abuse. For me, when I received the grace of faith in Christ at the age of 31, I was instantly healed of the depression and temptations to suicide that had dogged me since my teens and which I later learned were the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the abuse. But what I discovered during my first years as a Christian, during which I was a Protestant, was that although I had experienced this dramatic healing from the worst aftereffects of the abuse, I still had other effects to contend with, including anxiety, flashbacks, and hyper-sensitivity. And my thought as a new Christian was that the fact that I had not yet received healing from these effects meant that I wasn’t fully surrendered, that I didn’t have enough faith. So I blamed myself for my own seeming failure to be living completely within the light of the risen Christ.

Five years after becoming a Christian I made the decision to become Catholic, and I was received into the Church in 2006, at the age of 37. Once I was a Catholic I knew there was nowhere else to go; I was home. And I also instinctively felt from what I understood of the Catholic faith that somehow the wounds I retained from the abuse, these effects had some kind of meaning in Christ, that they weren’t my fault. But I struggled to understand what meaning these wounds might have.

Two things happened in 2010 that led me to a new and deeper healing. The first was an experience I had on an Ignatian retreat, where for the first time I really began to see my own wounds in light of the wounds of Christ. And I realized, with Christ now being glorified and yet retaining his wounds, that if I united my own wounded heart to the wounded and glorified heart of Jesus, then somehow my wounds could become the crack that Christ’s light could get in. This was a revelation for me because all this time I’d been thinking that my wounds separated me from the love of Christ, that they were simply an obstacle. But this insight made me realize that in fact I could actually find healing in Christ not in spite of my wounds but through my wounds. My wounds could lead me to greater intimacy with God through realizing my dependence upon him for everything, and through personally participating in the victory over sin that Jesus won for me through his passion.

The second insight I received in 2010 was when I picked up a book called Modern Saints by Ann Ball, and that’s where I discovered the story of Blessed Laura Vicuña. Ann Ball describes Bl. Laura, as many people do, as another Maria Goretti. Certainly her story is very similar in that she died while still quite young, in the early 20th century. And she died following being brutalized by a man who sought to sexually victimize her. But in reading Bl. Laura’s story, I noticed a difference in that while Maria was brought up in a devout Catholic home so that the abuse she suffered was truly an intrusion upon her sheltered life, Bl. Laura lived with an abuser for three years. She was abused by her mother’s lover.

And this was very similar to my own experiences as a child. After my mother’s divorce, I was raised by my mother; I was made to live in what was truly a sexually porous environment where I was not protected from adult nudity, from pornography, from graphic sex talk, and where I too was molested by one of my mother’s boyfriends.

What’s more, whereas Maria Goretti, on her deathbed, heroically forgave her abuser, Laura did something additional that was particularly meaningful for me because besides forgiving her abuser, she forgave her mother, who enabled the abuse. She actually offered her life for her mother’s conversion. When I read that, I broke down crying because I realized how relevant it was for me, as I was still needing to forgive my mother for not protecting me. Then I thought if Laura’s story was so healing for me, imagine how it would be for others. And I realized how relevant it would be for others because statistics show that if a child is living in a household where the father is not present and where there is a man in the household who is not the child’s father, that child is 33 times more likely to suffer sexual abuse than in a household where the father is present. So in that sense, Bl. Laura’s story was really modern, with modern relevance, and that was the direct inspiration for my wanting to write a book on healing from childhood sexual abuse through the lives of saints who have suffered such abuse. 

CWR: How can saints help a person overcome the effects of abuse?

Eden: I would say the most common toxic effect of childhood sexual abuse is the misplaced guilt that the child is likely to carry throughout life unless the victim makes a concrete and persevering effort to counter it. Children tend to blame themselves for the evil that others perpetrate upon them. In some ways this misplaced shame and guilt is a survival mechanism, because if the child is abused by a parent or guardian, or if a parent or guardian in some way is enabling the abuse by not protecting the child, then the child may still think, “As bad as my situation is, if this guardian goes away, I will have nobody to protect me.” So, subconsciously, the child thinks, “Therefore I can’t blame my parents or guardian; I have to just blame myself and say I must have wanted it.”

When the adult who has internalized this misplaced guilt learns there is a saint who suffered similar wounds and whom the Church now acknowledges to be in heaven, then the adult can begin to feel free of this guilt and realize “I couldn’t have been responsible for this abuse. This abuse could not have been my sin.” 

CWR: How did you choose which saints to focus on?

Eden: The first thing I did was look for saints who had suffered childhood sexual abuse, and in doing so I looked for saints whose stories were well documented. For that reason I left out St. Dymphna, although she is a very popular saint and I have met people who experienced healing through her intercession. But anyone who tries to find literature on St. Dymphna will discover that all we have are legends.

Now, legends don’t mean that this person didn’t live or wasn’t heroic. But what it does mean is that this person’s story was likely in some way embellished over time—to the point that we can’t say with certainty that these events happened in a particular way, or we can’t verify particular details.

I wanted, rather, for people reading these stories to know that these things really happened. And that’s important too because victims are often told by people who were around at the time of the abuse, “Oh that didn’t really happen. Nobody remembers it in that way.” So to be able to point to saints’ lives and say, “This thing happened to this saint,” and this was independently verified, it helps to validate victims’ own experiences.

Second of all, I looked for saints who had experienced any kind of trauma because most people who have suffered childhood sexual abuse will experience some effect of trauma. It’s important to note that not everyone who has suffered childhood sexual abuse will experience post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a constellation of symptoms, and only a minority will have that full-blown disorder. But if you meet anyone who has suffered childhood sexual abuse it is likely that he or she will have experienced at least one PTSD symptom, such as anxiety, depression, temptation to self-harm, flashbacks, hyper-sensitivity.

So saints who have suffered any kind of trauma often provide for us models of coping with the effects of the abuse. In this sense, even saints who didn’t suffer sexual abuse, such as Ignatius of Loyola or Thérèse of Lisieux, can yet teach us a great deal through their lives and spirituality. 

CWR: What do you hope this book will accomplish? How can it be used to help victims?

Eden: The voice that I use in the book is directly speaking to adults who were victimized in childhood, but the overall structure of the book is really designed to provide a model for priests and pastoral caregivers in walking with victims. We live in a “Band-Aid” culture, and what little outreach we have towards victims of abuse tends to be focused on bringing them instant healing. For example, we might have charismatic-type healing Masses or retreat weekends, which are designed to bring victims an infusion of the Holy Spirit that will just turn them around in one night or weekend. Now, I don’t mean, by singling these things out, to say we shouldn’t have such outreach at all. Any effort by Catholics to reach out to the wounded is better than nothing. What’s more, certainly, dramatic healings can happen, and I can vouch for that fact since, as I said, when I first received the grace of Christian faith, I was instantly healed of the temptation to self-harm. And that was huge for me. But after that instant healing there were still effects that remained in me, and without a solid understanding of what the Church teaches on redemptive suffering, the fact that I wasn’t instantly healed of some of my effects actually, unfortunately, led me to blame myself for the effects that remained in me.

And that’s the problem with the “Band-Aid” approach, when we rely too heavily on this idea that grace is going to immediately change the whole person.

What we need to do instead is remember what St. Thomas Aquinas says in the first question of his Summa Theologiae, that grace does not destroy nature. Grace perfects nature, and while we certainly should ask God for healing in faith, we should remember that God does not normally heal every aspect of any illness in a second, in an instant. God’s normal way of working is to plant seeds in us, which unfolds over time. So the priest or pastoral caregiver is to truly, through his or her ministry, participate in the unfolding of God’s grace in the victim’s heart, then this priest or pastoral caregiver needs to himself be patient with God’s grace and to help the victim recognize the incremental steps through which we become conscious of our identity as sons and daughters of God.

It’s those steps that I delineate in the book, and I use the examples of saints to help the victim progress and the pastoral caregiver to walk with the victim to enable God’s healing to unfold over time.

I’m very interested in speaking to prisoners and groups of people who are in recovery. I’ve made a personal consecration of my celibacy to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and I’m in the process of requesting to be called to a diocesan consecration. So my hope is that God is going to use me in a deeper way as a missionary of God’s healing to vulnerable and underserved populations. I have a small fund set up for transportation to prisons and other places where I might be able to do missionary talks. I’ve already spoken to prisoners in Philadelphia and to women convicted of prostitution who are in a rehabilitation program. 

CWR: What can the average Catholic do if he or she encounters someone struggling with a past marked by sexual abuse?

Eden: The first thing is to weep with those who weep. Normally, our first instinct is simply to solve the problem, to push the person to look beyond their pain. But it’s much more helpful to really be present for the person who is suffering, to acknowledge their pain, to affirm that what was done to that person was wrong.

Second, and very importantly, we should pray for that person. And third, when the person is ready, we can do what’s in our power to help that person find both a competent spiritual director who has experience with victims of abuse, and a therapist, preferably a Catholic therapist. In my book, I do recommend both therapy and spiritual direction for victims, and I emphasize the importance of finding a therapist who either is Catholic or at least respects one’s Catholic faith. 

CWR: You became a Catholic in 2006, at the height of the sexual abuse scandal. Was that a hurdle for you, in coming into a Church that was depicted in the media, at least, as full of abusive priests and enabling bishops?

Eden: It did at first make me suspicious of the Church, which is one of the reasons why I delayed entering, because I received Christian faith in 1999, and the scandal broke in 2002. I remember asking Catholics at the time of the scandal about how they could be part of a Church that had these evils within it, and I remember being surprised by the response of my Catholic friends, that they were just as furious about the abuse as anyone. From the way the news reported things, I had just assumed that all Catholics were like Bill Donohue [president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights], simply circling the wagons and assuming that every single accusation against a priest had to be a malicious lie invented by the media or people out to get money from the Church.

So, learning that Catholics themselves were grieving over the abuse itself—not just grieving that the abuse was exposed but that it had actually taken place—helped me become more open to entering the Church.

What really won me was the Church’s consistent witness for the dignity of human life, because abuse is a very soul-destroying experience. It’s a kind of murder. For someone to abuse another person—especially to abuse a child—the abuser has to, in his or her heart, really deny the humanity of this child and just look at the child as an object. So when I saw the Church’s love for human life at every stage, particularly the Church’s unceasing affirmation of the dignity of life in the womb, that was what made me realize that only the truth proclaimed by the Church was capable of protecting children from abuse. The fact that sinful, fallen human beings who are members of the Church yet disobey God’s law does not take away from the truth of the law as proclaimed by the Church. 

CWR: You said earlier that the structure of your new book is “designed to provide a model for priests and pastoral caregivers in walking with victims.” Do you think victims are able to trust priests in the Catholic Church to help them overcome sexual abuse, after such a barrage in the media following the Boston scandal in 2002?

Eden: The best answer I can give you is what a friend said to me recently about the experience of his mother, who left the Church as a teenager after being treated uncharitably by a priest, and returned as an adult. He said it takes just one bad priest to run someone out of the Church, but it takes just one good priest to bring someone back in. And I think that’s exactly right. But most of all, it takes prayer, from all the members of the Mystical Body, for the return of the lost sheep. 

CWR: What are your thoughts on how the Church has responded to the problem of abusive clergy and the cover-up that took place in various dioceses?

Eden: I think there are certain aspects of the response that are very good; for example, the emphasis that any and all abuse by a representative of the Church needs to be reported, not only to the Church but also to the proper authorities.

I think that also there are certain elements of the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that are very positive and needed, such as that a diocesan commission needs to investigate any and all claims of abuse.

At the same time I believe that so much more needs to be done. For one thing, recent cases such as occurred with Bishop [Robert] Finn [of Kansas City, Mo.] show that we need to follow what rules we have in place. This also came up with the recent case with the archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul [local media have reported failures by the archdiocese in dealing with clergy who sexually abused children]. We badly need to follow our own rules because the rules are only as good as the observance of them.

What little outreach we’ve had to victims needs to be dramatically improved. First of all, as was pointed out by a victim at the first Vatican conference on abuse, which was held in 2012, it’s very important that we offer spiritual help to victims. Right now, if someone contacts the victim assistance program of a diocese, the victim will be offered psychological help but very little, if any, spiritual help. If we’re not offering spiritual help, we’re not being Church because anyone who is a victim of evil needs to know that God did not will that evil for them, and that God loves them. And how much truer is this for someone who’s been abused by a representative of the Church. So much improvement needs to be done in the area of spiritual help.

Secondly, what little outreach we have to victims is mostly to victims of clergy abuse. It’s understandable that that should be our first priority, but it shouldn’t be our only priority. Here, Bill Donahue is right, in that while we should not at all minimize the grave evil of clergy abuse, it’s true that only a tiny percentage of child sexual abuse is committed by clergy or religious. About half of all childhood sexual abuse takes place in the child’s own home, and the rest of the abuse takes place usually in the private home of a neighbor or family friend or is committed by a teacher or someone else who has the opportunity to be in close proximity to the child, or by a peer.

So if we’re only reaching out to those people who have been victims of clergy abuse, we’re failing to bring the healing of Christ to a large number of people who need it.

Now the statistics on sexual abuse are very under-reported because of the misplaced guilt and shame associated with such abuse. They’re also under-reported because given the comprehensive sexual education that we now have, children are taught from an early age that it’s natural for them to act out sexually. So many people grow up being abused who don’t even mentally write what was done to them as abuse. So when you hear the statistics, which are still quite high—that one out of four women and one out of six adult men report having been sexually abused in childhood—you have to wonder if those numbers aren’t higher, which, I’m sure they are.

And second, those numbers only refer to what is referred to as contact sexual abuse. There are a far greater number of people who have been victimized in childhood by non-contact sexual abuse, such as exposure to pornography, intentional exposure to adult nudity or to graphic sex talk. These things all can have lasting toxic effects when perpetrated upon a child. Just think about some of the things children see on television, including all the sexual violence that you can see day or night on TV. We’re a culture that has grown up with deep wounds. If the Church is going to be Church, we have to come up with a vocabulary for affirming that people are wounded, and pointing them toward the healing that can only be found in Christ. 

CWR: Your first book dealt with chastity. Have you heard of ways in which it has helped young people lead chaste lives?

Eden: The response to The Thrill of the Chaste has been deeply gratifying for me. I still hear very often from people who have read it whose lives were positively affected by it. Perhaps the most beautiful experience of it was when a reader from Ireland invited me to her wedding. I went, and at the end of the speeches, when the bride was speaking, she said none of this would have been possible were it not for one woman here, who wrote this book, because she had been living away from her Catholic faith. Reading The Thrill of the Chaste brought her back to the practice of the faith, motivated her to become a speaker with an Irish-based group called Pure at Heart, which promotes chastity, and then it was through her chastity and pro-life activism that she met her husband, who is also a prominent supporter of pro-life causes in Ireland. It’s very rare for someone, within her own lifetime, to have the opportunity to see the ripple effects of the good things she has put into this world. So that for me was a special gift and grace. 

CWR: What do you think of the way or ways the Church is responding to our sometimes hyper-sexualized culture?

Eden: There’s a need for more artists and writers and media producers to create entertainment that reflects the Catholic world view. Certainly Barbara Nicolosi Harrington[founder of Act One, a training program for Christian screenwriters in Hollywood] is a leader in this regard, and I highly recommend the Internet sitcom Ordinary, which is a Catholic sitcom about the life of a new priest in a parish. It’s done not like those Hallmark Hall of Fame, syrupy shows but with the same kind of entertainment value as TV shows like The Office or Community but without the obscenities or gratuitous sex or violence of such shows.

But we need much more of this because people can really be converted through good books. I was converted through a novel, when a rock musician I was interviewing recommended the novel The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton. So the more that we make a concerted effort to produce good art that is informed by our Catholic faith, the more we will find ourselves evangelizing the culture in important and needed ways. 

CWR: Let me ask you about your name, Dawn Eden. Is it a pen name?

Eden: My birth certificate says Dawn Eden Goldstein. I was born in 1968, the time of “flower power” (it was the same year as Humanae Vitae as well). My parents liked the sound of the name Dawn Eden. So with the name Dawn Eden as my first and middle name, as a teenager, I realized that it made a good pen name, and so I’ve been calling myself that ever since. 

CWR: When you became a Catholic, did you add another?

Eden: I took the Confirmation name Lucy, not only after the martyr, St. Lucy, but also after St. Lucy Filippini. I’d been really touched by the holiness of a Filippini sister I’d met who had co-written a biography of St. Lucy Filippini, Forever Yes, and I was inspired reading that biography. 

CWR: Besides writing books, what are you doing these days?

Eden: I’m currently a full-time graduate student in theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington. I’m finishing up a Sacred Theology Licentiate, which is a pre-requisite that I need to do a Sacred Theology Doctorate in Rome. My hope is to be a professor at a Catholic college. I’m doing my STL on St. Thomas Aquinas and John Paul II on redemptive suffering and looking at how the suffering that we undergo in this life, when united to Jesus’ passion, helps to dispose us for the life of the resurrection. 

CWR: In the book, you describe growing up in a Jewish family where you had heard arguments against belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. Later you became a Christian and still later, a Catholic. What was it that convinced you that the arguments you had heard growing up were not true?

Eden: I was basically Evangelical. I became Christian through a local community church that was Adventist. I asked the pastor if I could just get a generic baptism—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and not have to take the Adventist vows.

I really have to thank my mother for sowing the seeds of my conversion. Although my walk with my mother has included the need to forgive her (I should add, by the way, that my mother does not remember all the things that I remember, but those things that she remembers she deeply regrets), by some mystery, it’s also through my mother that I became disposed to faith in Christ—through my mother’s witness—because when I was a teenager and an agnostic it was right at the time that I began to lose my Jewish faith that my mother had a conversion and entered the Catholic Church. She ended up not identifying as Catholic for long, but she retained faith in Christ. Hearing her speak about Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises made to the Jews helped me to overcome obstacles I might have.

Also I really saw that Christian faith effected a transformation in my mother so that she found a certain kind of ground to stand on that she hadn’t had before. She had really been searching all her life and had gone through all of these different New Age beliefs and experimented with different faith traditions before finding the truth of Christ and really accepting Jesus as the Messiah who was promised.

So just seeing the change that faith worked in her made me desire to have that same change in me, even though it took 15 years after my mother’s conversion before I could be fully open to that grace of conversion myself. 

CWR: Are there aspects of your Judaism that survive in your life as a Christian?

Eden: When I first became a Christian I was drawn to the branch of Protestantism that calls itself Messianic Judaism. In this area I was very influenced by my mother, who herself had come to identify as a messianic Jew. Even as a new Catholic I was initially sympathetic to people who were arguing that we needed more Jewish-style prayers in Catholic devotional life and that sort of thing.

Since becoming a Catholic, I’ve learned that there is not just one rite of the liturgy; we have many rites that have been approved, not just the Roman Rite but other rites which are more ancient—the Eastern rites. And what I’ve come to believe is that, with regard to the Catholic prayer life as it has organically developed through the different rites, if you rightly understand what it is that we pray, it is the complete fulfillment of Jewish prayer and it does not need any kind of Jewish prayer to be extrinsically laid upon it. The Catholic Mass, even in its most modern form, as the Mass of Paul VI, when it’s reverently celebrated, fulfills all the aspects of Torah and Temple sacrifice that Moses and the prophets preached about and that God revealed to them. And so I do believe that Catholic prayer life as it stands in the liturgy books is a perfect fulfillment of Jewish faith.

Where I believe the Church has room to improve is in the reception of the Second Vatican Council’s document on relations with non-Christian religions. Nostra Aetate is a tremendously important document that takes in the most essential aspects of Catholic doctrine from the Council of Trent, as well as before and since, and places them in a framework that is relevant to contemporary concerns. Everyone should study this document and really internalize it, in terms of their understanding of the relationship of Jewish faith and Jewish people to Christians, and I think that in this respect Pope Francis is really going to move us forward. 

CWR: You don’t think Nostra Aetate has been fully received by the laity?

Eden: No, it hasn’t. We still suffer from various errors. On the one hand, there’s the extreme replacement theology, a kind of extreme supersessionism, which teaches that because the Church is the New Israel, therefore all God’s promises to the Jews are void, and the Jews are simply enemies of Christ. This is the kind of theology that you see espoused by E. Michael Jones and his supporters, and the Society of St. Pius X, very sadly and tragically. It’s an ideology that has unfortunately been a source of schism in the Church.

On the other side you have ideas like that which were propounded in the early 2000s, in a USCCB document on relationships with the Jewish people, and this document was since corrected, I think, through the intervention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This other side makes a dual-covenant claim, which is that the Jews have their covenant and we have ours, and if we just leave the Jews alone, then they’ll be saved. And that’s simply not true, and that’s not what the Council teaches. And here is where a right understanding of what Pope Francis is now teaching in his new apostolic exhortation, would be very helpful. Because when the Pope says we are not to proselytize, he doesn’t mean we are not to evangelize. When the Church speaks about not proselytizing Jews, for example, it’s speaking about not singling out Jewish people the way that Jews for Jesus does, for example—not drawing a bull’s eye on someone and saying, “You need to be saved because you are Jewish.” Rather, we evangelize by saying that everyone needs the Good News.  And we can adapt our style of evangelization to different cultures, to their needs, but we will not just say any one particular people who are outside the Catholic Church are in any more need of salvation than any other people outside the Church.

Reforma litúrgica, una historia para volver a escribir - por Sandro Magister

In Chiesaespresso

ROMA, 9 de diciembre de 2013 – Ha pasado exactamente medio siglo desde que el Concilio Vaticano II promulgó el primero de los dieciséis documentos, la Constitución sobre la Sagrada Liturgia:

> Sacrosanctum Concilium

Y cincuenta años luego de ese diciembre de 1963 ha nacido un sitio web que pone a disposición del gran público la documentación de todo el trabajo que produjo ese texto capital, tanto en la fase preparatoria anterior al Vaticano II como durante el Concilio mismo:

> Fontes Commissionis Liturgicae

Que el Concilio iniciara sus propios trabajos precisamente por el esquema "De liturgia" se debió al hecho que a los padres les pareció que éste era el esquema más maduro y el menos objetado. Pero posteriormente muchas voces notables reconocieron esto como un hecho providencial: "Comenzando con el tema de la liturgia – escribió Joseph Ratzinger – se puso inequívocamente a la luz el primado de Dios, su prioridad absoluta" respecto a todos los otros temas que el Vaticano II tuvo que afrontar posteriormente.

En la votación final, la constitución "Sacrosanctum Concilium" obtuvo 2158 votos a favor y solamente 19 en contra. Pero las oposiciones crecieron posteriormente, principalmente por el modo con el que se pusieron en obra sus indicaciones por medio del "Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra liturgia", instituido por Pablo VI en enero de 1964, con el primer presidente el cardenal Giacomo Lercaro y como secretario y "factotum" el liturgista Annibale Bugnini.

Aquí a continuación tenemos una presentación más detallada del nuevo sitio web, escrita por un experto en la materia, Nicola Bux, sacerdote de la diócesis de Bari, docente de liturgia, autor de ensayos y consultor de la Congregación para el Culto Divino y de la Congregación para la Causa de los Santos.

__________



PARA UNA "REFORMA DE LA REFORMA"

por Nicola Bux


A cincuenta años del 4 de diciembre de 1963, cuando se promulgó la Constitución litúrgica del Vaticano II, vuelve a la mente la afirmación de un estudioso de ese Concilio: “Los padres no querían una 'revolución' litúrgica”.

¿Cómo probar esa afirmación? Nos viene al encuentro un sitio muy nuevo, con las fuentes documentales respecto a la preparación, la redacción y la composición de la "Sacrosanctum Concilium".

El objetivo es hacer conocer los documentos para una historia ecuánime de la reforma litúrgica y, en consecuencia, también para una comprensión auténtica del Vaticano II, en continuidad con los otros concilios de la Iglesia, en la línea de navegación trazada por Agostino Marchetto:

“En las últimas décadas, la cuestión de la correcta celebración de la liturgia se ha convertido cada vez más en uno de los puntos centrales de la controversia en torno al Concilio Vaticano II, en cuanto a la forma en que debería ser valorado y acogido en la vida de la Iglesia”.

El nuevo sitio, gratuito y de fácil acceso, hace finalmente viable a todos un material muy precioso.

Sólo es necesario saber orientarse un poco al consultarlo. Está escrito en el frontispicio del sitio, que todavía está en fase de construcción:

“Se insertarán en las próximas semanas la transcripción de la documentación necesaria para comprender cómo antes del Concilio la comisión litúrgica se reunió para redactar el esquema de la Constitución sobre la liturgia propuesta al Concilio Ecuménico Vaticano II y cómo, durante las dos sesiones conciliares, este esquema se modificó según los deseos expresos de los padres".

La comisión litúrgica preparatoria celebró tres encuentros en los que se organizaron, presentaron y discutieron los trabajos llevados a cabo en las subcomisiones. Para presentar el material se ha mantenido en el sitio esta división:

> I Conventus

> II Conventus

> III Conventus

Después que se inició el Concilio el trabajo pasó a la Commissio Centralis. La comisión litúrgica conciliar se reunió durante la primera y la segunda sesión del período de reuniones, en 1962 y en 1963, así como también en el período intermedio. También en este caso se ha mantenido la división original:

> Sessio I

> Sessio II

La casi totalidad del material documental está almacenado ahora en el Archivo Secreto Vaticano y de allí ha sido retomado y hecho público en el sitio. Mientras que en lo que se refiere a otros documentos de los cuales se conoce su existencia, pero que no se encuentran en el Archivo, está en curso la búsqueda, con el fin de ofrecer al gran público una documentación finalmente completa.

Los textos están publicados en su idioma original, la mayoría de ellos en latín.

La "Sacrosanctum Concilium" presenta la liturgia como la continuación de la obra de salvación de Cristo en todo lugar y en todo tiempo. El misterio de Cristo está presente en ella, en la liturgia, convertida en la cumbre y en la fuente de la vida eclesial.

Justamente Pamela E.J. Jackson identificó la clave de lectura en el parágrafo 7, que termina de esta manera:

"Toda celebración litúrgica, por ser obra de Cristo sacerdote y de su Cuerpo, que es la Iglesia, es acción sagrada por excelencia, cuya eficacia, con el mismo título y en el mismo grado, no la iguala ninguna otra acción de la Iglesia".

Así también ha hecho notar que las fuentes de la teología de la liturgia, en la Constitución, son la Sagrada Escritura y la tradición litúrgica, patrística y teológica, interpretada por el magisterio, en especial con las encíclicas "Mystici Corporis" y "Mediator Dei", al punto que se puede decir que en el campo litúrgico el Concilio Vaticano II “completó la obra iniciada por Pío XII”.

Esto se corresponde con lo que afirmó Benedicto XVI en la audiencia del 10 de octubre del 2012: “La 'Sacrosanctum Concilium' recuerda la centralidad del misterio de la presencia de Cristo", así como también en el discurso del 18 de febrero de 2013 al clero romano y en el prólogo a sus escritos en materia litúrgica:

“La primera, inicial y simple – aparentemente simple – intención del Concilio era la reforma de la liturgia, que ya había comenzado con Pío XII, quien ya había reformado la [celebración de la] Semana Santa. […] Mirando retrospectivamente, encuentro ahora que fue muy bueno comenzar con la liturgia. De este modo aparece el primado de Dios, el primado de la adoración. 'Operi Dei nihil praeponatur': no se anteponga nada a la obra de Dios. Esta frase de la Regla de san Benito aparece así como la regla suprema del Concilio".

Si no se quiere hacer caso a Benedicto XVI, está Henri De Lubac. También para este gran teólogo la Constitución sobre la Sagrada Liturgia fue “muchas veces mal entendida y a veces tergiversada en forma sacrílega”. Es que después del Concilio se impuso la convicción que la Constitución litúrgica había postulado una reforma en el sentido de una ruptura con la tradición de la liturgia católica, en al menos cuatro campos: la Eucaristía como cena en vez de sacrificio; la asamblea como sujeto de la liturgia en vez del sacerdote; la participación como alternativa a la adoración, y la importancia central de la comunidad en lugar del alcance cósmico del sacrificio eucarístico.

También para esto es importante volver a las fuentes. Los documentos preparatorios permiten mirar a la "Sacrosanctum Concilium" con más objetividad y permiten evaluar su ejecución post-conciliar.

También a la luz de las intervenciones de los padres en el aula, la Constitución quería ser una ley marco, pero eso no implicaba una transformación fundamental de la liturgia católica. En ésta – escribió Joseph Ratzinger – se debe "evaluar dónde han sido aportados cortes demasiado drásticos, para restablecer en modo claro y orgánico las conexiones con la historia pasada. Yo mismo he hablado en este sentido de 'reforma de la reforma'. Pero en mi opinión, todo esto debe estar precedido por un proceso educativo que encauce la tendencia a mortificar la liturgia con invenciones personales".

El nuevo sitio, con sus documentos, podrá ayudar a ese proceso.

__________


Traducción en español de José Arturo Quarracino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Even the Pope Critiques Himself. And Corrects Three Errors - by Sandro Magister

In Chiesaespresso 

ROME, November 22, 2013 – In the span of a few days Pope Francis has corrected or brought about the correction of a few significant features of his public image. At least three of them.

The first concerns the conversation that he had with Eugenio Scalfari, set down in writing by this champion of atheistic thought in “la Repubblica" of October 1.

The transcript of the conversation had in effect generated widespread dismay, because of some of the statements from the mouth of Francis that sounded more congenial to the dominant secular thinking than to Catholic doctrine. Like the following:

“Each one has his idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight the evil as he understands them."

At the same time, however, the interview was immediately confirmed by Fr. Federico Lombardi as "faithful to the thought“ of the pope and “reliable in its general sense.”

Not only that. A few hours after it was published in “la Repubblica," the interview was reproduced in its entirety both in “L'Osservatore Romano" and on the official website of the Holy See, on a par with the other discourses and documents of the Pope.

This gave birth to the idea that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had intentionally chosen the conversational form of expression, on this as on other occasions, as a new form of his magisterium, capable of reaching the general public more effectively.

But in the following weeks the pope must also have become aware of the risk that this form entails. The risk that the magisterium of the Church might fall to the level of a mere opinion contributed to the free exchange of ideas.

This in fact led to the decision, on November 15, to remove from the website of the Holy See the text of the conversation with Scalfari.

"It was removed," Fr. Lombardi explained, "to clarify the nature of that text. There were some misunderstandings and disagreements about its value."

On November 21, interviewed at the Roman headquarters of the foreign press, Scalfari nonetheless revealed more details of the matter.

He said that the pope, at the end of the conversation, had consented that it should be made public. And to Scalfari's proposal that he send him the text beforehand, he had replied: “It seems like a waste of time to me, I trust you.”

In effect, the founder of “la Repubblica” sent the text to the pope, accompanied by a letter in which he wrote among other things:

“Keep in mind that I did not include some of the things that you said to me. And that some of the things that I attribute to you you did not say. But I put them there so that the reader may understand who you are.”

Two days later - again according to what Scalfari claims - the pope's secretary, Alfred Xuereb, telephoned to give the go-ahead for  publication. Which took place the following day.

Scalfari commented: “I am perfectly willing to think that some of the things that I wrote and attributed to him are not shared by the pope, but I also believe that he maintains that, said by a nonbeliever, they are important for him and for the activity he is carrying out.”

*

But even the calibrated and thoroughly studied interview with Pope Francis in "La Civiltà Cattolica" - published on September 19 by sixteen magazines of the Society of Jesus in eleven languages - has in recent days been taken into the shop of things to be corrected.

On a key point: the interpretation of Vatican Council II.

This has been made clear by a passage of the letter written by Francis himself to Archbishop Agostino Marchetto on the occasion of the presentation on November 12 of a volume in his honor, against the solemn background of the Campidoglio. A letter that the pope wanted to be read in public.

The passage is the following:

"You have demonstrated this love [of the Church] in many ways, including by correcting an error or imprecision on my part - and for this I thank you from my heart - but above all it has been manifested in all its purity in your studies of Vatican Council II. I have said this to you once, dear Archbishop Marchetto, and I want to repeat it today, that I consider you the best hermeneut of Vatican Council II."

The definition of Marchetto as "the best hermeneut" of the Council is striking in itself. Marchetto has in fact always been the most implacable critic of that "school of Bologna" - founded by Giuseppe Dossetti and Giuseppe Alberigo and today directed by Professor Alberto Melloni - which has the worldwide monopoly on the interpretation of Vatican II, in a progressive vein.

The hermeneutic of the Council upheld by Marchetto is the same as that of Benedict XVI: not of "rupture" and "new beginning," but of "reform in the continuity of the one subject Church." And it is this hermeneutic that Pope Francis has wanted to signify that he shares, in bestowing such high appreciation on Marchetto.

But if one rereads the succinct passage that Francis dedicates to Vatican II in the interview with "La Civiltà Cattolica," one gets a different impression. "Yes, there are hermeneutical lines of continuity and of discontinuity," the pope concedes. "Nonetheless," he adds, "one thing is clear”: Vatican II was "a service to the people" consisting in "a reinterpretation of the Gospel in the light of contemporary culture."

In the few lines of the interview dedicated to the Council, Bergoglio defines its essence this way three times, also applying it to the reform of the liturgy.

Such a judgment of the grandiose conciliar event immediately appeared so summary to many that even the pope's interviewer, director of “La Civiltà Cattolica" Antonio Spadaro, confessed his amazement in transcribing it from the pope's spoken words.

Meanwhile, however, this judgment has continued to garner widespread consensus.

For example, in receiving Pope Francis at the Quirinale on a visit on November 4, the president of the Italian republic, Giorgio Napolitano, thanked him precisely for making “resonate the spirit of Vatican Council II as a 'reinterpretation of the Gospel in the light of contemporary culture,'” citing his exact words.

And praise for these same words of the pope has come - for example - from the foremost of the Italian liturgists, Andrea Grillo, a professor at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm, according to whom Francis has finally inaugurated the true and definitive “hermeneutic” of the Council, after having “immediately put in second place that diatribe over 'continuity' and 'discontinuity' which had long prejudiced - and often completely paralyzed - any effective hermeneutic of Vatican II.”

In effect, it is no mystery that “service to the people” and a reinterpretation of the Gospel “brought up to date” are concepts dear to the progressive interpretations of the Council and in particular to the “school of Bologna,” which has repeatedly declared itself to be an enthusiast of this pope.

But evidently there is someone who has personally pointed out to pope Bergoglio that reducing the Council to such concepts is at the least “imprecise,” if not “mistaken.”

And it was precisely Marchetto who took this step. There has always been great trust between him and Bergoglio, with mutual esteem. Marchetto lives in Rome at the residence for clergy on Via della Scrofa, in room 204, next to room 203 where the then-archbishop of Buenos Aires stayed during his trips to Rome.

Pope Francis not only listened to the criticisms of his friend, he welcomed them. To the point of thanking him, in the letter he had read on November 12, for having helped him in “correcting an error or imprecision on my part.”

It is to be presumed that in the future Francis will express himself on the Council in a way different from that of the interview in “La Civiltà Cattolica.” More in line with the hermeneutic of Benedict XVI. And to the great disappointment of the “school of Bologna.”

*

The third correction is consistent with the two previous ones. It concerns the “progressive” tone that Pope Francis has seen stamped upon the the first three months of his pontificate.

One month ago, on October 17, Bergoglio seemed to have confirmed this profile of his once again when in the morning homily at Santa Marta he directed stinging words against Christians who turn the faith into a “moralistic ideology,” entirely made up of “prescriptions without goodness.”

But one month later, on November 18, in another morning homily the pope played a completely different tune.

He used the revolt of the Maccabees against the dominant powers of the age as the point of departure for a tremendous tongue-lashing of that “adolescent progressivism,” Catholic as well, which is disposed to submit to the “hegemonic uniformity” of the “one form of thought that is the fruit of worldliness.”

It is not true, Francis said, that “in the face of any choice whatsoever it is right to move forward regardless, rather than remain faithful to one's traditions.” The result of negotiating over everything is that values are so emptied of meaning as to end up merely “nominal values, not real.” Even more, one ends up negotiating precisely over “the thing essential to one's very being, fidelity to the Lord.”

The one form of thought that dominates the world - the pope continues - legalizes even “death sentences,” even “human sacrifices.” “But you,” he asked, “do you thing that there are no human sacrifices today? There are so many, so many! And there are laws to protect them.”

It is difficult not to see in this pained cry of Pope Francis the countless human lives mown down before birth with abortion, or cut off with euthanasia.

In deploring the advance of “this spirit of worldliness that leads to apostasy,” the pope cited a “prophetic” novel from the early 20th century that is among his preferred reading: “Lord of the World” by Robert H. Benson, an Anglican priest, son of an archbishop of Canterbury, who converted to Catholicism.

With the exception of a few Catholic outlets, the media of the entire world ignored this homily of Pope Francis, which in effect starkly contradicts the progressive or even revolutionary framework within which he is generally described.

But now it is part of the record. And there it remains.

One curious coincidence: at the Mass during which Francis gave this homily, one of the participants was the new secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, on his first official day of service in the Roman curia.

También el Papa hace autocrítica. Y corrige tres errores - por Sandro Magister

In Chiesaespresso 

ROMA, 22 de noviembre de 2013 – En pocos días el Papa ha corregido, o ha hecho corregir, algunos rasgos relevantes de su imagen pública. Tres, por lo menos.

El primer rasgo tiene que ver con el coloquio que tuvo con Eugenio Scalfari, puesto negro sobre blanco por este campeón del pensamiento ateo en "la Repubblica" del 1 de octubre.

La transcripción del coloquio había generado, de hecho, un desconcierto generalizado, causado por algunas afirmaciones de Francisco que parecían más congeniales al pensamiento laico dominante que a la doctrina católica. Tipo la siguiente:

"Cada uno de nosotros tiene su propia visión del bien y del mal, y debe elegir seguir el bien y combatir el mal como él mismo conciba".

Sin embargo, en ese momento la entrevista había sido valorada por el padre Federico Lombardi como "fiel al pensamiento" del Papa y "fidedigna en su sentido general".

No solo. Pocas horas después de su publicación en "la Repubblica", la entrevista había sido reproducida íntegramente tanto en "L'Osservatore Romano" como en el sitio web oficial de la Santa Sede, igual que los otros discursos y documentos del Papa.

Nació así la idea de que Jorge Mario Bergoglio había elegido a propósito la modalidad expresiva del coloquio, tanto en esta ocasión como en otras posteriores, como la nueva forma de su magisterio, capaz de llegar de manera más eficaz al gran público.

Pero seguramente el Papa se ha dado cuenta, en las semanas sucesivas, del riesgo que entraña dicha modalidad: que el magisterio de la Iglesia descienda a nivel de una mera opinión ofrecida a la libre confrontación.

De hecho, de aquí ha derivado la decisión, el 15 de noviembre, de eliminar del sitio de la Santa Sede el texto del coloquio con Scalfari.

"Quitándolo – ha explicado el padre Lombardi – se ha precisado la naturaleza de ese texto. Había algún equivoco y debate sobre su valor".

El 21 de noviembre, entrevistado en la sede romana de la prensa extranjera, Scalfari ha revelado, sin embargo, otros detalles de todo el asunto.

Ha dicho que el Papa, al término de la conversación, había consentido en que se hiciera pública. Y ante la propuesta de Scalfari de mandarle el texto anticipadamente, había respondido: "Me parece una pérdida de tiempo, de Usted me fio".

Efectivamente, el fundador de "la Repubblica" envió el texto al Papa, acompañado por una carta en la que, entre otras cosas, escribía:

"Tenga en cuenta que no he referido algunas cosas que Usted me ha contado. Y que algunas cosas que le hago decir, no las ha dicho. Pero las he añadido para que el lector sepa quién es Usted."

Dos días después – y según cuanto refiere Scalfari – el secretario del Papa, Alfred Xuereb dio, telefónicamente, el ok para la publicación, que salió al día siguiente.

Scalfari ha comentado: "Estoy preparado a pensar que el Papa no comparta algunas cosas escritas por mí y atribuidas a él, pero también creo que él considera que, expresadas por un no creyente, son importantes para él y para la acción que desarrolla".

*

Pero también la equilibrada y estudiadísima entrevista del Papa Francisco a "La Civiltà Cattolica" – publicada el 19 de septiembre por dieciséis revistas de la Compañía de Jesús, en once idiomas – ha entrado en los días pasados en el taller de las cosas que hay que reparar.

Sobre un punto clave: la interpretación del Concilio Vaticano II.

Y esto se ha entendido por una pasaje de la carta autógrafa escrita por Francisco al arzobispo Agostino Marchetto con ocasión de la presentación de un volumen en su honor, el 12 de noviembre, en el solemne marco del Campidoglio, carta que el Papa quiso que se leyera en público.

El pasaje es el siguiente:

"Usted ha manifestado este amor [a la Iglesia] de muchas maneras, incluso corrigiendo un error o imprecisión por mi parte,  – y por ello le doy las gracias de corazón –, pero sobre todo se ha manifestado en toda su pureza en los estudios realizados sobre el Concilio Vaticano II. Una  vez le dije, querido Mons. Marchetto, y deseo repetirlo hoy, que le considero el mejor hermeneuta del  Concilio Vaticano II".

Ya la definición de Marchetto como "el mejor hermeneuta" del Concilio es clamorosa. De hecho, Marchetto es, desde siempre, el crítico más implacable de esa "escuela de Bolonia" – fundada por Giuseppe Dossetti y Giuseppe Alberigo, y hoy dirigida por el profesor Alberto Melloni – que tiene el monopolio mundial de la interpretación del Vaticano II en clave progresista.

La hermenéutica del Concilio sostenida por Marchetto es la misma que sostiene Benedicto XVI: no "ruptura" y "nuevo inicio", sino "reforma en la continuidad del único sujeto Iglesia". Y ésta es la hermenéutica que Papa Francisco ha querido demostrar que comparte al manifestar una apreciación tan elevada de Marchetto.

Pero si se vuelve a leer el sucinto pasaje que Francisco dedica al Vaticano II en la entrevista a "La Civiltà Cattolica", la impresión que se tiene es distinta. "Sí, hay líneas de continuidad y de discontinuidad", concede el Papa. "Pero – añade – una cosa es clara": el Vaticano II ha sido "un servicio al pueblo" consistente en "una relectura del Evangelio a la luz de la cultura contemporánea".

En las pocas líneas de la entrevista dedicadas al Concilio, Bergoglio define así su esencia en tres ocasiones, aplicándola también a la reforma de la liturgia.

A muchos les pareció tan sumario un juicio semejante sobre el grandioso acontecimiento conciliar que incluso el entrevistador del Papa, el director de "La Civiltà Cattolica" Antonio Spadaro, confesó su asombro al transcribirlo de la voz de Francisco.

Pero, mientras tanto, este juicio ha seguido ganando amplios consensos.

Por ejemplo, el presidente de la república italiana Giorgio Napolitano, al recibir al Papa en su visita al Quirinal el 14 de noviembre, citando las palabras exactas de éste, le ha dado las gracias precisamente por hacer "vibrar el espíritu del Concilio Vaticano II como 'relectura del Evangelio a la luz de la cultura contemporánea'".

Y estas mismas palabras han sido aplaudidas – es otro ejemplo – por el número uno de los liturgistas italianos, Andrea Grillo, docente en el Pontificio Ateneo San Anselmo, según el cual Francisco habría, por fin, inaugurado la verdadera y definitiva "hermenéutica" del Concilio, tras haber "situado inmediatamente en un segundo plano esa diatriba sobra la 'continuidad' y la 'discontinuidad' que había perjudicado durante mucho tiempo – y a menudo paralizado del todo – cualquier eficaz hermenéutica del Vaticano II".

Efectivamente, no es un misterio que "servicio al pueblo" y relectura del Evangelio "actualizada para hoy" son conceptos apreciados por las interpretaciones progresistas del Concilio y, en particular, por la "escuela de Bolonia", que varias veces se ha declarado entusiasta de este Papa.

Pero, evidentemente, hay quien ha hecho observar en persona al Papa Bergoglio que reducir el Concilio a dichos conceptos es por lo menos "impreciso", si no "errado".

Y ha sido precisamente Marchetto quien ha dado este paso. Entre él y Bergoglio hay desde hace tiempo una gran confianza, con estima recíproca. Marchetto vive en Roma en la casa del clero de via della Scrofa, en la habitación 204, adyacente a la 203 en la que se hospedaba el entonces arzobispo de Buenos Aires en sus estancias romanas.

El Papa Francisco no sólo ha escuchado las críticas de su amigo, sino que las ha acogido, hasta el punto de agradecerle, en la carta leída el 12 de noviembre, el haberle ayudado "corrigiendo une error o imprecisión por mi parte".

Se presume que en un futuro Francisco se expresará sobre el Concilio de otra manera respecto a como lo hizo en la entrevista a "La Civiltà Cattolica", más en línea con la hermenéutica de Benedicto XVI, y con gran desilusión para la "escuela de Bolonia".

*

La tercera corrección es coherente con las dos precedentes. Se refiere al sello "progresista" con el que el Papa Francisco ha visto que le han marcado en estos primeros meses de pontificado.

Hace un mes, el 17 de octubre, parecía que Bergoglio convalidaba una vez más este perfil cuando en la homilía matutina en Santa Marta había dirigido palabras duras contras los cristianos que transforman la fe en "ideología moralista", hecha toda ella de "prescripciones sin bondad".

Pero un mes después, el 18 de noviembre, en otra homilía matutina el Papa ha tocado una música muy distinta.

Ha tomado como punto de partida la rebelión de los Macabeos contra las potencias dominantes de la época para dar una tremenda reprimenda a ese “progresismo adolescente”, también católico, dispuesto a someterse a la “uniformidad hegemónica” del “pensamiento único fruto de la mundanidad”.

No es verdad, ha dicho Francisco, que "ante cualquier elección sea justo ir hacia adelante a pesar de todo, en vez de permanecer fieles a las propias tradiciones". A fuerza de negociar sobre todo los valores acaban vaciándose de sentido, por lo que al final quedan sólo “valores nominales, no reales”. Más bien al contrario, se acaba negociando precisamente "lo que es esencial para el proprio ser, la fidelidad al Señor".

El pensamiento único que domina el mundo – ha continuado el Papa – legaliza también “las condenas a muerte”, “los sacrificios humanos”. “Pero vosotros – ha preguntado – ¿pensáis que hoy no se llevan a cabo sacrificios humanos? ¡Se hacen muchos, muchos! Y hay leyes que los protegen”.

Es difícil no ver en este grito de dolor del Papa Francisco las innumerables vidas humanas segadas antes de nacer con el aborto, o bien truncadas con la eutanasia.

Lamentando el avance de “este espíritu de mundanidad que lleva a la apostasía” el Papa ha citado una novela “profética” de inicios del siglo XX que es una de sus lecturas preferidas: “El amo del mundo” de Robert H. Benson, un sacerdote anglicano, hijo de un arzobispo de Canterbury, que se convirtió al catolicismo.

Con la excepción de algunas publicaciones católicas, los medios de comunicación de todo el mundo han ignorado esta homilía de Papa Francisco que, en efecto, contradice de manera flagrante los esquemas progresistas, o incluso revolucionarios, con los que se le describe generalmente.

Pero ahora está en los documentos, y allí se queda.

Una curiosa coincidencia: en la misa en la que Francisco ha pronunciado esta homilía ha participado también el nuevo secretario de Estado Pietro Parolin, en su primer día de servicio efectivo en la curia romana.

Opiniões - por Nuno Serras Pereira

27. 09. 2013

O Concílio ecuménico Vaticano II ensina que a Igreja é Mestra da verdade (DH 14), que esta lhe foi confiada na sua plenitude (UR 3), que é sua coluna e fundamento (LG 8) e instrumento de Cristo para a comunicar (LG 8).

Agora diz-se que verdades, universais e imutáveis, são afinal opiniões. Eu, como filho da Igreja, tratando-se de meros pareceres posso partilhar, ou não, delas. De facto quem me garante que a Igreja não mudará de opinião?

Francescani dell'Immacolata: commissariamento che fa discutere - di Massimo Introvigne

In NBQ 

È tutto un ribollire di blog. Quella che in Francia chiamano la «tradisfera», la galassia dei blog tradizionalisti, non fa che parlare del caso dei Francescani dell'Immacolata, la benemerita congregazione fondata in Italia da padre Stefano Maria Manelli, così ricca di vocazioni - conta oltre trecento frati - e di buone opere.  Con un decreto dell'11 luglio 2013 la Congregazione per i religiosi ha nominato per i Francescani dell'Immacolata un commissario apostolico, il cappuccino Fidenzio Volpi, di fatto esautorando il fondatore, precisando altresì che «il Santo Padre Francesco ha disposto che ogni religioso della Congregazione dei Frati Francescani dell'Immacolata è tenuto a celebrare la liturgia secondo il rito ordinario e che, eventualmente, l'uso della forma straordinaria (Vetus Ordo) dovrà essere esplicitamente autorizzata dalle competenti autorità per ogni religioso e/o comunità che ne farà richiesta».

Conosco e stimo da molti anni i Francescani dell'Immacolata. Li considero un grande dono alla Chiesa italiana e universale. Conosco anche i loro problemi - non sono certo che si possa dire lo stesso per tutti coloro che hanno commentato l'ultima vicenda -, e le ragioni che hanno indotto Benedetto XVI a ordinare una visita apostolica, disposta il 5 luglio 2012. La visita è stata richiesta dall'interno stesso dei Francescani dell'Immacolata, e non da uno sparuto gruppetto ma da superiori di case importanti, non solo a Roma.

Che cosa lamentavano costoro? Con riferimento a noti insegnamenti di Benedetto XVI, affermavano che tra i giovani frati, tra le suore dell'Immacolata e sulle riviste teologiche si fosse diffusa una «ermeneutica della discontinuità e della rottura» rispetto al Concilio Ecumenico Vaticano II, che ne leggeva alcuni documenti - i testi, non solo le loro interpretazioni postconciliari - come in contrasto radicale con il Magistero precedente. La stessa interpretazione di «discontinuità» era data alla riforma liturgica: non solo si celebrava la Messa antica, ma si considerava in qualche modo «inferiore» - in qualche caso, addirittura «sospetta» - la Messa nel rito ordinario successivo alla riforma, e questo particolarmente presso le suore. Da informazioni in mio possesso, il visitatore accertava che una buona parte dei Francescani dell'Immacolata condivideva, a vario titolo e con diverse gradazioni, queste critiche. Vi si aggiungeva - purtroppo - una certa litigiosità interna per questioni anche personali, che in modo umano, troppo umano, spesso è presente negli ordini religiosi e ha accompagnato nei secoli la gloriosa storia della famiglia francescana.

Di qui il provvedimento vaticano - una medicina dura, ma sollecitata da una parte non piccola degli stessi malati -, del quale è bene conoscere la genesi esatta ma che nello stesso tempo solleva qualche legittimo interrogativo, per due ordini di motivi.

Il primo è che Papa Francesco ha messo in guardia, ancora domenica scorsa a Rio, contro due pericoli che corre la Chiesa: una deriva gnostica, illuminista e relativista - quella progressista - e una deriva che chiama «pelagiana», una rigidità fondata sul sogno di un ritorno a un passato che non può tornare, propria di certi ambienti ultra-conservatori. A un osservatore esterno, che pure accolga con deferenza l'insegnamento pontificio sul secondo rischio, quello ultra-conservatore, il primo - il rischio progressista - appare sociologicamente e teologicamente ben più presente nella Chiesa. Questa giustamente vigila sulle deviazioni dell'uno e dell'altro segno: ma colpisce che il primo provvedimento di un certo peso da qualche anno a questa parte sia preso nella direzione dove i rischi, pur presenti, appaiono oggettivamente meno diffusi. La riforma della Curia di Papa Francesco dovrà curare che i provvedimenti vaticani non siano, e neppure appaiano, troppo simili a quelli dei giudici italiani che, quando indagano sui politici, sembrano spesso occuparsi con zelo e urgenza solo di una parte.

La seconda domanda riguarda la Messa tradizionale. Premesso che chi ritiene che quello della Messa sia l'unico motivo che ha indotto alcuni autorevoli Francescani dell'Immacolata a richiedere la visita apostolica non conosce a fondo i fatti, molti si chiedono se il provvedimento, nella parte relativa al Vetus Ordo, non contraddica il motu proprio di Benedetto XVI «Summorum Pontificum» del 2007, che liberalizzava l'uso del vecchio rito per tutti i sacerdoti. Il quadro giuridico cui fa riferimento la Congregazione dei Religiosi è l'art. 3 dello stesso motu proprio di Benedetto XVI, relativo ai religiosi, dove si legge: «Le comunità degli Istituti di vita consacrata e delle Società di vita apostolica, di diritto sia pontificio sia diocesano, che nella celebrazione conventuale o “comunitaria” nei propri oratori desiderano celebrare la Santa Messa secondo l’edizione del Messale Romano promulgato nel 1962, possono farlo. Se una singola comunità o un intero Istituto o Società vuole compiere tali celebrazioni spesso o abitualmente o permanentemente, la cosa deve essere decisa dai Superiori maggiori a norma del diritto e secondo le leggi e gli statuti particolari».

Certamente la frase del decreto relativa ai Francescani dell'Immacolata patisce qualche problema di scrittura, perché sembra che ai sacerdoti dell'ordine sia ora vietata, senza autorizzazione, anche la celebrazione meramente privata - distinta da quella comunitaria o conventuale - del Vetus Ordo, che secondo l'art. 2 del Motu proprio del 2007 è invece libera per qualunque altro sacerdote di rito latino senza bisogno di alcun permesso dei superiori. Certamente sul punto sono auspicabili chiarimenti da parte del nuovo Commissario, così com'è auspicabile che ai fedeli che normalmente si recano a Messe «Vetus Ordo» celebrate dai Francescani dell'Immacolata sia comunque assicurata la possibilità di assistere alla Messa nel rito che hanno indicato di preferire.

Mi sembra tuttavia esagerato - si tratta, è chiaro, di un'opinione personale, né dispongo di sfere di cristallo per prevedere un futuro che potrebbe smentirmi - vedere nel decreto sui Francescani dell'Immacolata la prima avvisaglia di un'offensiva della Santa Sede contro chi celebra secondo il rito straordinario. Lo fanno molte altre comunità religiose, che non hanno patito alcuna molestia. Nel 2011 la Congregazione per la Dottina della Fede pubblicò l'Istruzione «Universae Ecclesiae», approvata «speciali modo» da Benedetto XVI, sull'applicazione del motu proprio «Summorum Pontificum». Tale Istruzione, all'art. 19, precisa che per potersi avvalere del diritto a chiedere la celebrazione con il Vetus Ordo i fedeli «non devono in alcun modo sostenere o appartenere a gruppi che si manifestano contrari alla validità o legittimità della Santa Messa o dei Sacramenti celebrati nella forma ordinaria». Non solo validità, ma anche legittimità. Questo è tuttora la stato dell'arte.

Si può celebrare la Messa Vetus Ordo, per gli ordini religiosi, con le precisazioni dell'art. 3 del Motu proprio. Ma le sanzioni scattano se questa celebrazione diventa occasione per mettere in discussione la legittimità (non solo la validità) della Messa celebrata secondo la riforma liturgica, o se si accompagna all'insegnamento rispetto al Vaticano II di qualunque forma, che sia fondata su argomenti storici o teologici, della «ermeneutica della discontinuità e della rottura», nella sua versione «anticonciliarista» - l'espressione è di Benedetto XVI, che distingue l'anticonciliarismo dal «progressismo sbagliato», due versioni uguali e contrarie dello stesso errore.

Si può certamente auspicare - l'ho scritto più sopra - che si usi, e si dia anche l'impressione di usare, uguale severità nei confronti del «progressismo sbagliato» rispetto a quella mostrata per l'«anticonciliarismo». Ma la condanna di entrambi gli errori è di Benedetto XVI: non l'ha certo inventata Papa Francesco. Rimanendo fedeli al Papa e alla Chiesa - che è poi il più bell'insegnamento di padre Manelli, il loro fondatore - stiamo vicini in quest'ora difficile ai Francescani dell'Immacolata, e soprattutto preghiamo per loro.