Neocatechumenal Update: It’s Still Spin
by Jimmy Akin
in Liturgy
Now for my reply to Mr. Gennarini’s e-mail (see below for the text of the e-mail itself).
Dear Mr. Gennarini:
http://jimmyakin.com/2006/01/neocatechumenal_1.html
*****
Neocatechumenal Spin
http://jimmyakin.com/2006/01/neocatechumenal-2.html
ZENIT INTERVIEW: Neocatechumenate on the Holy See’s Guidelines. Interview With Giuseppe Gennarini
https://zenit.org/articles/neocatechumenate-on-the-holy-see-s-guidelines/
Neocatechetical Spin Update
http://www.jimmyakin.org/2006/01/neocatechetical.html
CHIESA: Liturgy: Benedict XVI Brings the Neocatechumenals Back to the Right Way
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/44140?eng=y
Here's a good example.
ReplyDeleteWhen Gennarini claimes that the letter of Card Arinze is a private one ("1.This is a private letter whose real contents are known only by Cardinal Arinze, Kiko Arguello, Carmen Hernandez and Father Mario Pezzi. Any use of a private document to enforce a public policy is completely illegitimate and improper."), Akin replies that:
"There is nothing in the letter that says it is private, Cardinal Arinze clearly expects is contents to be made known in some way so that NW Masses can be corrected, and letters such as this often show up in Notitiae, the journal of the CDW. For all I know, this will be published in Notitiae shortly."
And lo, and behold, shortly afterwards the definitive NCW Statutes (2008) themselves include at footnote 49:
"CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP, Letter of December 1, 2005 in Notitiae 41 (2005), 563–565"
Thank you for these links, it is not surprising that everything we heard in the last few days is just a repeat of spin provided elsewhere around the world.
ReplyDeleteI believe you posted language from that letter before regarding communion. I don't think it could be any clearer that they were required to change then, and they still just refuse to comply.
On the manner of receiving Holy Communion, a period of transition (not exceeding two years) is granted to the Neocatechumenal Way to pass from the widespread manner of receiving Holy Communion in its communities (seated, with a cloth-covered table placed at the center of the church instead of the dedicated altar in the sanctuary) to the normal way in which the entire Church receives Holy Communion. This means that the Neocatechumenal Way must begin to adopt the manner of distributing the Body and Blood of Christ that is provided in the liturgical books.
There are some statements in the comments section of some of those articles that are worth ruminating upon. Like these, for example:
ReplyDelete" It’s what we normally get from liturgical dissenters in the Church who, in Cardinal Arinze’s comments to Raymond Arroyo last year (2005), see themselves as “masters of the mysteries not servants”
"The approved Statutes do not approve the liturgical abuses they have practiced up to the present. For these to have been approved some written decree would have been necessary. None was given, so they were not approved."
"Remember Cardinal Arinze’s summation pretty much says it all…”They are to “accept and follow the liturgical books approved by the Church without omitting or adding anything”.
If they think they can take the examples given, and turn them into ‘indults’, this is an extremely flawed understanding of both the letter and general Church teachings"
"They seem to be more interested in Church power and manipulation, than even teaching the Gospel. And this is the frightening thing. Why such a lust for authority and acceptance by Rome? Why so much rejoicing over minor indults and Vatican recognition? If they are obeying the Church at present, as the Church wishes, do they really need such approval and legal protection? "
"Then there is the hiding, the purposeful confusion of facts, the secrecy. Just examine the official NCW websites and you will find that they are really some of the worst websites on the internet! Just check them out…almost NO information."
"The upshot was that I declined to rejoin the NW and was told by the priest, with the agreement of the other men present, that my rejection of the community was tantamount to a rejection of God, or at least of God’s will for my life"
"PS….and some people don’t think the NCW disrupts parishes??
…..or can destroy marriages??
Think again! I’m LIVING PROOF of how much evil can be caused by such groups, and it will probably be a miracle if my 3 year marriage indeed survives! …Given such opposition from both my wife and the local NCW to my defending both the dignity and sanctity of the Eucharistic Liturgy and also all of the Church ‘norms’ and canon laws!"
"If you believe that the Mass lacks any essential that the NCW provides, you may be a heretic"
In one of these links, I found Sandro Magister's article dated 12/27/2005 wherein he explains that Pope Benedict VXI’s pre-Christmas address dedicated a passage to the synod of bishops on the Eucharist (They met in October, 2005). After expressing two positive points, he then noted a negative tendency which evolved after the synod saying, “In the period of liturgical reform, the Mass and adoration were often seen as conflicting with one another: according to a widespread objection at the time, the Eucharistic bread was given to be eaten, not contemplated.”
ReplyDeleteMagister then proceeded to identify an example of this negative tendency:
The archbishop of Agana, ON THE ISLAND OF GUAM, Anthony Sablan Apuron, “… asked that the practice of receiving communion while seated be extended, because ‘if the Eucharist is a banquet, then this is the most appropriate posture’.”
There it is everyone, in black and white, AAA told the bishops and the world that this is how the Way celebrates the Mass and gives his stamp of approval! One can only wonder what his state of mind is when he celebrates a regular Mass. Does he believe that it is a sacrifice? Or is it just a banquet? Is he just going through the motions to get his stipend? I don’t know about the rest of you in this diocese, I wouldn’t bother going to any masses that he celebrates.