As promised some time ago, today I am sharing—for the first time online—the text of Dr. Joseph Shaw’s Foreword to the new anthology Unresolved Tensions in Papal-Episcopal Relations (Os Justi Press, 2024). Dr. Shaw is the President of the Latin Mass Society of England & Wales, and the Chairman of the International Una Voce Federation. This major text by him is worth careful consideration and makes an excellent opening to an insightful collection of essays occasioned by the deposition of Bishop Joseph Strickland. Footnote references have been removed for this online version but may, of course, be found in the
It's kind of bizarre that someone had to make an argument from first principles as to why an organization the size of the Catholic Church should have rules and procedures. But here we are.
Joseph Shaw is a treasure. His gifts as a writer make him an especially good choice to write an introduction like this. His ability to synthesize and distill is first rate.
I agree! He's an international treasure for the traditional movement!
Have you ever noticed that "the other side" has no firepower like this? Austen Ivereigh, Massimo Faggioli, David Gibson, Mike Lewis, Andrea Grillo -- they are all infantile in comparison.
I'm wondering what exactly Bergolio was renound for in order to be elected.
I would imagine that each Pope, going back a couple of centuries or do would have been known for some notable virtue that would propel his candidacy forward like Holiness, or an expert Canonist, Liturgical etc.
Bergolio?
Of course a modernist, but did he have any notable ecclesiastical merit?
No, he had no merits. But what he had was a reputation for ruthless efficiency in power, and the St. Gallen Mafia needed someone like that to undo the legacies of JP2 and BXVI.
Thank you for your engagement with these difficult matters. Your thinking informed by considerable knowledge is a service to us all. Blessings to you, your family, and your work.
I would also like to mention that we all must be vigilant in prayer for God's Will in these matters. Sometimes I think the foundations must be so shaken that all will seem lost - the edifice, crumbled. A continuation of the crucifixion, so that the resurrection is possible. Pray, Watch and Learn, and Pray.
"Christ is risen from the dead; His Church rises like the phoenix from every bed of ashes into which she seems to be dissolved."
Exactly what I was thinking.
And further: "The cycle began long ago and will continue until the end of time. Whatever was made manifest in the life of Christ will take place within His Church, in her sacred history. In every age of the Church there will be obscure births, a hidden and a public life, trials and crucifixions, resurrection and ascension. The whole of reality exists from Him, through Him, and towards Him: He is Alpha and Omega."
Exactly. It may seem strange, but to me: The above is what it is to be truly alive.
I am in the process of coming to grips with some of these issues in a book originating in the late 1950s: Rahner and Ratzinger's "The Episcopate and the Primacy" (NY: Herder and Herder, 1963, but contents are originally from 1959; 1962 imprimatur). Rahner deploys an array of smoke and mirrors but eventually shows his hand near the end of the book, coming out in favor of pluralism and other elements dear to the V2 crowd. Ratzinger, however, steers closer to continuity in his chapter: "Primacy, Episcopate, and Apostolic Succession." I am not a trained theologian; however, the more I read of Ratzinger, on the episcopacy and other issues, I feel confident in saying that while he may have been a liberal, he was never a revolutionary. "[T]he pope's rights over the universal episcopate are not merely the sum of his rights over individual bishops. Therefore the papal rights over the individual bishop must be exercised in such a way that the divine right of the universal episcopate as a college is not, in effect, abolished or its nature threatened" (73).
Yes! I once had a copy of this book, and foolishly donated it to a university library (as I have foolishly done every time I've made a major move). (Then again, if I hadn't done that, there's no way my books could have fit into my present house, which is already overflowing with books!)
I agree with Ratzinger about the universal episcopate. Trads are strangely ultramontanist and tend to reject all that as a heresy (just ask an SSPX person about "collegiality"). And yet we are paying the cost for ultramontanism big time right now.
It bears great resemblance to the way things are working by innuendo and administrative agency capture in the secular sphere as well. I've been meaning to pick up this anthology, and will probably do so now.
It's kind of bizarre that someone had to make an argument from first principles as to why an organization the size of the Catholic Church should have rules and procedures. But here we are.
Indeed, bizarre, ain't it? But this is the dismal price we pay for constantly increasing the adulation and submission paid to the Pope.
Joseph Shaw is a treasure. His gifts as a writer make him an especially good choice to write an introduction like this. His ability to synthesize and distill is first rate.
Looking forward to reading the whole book.
I agree! He's an international treasure for the traditional movement!
Have you ever noticed that "the other side" has no firepower like this? Austen Ivereigh, Massimo Faggioli, David Gibson, Mike Lewis, Andrea Grillo -- they are all infantile in comparison.
I'm wondering what exactly Bergolio was renound for in order to be elected.
I would imagine that each Pope, going back a couple of centuries or do would have been known for some notable virtue that would propel his candidacy forward like Holiness, or an expert Canonist, Liturgical etc.
Bergolio?
Of course a modernist, but did he have any notable ecclesiastical merit?
No, he had no merits. But what he had was a reputation for ruthless efficiency in power, and the St. Gallen Mafia needed someone like that to undo the legacies of JP2 and BXVI.
Thank you for your engagement with these difficult matters. Your thinking informed by considerable knowledge is a service to us all. Blessings to you, your family, and your work.
I would also like to mention that we all must be vigilant in prayer for God's Will in these matters. Sometimes I think the foundations must be so shaken that all will seem lost - the edifice, crumbled. A continuation of the crucifixion, so that the resurrection is possible. Pray, Watch and Learn, and Pray.
I agree. You might enjoy this brief meditation:
https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/03/christs-life-is-churchs-life.html
"Christ is risen from the dead; His Church rises like the phoenix from every bed of ashes into which she seems to be dissolved."
Exactly what I was thinking.
And further: "The cycle began long ago and will continue until the end of time. Whatever was made manifest in the life of Christ will take place within His Church, in her sacred history. In every age of the Church there will be obscure births, a hidden and a public life, trials and crucifixions, resurrection and ascension. The whole of reality exists from Him, through Him, and towards Him: He is Alpha and Omega."
Exactly. It may seem strange, but to me: The above is what it is to be truly alive.
Thank you for the article. Blessings.
Sitting down to read this 2018 article now, thank you.
Thank you for posting this. It really helps me make sense of the actions I see in the Church that makes no sense to me at all.
Thanks, Linda. This is what I try to do here: bring some tradition *and* sanity to every topic! :-)
I am in the process of coming to grips with some of these issues in a book originating in the late 1950s: Rahner and Ratzinger's "The Episcopate and the Primacy" (NY: Herder and Herder, 1963, but contents are originally from 1959; 1962 imprimatur). Rahner deploys an array of smoke and mirrors but eventually shows his hand near the end of the book, coming out in favor of pluralism and other elements dear to the V2 crowd. Ratzinger, however, steers closer to continuity in his chapter: "Primacy, Episcopate, and Apostolic Succession." I am not a trained theologian; however, the more I read of Ratzinger, on the episcopacy and other issues, I feel confident in saying that while he may have been a liberal, he was never a revolutionary. "[T]he pope's rights over the universal episcopate are not merely the sum of his rights over individual bishops. Therefore the papal rights over the individual bishop must be exercised in such a way that the divine right of the universal episcopate as a college is not, in effect, abolished or its nature threatened" (73).
Yes! I once had a copy of this book, and foolishly donated it to a university library (as I have foolishly done every time I've made a major move). (Then again, if I hadn't done that, there's no way my books could have fit into my present house, which is already overflowing with books!)
I agree with Ratzinger about the universal episcopate. Trads are strangely ultramontanist and tend to reject all that as a heresy (just ask an SSPX person about "collegiality"). And yet we are paying the cost for ultramontanism big time right now.
Thank you for posting this.
It bears great resemblance to the way things are working by innuendo and administrative agency capture in the secular sphere as well. I've been meaning to pick up this anthology, and will probably do so now.
Yes, totally agree. Rights come with responsibilities; we need the Pope to have obligations again. We are living in an age of "1984" Catholicism.