Spot Modernism #1
By P.F. Hawkins
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, recently gave an interview to a weekly magazine. Let’s see if we can apply some of the lessons learned from reading Pascendi Dominici Gregis to his statements.
“The Church is not timeless”
The Church is not timeless, she lives amidst the vicissitudes of history and the Gospel must be known and experienced by people today.
We can see that no objective, undying truth of the Church is admitted here. Rather the most important thing is the subjective experience of the believer.
Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with the statement “the Gospel must be known and experienced by people today”. Surely it must. Modernists need truth to hang their heresy on. But he says that the Church is not timeless in the context of discussing two of Her timeless, biblical dogmas: divorce is a mortal sin, and receiving the Blessed Sacrament in a state of grave sin is itself a mortal sin.
“a more adequate response to the expectations of the people”
It is in the present that the message should be, with all respect for the integrity from whom the message has been received. We now have two synods to treat this complex theme of the family and I believe that these dynamics in two movements will allow a more adequate response to the expectations of the people.
Translation: The message needs to be updated for the present. Dogma, previously understood to be timeless, is instead subject to change. And again, this is justified by the subjective religious experience of believers.
To drive home this point, he mentions that Familiaris Consortio, John Paul II’s encyclical on the family, is a whopping 33 years old. The Church’s stance has been stable for 33 years. That’s too long! She must change!
Collegiality
Here my source summarizes the point of the Cardinal, rather than quoting him directly:
Cardinal Baldisseri confirmed in interview that the Pope Francis wishes the local bishops to be seriously involved in the global governance of the church and a new balance between centralization and local autonomy.
Here the Cardinal attributes to Pope Francis the Modernist position on Church governance.
Thank you for joining The Old Evangelization for the first ever installment of Spot Modernism. Sadly, it is probably the first of many installments to come.