April 2016 - To Give a Defense

Interacting with Robert Spaemann on Amoris Laetitia.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 30, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia

Dr. Robert Spaemann, a retired German philosophy professor — why is it always the Germans? — who was an adviser to St. John Paul II and is a friend of Benedict XVI, gave an interview in the German press, critical of Amoris Laetitia, warning of schism; and it has been picked up by all the suspect media. One Vader Five carried the story; as did Lysergic Acid News. One cannot wave a blithe hand and dismiss Spaemann, however pleasant that would be. And so we must sort out and weigh what he says in this interview with CNA’s German edition.

The definition of “common teaching” and what that tells us about Limbo.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 29, 2016 • Apologetics

The fact that Limbo is “accepted generally” does not, ipso facto, take it out of the category of free opinions and place it in the category of infallible and binding teaching. It would take an ex cathedra definition to do that; and as Mr. Kukla concedes, there is no such definition. Common teaching does not bind the conscience. That is why Benedict XVI, while he was Cardinal Ratzinger and the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, rightly said that “Limbo was never a defined truth of the faith”; and added: “I would abandon it.”

Steve Skojec of 1 Vader 5 embraces his inner Sith.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 29, 2016 • On Other Blogs

It was bound to happen. I am glad I could help contribute, entirely as a free gift, to the merchandising of One Vader Five. Now, perhaps, they’ll be able to afford that Death Star they’ve always talked about building. Join them, Catholics, give in to your anger, and they will complete your training.

Pope agrees to discuss infallibility with Hans Kung. This is what it means.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 27, 2016 • Apologetics; Papal Infallibility; Pope Francis

Did Pius V condemn Cajetan on the baptism of desire?

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 27, 2016 • Apologetics; Church History; Sacraments

At stake in all this is that Limbo apologists like Kevin Kukla claim that baptism of desire is only for adults on their own behalf; and that parents cannot suppply it vicariously to their children. This is the trick by which they concede baptism of desire while retaining their belief in Limbo. So it would bolster their argument if they could find a pope who condemned a statement about vicarious desire. But what’s odd is that Mr. Kukla cites no source for his claim. He does not give the name of the document in which Pius V supposedly condemned this error.

Does Amoris Laetitia tell us “Do not judge”? Part 2 of a response to Dr. E. Christian Brugger.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 25, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia; Moral Theology

But I am confused. Dr. Brugger tells us that the pope is right to say we must not judge, he tells us that we can’t judge, and yet the pope is wrong because he tells us we should be judging. The pope tells us not to judge, and he is right; but he asks us to judge, and he is wrong. If this makes sense to you, dear reader, let me know. Dr. Brugger goes on to explain why priests can not render a judgment on a person’s soul, but that was never what Pope Francis had asked us to do in the first place. This is a discussion of pastoral care, not soteriology.

Is Amoris Laetitia’s discussion of culpability a “serious problem”? Part 1 of a response to Dr. E. Christian Brugger.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 25, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia; Moral Theology

At Catholic World Report, Dr. E. Christian Brugger has posted an article entitled “Five Serious Problems With Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia.” It is a long article, which my own never are; a full five thousand four hundred twelve words; longer than Chapter 8 itself. So this will take some time to work through. Dr. Brugger’s article — unlike so many wailing panic attacks about Amoris Laetitia that can be briefly scoffed at, and refuted, and left to dry up like a raisin in the sun — is, or aims to be, analytical and scholarly. It requires care. I don’t disagree with everything Dr. Brugger says.

Some further responses to Limbo apologists.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 21, 2016 • Apologetics

If Auctorem Fidei is a definitive, Magisterial teaching that the “limbo of the children” does exist, one naturally wonders how Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger missed it. The pope condemns the denial of Limbo as a doctrine. But I don’t pass off my denial of Limbo as a doctrine that must be held by all Catholics. If I did that, then I would be under the condemnation of Pius VI. But since I happily concede that I am writing nothing other than my own opinion, and Dr. Staudt is free to believe as he wishes, Auctorum Fidei has no application to me. (There’s an update on this in the post.)

Life Site News gets a pope story wrong. (Again.)

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 19, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia; False Report

In this latest example of errant reportage, Life Site News proclaims: “Pope Says Schonborn Interpretation on Communion is the Final Word”! (That’s the title.) Now, I looked at the pope’s interview; can’t recall the pope saying anything that can fairly be summarized as deferring to Schonborn the “final word.” Nor was Schonborn’s presentation of Amoris Laetitia, quite exactly, an “interpretation” of any sort. It was, rather, a summary of the pope’s exhortation; I find it to be very profuse with direct quotations. So we shall have to discern very carefully to see whether Western or I has it right.

Pope gives another interview; false reporting begins at 1 Vader 5 forthwith.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 16, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia; False Report

Mr. Steve Skojec, of 1 Vader 5 infamy, was quick to pounce, claws unsheathed, on the latest papal interview. He did so in order to make the self-affirming claim that Pope Francis gave an unambiguous, full-throated “Yes!” to communion for the divorced and remarried. Shazaam. The pope, says Mr. Skojec, gave “a very straightforward affirmation” in response to a “very direct question” from a reporter. “Straightforward,” you say? “Very direct,” you say? Then let us hie ourselves to the text of that interview and take a look.

Integrating weakness: Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 14, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia; Moral Theology

In Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis speaks of the “law of gradualness”; John Paul II was the first to write of such a law, in Familiaris Consortio 34. Here is what John Paul II says: “It is always very important to have a right notion of the moral order, its values and its norms; and the importance is all the greater when the difficulties in the way of respecting them become more numerous and serious.” Very much so. That is the very situation in which we find ourselves, in an increasingly secular, even pagan, culture. We have lost “the right notion of the moral order.”

Steve Skojec says Amoris Laetitia 298 condones adultery. Steve Skojec is wrong.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 11, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia; False Report; Moral Theology

People send me links (“Did you see this??”); I don’t seek out these things anymore. But Steve Skojec at 1 Vader 5, who has now resorted to posting screenshots from Facebook for the general ridicule, makes the claim that Pope Francis condones adultery in Amoris Laetitia. “He does!” Mr. Skojec cries with the incorrectible confidence he alone possesses. “Paragraph 298!” Right. Well, okay, I mean, let’s check. Let’s quote the full text and not leave anything out. And what I find is that it does nothing more than quote Familiaris Consortio. Imagine that.

Things Pope Francis says in Amoris Laetitia that few will mention.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 11, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia

Among other things, that marriage is between one man and one woman and same-sex unions are not marriage. That marriage requires openness to life. That marriage is indissoluble. That people rebel against God when they do not accept the gender they were born with. That the Church must support discernment and give its members reasons to choose marriage over a single life. That the Church must assist those discerning marriage learn how to love so that fewer divorces occur. There’s much more too. It can’t all be covered in a single article.

Amoris Laetitia 7: The most important section of the exhortation.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 8, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia

I do not recommend a rushed reading of the text,” the pope says. That is exactly right. I feel no special urge to join the instant commentary that will, inevitably, miss a great deal and get the rest wrong. The most important thing you can do is read the document yourself, slowly, deliberately, and ignore the headlines and believe none of them. Read them later. Take the pope’s advice. I will have a great deal to say about Amoris Laetitia, but I am going to read all of it first. That is why, dear reader, you can trust the commentary this blog offers. I will report back next week.

New York Times attempts to read the tea leaves ahead of Amoris Laetitia.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • April 7, 2016 • Amoris Laetitia

At the New York Times, there is an article today optimistically titled “How Pope Francis’ ‘Amoris Laetitia’ Could Affect Families and the Church.” From the article: “In the document, known as an apostolic exhortation, the pope could change church practice on thorny subjects like whether divorced Catholics who remarry without having obtained annulments can receive holy communion.” I think not. Did the New York Times not read the pope’s interview in-flight from Mexico to Rome? He was asked about this wery thing. I quote it where the Times does not.