2nd Family Synod in 30 years: Familiaris Consortio!

USCCB President Archbishop Joseph Kurtz reminds us that the 2014 Synod on the Family is not the only one to have taken place in history. In fact, he makes reference to a Synod during the pontificate of JPII:

the principle of gradualness, which might be very helpful to the evangelizer in the process of accompanying individuals. The pastoral principle of gradualness and what it means and does not mean is actually found in St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, which was issued as the fruit of the last synod on the family over 30 years ago.[1]

He goes on to explain the law,

In considering the role of the principle of gradualness in the divine salvific plan, the Synod delegates ask what possibilities are given to married couples who experience the failure of their marriage; how it is possible to offer them Christ’s help through the ministry of the Church? The theological notion of the law of gradualness and its authentic implementation in the Catholic tradition must be carefully understood in order to answer these questions[…]The “law of gradualness” cannot be interpreted as “gradualness of the law” which implies that the law is “merely an ideal to be achieved in the future” (FC 34). Any suggestion that would cause the law of gradualness to be equated or even related to relativism or proportionalism must be avoided, since both relativism and proportionalism are foreign to magisterial teaching (Veritatis Splendor 65ff, esp. 75). Along these lines, and as noted in the Vademecum for Confessors (1997), “the pastoral ‘law of gradualness’ must not be confused with ‘gradualness of the law’ which would tend to diminish the demands it places on us” (VC 3.9). The law of gradualness, “consists of requiring a decisive break with sin together with a progressive path towards total union with the will of God and with his loving demands” (VC 3.9, emphasis in original). Therefore, the willingness to abide by Jesus’ teaching on such matters, including a decisive break from sin, should be regarded as an essential starting point for gradual growth in holiness.[2]

In essence, a call to repentance and conformity to the life of Christ is at hand. I count two total documents authored by St. John Paul II in Archbishop Kurtz’s references (Familiaris Constortio and Veritatis Splendor)!

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[1] Joseph E. Kurtz. Archbishop Archives: October, Archdiocese of Louisville. www.archlou.org

[2] Ibid

Arzobispo Bergoglio y San Juan Pablo

I think it necessary to reference Bergoglio's earlier works as proof of his single-hearted devotion to Christ and as a means of edifying his reputation in the face of much confusion (both deserved and undeserved). The example I will use also references St. John Paul II, and is largely an inspiration for Archbishop Bergoglio at the time:

Juan Pablo se comunicó con su pueblo, con la coherencia de un hombre de Dios, con la coherencia de aquél que todas las mañanas pasaba largas horas en adoración, y porque adoraba se dejaba armonizar por la fuerza de Dios. La coherencia no se compra, la coherencia no se estudia en ninguna carrera. La coherencia se va labrando en el corazón con la adoración, con la unción al servicio de los demás y con la rectitud de conducta. Sin mentiras, sin engaños, sin doblez. Jesús dijo de Natanael una vez cuando venía caminando: "Aquí tienen a un israelita derecho, sin doblez". Creo que lo podemos decir de Juan Pablo, el coherente. Pero era coherente porque se dejó cincelar por la voluntad de Dios. Se dejó humillar por la voluntad de Dios. Dejó que creciera en su alma esa actitud obediencial que tuvo nuestro padre Abraham y desde allí todos los que lo siguieron.[1]

Translated, the above passage essentially says, “John Paul communicated with his people as a coherent man of God, as one who coherently spent many mornings in adoration and loved with the strength of God on account of his adoration. His coherence did not compromise, nor did it pursue careerism. His coherence grew in his heart with adoration, with anointed service and upright conduct. Furthermore, there was no duplicity in him. Jesus said of Nathanial once when he walked up to him: “Here we have a true Israelite, without duplicity”. I believe that we can say the same of John Paul. His life was coherent because he did the will of God. He humbled himself and did the will of God. He cultivated in his soul an attitude of obedience just as our father in faith Abraham did by following after God’s call.” {my translation}

It is easy to mistranslate Bergoglio, and I believe the media does it often. Nevertheless, the message he wrote about John Paul II in 2005 is clear: obedience to the will of God in single-hearted devotion. To accuse him, or JPII, of anything besides that is unfounded. The above passage was not written by a man with a liberal or conservative agenda. It was not written by a man who practices liberation theology or any other unorthodox strain of modernism. It was written by a man who adores God whole-heartedly and recognizes such in others…

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[1] Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio. “Misa en memoria de S.S. Juan Pablo II”. April 4th, 2005. http://www.arzbaires.org.ar/inicio/homiliasbergoglio.html

Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko

*10/20/2014 Update: I will say now through interactions with them that the Knights of Columbus are, in some cases, a Catholic influence on trade unions in America!

The rise of trade unions in Poland took on a very different identity than those in America. “Solidarity”, the movement of manual laborers in Poland, all drew their strength and inspiration from Catholicism. It was no coincidence that the Pope at the time was the first Slav to be in the chair of St. Peter, Karol Wojtyla. On the ground in Poland, simultaneous to his pontificate, were numerous Polish priests and Bishops who encouraged the solidarity movement. Among them was Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, an invalid with a particular calling to preach and minister to the laborers forming “solidarity”. But again, what differentiated this movement from that in America? It seems to me that the main difference was communism in Poland vs. greedy tycoons in the USA. Communism proved to be a much greater threat worldwide and Poland rallied around the Church for help. Though numerous American immigrants attempted to do the same, the threat of greed from individuals had less of an enduring effect on the origins of unions. So, in America, unions have fallen into the hands of lobbyists and masons. In Poland, especially with the martyrdom of Fr. Jerzy at the hands of secret police, “solidarity” remains connected to the Church.

Ignatius Press made an excellent film on the life of Fr. Jerzy, called “Popieluszko”. Old footage of Wojtyla is shown throughout the film, corresponding with St. John Paul II’s visits to his country in 1979-80s, the heart of the years in which Fr. Jerzy ministered until his martyrdom in 1984. A few speeches that are shown to the characters of the movie on television are:

To Poland the Church brought Christ, the key to understanding that great and fundamental reality that is man. For man cannot be fully understood without Christ. Or rather, man is incapable of understanding himself fully without Christ. He cannot understand who he is, nor what his true dignity is, nor what his vocation is, nor what his final end is. He cannot understand any of this without Christ.[1]

And again at Mass the following day:

Is it not Christ's will, is it not what the Holy Spirit disposes, that this Pope, in whose heart is deeply engraved the history of his own nation from its very beginning and also the history of the brother peoples and the neighbouring peoples, should in a special way manifest and confirm in our age the presence of these peoples in the Church and their specific contribution to the history of Christianity?..Is it not the design of Providence that he should reveal the developments that have taken place here in this part of Europe in the rich architecture of the temple of the Holy Spirit?..Is it not Christ's will, is it not what the Holy Spirit disposes, that this Polish Pope, this Slav Pope, should at this precise moment manifest the spiritual unity of Christian Europe?[2]

Alongside Wojtyla, many priests and bishops of Poland knew that God’s will was intent on breaking the communist will, but through peace, work, and insistence on human dignity and conscience. Fr. Jerzy preaches homily after homily on the conscience of man in the face of oppressive government, imprisonment, martial law, etc. He informs leaders of the “solidarity” movement, including one scene in a Church with Lech Walesa, of their rights before false accusations of the government.

Some men in my family have worked for trade unions for their entire careers. Compared with Polish laborers, they have little to no understanding of their dignity in Christ, their identity as rooted in baptism (non-Catholics), or the fact that their unions are run by powers that have learned little to nothing from “solidarity”. They do not see the radical turn that their historically immigrant-based political party has taken toward socialism, as though trade unions were somehow always headed toward that end. On the contrary, in Poland they grew up in opposition to that conclusion: Trade unions are the polar opposite of socialism! Sadly, unions in America are strictly secular entities. In Poland, they engage the common man in a deep legacy of holiness, martyrdom and sainthood. Fr. Jerzy is a witness to such an identity, and may his beatification process continue with ever greater miracles in our day!

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[1] Homily of His Holiness John Paul II, Victory Square, Warsaw, 2 June 1979—Apostolic Journey to Poland

[2] Homily of His Holiness John Paul II, Cathedral of Gniezno, 3 June 1979—Apostolic Journey to Poland

4-27-14 Divine Mercy/ Saint's Day

2015 Update

St John Paul II,

Ora Pro Nobis!

Santo Subito!

UPDATE: PETITION TO POPE FRANCIS: Declare St. John Paul II “Doctor of the Church”!
Posted on 12 April 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
I, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, do hereby petition our Holy Father, Pope Francis, to declare St. John Paul II

Doctor of the Church.

I ask that St. John Paul II, who instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy, be declared Doctor of the Church on the Feast of Divine Mercy 2016, one liturgical year from today, and that he be endowed with the title

Doctor Misericordiae.

St. John Paul II should be a Doctor of the Church, because of the outstanding quality and the comprehensiveness of his opus, which includes philosophy, theology, poetry, and even drama.

St. John Paul II’s Magisterium serves, among other things, as an authoritative and comprehensive commentary on the Second Vatican Council.

His numerous encyclicals touch nearly all aspects of human life. Consider his defense of life, his defense of the Truth of Catholic teaching, his efforts toward the liberation of millions from Communist tyranny, his merciful correction of errant theologians for the protection of the faithful, his social teaching, and his defense of marriage and of the family (e.g, in Familiaris consortio).

He issued the Catechism of the Catholic Church and revised the Code of Canon Law for both the Latin and Eastern Churches. Most of all, consider his defense of the Truth of the Faith through his entire body of teaching while applying it appropriately to our times, not just to the 26 years of his pontificate, but to the 21st century.

Tens of millions, indeed hundreds of millions, look to St. John Paul II as a fixed point of Catholic Truth.

Moreover, Pope Francis, who canonized St. John Paul II, can by this gesture manifest a special relationship with the enduring Magisterium of the Saint during his own pontificate.

As Pope Francis himself wrote in the Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Misericordiae vultus 11:

Saint John Paul II highlighted the fact that we had forgotten the theme of mercy in today’s cultural milieu….

I urge all the faithful who read this to pray that this come to pass and that they, in their own ways, promote this petition with Pope Francis himself, as well as their local bishops and pastors.

St. John Paul II, pray for us!

#JP2ForDoctor
#Lolek4Doctor

A saint in my lifetime? 
Somehow I do not think it will stop there with Blessed John Paul II.  Whether in my lifetime or in my son's, JPII will most likely become a doctor of the Church.  His Love and Responsibility alone is enough to cure the last fifty years of sexual confusion throughout the world.  First things first though, and sainthood is definitely on the horizon.  Once I spell out the qualifications he has for sainthood, I will also identify his qualifications for being a doctor of the Church.

As for sainthood, Pope Benedict XVI waived the first step of Karol Wojtyla's beatification process by vouching for his status as "Servant of God" before a five-year post-mortem period.  Therefore, JPII was qualified to be the "servant of the servants of God" just by means of his office on earth.  But, what set him apart from other popes who held the same office?  The answer lies in the other steps of the process.

The second step deals with the life of 'heroic virtue' that Karol Wojtyla lived out on a daily basis.  He lived through the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Cold War, an assassination attempt...the list goes on and on to show how valiant were his daily thoughts and actions!  The declaration of the Church of 'Venerable' is the exact name given to potential saints at this stage.

Thirdly, the title of 'Blessed'--which Karol Wojtyla has already merited--applies to a potential saint who readily identifies with a proven miracle.  In this case, the intercession of JPII has effectively healed two people with Parkinson's disease--the first being a french nun, and the second a  former mayor from Columbia.
 
Two or more miracles are necessary for the Pope to proclaim JPII a saint.  Currently, the Vatican is investigating numerous miracles attributed to JPII, and his cause is truly on the fast track ever since Benedict XVI waived the five year waiting period.  In fact, it is speculated that Pope Francis may proclaim Karol Wojtyla a saint at the upcoming WYD in Rio De Janiero!
    
Again, I believe that Blessed John Paul II's cause will not end with just sainthood.  Much more evidence exists for the argument that he will become a doctor of the Church before too long.
There are three requirements for being named a doctor of the Church:
(1) Great Sanctity. Only those who have already been declared to be saints by the Church may receive this
title.
(2) Eminent Learning. Those who are declared doctors of the Church are known to be great teachers of the
Faith.
(3) Proclamation by the Church. Typically, such proclamation is made by the Pope.

*Notes on the above reqs: Nearly everyone who saw or heard of Karol Wojtyla can attest to his holiness.  Even his childhood jewish friend, Jerzy Kluger, testifies of his holiness from the time he was ten years old (see my previous post). 
As for his being a great teacher, he was responsible for making the catechism available to the layman in an updated, succint, and revitalized fashion.  Not to mention, JPII's Theology of the Body and encyclicals speak for themselves to every generation that enquires into the fundamental truths of the human person.
Lastly, anyone with authority in the Church, especially Popes Benedict and Francis, will attest to JPII's merits. 

Without a doubt, I believe that Karol Wojtyla will not only become a saint, but also become a doctor of the Church.