Monday, August 18, 2008

Rev. Fr. John Courtenay Murray S.J.: R.I.P.

I note that two days ago, August 16, was the forty-first anniversary of the death of Rev. Fr. John Courtenay Murray S.J. His misconceived theory of the State, his Americanism, his belief in a right for false religions to air their lies, and his highly suspect opinions on contraception (all documented in Mr. Michael Davies’s excellent The Second Vatican Council and Religious Liberty) notwithstanding, may he rest in peace.

Reginaldvs Cantvar

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Far too many Americans, even tradis, are far too reluctant to admit that there is such a heresy as Americanism, and a large number of the US hierarchy has been tainted by it since the days of (Bishop) John Carroll.

This seems to go hand in hand with virtual idolatry of their founding fathers.

+ Thomas Wolsey

Archieps. Ebor.

Card. Presb. Sanctae Caecilae trans Tiberim.

Legatus a latere.

Cardinal Pole said...

Quite right, York.

Americanism remains one of the great errors of our time, even among Traditionalists, and this was one of the main reasons for me starting this blog (see my first post).

I suspect that the vast majority of the Hierarchy in the West holds that separation of Church and State is not just a reluctant concession to circumstances, but is even good in principle. But not only must we hold that in theory the union of Church and State is ideal, we must work towards this ideal. See Cardinal Ottaviani's original schema:

"In the cities where the Authorities do not profess the Catholic religion, the Catholic citizens have the duty above all to bring it about, through their virtues and civic actions."
(my emphasis)

If only Cardinal Ottaviani's original schema had been ratified instead of Dignitatis Humanæ...

Anonymous said...

Americanism remains one of the great errors of our time, even among Traditionalists

Excellent observation. It staggers me that even faithful Catholics are convinced that theirs is the best set-up for society. Amazing!