Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, August 21-24, 2010

Msgr. Williamson on the Vatican-S.S.P.X. doctrinal discussions

An important piece from His Lordship, which I quote in full here (copied and pasted from the e-mail):

ELEISON COMMENTS CLXII (Aug.21, 2010) : DISCUSSIONS BLIND-SIDED ?

While the Rome-Society of St Pius X discussions are, by accounts from both sides, running into a doctrinal brick wall, reports from France and Germany together with a rumour from Rome spell danger for Catholics. That danger is a political deal which would simply go round the side of the doctrinal blockage. Politics threaten to circumvent doctrine.

From France and Germany, I was told me a few weeks ago that a large proportion of Catholics attending SSPX Mass centres are only hoping and waiting for some agreement to come out of the discussions. If - repeat, if -- this is true, it is very serious. Such Catholics may get full marks for wishing not to be cut off from what appears to be Rome, but they get low marks for not grasping that as long as the discussions remain doctrinal, there is no way in which the neo-modernist teaching of Vatican II can be reconciled with the Catholic doctrine of the true Church. Such Catholics may venerate and love Archbishop Lefebvre as they see him, but they have not understood what he was all about. They had best wake up if they are not in one way or another to fall into the arms of the neo-modernist Romans.

Agreement in front of doctrine means politics before religion, unity before truth, man before God. God before man means truth before unity, religion before politics and doctrine being more important than any non-doctrinal agreement. Only dreamers could not foresee the Rome-SSPX discussions running into a doctrinal brick wall. Only politicians can wish for any non-doctrinal agreement to come out of them.

Alas, to all appearances Benedict XVI sincerely believes in the Newchurch of Vatican II which is to unite in its bosom all men absolutely, regardless of whether they believe or not in the one true doctrine of the Faith. Therefore he sincerely wishes to gather in the SSPX as well - and he does not normally have too much longer to live ! So the blockage of doctrinal discussions should not unduly worry him. He must be looking to cut a political deal with the SSPX, in order to unite it with the rest of the Newchurch. It follows that he must ask of the SSPX neither too much, or it would refuse the deal, nor too little, because then the rest of the Newchurch would rise up in protest.

The rumour from Rome is precisely that he is thinking of a "Motu Proprio" which would accept the SSPX "back into the Church" once and for all, yet require from the SSPX no explicit acceptance of Vatican II or the New Mass, but only, for instance, the acceptance of John-Paul II's 1992 "Catechism of the Catholic Church", which is substantially modernist but in a quiet way. Thus the SSPX would not appear to its followers to be accepting the Council or the New Mass, yet it would be softly, softly, beginning to go along with the substance of neo-modernism.

Thus all seekers of unity would be content. Only not believers in Catholic doctrine.

DANGER !

Kyrie eleison.

See also here and here for discussion on these matters.

Democratic Labor Party (D.L.P.) candidate to become Victorian Senator?

I was interested to read the following in Mr. Malcolm Farr's column in yesterday's Sydney Daily Telegraph:

The word extraordinary is not out of place to describe an election which it seems will put a member of the Democratic Labor Party (revived version) into the Senate for the first time in more than 40 years. The emergence of Tony Abbott and the DLP - it seems fitting to many.
[http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/malcolmfarr/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/voters_will_soon_realise_nothing_has_been_resolved/]

Further investigation found a news report of August 22nd referring to the possibility of a D.L.P. win as an "outside chance":

But the DLP remained an outside chance of creating a huge upset.

"If the DLP get knocked out before us the preferences will go to us and we'll win, but if we get knocked out before the DLP our preferences will go to them and they're a very good chance of getting up," the spokesman said.

At the close of counting early on Sunday, Family First had 65,423 votes, or 2.69 per cent of the votes cast, while the DLP had secured 54,490, or 2.24 per cent.

Mr Madigan, a Ballarat blacksmith, would be the first DLP senator since Vince Gair in 1974 if he secures he wins.
[http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/dlp-an-outside-chance-for-senate-20100822-13ako.html]

while a report of the 23rd had the following to say:

But the Victorian [Sen. Steve Fielding] may be replaced by a philosophically like-minded newcomer in John Madigan from the socially and economically conservative Democratic Labor Party.

Mr Madigan, a blacksmith from Ballarat in Victoria, is tipped to take the final Senate seat even though he received only 2.2 per cent of the vote. The Greens will now hold the balance of power in the Senate, with new senators expected to be elected in Victoria, South Australia, NSW and Queensland.

But their ACT candidate, Lyn Hatfield Dodds, fell short of a seat, with ACT voters sticking with traditional voting habits to re-elect Liberal senator Gary Humphries.

The new Senate will not be formed until July but at this early stage, it appears there will be 34 Coalition senators, 31 from Labor, nine Greens, the South Australian independent Nick Xenophon and possibly the DLP senator.
[http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/greens-to-be-senate-go-to-party-to-the-power-of-nine/story-e6frfllr-1225908694201]

(Interesting that Mr. Madigan is a blacksmith, after last week's report that there was "not a single tradesperson among ["today's federal parliamentarians"]".) The most recent mainstream media news item I found referring to this possibility (dated the 24th) mentioned the following:

At presstime it looked like [Anthony Thow] had been pipped for a seat by a Ballarat blacksmith representing the Democratic Labor Party, ...
[http://www.investmenttechnology.com.au/i-t-news/another-fund-for-dr-don]

The A.B.C.'s website listed Mr. Madigan as one of the "Elected Candidates" for the Victorian Senate (apparently the only elected candidate not to come from Labor, the Coalition, or The Greens, judging by the "Senate Results - Summary" page and inspection of the results for all the States and Territories).

Dr. Feser and Mr. Muehlenberg on 'legislating morality'

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33298

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/23/on-legislating-morality/

"Growing trend against church weddings"

From the Geelong Advertiser (brought to my attention by CathNews):

A recent survey by Australian Marriage Celebrants found just one in four Australians tying the knot go for a traditional church wedding.
[http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2010/08/21/203365_news.html]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle, A.D. 2010