5. sept. 2021
From my latest article in "Commonweal":
"Vatican II Catholicism went dormant while the anti–Vatican II and reductionist voices came to be the most vocal in the hierarchy. We can’t ask Pope Francis to defend Vatican II all by himself, while we let his opponents aggressively work to abrogate it. Simply countering or reacting to right-wing traditionalists isn’t a defense; it just won’t work.
- Massimo Faggioli
Commonweal Magazine: The Limits of ‘Traditionis Custodes’
Addressing anti–Vatican II traditionalism
By Massimo Faggioli
September 2, 2021
Udklip:
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Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis’s July motu proprio on the pre-conciliar Mass, caught many observers and liturgical experts by surprise. Not because of what it says about Francis’s theological thinking (he has always been adamant in defending the validity of Vatican II’s liturgical reform), but because of the document’s unequivocal rejection of Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, and because of the timing of its release—that is, while Benedict is still alive.
More than a document, Traditionis Custodes represents one of the most important papal acts in the history of the reception and implementation of Vatican II. But it would be naïve to understand Francis’s response to neo-traditionalism simply as a return to the status quo ante. Such a return is impossible. It’s not because a future pontificate could reverse Francis’s reversal of Benedict. Nor is it because the magisterium can no longer expect “obsequium religiosum” (Vatican II, constitution Lumen Gentium, par. 25), not even from bishops and conservative Catholics. Rather, it’s because the ecosystem of Western Catholicism has changed significantly since 2007. The rise of social media has helped nurture a post-modern, media-savvy, resentful traditionalism that plays out in the undermining of this papacy both by prominent conservative laypeople and by clergy—an effort that began within days of the election of Francis in 2013.
But perhaps the biggest factor in making a return to the pre-2007 situation impossible is the weakened authority of Vatican II in today’s Church. Pope Francis’s move against anti–Vatican II traditionalism is a test for his pontificate. It comes as something like a referendum on which bishops are forced to take a stand, since the document gives local bishops the responsibility to reign in traditionalist Catholics in their local churches. And so far, the response to this referendum has been mixed, not only in the United States, but also in places where traditionalism is much more marginal, such as Italy. Some bishops may be driven by pastoral sensitivity, while others may be motivated by the chance to defy Francis again and to solidify the traditionalist movement.
Another factor is how our current age of disintermediation has affected the experience of Catholics, particularly our experience of the liturgy. Since March 2020, the celebration of the liturgy for many Catholics has taken place through a computer screen. This affects how we see the link between liturgy and ecclesiology. Covid-time Mass has increased the tendency to re-sacralize the Catholic priesthood: more distance from the altar and within the pews, the impossibility of the kiss of peace (which even in the early Church helped differentiate between a temple-like understanding of worship and the Church as a communion), and a drastic reduction in (if not redefinition of) active participation. The post–Vatican II Catholic Mass has suffered more from the pandemic than has the pre–Vatican II, traditionalist Mass, in which the concept of participation is quite different (to say the least) from the “actuosa participatio” that Vatican II talks about.
But perhaps the biggest factor in making a return to the pre-2007 situation impossible is the weakened authority of Vatican II in today’s Church. Pope Francis’s move against anti–Vatican II traditionalism is a test for his pontificate. It comes as something like a referendum on which bishops are forced to take a stand, since the document gives local bishops the responsibility to reign in traditionalist Catholics in their local churches. And so far, the response to this referendum has been mixed, not only in the United States, but also in places where traditionalism is much more marginal, such as Italy. Some bishops may be driven by pastoral sensitivity, while others may be motivated by the chance to defy Francis again and to solidify the traditionalist movement.
In short, anti–Vatican II traditionalism (liturgical and theological) will not disappear by papal fiat. It was kept at bay in first few decades following Vatican II, even during the papacy of John Paul II, who with a doctrinal policy inimical to theological progressivism nonetheless maintained the authority of the council. But Benedict, citing a “hermeneutic of continuity and reform” meant to prevent SSPX-like rejections of Vatican II, instead helped foster a rehabilitation of traditionalism that reinforced his anti-progressive positions. This is the most important and lasting legacy of Joseph Ratzinger’s pontificate. Anti–Vatican II liturgical and theological traditionalism is not only present, but in some local churches in the U.S. and in Europe is here to stay. It’s evident in the fervor of monasteries that are seeing an increase in vocations, which suggests a rise in presbyteral ordinations and the growth of monastic commitments. More importantly, there is reason to believe that anti–Vatican II traditionalism is not a minority position among young clergy. It’s also hard to deny that Catholic traditionalism sometimes expresses exclusivist, sexist, and racist worldviews, and that the “old Mass” leaves the door open for a pre–Vatican II theology of the relationship between the Church and Judaism that resurfaces old anti-Semitic tropes.«
Læs hele artiklen <her>
'Massimo Faggioli is professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University. His most recent book is Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States (Bayard). Follow him on Twitter @MassimoFaggioli.
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Retur til Tema: ‘Traditionis Custodes’