“Fidem Servare”: Some (worried) observations from a first reading of it

16 Febbraio 2022 Pubblicato da

Marco Tosatti

Dearest readers of Stilum Curiae, it seems interesting to me to bring to your attention this comment that Messa in Latino – which we thank for its courtesy – offers on the new Motu Proprio of the reigning Pontiff, regarding the restructuring of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Enjoy your reading and meditation…

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Regarding “Fidem Servare”:

Some (worried) observations from a first reading of it

As was pre-abbounced yesterday by Messa in Latino, which since last December 15 had also anticipated the content of the reform, with the Motu Proprio «Fidem servare», published today (see here and here), the Supreme Pontiff has modified the internal structure of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

If we consider the importance of the material, the Apostolic Letter appears to be a rather thin text, which could almost past by unnoticed, or considered to be a mere anticipation of the expected and never realized comprehensive reform of the Roman Curia.

 

However, at a first quick reading, one passage attracts our attention. It’s this one (point 2 of the Motu Proprio): “The Doctrinal Section, through the Doctrinal Office, deals with matters pertaining to the promotion and protection of the doctrine of faith and morals. It also encourages studies aimed at increasing the understanding and transmission of the faith in the service of evangelization, so that its light may be a criterion for understanding the meaning of existence, especially in the face of the questions posed by the progress of the sciences and the development of society.

 

The “new” CDF, therefore, is responsible for an activity that is in some way promotional (“encouraging studies”), in particular in the sense specified by the Motu Proprio: the Apostolic Letter seems to indicate to theologians the lines along which they are to orient their scientific reflection, also indicating which questions are considered worthy of particular study, in the service of evangelization. In this regard, it affects, in particular the desire to make intelligence increase and the transmission of the faith in order to understand the significance of existence (sic) above all (mind you: above all) in the face of questions raised by the progress of the sciences and the development of society.

 

In the face of all this, without neglecting the unexpectedly existentialist slant of the assumption, as if the best intelligence of the faith serves more than anything else to help one feel at ease in the existential condition in which one finds oneself, rather than to achieve the salvation acquired for us by the Lord with his Redemptive Sacrifice on the Cross, I could only think about what I read on February 10 at Sandro Magister’s blog, which mentioned the following declaration by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg (with my emphases): “The positions of the Church on homosexual relations as sinful are in error. I believe that the sociological and scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct. It is time for a fundamental revision of the teaching of the Church and the way in which Pope Francis has spoken of homosexuality can lead to a change in doctrine.

 

Is it an exaggerated fear to think that the reference to “the questions posed by the progress of the sciences and the development of society” inserted right in the act reforming the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith may herald an alignment with the pretended scientific theories about the normality of the homosexual orientation and, thus, to the long-awaited non-application, in the name of a renewed science-friendly doctrine, of the very uncomfortable Pauline teachings on sodomy?

 

It is also Magister who reminds us that in a recent press conference, the bishop of Limburg and president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, reported that “after a meeting in Luxembourg between him, Hollerich, and the Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, he was received in audience by Pope Francis, who encouraged the creation of a working group on the topic of how to reconcile the German synod with the synod of the universal Church.”

 

Am I making a rash judgment if I hypothesize that the reform of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith was designed to round off the rough doctrinal edges that are making the current phase of this pontificate difficult, and also designed to allow for some absorption of the German Synod, even at the cost of adapting doctrine to the fiercely heterodox leanings of the Teutonic Synod? And is it plausible to ask what further magnificent and progressive fates will be able to be opened to the better understanding of the faith based on scientific and social development, today particularly sensitive to the most radical environmentalism? Isn’t this what modernism has always hoped for: the permanent reformulation of doctrine following the unstoppable change of scientific and sociological theories?

 

These concerns are destined to worsen if the rumors now circulating about the new Prefect of the Congregation and the new Secretary of the Doctrinal Section (see here) are ever confirmed. For my part, I would be really happy if my considerations would be shown to be mistaken; in any event, I permit myself to suggest that we cling to the Rosary. The Motu Proprio bears the date of 11 February, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes: we can be certain that the Mother of God will not allow any attempt to associate her with any attack on the integrity of doctrine to be successful.

Enrico Roccagiachini

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