Running Off At The Keyboard

This is the correct link for "Covenant Communities"

Would the pope embrace Pentecostalism? It seems like such an odd thing for him to do since Pentecostalism was founded in the Protestant Church in 1906, and Catholics consider Protestantism to be a heresy. Yet in Googling Pentecostalism and Charismatic together, I get a lot of Catholic sites which indicate that our Charismatic movement came directly from Pentecostalism, even to the point that the early believers were so anxious to have the experience which took place at Duchesne University that they didn't wait for students from Duchesne to get to Notre Dame, but instead went out to find a Protestant minister who initiated them. I found this story by John Vannari on the web, from which the following excerpts are taken: **Yet, at the Vatican's Good Friday Liturgy, 2002, the Preacher to the Papal Household, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, said the other religions "are not merely tolerated by God-----but positively willed by Him as an expression of the inexhaustible richness of His grace and His will for everyone to be saved." [4] This, in short, is apostasy. ** **Father Cantalamessa's blasphemy does not end here. He also claimed that God is "humble in saving," and the Church should follow suit. "Christ is more concerned that all people should be saved than that they should know who is their Savior," he told a large congregation at Saint Peter's Basilica, which included Pope John Paul II and top Vatican officials. ** **In fact, only 50 years ago, if a 7-year-old student in Catholic school mouthed Father Cantalamessa's novel doctrine, he would have been deemed unfit to receive First Holy Communion. Now, 40 years into Vatican II's "New Springtime," this apostasy is preached on Good Friday at the Vatican by the Preacher to the Papal Household. ** **This episode also reveals one of the many disadvantages of the Internet. News of Father Cantalamessa's homily was broadcast around the world via the Internet to thousands of Catholics who would have never otherwise heard it. The result is that many Catholics assume the Capuchin's words delivered in Saint Peter's somehow approach the level of magisterial teaching. This is not true. Father Cantalamessa's Good Friday address is simply another homily filled with errors delivered by a Charismatic. It is that and nothing more. ** **Who is Father Raniero Cantalamessa? To learn his story, we must go back to the 1977 pan-denominational Charismatic Conference held at a football stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. This conference was attended by 50,000 people from at least 10 different denominations including: Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Messianic Jews, non-denominational "Christians," Pentecostals and United Methodists. [5] At one point, Protestant Bob Mumford was preaching to the 50,000. Mumford lifted up his Bible and said, "And if you sneak a peak at the end of the book, JESUS WINS!" This sent the crowd into pandemonium. The entire football stadium suddenly erupted into an extended cheering, "praise-frenzy" that lasted about 17 minutes. Charismatics call this "The Holy Ghost Breakdown." They interpret this ,natural, pep-rally enthusiasm as the Holy Spirit moving through the crowd, uniting the crowd [containing Catholics and members of various denominations] and inspiring this raving jubilation. This, according to them, is the "breaking down of denominational walls" that is positively willed by the Holy Spirit, even though it defies 2000 years of Catholic teaching on the one true Church of Christ. It also defies the traditional Catholic teaching that forbids Catholics to engage in positive religious camaraderie with false religions. [6] Nevertheless, at the Kansas City conference, there was a Capuchin priest named Father Raniero Cantalamessa who had come from Milan to investigate the Charismatic Movement. He was so impressed with this rootin' tootin' praise frenzy that he became, in charismatic lingo, an "anointed preacher of the Charismatic Renewal." [7] In 1980, this same Father Cantalamessa was appointed by Pope John Paul II as Preacher to the Papal Household. Now, this "anointed preacher" is given a pulpit in St. Peter's basilica on Good Friday to tell the world that God positively wills false religions. No wonder another Papal theologian, Cardinal Luigi Ciappi, who had access to the complete Third Secret of Fatima, said, "In the Third Secret is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top." [8] **

I finished the Vatican's New Age document this morning. It's good. In fact it's very good. If it's put to the use it is so well suited to, Catholic groups that wish to pervert Catholic theology with New Age ideas will have a very hard time doing so. The Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue have investigated thoroughly. There was even some material that I didn't know, and I've been poking around New Age since approx. 1971. Of course having it on paper is one thing. Implementation is a different matter altogether. The document is useless if the bishops don't implement it. I think the best concept of all presented in the document is the contrast drawn between Christianity and New Age in section 6.1 "guidance and sound formation are needed." That section makes it very clear that you can't have both because New Age is opposed to Christianity. It says: <> Some other good points made: - 6.1 validates the use of reason in our faith search. It also documents the New Age use of confusion, or what I would call "Chaos Magick." - 1.3 mentions Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry as a source for these beliefs and cites Darwinist evolutionary theory as a factor in their acceptance. - 1.4 condemns Enneagram - 2(.0) calls New Age syncretistic, says it is time to take it seriously, and indicates it teaches that the time for particular religions is past. - 2.1 documents its theosophical, anthroposophical, and spiritualism foundations. Here and elsewhere the document identifies its tendency toward androgyny. It documents the New Age tendency to do away with Christ. 2.2.1 is very good. It speaks of mediums and channeling and spiritualism and angels as spirit guides. 2.3.1 talks about Gaia which also comes up in other places in the document. 2.3.2 discusses the "perennial philosophy" as it is lodged in alchemy, magic, astrology and theosophy. Blavatsky is mentioned here and in other places. It addresses the problems with Jung's psychology here and elsewhere. Unfortunately it doesn't connect Jung with the occult, though. It talks about Findhorn and Esalen. 2.3.4.1 treats deep ecology, reincarnation and self-redemption, and the action of being a channel for a higher being. 2.3.4.2 describes what is wrong with the concept of "the Christ." 2.3.4.3 speaks of James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis. 2.4 addresses the deep ecologists' policies based on too many eaters on the planet. 2.5 speaks about syncretistic one world religions and implies but does not mention directly URI. 3.4 I love what it says here about the relationships of man with God and his fellow man. The personal relationship is affirmed. 3.5 addresses the difference between the New Age concept of the god within and the Catholic concept of theosis. There are so many good ideas contained in section 4 "New Age and Christian Faith in Contrast" that I'm not going to list them all. Just read the document! There were a couple places where I would wish they had said something a bit differently, but those are far and away outweighed by the good material. Plus an added benefit-- it's READABLE. There is nothing confusing in it. Nothing can be read to have two meanings. There are no ambiguities that I could find, and I had no problem understanding 9/10th of it. That alone is a major achievement during this pontificate! Now we will sit back and see what happens next. God be willing in the near future there will not be any more websites of women religious who are teaching heterodox spirituality!

# posted by Carrie : 3:18 PM

A writer for the Times-Picayune has proposed a way for the Vatican to provide funds to the victims of sexual abuse that might help to restore the image of the Church. Unfortunately the link will only take you to the website of the newspaper, but not to the actual article. So I've quoted the pertinent passage below. From the website: **The Vatican Has the Means to Pay** **Where would the compensation come from? First, from excess church property. The church is obligated to those its priests have harmed. The second source could be Rome. This Christmas, I purchased reproductions from the Vatican Library. Let Rome open its treasure house and sell limited reproductions to remedy the injury its leaders have caused. Is there a better time or cause? The Pieta was sent to New York from the Vatican. Think of how much limited copies of just Michelangelo's originals could bring -- how much pleasure they would afford, how much their competitive sale could bring to those damaged by priests. Isn't the universal healing this could bring not worth being considered seriously by the pope and bishops? Vernon Gregson Jr. ** The idea has merit. I think people would be willing to buy a copy of the Pieta if the profits were going to be directed to a fund that would be used to finance help for the victims. Or if not a sculpture, then an art print. This could accomplish both provision of funds and an impetus for a return to holiness, especially if the artworks were priced so that Catholics could afford to place them in their homes. A print of a famous artist's work would be worthy of placement in the livingroom where the whole family would look at it every day. Non-Catholics who came into the house would see it as well, and the owner would not have to be embarrased before strangers to say that it was a print of a famous painting. We are talking here of museum quality art. It would also be a reminder that the Church has produced things of beauty as well as the ugliness of priestly sexual abuse of minors. If the Vatican is opposed to inexpensive copies of art treasures, then perhaps limited edition numbered prints which whole congregations and/or the wealthy could afford to buy might also go a long way toward turning our thoughts to holy things. At least it's worth some consideration and exploration.

# posted by Carrie : 9:32 AM