"Smoke of Satan" entering the Catholic Church - Pope Paul VI
Vatican City, May. 16, 2008 - When Pope Paul VI spoke about the "smoke of Satan" entering the Catholic Church, he was referring to liturgical abuses, according to the prelate who served as his master of ceremonies.
Cardinal Virgilio Noe, the chief Vatican liturgist during the pontificate of Paul VI, spoke candidly about the late Pope's concerns in an interview with the Roman Petrus web site. The Italian prelate-- who was also the Vatican's top liturgist under Pope John Paul I and the early years of the pontificate of John Paul II-- is now retired, and at the age of 86 his health is failing. In his interview with Petrus he concentrated primarily on his years serving Pope Paul VI.
Pope Paul accepted the liturgical reforms after Vatican II "with pleasure," Cardinal Noe said. He added that Paul VI was not be nature a sad man, but "he was saddened by the fact of having been left alone by the Roman Curia." Regarding the late Pope's famous remark about the "smoke of Satan," Cardinal Noe said that he knew what Paul VI intended by that statement. In that denunciation, he said, the Pope "meant to include all those priests or bishops and cardinals who didn't render worship to the Lord by celebrating badly Holy Mass because of an errant interpretation of the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. He spoke of the smoke of Satan because he maintained that those priests who turned Holy Mass into dross in the name of creativity, in reality were possessed of the vainglory and the pride of the Evil One. So, the smoke of Satan was nothing other than the mentality which wanted to distort the traditional and liturgical canons of the Eucharistic ceremony."
For Pope Paul VI, the cardinal continued, the worst outcome of the post-conciliar liturgical reform was the "craving to be in the limelight" that caused many priests to ignore liturgical guidelines. Cardinal Noe recalled that the Pope himself believed in careful adherence to the rubrics of the Mass, firmly believing that "no one is lord of the Mass."
Speaking for himself, the former top Vatican liturgist said that the liturgy must always be celebrated with reverence and careful respect for the rubrics. He said with regret that in the wake of Vatican II "it was believed that everything, or nearly, was permitted." Cardinal Noe said: "Now it is necessary to recover-- and in a hurry-- the sense of the sacred in the ars celebrandi, before the smoke of Satan completely pervades the whole Church."
Pope Benedict XVI decided a special day of prayer for the Church in China
Vatican City, May. 17, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI has composed a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan, following up on his decision to make May 24 a special day of prayer for the Church in China.
In his message to the Chinese faithful, released in May 2007, the Holy Father asked the worldwide Church to join in prayer for Chinese Catholicism on May 24. That date is the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. In China, devotion to the Virgin Mary centers on the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan, in Shanghai.
Pope Benedict 's prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan reads:
Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title 'Help of Christians,' the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mother's care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.When you obediently said 'Yes' in the house of Nazareth, you allowed God's eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption. You willingly and generously co-operated in that work, allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul, until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary, standing beside your Son, Who died that we might live.
From that moment, you became, in a new way, the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith and choose to follow in His footsteps by taking up His Cross. Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter. Grant that your children may discern at all times, even those that are darkest, the signs of God's loving presence.
Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trails, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus. In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love. Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built. Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!
warning of doctrinal difficulties in Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church
Canberra, May. 13, 2008 (vaticans.org) - The Australian Catholic bishops' conference has issued a public statement warning of "doctrinal difficulties" in a book by the retired bishop.
Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who was an auxiliary bishop of the Sydney archdiocese for 20 years prior to his retirement in 2001, is the author of Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus. Bishop Robinson is currently on a promotional tour, speaking about the book to audiences in the United States.
At their May meeting, the Australian bishops warn that Confronting Power calls into question "the authority of the Catholic Church to teach the truth definitively." The book reflects "Bishop Robinson’s uncertainty about the knowledge and authority of Christ himself," the bishops report.
The bishops' statement goes on to note problems with the bishop's book on "among other things, the nature of Tradition, the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, the infallibility of the Councils and the Pope, the authority of the Creeds, the nature of the ministerial priesthood and central elements of the Church’s moral teaching."
The Australian bishops express their gratitude for the work Bishop Robinson did before his retirement, particularly his work with victims of sexual abuse. "However," their statement continues, "people have a right to know clearly what the Catholic Church believes and teaches."
The statement indicates that the bishops' conference had corresponded with Bishop Robinson in an effort to resolve problems with the book. The fundamental problem, the statement notes, is the author's failure to acknowledge that "the Church's magisterium teaches the truth authoritatively in the name of Christ."
The bishops acknowledge, "The authority entrusted by Christ to his Church may at times be poorly exercised." Nevertheless, the statement says, the failures of human leaders does not "invalidate the Church’s authority to teach particular truths of faith and morals."
Today in Church History - April 21
1957 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Fidei Donum
1878 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Inscrutabili
Vatican to open the first Catholic Church in Saudi Arabia
Rome, Italy, Mar.19, 2008 (vaticans.org) - The Vatican is in negotiations with Saudi Arabia to open the first Catholic Church in the country in modern times, the Telegraph reports.
Archbishop Mounged El-Hachem, the papal envoy to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates, said that talks had started a few weeks ago after King Abdullah’s November visit with Pope Benedict XVI.
Archbishop El-Hachem said a church in Saudi Arabia would be an important sign of “reciprocity” between the two faiths.
At present all Saudi citizens are required by law to be Muslim. The Mutaween, the kingdom’s religious police, strictly prohibits the practice of non-Muslim religions.
The last Christian priest was expelled from the kingdom in 1985.
Catholic relations with other Muslim countries are improving. On Sunday, Qatar saw its first Catholic church open.
Source:CNA