Benedict XVI has acted likewise for the beatification of his predecessor. An attentive examination of the new norms reveals that the legislation reverts to what was in place before the XIIth century: As John Paul II explained it, this regression is a consequence of the principle of collegiality:. In light of the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council on collegiality, We also think that the bishops themselves should be more closely associated with the Holy See in dealing with the causes of saints.
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But the legislation of the 12th century merged beatifications and canonizations as two non-infallible acts. This constitutes a first reason warranting a serious doubt that the conditions required for the infallibility of canonizations have been met. The motu proprio, Ad Tuendam Fidem of June 29, , reinforces this doubt. The purpose of this document is to insert certain norms into the Code of Canon Law , additions made necessary by the Profession of Faith.
First, the infallibility of canonizations in principle is established. But then the text of Ad Tuendam Fidem establishes distinctions which diminish the range of the infallibility of canonizations, since it becomes clear that this infallibility is no longer to be understood in the traditional sense. At least this is what comes across from a reading of the document drafted by Cardinal Ratzinger to serve as an official commentary of the motu proprio.
Canonization doubts for John XXIII & John Paul II
The Profession of Faith in effect distinguishes three categories of truths that constitute the object of the teaching of the supreme Magisterium: In the Instruction Donum Veritatis of , which is the authentic commentary of this Profession of Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger gives as examples of this third category: The motu proprio [ Ad Tuendam Fidem ] confers a greater authority to these two documents: This commentary specifies in what way the pope can henceforth exercise his infallible teaching authority.
Up to now we had a personally infallible and definitive act of the locutio ex cathedra as well as the decrees of ecumenical councils. Under this third category, the pope acts as a simple interpreter of the collegial magisterium. Now, if one observes the new norms promulgated in by the apostolic constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister of John Paul II, it is clear that in the precise case of canonizations the pope, for the sake of collegiality, will exercise his teaching authority according to this third mode.
Would they be so in virtue of the infallibility of the ordinary and universal magisterium of the College of Bishops?
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Until the present, the entire theological tradition has never said that such was the case, and has always regarded the infallibility of canonizations as the fruit of a divine assistance granted only to the personal magisterium of the pope, which can be likened to ex cathedra pronouncements [ locutio ex cathedra ].
This constitutes a second reason authorizing us to entertain serious doubts about the infallibility of the canonizations carried out in conformity with the post-conciliar reforms. Just as the magisterium is traditional because it always teaches the same immutable truths, so also is canonization traditional because it ought always to point out the same heroic practice of the Christian virtues, beginning with the theological virtues. Consequently, if the pope sets forth as an example the life of one of the faithful departed who had not practiced the virtues in the heroic degree, or if he shows them under a new perspective, as inspired more by the dignity of human nature than by the supernatural action of the Holy Ghost, one cannot see in what way this act would constitute a canonization.
To change the object is to change the act. This change of perspective can be seen in the new theology and the post-conciliar magisterium. The distinction between a common sanctity and the heroic sanctity in which holiness properly so-called consists, is silenced.
And in fact, since the Council, when theologians speak of the act of heroic virtue, they tend more or less to define it by distinguishing it from an act of simply natural virtue, instead of distinguishing it from an ordinary act of supernatural virtue. This change of perspective also appears if one observes the ecumenical orientation of sanctity since Vatican II. The pope alludes to a communion of holiness transcending the different religions, manifesting the redemptive action of Christ and the outpouring of His Spirit on the whole of mankind.
As for Pope Benedict XVI, one has no alternative than to recognize that he defines salvation in the same ecumenical sense, which falsifies by the very fact the notion of sanctity, a correlative of supernatural salvation Three serious reasons authorize the faithful Catholic to doubt the merits of the new beatifications and canonizations.
In the context resulting from the post-conciliar reforms, the pope and the bishops offer to the veneration of faithful Catholics authentic saints, but canonized at the conclusion of an inadequate and doubtful procedure. Thus there can be no doubt that Padre Pio, canonized after Vatican II, practiced the virtues in a heroic degree even though the new style of process that concluded with the proclamation of his virtues can only give one pause. On the other hand, the same procedure makes possible canonizations that would have once been unthinkable, in which the title of holiness is conferred upon faithful departed whose reputation is controversial and in whom the exercise of virtue in the heroic degree is not particularly outstanding.
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Is it certain that for the popes who have accomplished these newfangled canonizations, heroic virtue is what it was for all their predecessors until Vatican II? This unwonted situation can be explained by the confusion introduced by the post-conciliar reforms. Archived from the original on 6 January Archived from the original on 5 January Archived from the original on Archived from the original on 7 June Archived from the original on 29 January The New York Times.
Archived from the original on 10 February Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 7 April Retrieved 11 November The MetroWest Daily News. Archived from the original on 30 April Retrieved 9 June Archived from the original on 6 April Retrieved 1 January Archived from the original on 10 April Archived from the original on 9 December Archived from the original on 19 November Retrieved 18 November Beatification looms closer for John Paul II".
Archived from the original on 15 January Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Canonization doubts for John XXIII & John Paul II - District of Canada
Calendar of the Beatification". Archived from the original on 5 May Archived from the original on 29 April Archived from the original on 26 September John Paul II Foundation. Retrieved 11 January Archived from the original on 31 May Random House, , — Archived from the original on 26 August Retrieved 4 May From the 18 April issue: Statesman and prophet, he overcame the poverty of the possible. Archived from the original on 15 February Will history use name John Paul the Great? Through all its long history, the Catholic Church has conferred the posthumous title of "Great" on just two popes: What the 12 million know—and I found out too".
The Wall Street Journal. Patrick de La Rocque to compose a document that would be submitted to the ecclesiastical authorities in charge of the diocesan process: That document, which makes up the bulk of the present book, was sent according to the legal norms to the various individuals responsible for the diocesan process, so as to be included among the items in the dossier and examined with the same care as the others. Although it arrived on time at the competent offices, our envelope was mysteriously set aside, only to be opened the day after the diocesan process closed: Thus it will not figure at all among the tens of thousands of pages of testimonies solemnly submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Brought by another venue to the attention of the Roman tribunals, our questions unfortunately received no response, quite the contrary: Should we then remain silent? In keeping with the recommendation of the Apostle, " Be instant in season and out of season " II Tim. Pius X and the Holy See, furthermore informing them of our intention to publish it.
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Whether by a scheduling coincidence or not, the world learned several days later about the provisional halting of the beatification process for lack of sufficient evidence attesting to the " miracle " that supposedly had been obtained through the intercession of John Paul II. However, this same " miracle " was finally recognized several months later, and the beatification ceremony was scheduled for May 1, These pages therefore were once again of great current interest.
And so I asked that they be published. In his study, the author might have selected from among many astonishing, troubling, or even scandalous facts that have adorned this pontificate. Was it fitting and right for a Catholic pope to receive the sacred ashes of Shiva?