T
he Church is a great school of prayer. Many of us learned how to whisper our first prayers on our parents' or grandparents' laps. We might, perhaps, cherish the memory of our mommy and daddy who taught us to say our prayers before going to bed. These moments of rec- ollection are often those in which parents listen to some intimate secret and can give their advice inspired by the Gospel. Then, as they grow up, there are other encoun- ters, with other witnesses and teachers of prayer. This is good to remember. The life of a parish and every Christian commu- nity is marked by liturgical moments and moments of community prayer. We be- come aware that the gift we received with simplicity in infancy is a great heritage, a rich inheritance and that the experience of prayer is worth deepening more and more. The garment of faith is not starched, but develops with us; it is not rigid, it grows, even through moments of crisis and resurrection. Ac- tually, there is no growth without moments of crisis because crises make you grow. Experiencing crisis is a necessary way to grow. And the breath of faith is prayer: -. After certain passages in life, we become aware that without faith we could not have made it and that our strength was prayer - not only personal prayer, but also that of our brothers and sis- ters, and of the community that accompanied and sup- ported us, of the people who know us, of the people we ask to pray for us. For this reason, too, com- munities and groups dedi- cated to prayer flourish in the Church. Some Christians even feel the call to make prayer the primary action of their day. There are monas- teries, convents, hermitages in the Church where persons consecrated to God live. They often become centers of spiri- tual light. - They are cells that are vital not only for the ecclesial fabric, but that of society itself. Let us think, for example, of the role that mo- nasticism played in the birth and growth of European civi- lization, and other cultures as well. Praying and work- ing in community keeps the world going. It is a motor! Everything in the Church originates in prayer and everything grows thanks to prayer. When the Enemy, the Evil One, wants to combat the Church, he does so first by trying to drain her fonts, hindering them from pray- ing. For example, we see this in certain groups who agree about moving ecclesial re- form forward, changes in the life of the Church and all the organizations, it is the media that informs everyone- But prayer is not evident, there is no prayer. We need to change this ... prayer is what opens the door to the Holy Spirit, who inspires progress. Changes in the Church with- out prayer are not changes made by the Church. They are changes made by groups. And when the Enemy - as I said - wants to combat the Church, he does it first of all by draining her fonts, inhibit- ing prayer and making these other proposals. If prayer ceases, for a little while it seems that everything can go ahead like always - by inertia, no? - but after a short time, the Church becomes aware that it has become like an empty shell, that it has lost its bearings, that it no longer possesses its source of warmth and love. Holy women and men do not have easier lives than other people. Even they actu- ally have their own problems to address, and, what is more, they are often the objects of opposition. But their strength is prayer. They always draw from the inexhaustible "well" of Mother Church. Through prayer they nourish the flame of their faith, as oil used to do for lamps. And thus, they move ahead walk- ing in faith and hope. The saints, who often count for little in the eyes of the world, are in reality the ones who sustain it, not with the weap- ons of money and power, of the communications media - and so forth - but with the weapon of prayer. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus poses a dramatic question that always makes us reflect: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk 18:8), or will he find only organizations, like groups of entrepreneurs of the faith, everything organized well, who do charitable works, many things, or will he find faith? - (This question comes at the end of a parable that demonstrates the need to pray with perseverance without getting tired).- This is the Church's essen- tial task: to pray and to teach how to pray. To transmit the lamp of faith and the oil of prayer from generation to generation. - Without faith everything collapses; and without prayer faith is extinguished. Faith and prayer together. There is no other alternative. For this reason, the Church, as the house and school of commu- nion, is the house and school of faith and prayer.
FORMING CONSCIENCES POPE FRANCIS I 4 OPINION
THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS APRIL 23, 2021
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Hans Kng and the perils of fame
D
uring his 1977 rookie year with the Baltimore Ori- oles, future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray got a piece of advice from veteran Lee May: If you've got talent, May told the 21-year-old slugger, fame can't help you, but the odds are it'll ruin you. Murray followed May's sage counsel and avoided the limelight. Father Hans Kng, the mediagenic Swiss Catholic writer who died at age 93 on April 6, didn't. Therein lies a sad tale. Hans Kng certainly had talent. His doctoral disserta- tion on Karl Barth, arguably the greatest of 20th-century Protestant theologians, became a pioneering book in ecu- menical theology. His small tract, "The Council: Reform and Reunion," helped frame the discussion at Vatican II's critical first session. Kng could also recognize and pro- mote talent; he personally engineered Joseph Ratzinger's appointment to a professorial chair in the prestigious theology department at the University of Tbingen. Yet, mythologies notwithstanding, Hans Kng had vir- tually no impact on the great documents of the Second Vatican Council. During the council years, he spent more of his time in Rome with the world press and with the "Off Broadway" council of public lectures and debates than doing the harder work of developing Vatican II's texts. Ratzinger, by contrast, made critically important contributions to several conciliar documents. So did Bel- gian theologian Grard Philips, who got (at best) .0001 percent of the media attention Kng received, but who was so influential in developing what the Council actu- ally taught that another important Vatican II theologian, French Dominican Yves Congar, joked that "Vatican II" should be renamed "Louvain I," after Philips's university. During and after the Vatican II years, Hans Kng in- vented and then exploited a new personality type: the dissident Catholic theologian as international media star. Handsome, articulate, and a reliable spokesman for the progressive cause of the moment, Kng was one of the first Catholic intellectuals to figure out that the world press couldn't resist the man-bites- dog storyline in which a Catho- lic thinker challenges Church doctrine - and does so in ways that confirm progressive cul- tural biases. Thus the man who once wrote a truly bold book ("Justification: The Doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Reflection") became more of a media personality than a seri- ous Catholic theologian. And with the 1971 book, "Infallible? An Inquiry," Kng declared himself in sharp dissent from a defined dogma of the apostolic faith. Thus whatever his influence among the Davos elites - and one must hope that this man who never left the priesthood had some spiritual impact within that ultramundane world - it's arguable that Hans Kng's most serious contribution to theology after his book on Barth was an accident of the academic sabbati- cal system. For as he was about to go on leave from the university one year, Kng asked Joseph Ratzinger to take over one his Tbingen courses - and Ratzinger's lectures in that course became the international bestseller, "Intro- duction to Christianity." Hans Kng was admirably clear about his position: he did not believe to be true, nor would he teach as the truth, what the Catholic Church definitively taught to be true. Thus it should have come as no surprise to anyone when, on Dec. 15, 1979, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith agreed with Father Kng, declared that he "could not be considered a Catholic theologian," and withdrew his mandate to teach as a "professor of Catholic theol- ogy." The German episcopate agreed with CDF's decision, which reflected the bottom-line Catholic conviction that, thanks to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Church abides in a truth it can articulate authoritatively, even as its understanding of that truth develops. (Things have, obviously, changed among the German bishops.) The last decades of Hans Kng's life were marked by bitter attacks on Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI - although the latter, always the Christian gentle- man, invited his old Tbingen colleague to share an afternoon with him at Castel Gandolfo, shortly after his election. At certain points, as I noted in a 2010 open let- ter to Father Kng (https://www.firstthings.com/web- exclusives/2010/04/an-open-letter-to-hans-kng), those anti-papal polemics descended into the toxic waste dump of calumny, not least because of Kng's inability to liber- ate himself from liberal shibboleths on everything from abortion to AIDS to Catholic-Islamic relations to stem cell research - a sorry record for an intelligent man. Lee May's warning to Eddie Murray was spot on: fame is dangerous. Which is why, to paraphrase F.R. Leavis on the literary Sitwells, Hans Kng belongs more to the his- tory of publicity than the history of theology. Requiescat in pace.
THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE George Weigel
W
ith the increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccines, and a plethora of information from varied sources, we have a par- ticular responsibility as Catholics to seek the truth and form our consciences. While vaccines hold promising relief from the coronavirus pandemic, not all vaccines are created equal. There are serious medical-moral questions that must be considered in order to form one's conscience so as to make the best vaccination decisions possible amidst the competing voices surrounding us. The following are some important points about Catholic moral teaching in light of coronavirus vaccines to assist in our prayerful decision-making. IF I DECIDE TO GET VACCINATED, DOES IT MATTER WHICH VAC- CINE I GET? Not all COVID vaccines are morally equivalent. Some vaccines have a con- nection with fetal cells obtained from abortion. Currently, three vaccines have been approved for use in the United States. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do not use the aborted fetal cell line in the production of the vac- cine. The Janssen/Johnson &Johnson vaccine however, does use the aborted fetal cell line in the production of their vaccine. As additional vaccines come into the market, these too will have to be evaluated with the same moral criteria. As the Bishops of the United States have reminded us, "If one can choose among equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vac- cine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be cho- sen. Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson's." WHAT OTHER CONSIDERATIONS GO INTO CHOOSING A VACCINE? Medical considerations include the efficacy of the vaccines, and the state of one's health relative to the degree of risk of coronavirus infection. Cer- tain questions remain open, such as the effects of the vaccine on pregnant women, unborn children, fertility, and other medical factors, and even whether particular vaccines might be more appropriate for particular popu- lations. Many of these things will not be known without further medical re- search. Currently, all available vaccines have been approved for temporary emergency use and there is much that is not known about their long-term effects. Those who are younger and in good health, and statistically have a lower risk of becoming seriously ill, may reasonably decline, or choose to wait until more is known about the mechanism of the vaccine, or wait until better options are available in the future. Those in more vulnerable catego- ries, such as age and comorbidities, will have to evaluate the various factors relative to their particular state of health. Each person must make a careful determination about whether a COVID-19 vaccination is appropriate for his or her set of circumstances, weighing carefully the medical and moral facts, and the risks and benefits. CAN I CHOOSE WHICH VACCINE TO GET? Because of the limitations of vaccine availability, currently each provider distributes only the brand of vaccine they have been able to obtain at any given time. WILL I BE INFORMED ABOUT WHICH VACCINE WILL BE AVAILABLE? Yes, most providers will tell you which vaccine will be administered be- fore you arrive for the scheduled appointment. If it is not on the registration page, it may be included in a confirmation email or text message. While vaccination providers may not have all vaccine options available simultane- ously, it would be wise, if possible, to ask for either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, when making a vaccination appointment. CAN I REFUSE TO GET A PARTICULAR VACCINE? Yes. You can always refuse to take a particular vaccine, and if you do so, be sure to let your provider know why. It is always important to weigh your decision with an informed Catholic conscience relative to your own medical circumstances. Deciding about vaccines is a complex choice which must be discerned carefully in light of each individual's health situation. HOW CAN WE ENCOURAGE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND PHARMA- CEUTICAL COMPANIES TO RESPECT CATHOLIC MORAL TEACHING? Most healthcare providers do not even realize that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is produced using aborted fetal cell lines. Patients should, there- fore, thoughtfully and respectfully voice their concerns to their healthcare providers and to pharmaceutical companies. If more people speak up it will help to encourage the production and use of ethical alternatives. Contact information of vaccine manufacturers and sample letters advocating for the ethical production of vaccines are available at: www.usccb.org/resources/letters- pharmaceutical-companies . CAN VACCINES BE MANDATED? The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recently noted, "Practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary." Each individual has the right to accept or decline a vaccine. WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION? More detailed information from reliable sources, including the Holy See, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and The National Catholic Bioethics Center can be found on our vaccine resource page at www.worces- terdiocese.org/vaccines .
What Catholics should know about COVID vaccines
CNS PHOTO VATICAN MEDIA
Pope Francis gives his blessing during his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican April 14.
The Church, teacher of prayer
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