Jon Sobrino SJ and the Pact of the Catacombs
Jesuit Jon Sobrino has made comment on the new pope - it's in Spanish here but I've seen the English translation posted here and here. Jon Sobrino SJ was part of the community of the Jesuits killed in El Salvador and is a noted writer on liberation theology (and censored by the CDF). I have a number of past posts about him, including ... Alejandro Garcia-Rivera and others on Jon Sobrino's Christology ... Jon Sobrino and Karl Rahner ... Jon Sobrino SJ interview.
But anyway, the interview is very interesting, both on the new pope and his actions during the Dirty War, as well as in what Sobrino hopes for from Francis ...
The first [task for the pope] -- I believe the greatest dream -- is to make John XIII's dream a reality: The Church is in a special way the Church of the Poor. This didn't succeed in the hall of Vatican II, and so about forty bishops met outside the hall and in the Catacombs of Saint Domitila signed the manifesto which has been called the Pact of the Catacombs.
And he also hopes for ...
urgent reform of the Roman Curia. It's also necessary that the members of the Curia should preferably be lay people. Likewise it's important that Rome let the local churches choose their pastors. That all the symbols of power and worldly honor should disappear from the papal environment, and certainly that the successor of Peter stop being a head of state, since this would have made Jesus ashamed. It's necessary that the whole Church see the present separation of the Christian faiths as an offense against God. We must ask the Pope that Rome resolve the problem of Catholics whose first marriage failed and who have found stability in a second union. And, of course, priestly celibacy should be reconsidered ..... once and for all we fix the untenable situation of women in the Church. Also that we stop undervaluing, and at times despising, the indigenous world -- the Mapuche of South America and all those the pope will get to know in his travels through Africa, Asia, and Latin America. And, of course, that we learn to love Mother Earth.
I had not heard of the Pact of the Catacombs before. You can read more about it in this post at Iglesia Descalza
But anyway, the interview is very interesting, both on the new pope and his actions during the Dirty War, as well as in what Sobrino hopes for from Francis ...
The first [task for the pope] -- I believe the greatest dream -- is to make John XIII's dream a reality: The Church is in a special way the Church of the Poor. This didn't succeed in the hall of Vatican II, and so about forty bishops met outside the hall and in the Catacombs of Saint Domitila signed the manifesto which has been called the Pact of the Catacombs.
And he also hopes for ...
urgent reform of the Roman Curia. It's also necessary that the members of the Curia should preferably be lay people. Likewise it's important that Rome let the local churches choose their pastors. That all the symbols of power and worldly honor should disappear from the papal environment, and certainly that the successor of Peter stop being a head of state, since this would have made Jesus ashamed. It's necessary that the whole Church see the present separation of the Christian faiths as an offense against God. We must ask the Pope that Rome resolve the problem of Catholics whose first marriage failed and who have found stability in a second union. And, of course, priestly celibacy should be reconsidered ..... once and for all we fix the untenable situation of women in the Church. Also that we stop undervaluing, and at times despising, the indigenous world -- the Mapuche of South America and all those the pope will get to know in his travels through Africa, Asia, and Latin America. And, of course, that we learn to love Mother Earth.
I had not heard of the Pact of the Catacombs before. You can read more about it in this post at Iglesia Descalza
posted by crystal | 4:03 PM
5 Comments:
Crystal, I don't know if you've looked around on that site you linked to (about the Catacomb Pact), but it has some pretty interesting stuff (interesting, that is, in the way suicide cultists and geocentrists are interesting). Apparently the work of ultra-traditionalists (possibly Sede Vacantists), it has a critique of Pope Francis. It criticizes him for, among other things, his insistence on paying his hotel bill, which "sent the message that he does not want anyone to serve him or take care of his personal life." I guess coming "not to be served, but to serve" is fine for the lowly Jesus Christ, but beneath the dignity of the Bishop of Rome!
Hi PrickliestPear,
Yes, I've come upon that place before when looking for documents and I couldn't figure out what their stance was exactly. I wasn't able to find a more "objective" place to link to for the pact of the catacombs but I'll look harder and relink if I can ;)
OK, done :)
I didn't mean to suggest that you shouldn't use them as a source--actually, they include photos of the originals of some of the "progressivist" documents they post, which perhaps gives them a little more credibility.
Actually, it interesting that they didn't comment on that particular document. They just assume their audience will be as appalled as they are, I guess, that they didn't see the need to editorialize.
She has more details, so that's good. I was hoping to find something about it in O'Malley's Vatican II book. He does mentions a group of about 45 at the council with Helder Camara as leader who were interested especially in helping the poor but he doesn't say anything that I could find about the pact.
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