Tag: Confession

AM+DG

The English Denzinger site (which was run by (20) priests, and which (strangely??) has not been active for a few years, was invaluable and priceless in terms of comparing everything Francis claimed to what authentic Church Teaching says.

The following is an example of one article I had saved. It is very long, so I will post just a few bits every day. The following continues from yesterday’s post.

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Benedict XVI…

…judges Francis’ idea that the Church should not be a Point of Reference

• The Church is always enlightened by the presence of Christ

And since the glory of God is Love, the heavenly Jerusalem is the icon of the Church, utterly holy and glorious, without spot or wrinkle (cf. Eph 5:27), permeated at her heart and in every part of her by the presence of the God who is Love. She is called a ‘bride’, ‘the bride of the Lamb’ (Rev 20:9), […] The City and Bride is the locus of God’s full communion with humanity; She has no need of a temple or of any external source of light, because the indwelling presence of God and of the Lamb illuminates her from within. (Benedict XVI. Holy Mass for the inauguration of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, May 13, 2007)

…judges Francis’ idea on the Re-reading of the Gospel

• The great risk involved in reading the Gospel without the light of faith

Another major theme that emerged during the Synod, to which I would now like to draw attention, is the interpretation of sacred Scripture in the Church. The intrinsic link between the word and faith makes clear that authentic biblical hermeneutics can only be had within the faith of the Church, which has its paradigm in Mary’s fiat. Saint Bonaventure states that without faith there is no key to throw open the sacred text: ‘This is the knowledge of Jesus Christ, from whom, as from a fountain, flow forth the certainty and the understanding of all sacred Scripture. Therefore it is impossible for anyone to attain to knowledge of that truth unless he first have infused faith in Christ, which is the lamp, the gate and the foundation of all Scripture’ (Breviloquium, Prol.). And Saint Thomas Aquinas, citing Saint Augustine, insists that ‘the letter, even that of the Gospel, would kill, were there not the inward grace of healing faith’ (STh, I-II, q.106, a.2). (Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, no. 29, September 30, 2010)

• Scripture sheds light on human existence

The word of God sheds light on human existence and stirs our conscience to take a deeper look at our lives, inasmuch as all human history stands under God’s judgment. (Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, no. 99, September 30, 2010)

• The Word of God should be an inspiration for temporal authorities

In the light of the Lord’s words, let us discern the ‘signs of the times’ present in history, and not flee from a commitment to those who suffer and the victims of forms of selfishness. The Synod recalled that a commitment to justice and to changing our world is an essential element of evangelization.[…] For this reason, the Synod Fathers wished to say a special word to all those who take part in political and social life. Evangelization and the spread of God’s word ought to inspire their activity in the world, as they work for the true common good in respecting and promoting the dignity of every person. (Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, no. 100, September 30, 2010)

…judges Francis’ idea on happiness

• Jesus is the happiness we seek

Dear young people, the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist. Only he gives the fullness of life to humanity! […] I repeat today what I said at the beginning of my Pontificate: ‘If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation’ (Homily at the Mass of Inauguration, 24 April, 2005). Be completely convinced of this: Christ takes from you nothing that is beautiful and great, but brings everything to perfection for the glory of God, the happiness of men and women, and the salvation of the world. (Benedict XVI. Address on the Celebration of welcoming the young people on the occasion of the XX World Youth Day, August 18, 2005)

• The example of Saint Francis: only the Infinite can fill the human heart

‘Francis was always happy and generous, dedicated to play and song, roaming through the town of Assisi day and night with friends like him, spend-thrifts, dissipating all that they could have or earn on lunches and other things’ (3 LTC 1, 2). Of how many of today’s youth could something similar be said? […] In that way of living there was the desire for happiness that dwells in every human heart. But could that life bring true joy? Francis certainly did not find it. You yourselves, dear young people, can verify this beginning with your experience. The truth is that finite things can give only a faint idea of joy, but only the Infinite can fill the heart.  (Benedict XVI, Speech, Meeting with Youth in Assisi, June 17, 2007)

• Bishops have the duty to point out the world’s inability to bring true joy

Like the wise householder who brings forth from his treasure ‘what is new and what is old’(Mt 13:52), your people need to view the changes in society with discernment, and here they look to you for leadership. Help them to recognize the inability of the secular, materialist culture to bring true satisfaction and joy. Be bold in speaking to them of the joy that comes from following Christ and living according to his commandments. Remind them that our hearts were made for the Lord and that they find no peace until they rest in him (cf. St. Augustine, Confessions, 1:1). (Benedict XVI, Address to the Bishops of Ireland on their Ad Limina Visit, 28 October, 2006)

• The secret of happiness consists in putting God in first place

God loves us: this is the source of true joy. Even if one has all he or she wants, one can sometimes be unhappy; on the other hand, one can be deprived of everything, even freedom or health, and be in peace and joy if God is in his or her heart. Thus, the secret is this: God must always have first place in our life. (Benedict XVI. Speech on the visit to Rome’s prison for minors Casal del Marmo, March 18, 2007)

• The Eucharist is the source of Christian joy

Where is the source of Christian joy to be found if not in the Eucharist, which Christ left us as spiritual Food while we are pilgrims on this earth? The Eucharist nurtures in believers of every epoch that deep joy which makes us one with love and peace and originates from communion with God and with our brothers and sisters. (Benedict XVI. Angelus, March 18, 2007)

• True joy comes from Christ’s Cross

True joy is something different from pleasure; joy grows and continues to mature in suffering, in communion with the Cross of Christ. It is here alone that the true joy of faith is born. (Benedict XVI. Address to the priests of the Diocese of Aosta, 25, July 2005)

• Observing the Commandments is the path to happiness

God wants us to be happy. That is why he gave us specific directions for the journey of life: the commandments. If we observe them, we will find the path to life and happiness. At first glance, they might seem to be a list of prohibitions and an obstacle to our freedom. But if we study them more closely, we see in the light of Christ’s message that the commandments are a set of essential and valuable rules leading to a happy life in accordance with God’s plan. (Benedict XVI. Message for the Twenty-Seventh World Youth Day, no. 5, March 15, 2012)

• Blessed are they who obey the word of God

This close relationship between God’s word and joy is evident in the Mother of God. Let us recall the words of Saint Elizabeth: ‘Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord’ (Lk 1:45). Mary is blessed because she has faith, because she believed, and in this faith she received the Word of God into her womb in order to give him to the world. The joy born of the Word can now expand to all those who, by faith, let themselves be changed by God’s word. The Gospel of Luke presents this mystery of hearing and joy in two texts. Jesus says: ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’ (Lk 8:21). And in reply to a woman from the crowd who blesses the womb that bore him and the breasts that nursed him, Jesus reveals the secret of true joy: ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’ (Lk 11:28). (Benedict XVI. Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, no. 124, September 30, 2010)

…judges Francis’ idea on Ascetism and silence in the Spiritual Exercises

•  It is necessary to educate the faithful in the value of silence and recollection

Ours is not an age which fosters recollection; at times one has the impression that people are afraid of detaching themselves, even for a moment, from the mass media. For this reason, it is necessary nowadays that the People of God be educated in the value of silence. Rediscovering the centrality of God’s word in the life of the Church also means rediscovering a sense of recollection and inner repose. (Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, no. 66, September 30, 2010)

…judges Francis’ idea of fraternal love

• Fraternal correction heals wounds

The Gospel text […] tells us that brotherly love also involves a sense of mutual responsibility. For this reason if my brother commits a sin against me I must treat him charitably and first of all, speak to him privately, pointing out that what he has said or done is wrong. This approach is known as ‘fraternal correction’: it is not a reaction to the offence suffered but is motivated by love for one’s brethren. St Augustine comments: ‘Whoever has offended you, in offending you, has inflicted a serious injury upon himself; and would you not care for a brother’s injury?… You must forget the offence you have received but not the injury of one of your brethren’ (Discourse 82, 7). And what if my brother does not listen to me? In today’s Gospel Jesus points to a gradual approach: first, speak to him again with two or three others, the better to help him realize what he has done; if, in spite of this, he still refuses to listen, it is necessary to tell the community; and if he refuses to listen even to the community, he must be made to perceive that he has cut himself off by separating himself from the communion of the Church. All this demonstrates that we are responsible for each other in the journey of Christian life; each person, aware of his own limitations and shortcomings, is called to accept fraternal correction and to help others with this specific service. (Benedict XVI. Angelus, September 4, 2011)

• When faced with evil we should not keep silence, since correction is a work of mercy

The Scriptures tell us: ‘Rebuke the wise and he will love you for it. Be open with the wise, he grows wiser still, teach the upright, he will gain yet more’ (Prov 9:8). Christ himself commands us to admonish a brother who is committing a sin (cf. Mt 18:15). The Church’s tradition has included ‘admonishing sinners’ among the spiritual works of mercy. It is important to recover this dimension of Christian charity. We must not remain silent before evil. I am thinking of all those Christians who, out of human regard or purely personal convenience, adapt to the prevailing mentality, rather than warning their brothers and sisters against ways of thinking and acting that are contrary to the truth and that do not follow the path of goodness. Christian admonishment, for its part, is never motivated by a spirit of accusation or recrimination. It is always moved by love and mercy, and springs from genuine concern for the good of the other. As the Apostle Paul says: ‘If one of you is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should set that person right in a spirit of gentleness; and watch yourselves that you are not put to the test in the same way’ (Gal 6:1).
In a world pervaded by individualism, it is essential to rediscover the importance of fraternal correction, so that together we may journey towards holiness. […] Apostle Paul encourages us to seek ‘the ways which lead to peace and the ways in which we can support one another’ (Rom 14:19) for our neighbour’s good, ‘so that we support one another’ (Rom 15:2), seeking not personal gain but rather ‘the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved’ (1 Cor 10:33). This mutual correction and encouragement in a spirit of humility and charity must be part of the life of the Christian community. (Benedict XVI, Message for Lent 2012, November 3, 2011)

• God grants pardon so that in future one ceases to sin

St Augustine in his Commentary observed:  ‘The Lord did also condemn, but condemned sins, not man. For if he were a patron of sin, he would say, ‘neither will I condemn you; go, live as you will; be secure in my deliverance; however much you sin, I will deliver you from all punishment’. He said not this (Io Ev. tract. 33, 6). […] Therefore, we understand that our real enemy is attachment to sin, which can lead us to failure in our lives. Jesus sent the adulterous woman away with this recommendation:  ‘Go, and do not sin again’. He forgives her so that ‘from now on’ she will sin no more. (Benedict XVI. Visit to the Roman Parish of Saint Felicity and her Children, Martyrs, March 25, 2007)

• Habits linked to sin do not create a new world

Saint Luke remarks first of all that the people ‘were in expectation’ (Lk 3: 15). In this way he emphasizes the expectation of Israel and, in those people who had left their homes and their usual tasks, the profound desire for a different world and new words that seem to find an answer precisely in the Precursor’s words that may be severe and demanding and yet are full of hope. The baptism John offers is one of repentance, a sign that is an invitation to conversion, to a change of life, because One is coming who will ‘baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire’ (Lk 3:16). Indeed it is impossible to aspire to a new world while remaining immersed in selfishness and habits linked to sin. (Benedict XVI. Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 10, 2010)

…judges Francis’ idea of the Roman Curia

• Valuable contribution to the Petrine Ministry

 Our community, as you emphasized, Your Eminence, is truly a “working community”, bound by bonds of fraternal love which the Christmas festivities help to reinforce. In this spirit, you did not omit an appropriate mention of the former members of our Curial family who crossed the threshold of time in recent months and have entered into God’s peace. On such an occasion it does our hearts good to feel close to those who shared the service to the Church with us and who now intercede for us at God’s throne. I therefore thank you for your words, Your Eminence, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and I thank everyone present for the contribution that each one makes to the fulfilment of the ministry entrusted to me by the Lord. (Benedict XVI. Address to the Members of the Roman Curia, December 21, 2007)

• Appreciated collaboration

 This morning, the family of the Roman Curia also comes together, following a fine custom which gives us the joy of meeting and exchanging greetings in this special spiritual milieu. To each of you I offer a cordial greeting, full of gratitude for your valued collaboration with the ministry of the Successor of Peter. (Benedict XVI. Address to the Members of the Roman Curia, December 22, 2008)

• Superior service rendered to the successor of Peter

This meeting gives me the opportunity to reaffirm my esteem and respect for your lofty service to the Successor of Peter and to the whole Church, while for you it is an incentive to ever greater commitment in a context that is indeed arduous, but invaluable for the salvation of souls. The principle that the salus animarum is the supreme law in the Church (cf. CIC, can. 1752) must indeed be borne in mind and every day must find in your work the strict respect that it merits. (Benedict XVI. Address for the Inauguration of the Judicial Year of the Roman Rota, January 26, 2013)

• The Church of Rome has a special privilege due to the blood of the Apostles

It is a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ’s flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity. At the beginning of the second century St Ignatius of Antioch attributed a special primacy to the Church which is in Rome, greeting her in his Letter to the Romans as the one which ‘presides in charity’. It is because the Apostles Peter and Paul, together with many other martyrs, poured out their blood in this City, that this special task of service depends on the Community of Rome and on its Bishop. Let us, thus, return to the witness of blood and of charity. The Chair of Peter is therefore the sign of authority, but of Christ’s authority, based on faith and on love. (Benedict XVI. Angelus, February 19, 2012)

…judges Francis’ ideas on Peace

• Without an Acceptance of God There Will Be No Peace for Humanity

 Consequently, it is essential that we should all be committed to living our lives in an attitude of responsibility before God, acknowledging him as the deepest source of our own existence and that of others. By going back to this supreme principle we are able to perceive the unconditional worth of each human being, and thus to lay the premises for building a humanity at peace. Without this transcendent foundation society is a mere aggregation of neighbours, not a community of brothers and sisters called to form one great family. (Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2008)

• Peace is a Gift of God that Demands a Personal Response Consistent with God’s Plan

Likewise, peace is both gift and task. If it is true that peace between individuals and peoples—the ability to live together and to build relationships of justice and solidarity—calls for unfailing commitment on our part, it is also true, and indeed more so, that peace is a gift from God. Peace is an aspect of God’s activity, made manifest both in the creation of an orderly and harmonious universe and also in the redemption of humanity that needs to be rescued from the disorder of sin. Creation and Redemption thus provide a key that helps us begin to understand the meaning of our life on earth. My venerable predecessor Pope John Paul II, addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations on October 5, 1995, stated that “we do not live in an irrational or meaningless world… there is a moral logic which is built into human life and which makes possible dialogue between individuals and peoples.” The transcendent “grammar”, that is to say the body of rules for individual action and the reciprocal relationships of persons in accordance with justice and solidarity, is inscribed on human consciences, in which the wise plan of God is reflected. As I recently had occasion to reaffirm: “we believe that at the beginning of everything is the Eternal Word, Reason and not Unreason.” Peace is thus also a task demanding of everyone a personal response consistent with God’s plan. The criterion inspiring this response can only be respect for the “grammar” written on human hearts by the divine Creator. (Benedict XVI. Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2007)

…judges Francis’ idea on whether the Lord always Pardons…

• The certainty of God’s pardon is not an excuse to fail to seek sanctity

Even when we have to struggle continually with the same failings, it is important to resist the coarsening of our souls and the indifference which would simply accept that this is the way we are. It is important to keep pressing forward, without scrupulosity, in the grateful awareness that God forgives us ever anew – yet also without the indifference that might lead us to abandon altogether the struggle for holiness and self-improvement. (Benedict XVI. Letter to Seminarians, n.3, October 18, 2010)

• Priests should educate the faithful about the radical requirements of the Gospel

The discussed “crisis” of the Sacrament of Penance, frequently calls into question priests first of all and their great responsibility to teach the People of God the radical requirements of the Gospel. In particular, it asks them to dedicate themselves generously to hearing sacramental confessions; to guide the flock courageously so that it does not conform to the mindset of this world (cf. Rom 12:2) but may even be able to make decisions that run counter to the tide, avoiding adjustments and compromises. (Benedict XVI. Speech to Participants in the Internal Forum Course Organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary, March 11, 2010)

• He who repents, receives pardon and the strength to sin no more

Jesus sent the adulterous woman away with this recommendation: ‘Go, and do not sin again’. He forgives her so that ‘from now on’ she will sin no more. In a similar episode, that of the repentant woman, a former sinner whom we come across in Luke’s Gospel (cf. Lk 7:36-50), he welcomed a woman who had repented and sent her peacefully on her way. Here, instead, the adulterous woman simply receives an unconditional pardon. In both cases – for the repentant woman sinner and for the adulterous woman – the message is the same. In one case it is stressed that there is no forgiveness without the desire for forgiveness, without opening the heart to forgiveness; here it is highlighted that only divine forgiveness and divine love received with an open and sincere heart give us the strength to resist evil and ‘to sin no more’, to let ourselves be struck by God’s love so that it becomes our strength. (Benedict XVI. Homily, visit to the Roman Parish of St. Felicity and her children, Martyrs, Sunday, 25 March 2007)

• Confession is not only an instrument of pardon, but also of sanctification

Then there is a close connection between holiness and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, witnessed by all the saints of history. The real conversion of our hearts, which means opening ourselves to God’s transforming and renewing action, is the “driving force” of every reform and is expressed in a real evangelizing effort. In confession, through the freely bestowed action of divine Mercy, repentant sinners are justified, pardoned and sanctified and abandon their former selves to be reclothed in the new.(Benedict XVI. To participants in a course organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary, 9 March 2012)

From : https://en.denzingerbergoglio.com/who-judges-francis/benedict-xvi/

This is the final part of this series.

 

I am not sure if the link above still works, but the site itself is still accessible (see link below), but without some of these articles.

This was only a tiny example of the immense work these priests did. The original website, was very comprehensive and for each wrong step of Francis, the article they wrote would include  information from Church teachings, previous popes and saints, etc

You can still find the website at: https://en-denzingerbergoglio.com/

However, some links no longer work (e.g.”160 queries about Bergoglio”) but much information is still archived on it.