November and December 2008 Volume 40 Number 6 Price £4.50 faithPROMOTING A NEW SYNTHESIS OF FAITH AND REASON Mysterium Fidei: Towards a Liturgical Synthesis Editorial The Incarnation and Hierarchy John Gavin The Incarnation and Priestly Loving William Massie The Sinful Priest as Minister of the Church’s Faithfulness Joseph Carola And Reflections on Accepting Mercy, Withholding Absolution and Undermining Celibacy On Science and Evolution Schönborn reviewed, Letters, Cutting Edge, Peter Hodgson, Pope Benedict and Editorial Plus William Oddie uses Unpublished Chesterton against a New Yorker attack John McDermott reviews a proof of the Virgin Birth www.faith.org.uk 1968-2008 annual faith ‘on human life’ winter session humanae vitae 40 years on The students at the Catholic Chaplaincy to the University of Manchester invite you to join them for a weekend conference to celebrate Pope Paul VI’s prophetic Encyclical. 14th-16th November Friday evening to Sunday evening £45 (£25 for students) including hot meal on arrival, coffee, lunch and afternoon tea on Saturday and Sunday Holy Mass and Rosary on Saturday, concluding with Solemn sung Mass 29th-31st December 2008 on Sunday Evening. at Stonyhurst College Speakers Three days of lectures, discussion and seminars Bishop Donal Murray, Prof Luke Gormally, Fr Philip Egan, around a particular theme, in a relaxed holiday Dr John McClean, Dr Anne Carus, Dr Pravin Thevathasan, environment, with daily Mass and prayer. Edmund Adamus and Helena Turska. BOOKING DEADLINE WEDNESDAY 10TH DECEMBER Enquiries, bookings and payments (by 10th Nov ) to: contact: Ann McCallion Tel: 0141 945 0393 Catholic Chaplaincy to the University of Manchester, email: [email protected] 335-339 Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PG full details: www.faith.org.uk Telephone: 0161 273 1456 Email: [email protected] Contents 02 Mysterium Fidei: Towards a New Liturgical Synthesis Editorial 06 Maximus on the Incarnation as Key to Hierarchy in Church and Creation Fr John Gavin S. J. 10 A Short History of Science and Christianity Peter Hodgson 12 The Incarnation and Priestly Loving in the Thought of Edward Holloway Fr William Massie 16 The Sinful Priest as Minister of the Church’s Faithfulness Fr Joseph Carola S. J. 21 Holy Mass at Christmas Time Fr Edward Holloway 21 The Quality of Mercy Fr James Tolhurst Our Regular Columns 23 The Truth Will Set You Free Fr Mark Vickers on witholding absolution. 24 The Road from Regensburg Pope Benedict’s vision, including on the foundational role of the “secular sciences”. 25 Letters On Science, the Church and Faith movement. 28 Comment on the Comments William Oddie defends G. K. Chesterton against charges of anti-semitism in The New Yorker. 31 Notes from Across the Atlantic Fr Richard John Neuhaus on the latest paradoxes in ‘pro-choice’ psychology. 32 Books Reviews Fr John M McDermott finds much to recommend in a defence of the historical truth of the virgin birth. Fr Stephen Dingley on Cardinal Schönborn and the challenge to faith from evolution. Fr John Boyle recommends a linking of decadent eras with devaluation of celibacy. Pia Matthews on a timely new translation and commentary of Humanae Vitae. 36 Cutting Edge Anglican and Catholic affirmation of evolution. faith November and December 2008 Volume 40 Number 6 Mysterium Fidei – Towards a New Liturgical Synthesis Editorial “ Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matt.: 13:52 Two Liturgies, Two Theologies? The philosophy that underpins the older (although undoubtedly By issuing Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict has orthodox) catechesis, tends to be formalist, abstract and confirmed that Latin Rite Catholicism currently has two somewhat formulaic. The understanding that Christ fulfils liturgical forms for offering the Holy Eucharist: the Novus all that is good in human nature and in creation can be Ordo as the ordinary form and the Usus Antiquior, the older lacking in these theological circles (with notable exceptions, Roman Rite, as the extraordinary form of celebration. of course), so there is not always a strong emphasis on the There is no real reason why this should be controversial. link between liturgy and the rest of life. This has led to a The Eastern churches regularly use various distinctive corresponding fear among some that the “return” of the “old rites for the Sacred Mysteries without a problem. Mass” (although, as Pope Benedict points out in Summorum Pontificum, it was never actually abrogated), signals a turning Unfortunately, in the West these two liturgical forms have, away from the attempt to understand and reach out to the in the minds of many people, become linked to two opposing modern world. ideological camps. There are those on both sides of this divide who claim that the Novus Ordo and the Missal of 1962 At heart these are false contradictions. The Holy Father are based on incompatible theologies. Some even assert that certainly appears to hope that a new liturgical synthesis may they express mutually exclusive models of the Eucharist and emerge over time from the “mutual learning” of the two of the Church itself, despite the Holy Father making it clear forms. Any such development will also need to be based on in the Motu Propriu that this is not so (cf. Art 1). a new theological synthesis that refocuses our understanding of transcendence and immanence in the works of God. We Nonetheless, it is true that there are incompatible theological must retain the objectivity of Catholic doctrine and devotion ideologies abroad in the Church at the moment, which have while embracing the modern need for a more existential and often become, falsely, attached to particular liturgical movements personalist approach to faith. The outlines of the approach with their attendant catechesis and parochial practice. we propose will be familiar to regular readers. But here we On the one hand we find the idea that the Eucharist is the self want to approach it from a slightly different angle. expression of the believing community; that Christ’s presence arises from the people as they celebrate and remember “The Mystery of Faith”: A Point of Connection Jesus’ supreme act of self giving. Frankly, it is erroneous At the climax of the Sacred Liturgy of the Latin Rite in thinking like this that has led to so many of the abuses that both Ordinary and Extraordinary forms we find the words have distorted the Novus Ordo in practice. “mysterium fidei”. In the Tridentine liturgy this phrase is part of the formula of consecration spoken over the chalice. For example, there is a widely used English setting for the In the Novus Ordo these words are proclaimed by the priest Agnus Dei which says “Hear our prayer, hear our prayer, immediately after the consecration of the chalice, marking in this bread and wine we share may we be your sign of the completed transubstantiation of both Eucharistic peace everywhere”. Although this is false doctrine as well species, announcing the presence of Christ upon the altar. as a forbidden interpolation of texts, it is this kind of thing The people respond with an acclamation of their own that leads some to see the Novus Ordo as inextricably addressed directly to the crucified and risen Lord : “Mortem bound up with theological liberalism and subjective worship, tuam annuntiamus, Domine, et tuam resurrectionem sometimes indistinguishable from secular entertainment. confitemur, donec venias”. On the other hand, we have those who reject the Second The1973 ICEL translation gave these words a rather different Vatican Council altogether and see no need for any spin. They changed the concise priestly proclamation of the development in the Church’s doctrinal, catechetical or Eucharistic Sacrifice – the Mystery of mysteries accomplished pastoral approach to the world. For them the Tridentine on earth as it is in heaven – into an invitation to the liturgy has become a totem of this wider rejection of the congregation to make a collective affirmation of faith in the modern Church. Others again love the Usus Antiquior central beliefs of Christianity. “Let us proclaim the mystery because it is, quite rightly, perceived to express the of faith”. The first of the three alternative responses given for nature of the Mass as the Sacrifice of Redemption the congregation in English is, accordingly, couched in the with a highly developed sense of ordered reverence third person: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come and humble adoration. again”. It has become more of a mini creed than a liturgical Transcendence and Immanence: cry of adoration. The Need For Development With more faithful texts currently in the process of being Perhaps not surprisingly, enthusiasm for the older liturgical approved, the authentic interpretation is very likely to be form often goes hand in hand with an older kind of catechesis; restored in the near future. Nonetheless, the mindset that led although there is no intrinsic reason why that should be so. the original ICEL ‘translators’ to interpret “Mysterium Fidei” 02 Faith I Mysterium Fidei – Towards a New Liturgical Synthesis “The Eucharist is the Living Christ […] substantially and actively present in his ministry of redemptive love […] the ‘Existential of existentials’ one might say.” in terms of a theological narrative to be recited, rather than that are hoped for: the whole, true life. And precisely as an acclamation addressed to a living person, does touch because the thing itself is already present, this […] creates on some deeper theological and philosophical issues which certainty. This ‘thing’ which must come is not yet visible have wider relevance and more far reaching implications. in the external world […] but because of the fact that, as an initial and dynamic reality, we carry it within us, a certain Mystery As Sacrament Not Conundrum perception of it has even now come into existence.