Jürgen Moltmann, obituary for the father of the errors of contemporary theology

With his book "Theology of Hope" from 1964, Jürgen Moltmann became the impetus for all currents of political theology 

By Stefano Fontana*

On June 3, the Protestant theologian Jürgen Moltmann died in Tübingen at the age of 98. He is usually referred to as the "theologian of hope" because of his major work, "Theology of Hope," which was published in Germany in 1964 and then in numerous other languages. This memory of him is not wrong or too short-sighted, because this work did not aim to deal with one chapter of theology, namely hope, but to reformulate it in its entirety.

From hope came a new explanation of all traditional theological themes: revelation understood not so much in its doctrinal but rather in its historical character, transcendence understood as the future in a temporal rather than a spatial sense, sin as the rejection of hope, grace as the gift of the possibility and ability to hope, conversion as turning away from the present and turning towards the future. Hence the revolutionary impact of his theology, linked to the pan-Protestant idea of the mature world, secularization as a Christian phenomenon and the need for a secular theology, which was also expressed the following year, in 1965, by Harvey Cox in his book The Secular City: Secularization and Urbanization in Theological Perspective, as coordinates of the new theology that we find in all subsequent theology, including Catholic one.

A secular theology with political language

The illusion of earthly "paradise"

In both the Old and New Testaments, according to Moltmann, God is not understood as a consecration of times and places, but is linked to a word of promise. The promise binds man to the history that stands between the promise and its fulfillment. This is the space for human responsibility, for the future, morality and practice. The theology of hope is elaborated in an eschatological key that henceforth entrusts the theologian with the task not of "interpreting the world, history and human nature, but of transforming them in anticipation of a divine transformation". The place of God's revelation becomes history, and God reveals himself through historical promises and historical events starting from the Exodus. The task of the Christian is not so much to ask who God is and what qualities he has, but to recognize where God is at work in history and to actively participate in his work of redemption. It is necessary to eliminate all metaphysical dualism and all spatial conceptions of God in order to create a secular theology with a political language: "This means that we recognize where God is at work and thus participate in his work: this incessant action is a way of speaking: in doing this, the Christian speaks of God." Truth becomes action. Who God is is not said by the theologian through speeches, but by the practice of Christians.

With Moltmann, the dimension of history enters theology and confuses its connotations. The aforementioned Harvey Cox approached theology of hope, arguing that "God loves the world, not the church" and uses the world, not the Church. In his book The Christian as Rebel, he states that "it was professional baseball, not the church, that took the first steps toward racial integration. We are way behind on this whole thing. We must hurry to catch up with what God is already doing in the world."

The real breakthrough in contemporary theology

As we can see, the "church that goes out" has distant origins. Moltmann's new proposals were taken up by Johann Baptist Metz in his Political Theology, and Karl Rahner would also adopt the same assumptions, starting with secularization, which required us to think that the revelation of God took place in human history before the Church. It can be said that the real innovative turn in contemporary theology was brought about by Moltmann. All other theologies will in fact follow the path he took. The theology of hope can therefore be compared to an explosion that sets off others in a chain reaction. He was able to deal with the theology of revolution and liberation, and was the midwife of black theology and feminist theology. He was also at the centre of the dialogue between Christians and Marxists.

This last keyword leads us to another important chapter in Moltmann's story. I am referring to the dialogue of ideas with the East German Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, who so strongly influenced Moltmann's theology at that time and later. Bloch's principle of hope and Moltmann's theology of hope relate to each other. Bloch reformulated Marxism under the category of utopia, he sees all reality as determined by the future and driven to self-overcoming, he reads the Bible as an expression of a "transcendence without transcendence", future and history are as much features of the Christian religion as of the secularized world, the God of Israel is the God of the eighth day, "who was not yet and is therefore more authentic", and Christ has nothing spiritual, but is the man who sat not at the right hand of God but in his place, because Christianity is liberating and therefore atheistic. In this way Moltmann met not only with Marxism but also with the atheistic nihilism of modernity.

To pass judgment on Moltmann's theology is also to pass judgment on much of contemporary theology. To celebrate his thought by praising it is to condone the great errors of that theology and of the theologies that followed. I have limited myself here to recalling some basic assumptions. Readers, if they wish, can train themselves to recognize the negative effects of Moltmann's thought on theology since then and also on the practice of the Church.

Stefano Fontana, Director of the International Observatory Cardinal Van Thuan for the Social Doctrine of the Church ; his recent publications include “La nuova Chiesa di Karl Rahner” (“The New Church of Karl Rahner: The Theologian Who Taught Surrender to the World”, Fede & Cultura, Verona 2017), together with Archbishop Paolo Crepaldi of Trieste “Le chiavi della questione sociale” (“The Keys to the Social Question. Common Good and Subsidiarity: The Story of a Misunderstanding”, Fede & Cultura, Verona 2019), “La filosofia cristiana” (“Christian Philosophy: A Complete View of the Areas of Thought”, Fede & cultura, Verona 2021).

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi 

Image : National Archives of the Netherlands (screenshot) 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.clom 

AMDG

Is an Apostolic Commissar Ready to Destroy the Next "Too Pious" Order?

Seminarians Pray in the Church of the Brazilian Mother House of the "Heralds of the Gospel": Are they the next target of the Congregation of Religious? Too many vocations, too rapid growth, too pious, too friendly to tradition, too Marian?


(Rome) Has Pope Francis already assigned an apostolic commissioner for the next, "too pious" order?

The fate of the Franciscans of the Immaculate could soon befall the Heralds of the Gospel (Evangelii Praecones, EP). This lay community was founded as a youth movement by the Third Order Carmelite João Scognamiglio Clá Dias in Brazil. The inspiration for the name came from the encyclical Evangelii Praecones, which Pope Pius XII. published in1951 about mission.

The Heralds of the Gospel

João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, born in 1939, son of a Spaniard and an Italian, was a member of the Marian Congregation in Sao Paulo and in 1956 a member of the Third Order of Carmelites. He studied law and did his military service in the Airborne Ranger. Subsequently, he turned to the study of philosophy, theology and the right of the Church. At the university, he became a leader of the Catholic student body, which opposed the 1968 student protests.

Heralds in the Basilica of Our Lady of the
Rosary

The real development of the Heralds of the Gospel began at the same time in the 1960s, when João Scognamiglio Clá Días, Pedro Paulo de Figueiredo and Carlos Alberto Soares Corrêa gathered a group of young Catholics in Sao Paulo to pray in silence, deepen their spiritual life, and to discuss current questions in the Church and in the world. The goal was missioning and evangelization.

In the seventies the desire for a common life arose. The founder and two companions retired to a former Benedictine abbey to deepen their spiritual life in silence and prayer. Of the first companions, no one left, but new ones were added. They first arranged a Marian consecration, began to pray liturgy of the hours together and finally gave themselves a first rule. This resulted in the development of a community life for men and, in 1996, of women. The foundation stone was laid for a flowering male branch, the Societas Clericalis Vitae Apostolicae Iuris Pontificii Virgo Flos Carmeli, and a female feminine branch, Societas Vitae Apostolicae Iuris Pontificii Regina Virginum.

The Heralds of the Gospel were recognized in 2001 by Pope John Paul II as an International Private Association of Believers. They are thus the first ecclesial community to receive this recognition in the third millennium. The two societies of Apostolic Life were consecrated in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. canonically established with papal law.

The laity movement also led to the vocation of the priesthood. In 2005, the first priests were consecrated, including the founder of the Heralds himself at the age of 64 .

The Community is now active in about 80 countries, and only 12 years after the first consecration, has already 120 priests and about 20 deacons. The two societies of consecrated life have, after 20 years, more than 4,000 members, two thirds of whom are men, one third of women. Heralds of the Gospel are around 40,000 worldwide. Anyone who reads the figures of the past ten years sees the massive growth of the movement, which was begun under the pontificate of Benedict XVI. João Scognamiglio Clá Días is Superior General of the Heralds and the Society of Consecrated Life. Since 2008 he has also been an honorary fellow at the patriarchal basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

"Under Francis They Are Already Suspicious of Those Who Had Contact with Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira"

According to "an intimate, internal source",  says Tosatti, a "task force" from the Congregation of Religious, headed by the Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz and the Spanish Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, was being assembled to investigate the Heralds. The group is to consist of a bishop, a religious and a church lawyer. "Nothing is known about the reasons for this initiative," says Tosatti, which recalls the Franciscans of Immaculata. Even after four years of the provisional administration, the Vatican has not yet given any reason for the drastic intervention of this traditional order, which had been flourishing until 2013.

It is obvious, according to Tosatti, that the founder of the Heralds of the Gospel, João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, was in touch with Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira to make him "suspicious". Corrêa de Oliveira, who died in 1995, was a mastermind and leader of the Catholic tradition in Brazil. Clá Dias worked for many years in the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Private Property (TFP) founded by Corrêa de Oliveira. On Corrêa de Oliveira's initiative, the Knights of the Gospel emerged, which Clá Dias led after his death, but led away from the social-political struggle and intensified religious life. This is a development expressed by the founding of the Societies of Consecrated Life and its own priestly members. Nevertheless, he calls Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira the "prophet of our time".

The community consists primarily of young people who are distinguished by their discipline. The members of consecrated life do not make vows, but commit themselves to celibacy and devote themselves entirely to the apostolate. They live in houses separated by sex. Their daily routine alternates between Liturgy (Holy Mass, Liturgy of Hours), Prayer (Rosary), study and especially evangelization. To this end they are called in dioceses and parishes, they are missionaries in the streets and go to prisons. The emphasis is on youth work. The religious dress, which is modeled on medieval heralds, is striking. It is equal for men and women, and represents the most visible continuity between the Knights of Corrêa de Oliveiras and the Heralds of Clá Dias.

The two societies of consecrated life are active in the field of art, culture and youth education, which is due to the fact that the founder Clá Dias sees a particularly suitable means of evangelization in music. In addition to activities in schools and universities, they are concerned with communities of elderly care, and they are mainly active in marginal areas, which is also to be understood geographically, for example, in the case of Feuerland.

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: "Throwing a watchful eye on new ecclesiastical realities"

"It is unclear for what reason this apostolic visitation will take place," says Tosatti. Cardinal Prefect Braz de Aviz had recently indicated that it was "appropriate" to raise a watchful eye on this "new ecclesial reality". Why? Because founders sometimes turn out to be "unsuitable," the Cardinal says, "to deal with the many vocations. In the case of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Heart, the Congregation of Religious, with the approval of Pope Francis, radically intervened, dismissed the whole order's leadership, and appointed Commissioners without mentioning any reason. The decision of the Order, founded in 1990, to return from the Novus Ordo to the traditional form of the Roman Rite in 2008, was the bone of contention.

Priests of the Order

After the Congregation of Religious failed to lay hands on the real estate of the Order with the help of the secular jurisdiction, the pressure on Father Stefano Maria Manelli, who had been deposed and held under house arrest, was recently increased to induce the lay associations to surrender the assets. At the same time, the Congregation of Religious does not shrink from threatening canonical sanctions against the implacable former Superior General, now 84 years old.

The Franciscans of Immaculata have been under the tutelage of the Papal Commissioner for four years. The Commissioner has just recently finished with the Institute of the Word of Flesh (IVE), an Order founded in 1984 in Argentina, which also attracts numerous vocations. Currently, the order includes around 800 priests, 2,000 religious women and more than 700 seminarians. It operates on all five continents, including the ballyhooed geographical and Catholic "periphery" such as Tajikistan, Papua New Guinea, Iceland, Palestine, Russia, Tunisia, Ukraine, Albania, Taiwan and Egypt. The order is divided into ten provinces, one vice-province and three delegations. In the Federal Republic of Germany, there has been a center of faith in the Archdiocese of Berlin since 2010, and since 2016, a branch with support of the pilgrimage church on the Mariahilfberg near Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate (Diocese of Eichstätt). The branch of the Order of the Virgin Mary, Door of the Sunrise, which includes parts of Central and Northern Europe, also has branches in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The Heralds of the Gospel do not yet have branches in the German-speaking world.

Tosatti's summary:

"Apart from more or less real problems and more or less justified accusations against the founders, these communities have three essential similarities: they are committed to the tradition of the Church (therefore, the more Thomas than Rahner supporters, are characterized by a strong worship of Our Lady of Fatima and are active in the right to life of unborn children), many vocations (which are more suspicious nowadays in church hierarchies and bishops) and have considerable financial resources. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Arautos do Evangelho (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Cardinal Lehmann of Mainz to Resign

Edit: hie was among the conspirators against Pope Benedict XVI who also illegally conspired (latae sententiae, anyone?) to get Pope Francis elected according to a gloating Austen Ivoreigh.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz: There was little doubt that Pope Francis would accept Lehmann's obligatory request to resign his diocese of Mainz.

Mainz (kath.net/KNA) After almost 33 years, Cardinal Karl Lehmann takes leave of his post as bishop of Mainz. There was little doubt that Pope Francis would accept Lehman's mandatory resignation from the Diocese of Mainz on Friday. Thus the chair of the Diocese of Mainz will be vacant on the day after Lehmann's 80th birthday on May 16 on.

The Diocese reported that an official decision will only be published as a rule, on the date of the resignation according to the Roman custom. Lehmann himself had repeatedly stated in recent years that all officials in the Catholic Church, with the exception of the Pope, should finish at on their 80th year. That is an iron law.

On October 2nd, 1983 Lehmann had been consecrated in Mainz Cathedral Bishop and introduced in his episcopate. for over 20 years - 1987 to 2008 - he was President of the German Bishops' Conference. In February 2001, Pope John Paul II. elevated him to cardinal.

The cardinal is considered as a bridge builder and man of dialogue. He is a cosmopolitan, life-affirming Christianity and for ecumenical openness. He enjoys the highest reputation in the Protestant church, in politics, economy, science and culture. Among the numerous awards Lehmann has received include several honorary doctorates and the Federal Cross of Merit with Star and Sash. He is a winner of the Karl Barth Prize and the Romano Guardini Prize as well as the "Order for Combating Deadly Seriousness". He is also an honorary citizen of Mainz and honorary member of the football club FSV Mainz 05.

Lehmann, born on 16 May 1936 in Swabian Sigmaringen, was an assistant of 1984 died renowned theologian Karl Rahner. As a professor of theology, he taught first in Mainz and later in Freiburg, before he became Bishop of Mainz at 47 years. At that time he was the youngest Catholic bishop in Germany. His episcopal motto is "State in fide" (Stand firm in your faith).

As a member of the College of Cardinals, Lehmann took part in the conclave in April 2005 from which Pope Benedict XVI. emerged, and the conclave in March 2013, which elected his successor Pope Francis.

According to the official, but not confirmed counting, Lehmann is the 102nd Bishop of Mainz. He certainly is the 87th successor of the famously "Apostle of the Germans" St. Boniface, who was Bishop of Mainz from 746-754. Lehmann's 80th birthday will be celebrated on May 16 and so on Whit Monday, with a service in the cathedral and a ceremony in the nearby Rheingoldhalle. (C) 2016 CBA Catholic News Agency. All rights reserved. Photo Cardinal Lehmann (c) Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz

Was Karl Rahner a Freemason?

Father Paolo Maria Siano of the Order of Franciscans of the Immaculate and excellent connoisseur of Freemasonry addresses the question as to whether the well-known Jesuit and theologian of the 20th century was a Freemason.  "Freemasons not, but Masonic minded" 

Father Siano wrote on the subject in 2007 an essay: Karl Rahner, massonico '? Il pensiero di Karl Rahner e la Cultura Massonica a confronto (The "Masonic" Karl Rahner Karl Rahner's Thought and the Masonic culture in comparison?), In: Fides Catholica 2 (2007) 2, pp. 315-360 . An English translation is not yet available. Could this be but one reason why the Order is being broken today?

Link to Katholisches....

Edit: it doesn't seem to be available on Amazon, either.

Nomen est omen -- Rahner Calls For Women Priests

From Rahner to Rahner

(Tübingen) The German theologian Johanna Rahner considers “women priests" in the Catholic Church as "possible", which when translated means that "priestesses" are desired.  Rahner took over the chair of Dogmatic Theology, History of Economic Thought and Ecumenical Theology at the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, which Hans Küng held until 1996. The inaugural lecture takes place on Thursday.

Nomen est omen: Johanna Rahner is related to the theologian Karl Rahner (1904-1984), who is supposed to have put his stamp on the so-called conciliar spirit. The theologian who was  welcomed by the Central Committee German Catholics, was previously Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Kassel. In addition to "priestesses" Rahner calls for a “renewed dogmatic theology” in the issue of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. 

Church a "Chaste Whore" - Priestesses as an Act of Equality

 Rahner said, "I want to open the classical dogma to the outside. We can simply assimilate  people to the rules, but the rules need to be understood humanly."  In this context, the theologian said also:  “... When the Church shuns the world, it is esoteric.”  Her understanding of the Catholic Church  brought Johanna Rahner at one point  to see the Church as a "chaste whore."

"The apostles themselves may have been male,”  but this in no way prevents the Church today,  according to Johanna Rahner, from introducing "priestesses". "Male Apostles are therefore a weak argument against women's ordination,” said the theologian.

Blessing of Homo-pairs and Recognition of a “Second Marriage"

At the same time Rahner called for the blessing of homosexual couples in and through the Church and called for the admission of divorced remarried to the sacraments and the recognition of the second marriage. "When the Guilty Will recognized the sins against his first marriage, a second marriage is possible,” said Rahner in a quote from Die Zeit.

"Enlightened" Theologian “Prefers Half-empty Churches"

Citing Pope Francis, Rahner sees herself in the tradition of "enlightened Christianity" of the West, for which also always has a “but” for every “Amen”. For without doubt there is no faith. Rahner also sees the emptying churches in Germany in a positive light: “I’d rather have half-empty churches with enlightened Catholics, than full Churches [in Africa and Latin America], exploiting the plight of the people."

"Heritage of the Reformation is a Common Heritage"

  Rahner also criticized the Protestants, that they can not define themselves as before, “without  referring to  Catholicism". At the same time she calls for a rapprochement between Protestants and Catholics, because: "The Heritage of the Reformation is a common heritage. (...) We should emphasize what is common. "

Institutional Equality for Women as a Way to Ordained Ministries

In 2011 Rahner held a presentation at the plenary session of ZdK. (Central German Catholics) In it she explained why the "use of an institutional equality of women perhaps could for the particular importance of the ordained ministry of women is not be negligible for the actual question  - precisely those questions of women in management positions, about  women in finance and decision-making powers , about  women in science and teaching, etc. "Rahner thus presented  the ZdK a strategy plan, which states, in other words: The demand for "institutional equality” of women in the Church is only a forerunner of the “actual" objective, to grasp the ordained ministries for women. The way there, said Rahner, should not be too long and patience should "not be overused, because time is short." So far we have "wasted almost 35 years with the lack of implementation of the preconditions. It is indeed high time,”  said the theological to the  ZdK General Assembly.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons / church newspaper (screenshot and assembly)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches…

AMGD

A Way Out of the Church Crisis? -- Throw Away Karl Rahner's Books -- The Sooner the Better

Edit: may we suggest another possibility?

(Rome) According to Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, the Archbishop of Genoa. According to the wish of Pope Pius XII, who would have wanted him as his successor, thought the writings of the German Jesuit Karl Rahner had wreaked the most damage in the Catholic Church. Cardinal Siri, who was described as an "impregnable fortress of the Catholic Church", came to the conclusion that Rahner's books destroy the sense of the supernatural and the people would be caught in his in-the-worldness. Cordialiter wrote recently:

"Some time ago, my father had an old book Theology by Karl Rahner. A nun had given it to him. When I heard that he was giving away for lack of space some books in his library, I immediately tried to convince him to throw his first Rahner book. But he was indecisive. He had never actually read the book, but heard good reports of it. So I told him what Cardinal Siri had said to Rahner. In the end I got permission to throw away the Rahner book. It was an indescribable pleasure for me to carry this book to the trash container. To prevent anyone from fishing out the book again, and maybe selling it off to a flea market, I previously removed the book cover and tore some pages out.

To find the way out of the church crisis, there needs to be an Entrahnerisierung of the Church. The 'anthropological turn' has come to an end. Today you can hardly speak of Rahner, but the the impending abyss is omnipresent. The books of the German theologian whose theology is called transcendental theology are completely wrong. Just throw them away, the sooner the better. They are in the abyss, they are falling into it, and thus are plugging the hole. For extreme evil it takes extreme remedy. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Lecoteachenglish

Link to katholisches...

Cardinal Kasper Defends Celibacy and the Pope

Editor: The man who was rebuked by Cardinal Burke , and a "destroyer of the Faith" by Father George May is now weighing in in defense of Tradition. Wow, didn't see this one coming.  Cardinal Kasper actually supports the Pope.  The following excerpt is the google translation from Enlace Catolico.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said Monday, speaking to the Portuguese agency Ecclesia, who never called for the abolition of celibacy in the Church.The German Cardinal was yesterday in Lisbon, on the occasion of the honorary doctorate awarded him the Catholic University of Portugal (UCP).

His name, along with the current pope, Joseph Ratzinger, and Karl Rahner, Karl Otto Lehmann Semmelroth and appears in the signing of a memorandum of 1970 to the German bishops, which called for a study on the need mandatory celibacy for priests.This text was made public by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, referring to the recent manifesto signed by 143 theologians German, Swiss and Austrians in which inter alia calls for the repeal of the law of celibacy.Cardinal Kasper, asked Ecclesia, clarified that the memorandum of 1970 was intended to "discuss" the issue, but no proposal to "abolish" the discipline.

"After this, there was much discussion, there were three global synods spoke on celibacy, and it was decided to maintain this discipline, and I credited that celibacy is good for the Church," added the cardinal.

He also stated that since 1970, "times have changed, and although he admitted that this argument is never closed,  he also stressed that "the decision of the Church in this matter has been concluded and that the current Pope does not intend to change this discipline" of mandatory celibacy.

(Rd/Zenit) (Rd / Zenit)