Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 6:53pm

And the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings Were Great For Urban Renewal In Those Cities

 

Who are you going to believe, your lying eyes or George?  Attributing all the ills of the Church today to Vatican II is a mistake.  To deny that Vatican II produced a weaker Church which has often seemed to go with a resolutely anti-Christian tide among Western elites is to deny sixty years of evidence.  Without Vatican II the current disaster of a pontificate would have been unthinkable.  The sixty year anniversary is an opportunity to mourn and not to rejoice.

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Steve Phoenix
Steve Phoenix
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 12:02am

As a boy growing up in California in the early 1960s, it was common for a Franciscan to annually come from St. Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara, the Franciscan minor seminary, to conduct an annual recruitment of those interested from the seventh and eighth grade classes for the high school seminary. After completion of seminary high school, for decades stretching back to the 1900’s, many inspired young men from the high school graduating class would then enter the Franciscan postulancy and novitiate program, eventually pronouncing vows in the order (OFM’s). St. Anthony’s had wonderful Franciscan brothers and fathers as teachers and inspiring examples, and Franciscans from that era—all pre-1962 of course— said that they stayed together because it was a natural progression to go into the order, pronounce vows together, then go to collegiate and theological studies and on to ordination, and then into pastoral work in the many Franciscan activities—parishes, high school work, Native American missions, so on. Being a Franciscan priest was a treasured calling.

St. Anthony’s became a victim of the Vatican II after-era—a long sad decline til it closed in 1987. The full story of that collapse is too sad to tell. Despite its marvelous architecture and truly amazing architectural masterpiece of the seminary chapel, it’s art, and its stunning altar reredos, the empty shell of the institution is now up for sale yet again in August of this year (2022).

Acquaintances I have made with those who attended St. Anthony’s, primarily those prior to “the changes,” but who later pursued a lay vocation have put together a fascinating historical website of the school nonetheless @ sasarchive.org, dating from the early 1900’s til it’s final demise in 1987. It is an amazing collection of photographs, musical productions dating back to the 1940s (they cut several annual high-quality Christmas recordings with RCA Victor records), yearbook records, and now-digitized videos of old 8mm and 16mm film. The digitized videos made a huge impact on me, seeing so many acquaintances, many now passed away, once again alive and active—participating in sports, music, activities. Rather like the ghost of Christmas Past.

As you go through the years of photographs, written records, recordings, and digitized film, you see a highly integrated, disciplined, focused institution whose one purpose was to turn out disciplined, educated, morally and spiritually developed men for the priesthood… up until the approximate year 1965.

Without a doubt, if you examine the photographs, the commentary, the images of the liturgy, from that approximate year on, you can see a radical and revolutionary change. Completely contradicting George Weigel, the purpose of the seminary from 1965 on became secular and social, and seemed now to be in very opposition to its integral component nature as a part of the institutional Catholic Church and its spiritual mission—formerly, to create Catholic priests and to save souls. The cultic priesthood was now no longer relevant nor the concept of an infinitely important sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments was erased. The pictures, the videos, the artwork, the yearbooks don’t lie. As one elderly Franciscan priest who was a professor at St Anthony’s who I visited in the hospital after his suffering a stroke bitterly lamented to me in 1975–a conversation at the time that I dismissed—“They (the order) destroyed everything we had, our way of life, our daily prayer, our structure, everything.” I didn’t comprehend until later what he was saying. He died 10 months later —literally of a broken heart.

The St. Anthony’s Seminary history and archive does not lie. Why an intelligent man like George Weigel would still so stubbornly deny the patently evident truth that the Church that we had was elementally dealt a mortal and deliberate blow by the forces behind Vatican II is inexplicable. A reasoning person cannot look at the St Anthony’s Seminary archive and believe that to be true at all. To continue with such a charade is completely delusional.

David WS
David WS
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 3:21am

I know of intelligent priests that suffer from this particular malady. Call it the Frankie effect, Ultramontanism without the fanfare but a denial of obvious reality.

Frank
Frank
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 6:04am

Weigel, whom I once admired, has over the past nine-plus years shown his true colors in much the same way as the NeverTrump wing of Conservative, Inc.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 7:26am

For your discernment;

October 13, 1884
Exactly 33 years to the day prior to the great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, that is, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a remarkable vision. When the aged Pontiff had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices – two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:

The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord:
“I can destroy your Church.”

The gentle voice of Our Lord:
“You can? Then go ahead and do so.”

Our Lord:
“How much time? How much power?

Satan:
“75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service.”

Satan:
“To do so, I need more time and more power.”

Our Lord:
“You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will.”

Let us think about this for a minute. This happened in 1884. The devil said he needed 75 to100 years. Well, 75 years from 1884 is 1959. Wow, what a coincidence that it was on January 25, 1959, that John XXIII publicly summoned the Second Vatican Council.

Remember that after the vision, Pope Leo XIII immediately wrote the Prayer to St. Michael to help us overcome the devil in his quest. He instructed that it be said after every low Mass.

All Hell broke loose from that point forward. Prayers in public schools became verboten. The anti-establishment push, Vietnam, ERA and soon to follow the License to Kill children. It was as if Satan grabbed his first string players and put on a full court press and souls who were not prepared became partners in his camp. I recall reading that the twentieth century saw more deaths, destruction and decay of humanity than in the previous centuries combined, as far as my memory can serve me. I don’t remember the book that stated that point.

It sure looks like Satan had his way…but guess what?

Even with a spiritually challenged helmsman THE ship is still sailing on.

The image from St. John Bosco’s vision still captivates my imagination;

The Ship..being under attack..is safely tethered to two great pillars.
One…The Eurchrist.
The other pillar…Mary ever Virgin.

Keep those Rosaries going boys and girls. The fight isn’t over.
If you don’t have the availability to visit Jesus in Exposition then visit him in the Tabernacle.

These are the means He gives us to, with His Grace, crush Satan’s prideful head. We help make the heel that puts this snake in its rightful place…hell.

Viva Christo Rey.

CAG
CAG
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 7:26am

Well, Weigel defended Donald Wuerl, is it such a stretch that he’d defend the council that empowered his ilk?

Frank
Frank
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 8:25am

“Well, Weigel defended Donald Wuerl, is it such a stretch that he’d defend the council that empowered his ilk?”
Not at all. I am not surprised, just disappointed.

Art Deco
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 9:43am

Weigel, whom I once admired, has over the past nine-plus years shown his true colors in much the same way as the NeverTrump wing of Conservative, Inc.

Disagree. Weigel, Richard John Neuhaus, Kevin Miller, George Sim Johnston, Stratford Caldicott were 20 years ago promoters of different aspects of the notion that the Council was ‘needed’ but ‘has not been properly received’, and that what we needed was to ‘implement’ the Council’s program with the deft touch that Abp. Wojtila displayed in Krakow. It always seemed rather contrived and in the current environment looks to be somewhere in the gray area between twee and absurd. You don’t get more adaptable with age, so it doesn’t surprise me that Dr. Weigel is, at age 71, reprising.

Kevin Miller was particularly critical of Michael Davies and Christopher Ferrara, maintaining what they wrote was nonsense. Those of us not steeped in the discourse of academic theology might note that the supposed nonsense looks like a faithful description of what we see in front of our eyes every week.

Bob Kurland
Admin
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 11:31am

From the Second Reading, Office of Readings (2 Oct), St. Gregory’s “Pastoral Guide:

“When a pastor has been afraid to assert what is right, has he not turned his back and fled by remaining silent? Whereas if he intervenes on behalf of the flock, he sets up a wall against the enemy in front of the house of Israel. Therefore, the Lord again says to his unfaithful people: Your prophets saw false and foolish visions and did not point out your wickedness, that you might repent of your sins. The name of the prophet is sometimes given in the sacred writings to teachers who both declare the present to be fleeting and reveal what is to come. The word of God accuses them of seeing false visions because they are afraid to reproach men for their faults and they consequently lull the evildoer with an empty promise of safety. Because they fear reproach, they keep silent and fail to point out the sinner’s wrongdoing.”

Art Deco
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 12:53pm

Well, Weigel defended Donald Wuerl,

When, and in regard to what?

GregB
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 3:37pm

BOB KURLAND: Ezekiel 3:16-21 fits in with the quote that you cited. It is all about Ezekiel being a watchman over Israel and the demands of prophetic responsibility.

J. Ronald Parrish
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 7:02pm

John Paul II gave us Cardinal, now Pope, Bergolio. Weigel is a neocon warmonger who would prefer an abortionist Biden to a mean tweeting Trump. It’s a class thing (at least the one you ID with).

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 9:27pm

The most correct assessment of Weigel is a John Paul II loyalist.

Much respect to him for this fact.

Art Deco
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 10:05pm

Unless his compendium on his website is incomplete, he hasn’t written about Trump since 2016.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Sunday, October 2, AD 2022 10:40pm

“And the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Were Great For Urban Renewal In Those Cities.”

Well, in comparison to the effect democrat policies has had on many large American cities, I would have to say they were, but I digress.

Weigel did support the Iraq War. That doesn’t make him a war monger. I find the term neocon as meaningful as the term homophone. Which is to say meaningless.

Disappointed. But are you surprised by Weigel’s “paean to Vatican II, especially since you refer to him as a “John Paul II loyalist”? If John Paul II were pope today, he would have treated the upcoming 60th anniversary of its opening as such a cause for celebration, Weigel’s gushing about it would have looked like a trad anti VCII rant by comparison.

Art Deco
Monday, October 3, AD 2022 6:16am

I find the term neocon as meaningful as the term homophone

I haven’t heard the term ‘homophone’ since middle school. There their they’re.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Monday, October 3, AD 2022 11:26am

I meant to say homophobe.

CAG
CAG
Monday, October 3, AD 2022 4:09pm

When, and in regard to what?

It was after the Pennsylvania report came out and after the McCarrick revelations, while people were calling for his resignation, but before the evidence that he lied about knowing that McCarrick was sanctioned and before he stepped down to a life of luxury with a $2 million/year stipend paid for by the Archdiocese of DC.
Weigel’s defense was in that context.
George Weigel knows which side of the bread is buttered, and he defends bishops accordingly. When those bishops are good (JPII, Pell, etc.) he is praised. When they stink (Wuerl) he is justifiably criticized.

Art Deco
Monday, October 3, AD 2022 7:25pm

https://www.georgeweigel.com/uncle-ted-and-me/

This is the article on McCarrick I locate on his site. Not finding anything of note on Wuerl. I’ve checked on First Things and am not locating anything there.

CAG
CAG
Tuesday, October 4, AD 2022 5:05am

I’ve checked on First Things and am not locating anything there.

It might’ve been on CWR, if I have time later I could look for it … But it wasn’t a terribly notable article. Just standard damage control … “I know Cardinal Wuerl, he’s a good man with genuine concern for the clergy sex abuse crisis … give him the benefit of the doubt …. yadda yadda”. However, I don’t recall reading a retraction of that once the emails surfaced showing Wuerl knew of the sanctions on McCarrick and did nothing about it

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