Cardinale Levada: la Chiesa contrasta in maniera esemplare la piaga degli abusi
May 06, 2010
Benedetto XVI è “la persona giusta per guidare la Chiesa in questo momento” e la strada intrapresa dai vescovi degli Stati Uniti nel 2002 per contrastare la piaga degli abusi sessuali sui minori da parte di esponenti del clero può essere presa ad esempio dalla Chiesa di tutto il mondo. Lo ha affermato il cardinale statunitense William Levada, Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede in un’intervista esclusiva rilasciata al canale televisivo statunitense PBS. Un’intervista a tutto campo in cui vengono affrontati i principali nodi dello scandalo degli abusi sessuali che ha sconvolto la Chiesa in questi mesi: dal modo in cui è stato affrontato dai media, alle passate responsabilità delle gerarchie ecclesiastiche, fino alle gravi accuse rivolte in queste settimane Benedetto XVI. La crisi aperta dai casi emersi nelle Chiese europee – sottolinea il cardinale Levada - non può essere in alcun modo minimizzata ed è tanto più grave in quanto si tratta di crimini commessi da sacerdoti chiamati ad essere dei buoni pastori. Questo non toglie - precisa il Prefetto della Congregazione presieduta fino al 2005 dall’allora cardinale Ratzinger – che vi sia stata una certa “faziosità” da parte di alcuni media, soprattutto americani, condizionati dalle informazioni fornite dagli avvocati che vorrebbero portare anche il Papa davanti a un tribunale. Questi media – rileva il porporato – hanno presentato un “quadro poco equilibrato, senza contestualizzare i fatti”, ma soprattutto hanno dato “poca attenzione a quanto ha fatto la Chiesa negli Stati Uniti” contro gli abusi sessuali, “che può essere un modello” anche per altre istituzioni nel Paese. Secondo il cardinale Levada, occorre analizzare le cause di fondo di questa piaga “che sono i cambiamenti della società, cambiamenti che riguardano in particolare come viene vissuto il celibato in tempi di rivoluzione sessuale”. Quanto alle passate responsabilità dei vescovi accusati dall’opinione pubblica e dalle associazioni delle vittime di avere avuto più a cuore la difesa della reputazione della Chiesa che la protezione dei bambini, il cardinale Levada ammette che all’emergere dei primi casi è stata sottovalutata la gravità e l’entità del fenomeno. Egli respinge peraltro le accuse rivolte all’operato del Santo Padre quando era arcivescovo di Monaco- Frisinga e Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede. "Si parla di casi risalenti a 20-30 anni fa – spiega - quando la Congregazione non era competente in materia. Il Papa – ha quindi precisato – è perfettamente al corrente di quello che pensa l’opinione pubblica su quanto sta avvenendo, come dimostrano, tra l’altro, i suoi incontri con le vittime".
Il cardinale Levada sugli anglicani che desiderano entrare nella Chiesa cattolica
Mar 27, 2010
"Armonizzare i suoni come in una sinfonia": il prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, il cardinale William Joseph Levada, ha utilizzato questa metafora per sottolineare, in un intervento nei giorni scorsi, l'apporto degli anglicani alla Chiesa cattolica, alla luce della Costituzione apostolica Anglicanorum coetibus di Benedetto XVI. Lo riferisce l’Osservatore Romano. Parlando in occasione di un incontro presso il Newman Center della Queen's University, a Kingston, in Canada, il prefetto ha affermato che gli anglicani che desiderano entrare nella piena e visibile comunione con la Chiesa cattolica "forniranno un suono distinto nella comunità ecclesiale, nella maniera in cui i differenti strumenti di un'orchestra concorrono a creare una sinfonia". E ha specificato: "Quando un individuo, o ancor più, una comunità è pronta per l'unità con la Chiesa di Cristo che sussiste nella Chiesa cattolica, costituirebbe un tradimento dei principi e degli obiettivi ecumenici cattolici il rifiuto di abbracciarli, assieme ai doni distintivi che arricchiscono la Chiesa e che aiutano il suo approccio ‘sinfonico’ nei confronti del mondo, ovvero suonando insieme o uniti". Riferendosi poi al processo che ha portato alla pubblicazione della Costituzione apostolica, il cardinale ha osservato che si tratta "del logico risultato" di anni di dialogo, a partire dallo storico incontro nel 1966 tra Paolo VI e l'arcivescovo di Canterbury, Michael Ramsey. In particolare, ha aggiunto che il risultato ottenuto è "uno dei frutti" del lavoro ultratrentennale dell'Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (Arcic) che ha prodotto una serie di documenti su vari temi di fede. Il prefetto ha infine sottolineato il sentimento di speranza e l'impegno che accompagneranno gli ulteriori progressi nel cammino verso la realizzazione dell'aspirazione alla piena e visibile unione nell'unica Chiesa, portando a esempio, a tal proposito, l'istituzione di una terza commissione per il dialogo tra cattolici e anglicani, avvenuta dopo l'incontro a novembre scorso tra Benedetto XVI e l'arcivescovo di Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Il cardinale Levada ha fatto poi riferimento agli effetti negativi che l'ordinazione di donne vescovo avrebbe nel processo di ricerca dell'unità, puntualizzando che il sacerdozio maschile "non è una mera prassi, ma è nella natura dottrinale, e non può essere una questione relegata ai margini".
Intervento del cardinale Levada alla convention dei Cavalieri di Colombo
Aug 13, 2009
Il cardinale William Joseph Levada, prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, ha esortato i Cavalieri di Colombo a “proclamare la Parola di Dio e a testimoniare con la propria vita la fedeltà a Cristo, in una società come quella statunitense che, pur ricca di riferimenti religiosi, nei fatti diventa sempre più secolarizzata”. L’occasione è stata la 17.ma convention dei Cavalieri di Colombo, svoltasi dal 4 al 6 agosto a Phoenix, in Arizona. Il cardinale Levada – rende noto l’Osservatore Romano - ha incoraggiato a lavorare con “tutte le persone di buona volontà” per migliorare la sorte dei meno fortunati e a non smarrire la propria identità cristiana. “Dobbiamo testimoniare la nostra convinzione - ha detto il cardinale - che nonostante i grandi risultati scientifici e tecnologici l'America sarà sempre un pezzo di terra sterile senza il ristoro della Parola di Dio”. Il tema della testimonianza è stato anche al centro dell'intervento che il cardinale Francis George, arcivescovo di Chicago e presidente della Conferenza episcopale statunitense, ha tenuto martedì scorso sull’enciclica di Benedetto XVI Caritas in veritate. Il porporato ha richiamato l'importanza d'esercitare la carità in ogni comportamento, nella sfera personale come in quella pubblica. "Il tema principale dell'enciclica - ha detto - è che vi è una sola dottrina cattolica, che racchiude insieme l'insegnamento morale e quello sociale, la salvaguardia della vita e della dignità umana, la difesa del matrimonio e della famiglia, la tutela dei poveri, l'esercizio dell'attività economica, la giustizia e la pratica della solidarietà". I Cavalieri di Colombo - in collaborazione con la diocesi di Phoenix e l'arcidiocesi di Città del Messico - hanno dato vita, a partire da giovedì, al primo congresso mariano internazionale dedicato alla Vergine di Guadalupe. “La centralità di Nostra Signora di Guadalupe per i cristiani - ha detto Anderson - è evidente in Sud America come nel Nord America. E il suo messaggio è attuale oggi, come lo è stato per quasi cinquecento anni”. Al congresso ha inviato un messaggio anche il presidente statunitense Barack Obama, il quale ha sottolineato come l'opera meritoria svolta dai Cavalieri di Colombo "ricorda che tutti noi abbiamo un ruolo da svolgere nella costruzione di un futuro migliore". Il congresso si conclude oggi presso il "Jobing.com Arena" con il festival Guadalupano. E’ prevista la partecipazione di almeno ventimila persone provenienti dagli Stati Uniti e dal Messico.
American ‘city on a hill’ is barren without God’s word
Aug 13, 2009
Referring to John Winthrop’s oft-quoted image of America as a “city upon a hill”-- an image whose words come from the Sermon on the Mount-- Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus that “as American Catholics, we can and we should work with all people of good will, regardless of their religious beliefs, to improve the lot of others. But we must also bear witness to our conviction that the American ‘city set on a hill’, no matter how remarkable its scientific accomplishments or technological advances, will always be a barren patch of earth without the life-giving refreshment of the word of God.”
“Although we sometimes sing about building the City of God,” he added, “in fact our task is more modest: we do not build heaven on earth, we simply prepare the site to welcome the new Jerusalem which comes from God.”
Le Vatican juge "absurde" d'opposer foi en Dieu et évolutionnisme
Mar 11, 2009
ROME — Le cardinal américain William Levada, à la tête de la congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi, a réaffirmé mardi que le Vatican ne voyait pas d'incompatibilité entre la croyance en Dieu et les théories scientifiques sur l'évolution des espèces. Il a en revanche qualifié d'"absurde" l'idée selon laquelle la théorie évolutionniste prouverait que Dieu n'existe pas.
"Bien sûr que nous pensons que c'est absurde et que ce n'est pas du tout prouvé", a-t-il lancé au sujet de la thèse soutenue notamment par le biologiste Richard Dawkins. "Mais à part cela, (...) le Vatican a dit qu'il ne faisait pas obstacle aux réalités scientifiques", a déclaré le cardinal, s'exprimant en marge d'une conférence organisée par le Vatican pour le 150e anniversaire de la publication de "L'Origine des espèces" de Charles Darwin.
Cependant, "nous croyons que quelle que soit la façon dont la création s'est déroulée et a évolué, Dieu est en fin de compte le créateur de toutes choses", a ajouté le préfet. Le Vatican sous Benoît XVI insiste sur la compatibilité de la foi et de la raison, et tente de se rapprocher de la communauté scientifique, comme en témoigne la conférence de cinq jours organisée à Rome.
La position du Saint-Siège a été quelque peu brouillée ces dernières années, avec notamment la publication en 2005 dans le "New York Times" d'un texte d'un proche collaborateur du pape, le cardinal autrichien Christoph Schonborn, qui semblait soutenir la thèse d'un "dessein intelligent", selon laquelle la vie est si complexe qu'il a nécessairement fallu l'intervention d'un Créateur dans l'évolution des espèces. Le Vatican a assuré après cela qu'il ne tenait pas la théorie du dessein intelligent pour de la science et que l'enseigner en classe avec la théorie évolutionniste ne faisait qu'engendrer la confusion.
Cardinal says atheist's theories "absurd"
Mar 11, 2009
ROME (AP) — A Vatican cardinal said Tuesday that the Catholic Church does not stand in the way of scientific realities like evolution, though he described as "absurd" the atheist notion that evolution proves there is no God.
Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterated church teaching about faith and science at the start of a Vatican-sponsored conference marking the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Levada said the Vatican believed there was a "wide spectrum of room" for belief in both the scientific basis for evolution and faith in God the creator.
"We believe that however creation has come about and evolved, ultimately God is the creator of all things," he said.
He said that while the Vatican did not exclude any area of science, it did reject as "absurd" the atheist notion of biologist and author Richard Dawkins and others that evolution proves there is no God.
"Of course we think that's absurd and not at all proven," he said. "But other than that ... the Vatican has recognized that it doesn't stand in the way of scientific realities."
The Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI has been trying to stress its belief that there is no incompatibility between faith and reason, and the five-day conference at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University is a key demonstration of its efforts to engage with the scientific community.
Church teaching holds that Catholicism and evolutionary theory are not necessarily at odds. But the Vatican's position became somewhat confused in recent years, in part because of a 2005 New York Times op-ed piece written by a close Benedict collaborator, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.
In the piece, Schoenborn seemed to reject traditional church teaching and back intelligent design, the view that life is too complex to have developed through evolution alone, and that a higher power has had a hand in changes among species over time.
Vatican officials later made clear they did not believe intelligent design was science and that teaching it alongside evolutionary theory in school classrooms only created confusion.
The evolution conference will explore intelligent design later this week, although not as science or theology but as a cultural phenomenon.
In his remarks, Levada referred to both Dawkins and the debate over teaching creationism in schools in the United States. He declined to pinpoint the Vatican's views, saying merely: "The Vatican listens and learns."
Kardinal bezeichnet Dawkins' atheistische Evolutions-These als absurd
Mar 09, 2009
Rom (AP) Im Vatikan hat am Dienstag eine fünftägige Konferenz über die Evolutionstheorie von Charles Darwin begonnen, die vor 150 Jahren erstmals als Buch veröffentlicht wurde. Der Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation, Kardinal William Levada, erklärte, die katholische Kirche sei der Ansicht, es gebe ein «weites Spektrum» für den Glauben sowohl an eine wissenschaftliche Basis für die Evolution als auch für den Glauben an den Schöpfergott. Das einzige, was der Vatikan als «absurd» zurückweise, sei die von dem Biologen Richard Dawkins und anderen vertretene These, die Evolution beweise, dass es keinen Gott gebe.
Interview with Cardinal William Levada
Oct 17, 2008
Cardinal William Levada, the former Archbishop of San Francisco, is the first American to serve as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the powerful Vatican department once known as the “Holy Office.”
Interview with Cardinal William Levada
By John L Allen Jr
Created Oct 16 2008 - 09:48
Cardinal William Levada, the former Archbishop of San Francisco, is the first American to serve as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the powerful Vatican department once known as the “Holy Office.” Colloquially, it's also been called, in Italian, La Suprema – the “supreme” office in the Vatican power structure. Levada, 72, was appointed to the position by Pope Benedict XVI. He worked under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger early in the future pope’s own tenure at the Holy Office, and later became a bishop member of the congregation.
Born in Long Beach, California, Levada is serving as one of three co-presidents of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible. He’s probably one of the busiest men in the assembly, because unlike bishops who are far away from their dioceses, he’s shuttling between his office and the synod hall every day.
On Thursday afternoon, he sat down for a rare interview in the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The conversation was focused entirely on the present synod. The following is a complete transcript of the interview.
By design and also in the doing, this has been a very pastoral synod. Nonetheless, are there important doctrinal points that have emerged from the discussion?
Points of doctrine have been relatively few. They’d be related to Dei Verbum, I would think. [Note: Dei Verbum was a document of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) on divine revelation.] For example, the point that the pope himself addressed about the historical-critical method, which was mentioned in Dei Verbum as well as a note of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and Divino Afflante Spiritu. [Note: A 1943 encyclical of Pope Pius XII on scripture, which opened the door to use of the historical-critical method by Catholic Biblical scholars.] It’s had its own history now for forty years.
I think the pope’s comments concerned what he thought would be helpful in indicating what it useful in this method, but how the method itself has to have its own critique, both from within and without. I think what he sought to do was to create a bridge, which would help bring together the comments from both sides that you hear in the synod. Some have criticized the historical-critical method, on the grounds that it’s difficult to overcome the philosophical suppositions which formed its basis for many of the method’s original followers. Others see it as a useful tool for coming to a better understanding of the literal and historical sense of scripture. I think [dealing with this topic] is one thing that would be very helpful.
Another doctrinal issue concerns inspiration and inerrancy, which has come up a few times, and which can perhaps be given more thought in this next step in the synod process of preparing the propositions to recommend to the Holy Father. If the synod thinks it’s wise to put forward a clear position on inspiration and inerrancy, I’m sure they will ask the Holy Father to do that.
There have been suggestions in the synod that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith might consider putting out a document on inerrancy. Do you think the timing is right for such a document, or is there a need for further reflection?
Here’s the typical strategy for our documents. The Holy Father will receive these recommendations, and certainly if he were to pass that on to us, we would start an examination. The first judgment we would make is, is it opportune? Do we have sufficient elements for a magisterial document of the Holy See at this time? Or, is it still being discussed in a way that we don’t see it as a likely prospect? That goes through a whole process. There are theologians who comment on it, and then we’d usually bring it to the feria quarta, the meeting of the cardinals, and then their opinion will be submitted to the pope. If we thought it was not opportune, we would say so, but if he asks us to do it, then it’s altogether likely we would come up with something.
Do you have a personal sense of whether the time is right?
Well, one of things about inerrancy is that it also has a pastoral dimension. It’s not simply a doctrinal issue. In the light of the wide range of readings – the liberal, you might even call it the modernist, exegesis and critique of scripture, over against the fundamentalist ideas on the inerrancy of the Bible – I think that there is an apologetic value to some attempt to clarify that question. What I could call the view of an uncritical literalism is the kind of view that the modern, aggressive atheists hold up as the basis of their critique. How can there be a God, if this is what he’s speaking, what he’s revealing? They look at that as a kind of negative proof.
Almost a reductio ad absurdum on Christian faith?
Exactly.
I know you don’t want to prejudge the results of any study the congregation might do, but in a nutshell, what can we say to people who wonder what the Catholic church teaches about the inerrancy of the Bible?
I think Dei Verbum has stated a very clear and effective position, which is the teaching of the church.
As you know, however, there’s been a debate for forty years over the precise meaning of Dei Verbum. Some say it means that inerrancy applies only to those things in the Bible that concern our salvation, while others say all of scripture is inerrant, even if not always in the literal, factual sense.
I would say that’s a minor distinction compared to the major point, which is that the teaching of the Bible is a teaching about what God wants us to know for our salvation. How that teaching is proposed, with all of its human clothing, and, sometimes, its lovely language – what you might call its warts – doesn’t take away, I don’t think, from the central point of how Dei Verbum summed up the teaching of the church, and I think did so very well. A [new] document might have to try to tease out some of the implications of that, but I don’t think that’s a major point. I would call it a minor one.
A point that both the Holy Father and several bishops in the synod have raised is the relationship between theologians and exegetes. You have a somewhat unique perspective, because both the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Biblical Commission fall under your authority. How do you see that relationship today?
Well, I would stand with the Holy Father! (laughs)
He’s obviously done a lot of thinking about this, and you can see part of his thinking in his book Jesus of Nazareth. He says, here are the principles that I use, and that I have come to think are most helpful in dealing with this. I know that in the past, he has expressed misgivings of one kind and another about over-reliance on the historical-critical method. My point is that the underlying principles of the method can be overcome by people who are grounded in the Catholic faith, and who see the faith as the overarching purpose of the scriptures. Therefore, it’s not historical detail, or bracketing out a way of looking at the composition of the scriptures. Rather, it’s seeing the fact that all the scriptures have as their author the Holy Spirit, and therefore the faith of the church is the determining aspect of what God intends us to know through the revelation he makes in the scriptures. That’s the underlying point that needs to be kept in
mind.
As you know, the Holy Father said that in Germany today, in his view, the majority of the mainstream exegetes do not share a faith that opens them to belief in the hand of God, going beyond our present view of what’s natural. It excludes the resurrection of Christ, for example, or the Eucharist. So, those things are important in the formation of exegetes, which is the point he wanted to make. Today, you see an exegetical method which, by its nature, tries to bracket out a limited context. But exegesis has to look at the theological context, the faith of the whole church, how this relates to what God intends to say. If you leave that out, you don’t have a reliable method for Catholic exegesis of the scriptures. I think that’s fair to say.
That’s the theoretical level. Practically, do you have any suggestions for how exegetes and theologians might collaborate more effectively? I suppose one of the dynamics is the highly compartmentalized nature of the modern university.
That’s exactly right. This has been thought about for a long time, going back to Lonergan’s method in theology. [Note: Bernard Lonergan (1904-84) was a Canadian Jesuit known for his writings on theological methodology.] How do you deal with the increasing specialization? How do you foster dialogue in the academy to over the compartmentalization of a discipline? That’s the invitation the Holy Father makes. Exegetes and theologians are going to have to sit down together to look at the foundations of their own methodologies. In some ways, I think theologians are more bound, since the Bible is the soul of theology, to be aware of updated scriptural scholarship. Sometimes one gets the impression that scripture scholars, as a result of their specialization, bracket out any contact with the doctrine of the church.
Is there sometimes a fear among exegetes that theology could almost taint the results of their investigations?
That may be. I can’t say that, because I don’t want to make any accusations. But I think what the Holy Father is proposing, and what I hope the synod would propose as well, is that we make a special appeal to Catholic exegetes and Catholic theologians to talk to each other, to dialogue about the methodologies of their particular specializations. Of course, theology is not itself a specialization, but, you might say, a requirement of deepening our understanding of the revealed Word. In any event, we need to see how those two [exegesis and theology] work together. I’ve been trying to promote that in regard to homilies, and the pastoral presentation of scripture, to show the link with the faith of the church.
We can look at the Mass as the classic paradigm for the church’s use of the scriptures. They proclaim the Word, the preacher is asked to unfold the Word, and then you’re invited to say the Creed and to profess the Creed. It seems to me that this dynamic is one that ought to be paradigmatic for the way of looking at how the church reads the scriptures, reflects on the scriptures, and finds in the scriptures the elements that she needs to profess in her faith.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, in his opening speech for the synod, floated the idea that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith could organize some symposia or other events to bring exegetes and theologians into conversation. Do you think that’s a possibility?
I think it is. That happened some years ago, when Cardinal Ratzinger was the prefect. Maybe we should go back to the acts of that symposium, and look at what might need further updating and further comment. That’s a good suggestion.
Of course, there’s a tendency in these meetings sometimes to think that the congregation is the solution to all of our problems.
It isn’t!
If this is going to bear fruit, it also has to happen at lower levels throughout the church. Is this the kind of thing that Catholic universities, for example, ought to be working on?
Of course. You mentioned at the beginning that this synod is a very pastoral synod, and all of these are things that the bishops themselves will want to take into account. They’ll want to try to encourage both scholars and pastoral agents to move forward. I don’t think there will be any restriction [on those possibilities.] Everything doesn’t have to depend on what our congregation does.
Cardinal Says Scripture Inseparably United to Tradition
Oct 09, 2008
Synod Considers Word of God as More Than Bible.
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Scripture and Tradition are inseparably united since they both come from the same source, says the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Cardinal William Levada, a delegate president of the synod on the word of God, affirmed this Monday when he addressed the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
"As the dogmatic constitution 'Dei Verbum' reminds us, there exists an indissoluble unity between sacred Scripture and Tradition since both flow from the same source," he said. "Only the living ecclesial tradition allows sacred Scripture to be understood as the authentic word of God that acts as guide, rule and law for the life of the Church and the spiritual growth of believers.
"This involves the rejection of any interpretation that is subjective or purely experiential or the fruit of a unilateral analysis, incapable of embracing the global sense that has guided the Tradition of the whole of God's people down through the centuries."
It is in this context, the cardinal said, that the "necessity and responsibility of the magisterium are born."
"And we individual bishops too know well how great our individual responsibilities are as legitimate successors of the apostles and what is expected of us by today's society to which we are duty-bound to transmit the truth that we, in turn, have received," he added.
Life with God
Noting Benedict XVI's stated hope that the synod will "help […] to rediscover the importance of God's word," the cardinal said the synod fathers wanted to "welcome this invitation with humility and responsibility since we know that the final end of divine revelation is the communion of life with the Lord."
"As we begin the work of this synodal assembly, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, let us turn our gaze to Christ, the light of the world and our only teacher," Cardinal Levada encouraged.
The prelate's point was further developed when Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec, took the floor to affirm that the Word is much more than the Bible. He clarified that Christianity is not a religion of the Book.
"The Word of God means before all else God himself who speaks, who expresses in himself the divine Word that belongs to his intimate mystery," he said.
This Word, he added during his Latin-language discourse, which he delivered seated beside the Pope, speaks in a particular and also dramatic way in the history of man, especially in the election of a people, in the Mosaic law and the prophets.
Accompanying his words with artistic images projected on a large screen, the Canadian cardinal explained that, after God had spoken in many ways, the Word "summarizes and crowns everything in a unique, perfect and definitive way in Jesus Christ."
Faithful Citizenship, CDF Edition
Oct 07, 2008
For what it's worth, the latest rumblings of the Roman mill might have him moving to the Apostolic Penitentiary (and his current post taken by the cardinal-archbishop of Vienna and "crown prince" of the current pontificate)...
Whispers in the Loggia, Monday, October 06, 2008
Faithful Citizenship, CDF Edition
For what it's worth, the latest rumblings of the Roman mill might have him moving to the Apostolic Penitentiary (and his current post taken by the cardinal-archbishop of Vienna and "crown prince" of the current pontificate)...
...but yet again, at this writing Cardinal William Levada remains the church's "Grand Inquisitor" as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. And one of three co-presidents for this month's Synod on the Word, to boot.
Others might've scored more headlines this campaign season, but it's worth remembering that, for the first time, global Catholicism's chief guardian of orthodoxy gets to vote in a US presidential election.
If only the Know-Nothings could've lived to see it.
Yet while the prestige of being the Holy See's #3 official and highest-ranking American ever to serve at the Home Office might sound satisfying, it could well be said that, a la Tony Bennett, the native Angeleno left his heart in San Francisco, where he had been happily serving until, three weeks after getting called higher still, a certain Old Friend asked him to take up his old job.
Long one to keep a quiet hand on the scene, though, the titanic profile Joseph Ratzinger attracted at the helm of the former "Holy Office" is as far from his successor's m.o. as LA is from Rome. But the 15-hour flight's become something of a regular hop for the 72 year-old cardinal, who spent his summer downtime at his Long Beach condo and other SoCal haunts before returning again late last month for the twin dedications of Oakland's new cathedral and San Fran's replica of the Assisi Portiuncula (where he's shown, above, with his closest friend and chosen successor in the Bay City, Archbishop George Niederauer).
A member of the US bishops' 2004 ad hoc task force on Catholics in Political Life before his unexpected return to Rome and the Congregation (where he served as a junior staffer from 1976-82), from his new post Levada's signature quiet touch might be barely detected on the wider radar... but inside, remains quite noticeable nonetheless.
For one, having voiced his hope at an April lunch in New York that a "more serene and effective" post-election exchange would take place among the bishops on the ramifications of political support of abortion by Catholic politicians, the hot-button item was added to the agenda of the USCCB's November Meeting in Baltimore, which opens six days after the vote. For another, following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's nationally-televised dissembling over her pro-choice stance's conflict with church teaching, Niederauer's delicately-crafted response on his parishioner's comments bear no shortage of traces of his predecessor's stamp and spirit (in 2004, the soon-to-be prefect himself penned an extensive reflection on the subject).
And in what's likely to be his only direct contribution to the election-year discourse, at an LA prayer breakfast on his last California trek the third Camarillo cardinal offered some impressions on "faithful citizenship," using B16's texts from the springtime visit as his frame:
Benedict demonstrated that affection [for America] right from the beginning. On the first day of his visit, he spoke to President Bush and the highest officials from all three branches of government in the White House Rose Garden, saying: “I come as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel, and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society.”...
On the occasion of that first address of his visit, Pope Benedict said, “From the dawn of the Republic, America’s quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator. The framers of this nation’s founding documents drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the ‘self-evident truth’ that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” He went on to say, in a remark that some of us may want to hope is a prophecy as we struggle along day after day through an election that seems never to end, “As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time, I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible, and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more human and free society.”
Benedict sees faith and freedom as “friends” not enemies, just as Jesus does in the Gospel when He says, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8: 31-2). In this year’s run-up to the election, when political rhetoric often seeks links with our country’s founding principles, the Pope’s succinct analysis bears recalling: “The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good.”
At this point, Pope Benedict recalled the words of his predecessor: “Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In a reflection on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that ‘in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation’, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul. These prophetic words, he continued, in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent ‘indispensable supports’ of political prosperity.”
These are not merely the polite remarks of a guest. They represent a mature conviction about democracy’s potential as a guarantee of freedom – including freedom of religion. Pope Benedict returned to this theme in addressing the American Bishops, when he said, “America is --- a land of great faith. Your people are remarkable for their religious fervor and they take pride in belonging to a worshipping community. They have confidence in God, and they do not hesitate to bring moral arguments rooted in biblical faith into their public discourse. Respect for freedom of religion is deeply ingrained in the American consciousness – a fact which has contributed to this country’s attraction for generations if immigrants, seeking a home where they can worship freely in accordance with their beliefs."
Elsewhere in the hometown remarks, the "Grand Inquisitor" indicated that his previously-admitted fascination with a certain Grand Atheist remains very much intact. And so it goes.
"Toca las raíces del género humano"
Sept 08, 2008
El cardenal Levada opina que la cuestión del aborto "merece diálogo".
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, 5 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) - El cardenal William Levada, quien es perfecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe y arzobispo de San Francisco, opinó hoy que la cuestión del aborto "merece diálogo" desde la perspectiva histórica de la vida y la fe porque "toca las raíces del género humano".
En un encuentro con periodistas con motivo de su presencia en Santiago de Compostela para ofrecer una conferencia, el cardenal William Levada reconoció hoy que las noticias de un nuevo proyecto de ley del aborto en España, promovido promovido por el actual Gobierno, "le entristece" y recordó que los obispos españoles lo ven "un documento autoritario".
El considerado número dos del Papa Benedicto XVI analizó que esta iniciativa es "un signo" de que la visión de la vida, desde la "dignidad de cada persona" y que comienza con la concepción, "no está en la base del proyecto".
Para el cardenal este asunto "no es meramente político", sino que está en relación con lo cultural y "toca las raíces del género humano". Por ello, opinó que "merece diálogo cordial y profundizar con una atención mayor en toda la historia sobre la cuestión de la vida y la fe".
SIN INFORMACIÓN SUFICIENTE
Preguntado sobre las relaciones de la Iglesia española y el gobierno que preside José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, el cardenal Levada prefirió no comentar nada porque, según dijo, "no tiene informaciones actuales" y "no está en España". Por ello, recomendó que esa pregunta se traslade "a las personas de aquí".
En cuanto a otros de los temas de actualidad en España, en relación a su opinión sobre si la Iglesia debe colaborar con la iniciativa del juez de la Audiencia Nacional Baltasar Garzón y facilitar datos sobre los desaparecidos y represaliados en la Guerra Civil, el cardenal evitó pronunciarse porque dijo "no se considera informado".
El cardenal Levada elogia la belleza de Progreso
Jul 23, 2008
“Este puerto es hermoso, sus playas están limpias y lucen su tranquilidad y belleza”, manifestó ayer el cardenal William Joseph Levada, prefecto para la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe, quien se encuentra de visita en esta ciudad.
(yucatan.com.mx) 22 de julio.- Ayer, poco después de desayunar en la residencia de playa “Villa Carmita” del empresario pesquero Jesús Gutiérrez Aguilar, en donde se hospedó desde el lunes, el dignatario salió acompañado del padre Lorenzo Mex Jiménez para realizar una caminata por el playón poniente, en donde también aprovechó para darse un baño de mar.
El purpurado llegó la noche del lunes a Yucatán para participar mañana en la celebración de los 25 años de ordenación episcopal del arzobispo de Yucatán, Mons. Emilio Carlos Berlie Belaunzarán.
Monseñor Levada es uno de los amigos más íntimos del arzobispo de Yucatán, pues ha forjado estrecha amistad con él desde que se conocieron cuando el primero era obispo de San Francisco y el segundo de Tijuana.
El cardenal de 72 años y nacido en Long Beach, California, permanecerá hasta mañana en Yucatán.
Con motivo de la visita del purpurado, el empresario pesquero Jesús Gutiérrez Aguilar le ofreció una cena de bienvenida en la que también estuvo acompañado de Mons. Emilio Carlos Berlie Belaunzarán y el Pbro. Lorenzo Mex, párroco de la Purísima concepción y San José.
Según se informó, el cardenal Levada llegó en un vuelo que tomó en Los Angeles a Cancún. En el vecino estado abordó un jet privado que lo trasladó a Mérida. Llegó acompañado del Mons. Peter Nugent, del clero de Los Angeles, California.
Durante la cena con el cardenal Levada también estuvieron como invitados el empresario pesquero Juan Zacarías Dib, los diáconos permanentes José Trinidad Molina Casares y Omar Buenfil Guillermo, y el señor Víctor Cervera Hernández, coordinador para el desarrollo de la zona costera de Yucatán.
El purpurado degustó cebiche de mojarra blanca, pulpo a la gallega con galletas de soda, langosta natural y al mojo de ajo y guachinango en tikinxic con plátano macho que acompañó con vino.
Al terminar de cenar, alrederdor de las 11:30 de la noche, se dijo contento por el recibimiento y la calidez de los progreseños.
También saludó y bromeó con Luis Angel Villanueva Escalante, Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Salas, Jonatan Domínguez Tintoré, Víctor de Jesús Canto Ku y Manuel Figueroa Paredes, personal de la residencia de playa que lo atendió ayer y hoy.
Se disculpó por no dar entrevistas, pues ofrecería una conferencia de prensa en Mérida.
Progresoha recibido la visita de cinco purpurados en los últimos diez años.
Algunos de los cardenales que han visitado Progreso en ese tiempo son el cardenal Alfonso López Trujillo (q.e.p.d), presidente del Pontificio Consejo para la Familia, quien estuvo en esta ciudad en 2001.
En 2002, el puerto recibió a dos cardenales. A principios de mayo, al purpurado japonés Stephen Fumio Hamao (q.e.p.d), quien en ese entonces se desempeñaba como presidente emérito del Pontificio Consejo para la Pastoral de los Emigrantes e Itinerantes.
A fines del mismo mes, con motivo de la consagración de la parroquia de la Purísima Concepción y San Jose, llegó el cardenal italiano Giovanni Cheli, quien ahora es presidente emérito del Pontificio Consejo para el Cuidado Pastoral de los Inmigrantes e Itinerantes.
En diciembre de 2003, llegó el cardenal eslovaco Jozef Tomko, prefecto emérito de la Congregación para la Evangelización de los Pueblos, quien visitó el puerto antes de su participación en la ordenación de nuevos sacerdotes en Mérida.
En mayo de 2006 llegó el cardenal Javier Lozano Barragán, presidente del Pontificio Consejo para la Pastoral de los Agentes Sanitarios, quien luego participó en un Congreso de Salud y Vida en la capital yucateca.
Nueva apologética debe concentrarse en misterio de la creación, destaca Cardenal Levada
Jun 25, 2008
El Cardenal William Joseph Levada, Prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, destacó que "una nueva apologética para el nuevo milenio debería concentrarse en la belleza de la creación de Dios".
ROMA, 24 Jun. 08 / 08:13 am (ACI).- Al inaugurar la Octava Sesión Plenaria de la Pontificia Academia de Santo Tomás de Aquino realizada entre el 20 y 22 de junio, bajo el lema "Preambula fidei (preámbulos de la fe) y nueva apologética", el Purpurado pronunció una conferencia titulada "La sociedad secularizada necesita una apologética renovada", en la que recordó las palabras de Benedicto XVI a los obispos estadounidenses sobre cómo responder al desafío de la secularización.
Según informa L'Osservatore Romano, el Cardenal explica que así el Santo Padre resaltó que "en una sociedad que justamente tiene una alta consideración por la libertad personal, la Iglesia debe promover a todo nivel sus enseñanzas, –en la catequesis, la predicación, la instrucción de los seminarios y universitaria– una apologética que afirme claramente la verdad de la revelación cristiana, la armonía entre fe y razón, y una sana comprensión de la libertad, vista en términos positivos como liberación de las limitaciones del pecado para una vida auténtica y plena".
De lo dicho por el Pontífice, afirma el Prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, se entiende "que la apologética ocupa un puesto doble en la teología: encuentra su lugar en la teología fundamental, en donde los preambula fidei contribuyen a los fundamentos de la investigación teológica; y en la teología pastoral, en donde la teología está 'inculturada' (para usar un término postconciliar) en la predicación, en la catequesis y en la evangelización. En estos dos ámbitos, la necesidad de la apologética compartida es perenne, como demuestra un examen de la historia del pensamiento cristiano. Por tanto, considero que una 'nueva apologética' no es solamente actual, sino urgente desde el punto de vista científico y pastoral".
Seguidamente el Cardenal Levada precisó que una nueva apologética, "para que sea creíble" debe prestar "mayor atención al misterio y la belleza del culto católico, tener una visión sacramental del mundo que nos permita reconocer y apreciar la belleza de la creación como prefiguración de los cielos nuevos y la de la nueva tierra previstos en la Segunda Carta de Pedro y del libro del Apocalipsis".
"El testimonio de nuestra vida de creyentes que ponen en práctica su fe obrando por la justicia y la caridad como seguidores que imitan a Jesús, nuestro maestro, es una dimensión importante de nuestra credibilidad de interlocutores en el diálogo en un tiempo de nueva apologética", continuó.
El Cardenal dijo luego que "la solidaridad con nuestros conciudadanos, cuyo sentido de responsabilidad puede ser parcial, pero real, expresada en causas por el ambiente, los pobres, la justicia económica, es importante. Al mismo tiempo, nuestra capacidad de articular la visión completa de la verdad, la justicia y la caridad es esencial para garantizar que este testimonio y esta acción no constituyan solo una fase de paso, sino que puedan dar su contribución duradera a la creación de la civilización del amor".
Libertad y diálogo
"Un diálogo sobre el significado y sobre el alcance de la libertad humana es esencial en la cultura contemporánea. Si la libertad apunta a reforzar el individualismo de una 'cultura 'yo primero que nada'', no comprenderá nunca el potencial imaginado por los fundadores de la democracia estadounidense, ni tampoco el de Aquel que nos creado a su imagen y semejanza, libres de responder al gran don del amor divino", explicó el Purpurado quien hasta antes de estar en la curia vaticana se desempeñó como Arzobispo de San Francisco (EEUU).
Tras precisar que "debemos perseguir el diálogo con la ciencia y la tecnología" y que "el nuevo milenio ofrecerá nuevas oportunidades para expandir esta dimensión clave del diálogo entre fe y razón", el Cardenal Levada resaltó la necesidad de la nueva apologética de "tener en cuenta el contexto ecuménico e interreligioso de cualquier diálogo sobre la fe religiosa en un mundo secular".
"Del mismo modo, nuestro camino ecuménico nos ha mostrado numerosos dones que los católicos tenemos en común con otros cristianos. Nuestra voluntad apologética se verá reforzada por el testimonio común y por el testimonio con ellos sobre la base de la revelación de Dios en Cristo", añadió.
Luego de comentar que podemos " imitar el celo de algunos de nuestros hermanos y hermanas fundamentalistas al proclamar a Cristo", el Prefecto especificó que del mismo modo "podemos tener éxito al compartir con ellos las riquezas de la tradición de fe católica y universal".
"El espíritu de la sociedad contemporánea es escéptico hacia la verdad, hacia las instancias de conocimiento de la verdad, especialmente hacia la verdad revelada por Dios. La relativización de la verdad no es precondición necesaria del diálogo real. Lo es, en vez, el deseo de conocer al otro en la plenitud de su humanidad. Después de todo no sería posible encontrar la verdad de la mente y el corazón en este tipo de diálogo del que emerge que los cristianos han aprendido a ser la mente, la fuerza, el corazón y el alma del Evangelio revelado en Jesús", concluyó el Cardenal Levada.
Doctrine Tackles Preaching
Feb 25, 2008
The "Vice-Pope" may be in Cuba -- where, earlier today, he addressed the island's bishops -- but, per usual, more of the Vatican orbit's been seen passing through New York.
Whispers in the Loggia, Thursday, February 21, 2008
Doctrine Tackles Preaching
The "Vice-Pope" may be in Cuba -- where, earlier today, he addressed the island's bishops -- but, per usual, more of the Vatican orbit's been seen passing through New York.
While Msgr Guido Marini wraps up his two-day advance tour there later today, Cardinal William Levada reportedly made his own Gotham visit last weekend, albeit keeping a much lower profile than the invariably cassock-clad Papal MC.
As his Curial confreres retreated with Benedict XVI, the SoCal native -- now Papa Ratzi's successor as the global church's "Grand Inquisitor" -- headlined an Indiana conference on "Doctrine, Scripture and Preaching in the Church" organized by the USCCB's Committee for Doctrine, which he chaired on his 2005 appointment to Rome...
Levada noted that the trend to eliminate catechetical homilies after Vatican II was not really in the spirit of "Dei Verbum," the council document on divine revelation.
He said the Scripture commentary aspect of the homily was emphasized because it had been so lacking prior to the council.
The cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the church should now seek to integrate these two aspects.
Titled "Eloquence of Teaching: Doctrine, Scripture and Preaching in the Life of the Church," the seminar was a follow-up to a 2005 conference at the University of Notre Dame marking the 40th anniversary of "Dei Verbum."
It was sponsored by the U.S. Catholic bishops' Committee on Doctrine and Notre Dame's Institute for Church Life.
The seminar looked at the problem faced by priests who feel they must choose between preaching on the Scriptures or preaching on the church's doctrines and moral teachings.
"Dei Verbum," as noted at the seminar, does not see the two as mutually exclusive, but rather as two components that can work well together.
"We have to find ways to improve homilies so that they are at one and the same time genuinely exegetical -- genuinely interpretative of Scripture -- and genuinely catechetical," said another speaker, John Cavadini, chair of the theology department at Notre Dame.
He gave a talk on how the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be a resource to priests by helping to identify Scripture passages related to certain doctrinal or catechetical themes.
According to Cavadini, this integration of Scripture and doctrine should not be so difficult.
"All of the major doctrines of the Catholic faith were articulated in defense of Scripture and with scriptural language, while the canon of Scripture itself -- what books were chosen and what books preserved -- was a function of doctrinal considerations," he said.
In other words, "Scripture itself has a doctrinal shape, and doctrine has a scriptural context," Cavadini said.
Preaching his homily on the final afternoon of the seminar, Cardinal Levada recalled how God called upon Jonah to save the people of Nineveh by preaching his word.
"If Jonah could be eloquent under those circumstances," said Cardinal Levada of the reluctant prophet, "how much more eloquent, brother bishops, can you and I be? An eloquence not from our own skills, but from the Spirit teaching us."
He continued, "Only Jesus can lead us in the Spirit and make us sharers in the Holy Trinity. It's not what we say or do, but the person of the risen Christ, present in the word and the sacrament. This is how we are drawn into communion with God."
While the program was originally scheduled to be held at Notre Dame itself, a planned on-campus performance of "The Vagina Monologues" compelled organizers to change venues to the nearby convent.
As one report depicted the decision, informed of the controversial play's impending return to South Bend, "Levada said 'Nuh-uh,' and [the seminar] got moved."
Il Cardinal Levada suggerisce ai sacerdoti di essere umili
Nov 14, 2007
Inaugura l’anno accademico del collegio sacerdotale “Tiberino”.
CITTA’ DEL VATICANO, martedì, 13 novembre 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Il Cardinale William Joseph Levada, prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, accogliendo l’invito del rettore, monsignor Miguel Delgado Galindo, ha inaugurato il 27 ottobre l’anno accademico 2007-2008 del collegio sacerdotale “Tiberino”.
Il “Tiberino”, creato nel 1985, è un centro ecclesiastico internazionale di carattere universitario, promosso dalla Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, che accoglie sacerdoti diocesani provenienti da tutto il mondo inviati dai loro Vescovi a studiare nel centro.
L’inaugurazione è iniziata con la Santa Messa presieduta dal Cardinale, che, prendendo spunto dal Vangelo (XXX domenica, l’umiltà nella preghiera), ha offerto una riflessione sull’umiltà delle questioni teologiche.
“Sentiamo di nuovo in questo testo, l’invito di Gesù ad avvicinarci nella preghiera alla misericordia di Dio e alla sua affermazione che la preghiera di un cuore semplice e pentito è molto più efficace di una mera proliferazione di parole… La superbia è il difetto più dannoso per la vita spirituale cioè per i rapporti con Dio”, ha affermato.
“Cari sacerdoti, questa virtù è ancora più importante per voi che siete stati configurati con Gesù Cristo nell’ordine sacramentale… L’umiltà è quella virtù che garantisce che i nostri studi saranno una ricerca autentica della verità di Dio che ci è stata rivelata in Gesù Cristo... Per il sacerdote, lo studio di teologia, della Bibbia o del Diritto Canonico non è un servizio neutro di costruzioni concettuali”, ha aggiunto.
La virtù dell’umiltà vissuta negli studi teologici, ha spiegato, “aiuta a che non perdiamo mai di vista il fulcro cristologico e il contesto ecclesiale quali elementi essenziali di ogni pensiero teologico”.
Il porporato ha ricordato che nella storia della fede cristiana e dello sviluppo teologico ci sono stati vari esempi del contrario dell’umiltà: “Quante eresie nella storia della Chiesa sono
sorte da un netto rifiuto di sottomettere le proprie convinzioni e dichiarazioni teologiche al giudizio di Cristo rappresentato dalla Sua Chiesa”, ha osservato.
“E’ l’orgoglio che fa nascere uno spirito di criticismo che relativizza l’insegnamento della Chiesa presentandolo come una dottrina tra tante altre, e non come l’interpretazione autentica della rivelazione divina”.
Attualmente, il collegio sacerdotale “Tiberino” accoglie accoglie 44 sacerdoti provenienti da 20 Nazioni: Spagna (7), Perù (5), Messico (4), Kenya (3), Venezuela (3), Brasile (2), Colombia (2), Argentina (2), Cina (2), Uganda (2), Camerun (2), Ecuador (2), Guatemala, Italia, Congo, Nigeria, Costa d’Avorio, Polonia, Madagascar e El Salvador.
Il collegio risponde al vivo desiderio di San Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, fondatore dell’Opus Dei, di creare un luogo che avesse come obiettivo principale quello di fornire ai sacerdoti che studiano a Roma una formazione integrale e permanente, nelle dimensioni umana, spirituale, pastorale e intellettuale.
Tra e altre esortazioni, il Cardinale ha accentuato la doppia dimensione dello studio teologico: “è un affare personale di risposta allo stesso Signore Gesù, nella propria vocazione, e anche un affare pastorale, dal momento che viene sempre fatto in vista della proclamazione del Vangelo e della formazione del Popolo di Dio… L’impegno teologico non è mai un semplice esercizio accademico. Si tratta di uno sforzo spirituale di crescere in virtù e santità per l’edificazione del Regno di Dio”.
Il Cardinal Levada ha quindi terminato la sua riflessione ricordando un’esperienza risalente a quando era studente a Roma e proponendo Maria come esempio di umiltà: “Cari amici, quando ero uno studente prete al Collegio Nord-americano qui a Roma, ci riunivamo nella nostra cappella per la Santa Messa e la preghiera davanti all’immagine di Nostra Signora dell’Umiltà patrona della nostra casa. E’ stata Maria che, col suo umile Sì al Padre, portava il Redentore al mondo. Maria, accanto alla croce del suo figlio nel venerdì santo, fu testimone della grande umiltà della croce”.
Il collegio “Tiberino” ha due sedi: la principale è quella del Gianicolo, in Via San Francesco di Sales n. 26-27.
Vatican document does not diminish other faiths, states doctrine congregation chief
Jul 24, 2007
The recent Vatican document emphasizing that only the Catholic Church possesses the "fullness" of the means for salvation was created primarily as an instructional tool for Catholics and should not be read as a diminishing of other faith communities, according to the churchman who signed it.
(catholic-sf.org) On the contrary, said Cardinal William J. Levada, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ( CDF ) which issued the document July 10, the narrative itself points out that "outside the Catholic Church elements of holiness and truth do exist and that the Holy Spirit is working in those other communities and churches as well."
During a July 17 interview while visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, Cardinal Levada commented on his congregation's work, Pope Benedict XVI's recent instruction on the Tridentine Latin Mass, themes of the young papacy, and challenges facing the universal Church today.
The cardinal was quick to describe as "purely coincidental" the fact that his congregation's document on the nature of the Church was made public only three days after the pope's announcement of his decision to allow broader use of the Tridentine liturgical rite.
Many commentaries have linked the two. "Many have tried to see it as some kind of one - two punch," Cardinal Levada laughed, "but the truth is that it is simply a coincidence that they were published in such proximity."
In restoring easier access "to the principal way of worship in the Church for more than 400 years," the pontiff "expressed a great generosity" toward persons intensely devoted to the Tridentine Latin Mass, the cardinal said.
The papal directive "was not primarily aimed at the United States," he said, adding that he feels it will have more impact in France, Germany and Switzerland and little effect in Latin America or Italy.
Turning to the doctrinal congregation's recent commentary, "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," the cardinal said it grew out of extensive conversation and collaboration with theological consultants to the CDF and others, as well as a broad review of published materials.
The document addresses five questions about the nature of the Church "and all five are a commentary on Vatican II documents," the cardinal said, adding, "It has the advantage of collecting all that has happened since Vatican II up to the present time" and explaining how Church articulation of its own nature as well as its views of other Christian communities have developed.
He said he has been "somewhat surprised" at the amount of "ecumenical commentary" the document has generated. "It is primarily a document addressed to Catholics as believers and teachers and is intended to clarify the teachings of the Second Vatican Council," he said, "especially the teaching on the nature of the Church."
That teaching, he said, has been skewed by those who argue "that the Church of Christ can subsist in churches outside the Catholic Church, but that is not the case."
Response to the CDF statement "has shown how much that is misunderstood," he said. "Even many Catholics are fuzzy on it."
"That is not to say that we deny that the Holy Spirit who guides the Church is also working with his gifts of grace and truth in those other communities and churches," he said.
Recalling the heady days of the 1962 - 65 Vatican Council, Cardinal Levada said there was “a certain novelty†created by the council's exhortations for Catholics "to see the Holy Spirit at work" in Christian denominations outside the Catholic Church, especially in view of what had been "almost a stance of hostility and opposition" to the non - Catholic religious world for some time.
"It was quite a striking insight to see recognized in official Catholic teaching that outside the Catholic Church there are elements of holiness and truth" in other congregations, he said.
Reaction to the document on the Church's nature in the United States where many religious persuasions exists side by side clearly reflects the nation's "egalitarian approach to society and therefore to churches," he said, "where for you to say that your church is the one true church of Christ, and that anotherŔs is not quite, is considered not to be the American way."
"Being an American," he continued, "I am sympathetic to that. We get along by saying, 'You have your ideas and I have mine, and while we might not agree we can explain ourselves, and we can be friends even if we are not in agreement on every thing.' "
"Underlying a typical American idea of what a church is," he said, "is the idea that we are the ones who make the Church, we create the Church. There is the slogan,'We are the Church.' And, of course, there is the sense of the Church being made up of all the baptized. But we do not make the Church. God makes the Church. We receive the Church as a gift. And we receive the elements of grace and holiness and truth from God as a gift. They are part of God's revelation."
While "anyone in this country can hang up a shingle and say, This is the Church of God on Post Street,' for example," he said, "the Catholic view is that the Church is not our creation. It's a gift from God. And we have to accept that gift. We have to accept the elements of that gift. Take the Eucharist, for example. Not optional. Apostolic succession is not optional."
"We don't decide what it means to be a disciple of Jesus," he said. "Jesus first laid down what his disciples should be and how they should follow him."
He said the CDF document could be "very helpful to Catholics in the United States who are culturally conditioned" to accepting self - organized groups of worshippers as "churches".
"It seems to me that the ecumenical vision of some is: 'Well, we are all searching for one great united church that is still yet to be found.' Catholic teaching is: Christ's Church has never disappeared. It has been fragmented, wounded, broken apart but it has not disappeared," he said, then added, "It is not that Catholics should be proud of being members of this Church. It is not because we are good that we receive the gift of Church. It's God's gift. And it is a gift that we very willingly hope to be able to share one day with everybody."
In its emphasis on Vatican II teaching, the CDF document was in step with what Cardinal Levada said is one of the clear themes of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy - underlining that the Council represents a continuity of Church life, not a point of discontinuity.
At the time of Vatican II, there was a temptation and a tendency to place Church practices and teachings in pre& #45 conciliar and post - conciliar "baskets," he said. "I know I did it. There was a kind of 'throw this out, here's the new stuff'. I think many of us regret that. "
Describing Pope Benedict as "a very God - centered man," Cardinal Levada said the pope "wants us to see the beauty of God's handiwork. I think his encyclical letter 'Deus Caritas Est,' God is Love, is a great example of that."
Cardinal Levada said the pontiff "wants us to understand that God is not remote. That is the whole point of the Incarnation of Christ."
The doctrinal congregation head praised Pope Benedict's preaching and teaching skills. "On Sundays St. Peter's Square is almost full of people just to hear him talk for about five minutes and then pray the Angelus. He is extraordinary, and we are learning a lot about him."
Interestingly, Cardinal Levada said, "I am quite confident that he never expected to be pope. And so he is learning how to be pope. But he is a quick study and of course had so much experience at the side of John Paul II. I think you can say he represents a great gift of God to us at this time."
Challenges facing the universal Church include "the disconnect between faith and reason in the modern world" cited by the pope in his address in Regensburg, Germany last November, Cardinal Levada said. He said the pope "rightly identified as a very significant challenge" a growing view that modern civilization "makes religion no longer necessary, or some would say, even possible."
Another challenge, he said, is to infuse "into the body politic" an active "love of neighbor and the service we are called to give each other" by Christ to address global issues of war, starvation and disease. The pope, he said, "often returns to this theme" and exhorts Christians "to use our human ingenuity and creativity to overcome these evils."
Document on nature of church aimed at Catholics, U.S. cardinal says
Jul 23, 2007
The recent Vatican document emphasizing that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the means for salvation was created primarily as an instructional tool for Catholics and should not be read as a diminishing of other faith communities, according to the churchman who signed it.
By Dan Morris-Young
Catholic News Service
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS, 20/07/2007) -- The recent Vatican document emphasizing that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the means for salvation was created primarily as an instructional tool for Catholics and should not be read as a diminishing of other faith communities, according to the churchman who signed it.
On the contrary, said Cardinal William J. Levada, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which issued the document July 10, the narrative itself points out that "outside the Catholic Church elements of holiness and truth do exist and that the Holy Spirit is working in those other communities and churches as well."
During a July 17 interview while visiting San Francisco, Cardinal Levada commented on his congregation's work, Pope Benedict XVI's recent instruction on the Tridentine Mass, emerging themes of the papacy and challenges facing the universal church today.
The former archbishop of San Francisco described as "purely coincidental" the fact that his congregation's document on the nature of the church was made public only three days after the pope's announcement of his decision to allow broader use of the Tridentine rite.
"Many have tried to see it as some kind of one-two punch," Cardinal Levada said with a laugh, "but the truth is that it is simply a coincidence that they were published in such proximity."
In restoring easier access "to the principal way of worship in the church for more than 400 years," Pope Benedict "expressed a great generosity" toward those intensely devoted to the Tridentine Mass, the cardinal told Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper.
The Tridentine Mass is the Latin-language liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council; it was last revised in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.
The papal directive "was not primarily aimed at the United States," he said, adding that he feels it will have more impact in France, Germany and Switzerland and little effect in Latin America or Italy.
Turning to the doctrinal congregation's recent "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," the cardinal said it addresses five questions about the nature of the church "and all five are a commentary on Vatican II documents."
"It has the advantage of collecting all that has happened since Vatican II up to the present time" and explaining how church articulation of its own nature as well as its views of other Christian communities have developed, he added.
He said he has been "somewhat surprised" at the amount of "ecumenical commentary" the document has generated. "It is primarily a document addressed to Catholics as believers and teachers and is intended to clarify the teachings of the Second Vatican Council," he said, "especially the teaching on the nature of the church."
Reaction to the document on the church's nature in the United States where many religious persuasions exist side by side clearly reflects the nation's "egalitarian approach to society and therefore to churches," he said, "where for you to say that your church is the one true church of Christ, and that another's is not quite, is considered not to be the American way."
"Underlying a typical American idea of what a church is," Cardinal Levada said, "is the idea that we are the ones who make the church, we create the church.
"There is the slogan, 'We are the church.' And, of course, there is the sense of the church being made up of all the baptized," he continued. "But we do not make the church. God makes the church. We receive the church as a gift."
He said the doctrinal congregation's document could be "very helpful to Catholics in the United States who are culturally conditioned" to accepting self-organized groups of worshippers as churches.
In its emphasis on Vatican II teaching, the congregation's document was in step with what Cardinal Levada said is one of the clear themes of Pope Benedict's papacy -- underlining that the council represents a continuity of church life, not a point of discontinuity.
At the time of Vatican II, there was a temptation and a tendency to place church practices and teachings in preconciliar and postconciliar "baskets," he said. "I know I did it. There was a kind of (attitude of) 'throw this out, here's the new stuff.' I think many of us regret that."
Challenges facing the universal church include "the disconnect between faith and reason in the modern world" cited by the pope in his address in Regensburg, Germany, last September, Cardinal Levada said.
He said the pope "rightly identified as a very significant challenge" a growing view that modern civilization "makes religion no longer necessary, or some would say, even possible."
Another challenge, he said, is to infuse "into the body politic" an active "love of neighbor and the service we are called to give each other" by Christ to address global issues of war, starvation and disease.
The pope, he said, "often returns to this theme" and exhorts Christians "to use our human ingenuity and creativity to overcome these evils."
Vatikan: Levada überrascht
Jul 22, 2007
Die negativen ökumenischen Reaktionen auf das vatikanische Dokument zum katholischen Kirchenverständnis haben den US-amerikanischen Kurienkardinal William J. Levada "sehr überrascht".
(Radio Vatikan, 22/07/2007) Das Papier sei ein innerkatholisches Arbeitsmittel, das andere Glaubensgemeinschaften nicht herabsetzen wolle, sagte der Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation in San Francisco. In dem von seiner Kongregation erarbeiteten Dokument werde anerkannt, dass es "Elemente der Heiligkeit und der Wahrheit" auch außerhalb der katholischen Kirche gebe und dass der "Heilige Geist auch in diesen anderen Gemeinschaften und Kirchen wirkt", so Levada. Für "reinen Zufall" hält es der Kardinal, dass das Dokument zum Kirchenverständnis und das Motu Proprio zum tridentinischen Messritus vom Vatikan nahezu zeitgleich präsentiert worden seien.
Spekulationen, es handele sich um "einen gezielten Doppelschlag", seien aus der Luft gegriffen.
Cardinal Levada shares his hope
May 08, 2007
Every year, the Margaret F. Grace lecture has the consistent theme of hope. This year the speaker could not have had a more inspirational story.
(wjcu.org, April 26th, 2007) In Vatican City, the Cardinal William Joseph Levada serves as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. At John Carroll University, the cardinal served as the Grace Lecturer for this year. His topic was how he finds hope.
He is the highest-ranking official in doctrinal matters after the Pope himself and the first American to hold such a high position. His talk on Tuesday is his first major public address since he gained the title in May of 2005.
The Rev. Robert Niehoff, president of John Carroll University, presented Cardinal Levada with an Honorary Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Niehoff, after expressing his thanks to the Cardinal on behalf of JCU, said, “You are a young man no longer, but chief defender of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Following Father Niehoff’s remarks, professor of Religious Studies Doris Donnelly introduced the annual theme of the lecture – hope. She said that after six years of the lecture, “hope never seems to go out of style.” The Cardinal, who defends the Catholic faith, also defends the virtue of hope, according to Donnelly.
Levada, formerly Archbishop of Portland and San Francisco, dedicated his remarks of hope to families and survivors of the teachers and students who lost their lives in the Virginia Tech tragedy last week.
Levada said that his inspiration and hope has come from the Pope. He specifically spoke about the Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est and a lecture given by the Holy Father presented at the University of Regensburg titled Faith, Reason and the university’s Memories and Reflections.
The cardinal said that he personally believes that hope is rooted in the statements. “I believe in life everlasting. We look for the life of the world to come,” he said while quoting the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. Levada said that in today’s world there seems to be a “loss of witnessing a great hope in eternal life.”
In speaking of hope as a theological virtue, Levada said that hope is not based on any human calculation, rather on the promise of salvation by God.
Levada also spoke about hope outside of Christian perspectives He said that in this case it is easy for people to find themselves existing without knowing where they come from.
He dubbed this a “state of being on the way,” of always asking questions of the tomorrow and the not yet.
He said, “Hope can only be received as God’s gift and how can we not want to share the gift of hope with faith and love.”
In addition to his current roles in the Vatican, Levada has previously served as the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine.
In 1987 Levada was chosen by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to edit the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Promoting the Faith
Apr 29, 2007
An Interview With William J. Levada. By Doris Donnelly.
America (americamagazine.org), Vol. 196 No. 15, April 30, 2007 - The Office of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is reached by staircase or elevator up one level from the inner courtyard at Piazza del Sant’Uffizio, 11, near the end of the colonnade that wraps around the Piazza San Pietro. The dome of St Peter’s Basilica, designed six centuries ago by Michelangelo, is in partial view from all the office windows.
On March 7 I met with Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the congregation who was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in May 2005. We met in a sitting room adjoining the office in preparation for his visit to John Carroll University to give the Margaret F. Grace Annual Lecture on April 24. The cardinal appeared relaxed and immediately recalled in exact detail an invitation we extended him in 1996 to give the keynote address at the opening event of the Cardinal Suenens Center. It had been sent with the personal encouragement of Cardinal Leon-Josef Suenens, who wrote in his memoirs that Monsignor Levada and he “were on the same wave length.”
You spoke recently to the Belgian periodical Mondiaal Neuws about the development of doctrine and used the nuclear bomb as an example of how the magisterium is usually far behind in the evolution of moral challenges. Could you describe another moral issue that has changed over time?
I’m particularly fascinated by the history of slavery, especially when the enormous historic slave trade was particularized as the African-American slave trade. It’s remarkable how black America chose the Exodus as a theme of liberation. In the Bible as a whole there is no explicit moral challenge to slavery as an existing cultural system. It’s simply a given reality. St. Paul returns Onesimus to his master and tells Philemon to treat him as an equal, but Paul does not make this a moral obligation. There is a long tradition in the church of accepting the institution of slavery—John Noonan points this out effectively—but in the light of the repeated teachings of modern popes and the Second Vatican Council on the dignity of the human person, church teaching has evolved from acceptance of slavery as part of the human condition to its eventual condemnation. Slave labor is now rightly regarded as evil and a moral outrage. If I were teaching theology today I would welcome a doctoral student doing historical-theological research on slavery from the beginnings of the church up to now. That would be an excellent area for serious study.
I assume you are referring to John Noonan’s book, A Church that Can and Cannot Change?
Yes, but also to conversations with John Noonan that were easier to come by when we were both living in the Bay Area. I’ve always admired John’s range of intellectual interests. He is a first-rate legal scholar, but he is also a philosopher comfortable in theology as well. What I appreciate is his dispassionate examination of the historical background of issues, even when the examination yields some embarrassing facts—for example, that some religious communities in the United States had slaves—and then is able to offer insight about the development of doctrine opposing slavery. John has done this on other issues as well—contraception, usury and abortion.
What else is on your shelf to read?
I’m about halfway through The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, the Oxford biologist. I’m fascinated by Dawkins because he writes about agnosticism, atheism and faith and is convinced that religion closes people’s minds to scientific truth. Engaging religion and science in conversation is important, so for me it’s necessary to understand Dawkins’s arguments.
Another is Peter Brown’s book on the cultural and religious transition from the Roman Empire to medieval times, The Rise of Western Christendom.
The title of your Grace lecture is “Where Do I Find Hope?” Where do you find hope?
The topic is more challenging than I first thought it would be. I finally decided to concretize my response in terms of two of the major contributions of Pope Benedict—his encyclical God Is Love and his Regensburg address. From the pope’s emphasis on two of the theological virtues, faith (at Regensburg) and love (the encyclical), it is possible to draw the conclusion that the gift of reason and the reasonableness of faith, and certainly the centrality of love—not only love of neighbor but love of who God is—that those virtues are capable of motivating and generating a vision not only of the future but also of this world here and now—a vision that gives hope.
Even with fear of terrorism permeating people’s lives?
Yes, in spite of terrorism. These are definitely difficult times. That’s why the pope’s address at Regensburg was—and remains—a serious invitation to all people. God has given us all the light of reason. As Christians we believe that with the light of faith we can recognize that we already have the tools we need to be able to dialogue with our neighbors in the world and say no to violence. It’s a long-term goal and a long-term process, but reason and faith provide clear alternatives to violence, and these means need to be pursued with great urgency.
I heard yesterday in Krakow that the Jesuit Jon Sobrino is receiving a notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. What is the context of the document?
Perhaps for the first time the notification is accompanied by an explanatory note that helps readers understand the process that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith goes through in the examination of a theologian’s writings. With regard to Father Sobrino, an active process has been going on since 2001.
The process before a notification appears involves correspondence and sometimes a meeting with the theologian whose works are being reviewed. The theologian’s superior—usually a bishop or, if the person belongs to a religious order, the head of the order—is in the loop from the beginning. There may be considerable back and forth—requests for clarifications and submissions of clarifications. When the clarifications are adequate, the process is closed. When inadequate, a notification is made public because the writings of the theologian are public. That’s what happened in the case of Father Sobrino.
The notification always concerns the public writings of a theologian. It is not based on hearsay or secondhand reports of what someone says the theologian is saying or on subjective intentions of the theologian. The focus is what the theologian has written and what’s in the public domain. The process is careful to invite the theologian to indicate his own understanding of how what he has written accords with Scripture and tradition.
I can’t help noticing that Jacques Dupuis, Roger Haight, Jon Sobrino are all Jesuits.
Yes, these Jesuits have received notifications in recent years from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but it is not because they are Jesuits but rather because of their writings that notifications were sent. There is no special attention given to Jesuits at the congregation—far from it. Writings of theologians who are not Jesuits have also received similar review. It is true, though, that the intellectual as well as spiritual formation of Jesuits often prepares them for service in areas of theology where they become specialists in their fields. Precisely because the writings of these major theologians are so diffuse, it is important to be clear about problematic areas and to identify particular formulations that are in error or that do not fully conform to what the church’s tradition is saying. But the congregation has always had, at least in recent years, Jesuits among its principal consultors as well.
An issue from the earliest days of Christendom has been how the word “and” in the expression “human and divine” is to be elucidated. How, for example, can Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane experience loneliness and abandonment by his friends “and” at the same time experience the immediate presence of the Father? Bishops and theologians at the earliest councils have wrestled with the mystery of the dual natures of Jesus. Can the wrestling continue with new insights and categories to help new generations?
The question “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” is at the center of Christian faith. Catholic theologians have grappled over the centuries with what it means to be God and man. The bishops and theologians at the first several councils not only discussed the question but arrived at some answers that are dogmas of faith, and thus define for us the direction and parameters of how Christian theology will answer this question. Any answer that omits or downplays the true divinity or humanity of Christ will not be a true representation of the Christian faith. Of course new insights are still possible today. But theologians today, in their questioning, will not be true to the apostolic tradition if they attempt to provide new answers to this question that are not faithful to that tradition, as it has been refined and defined through centuries of theological thought and the decisions made by the bishops at the ecumenical councils (church magisterium). The dogmas of faith about Christ are already answers to the question given under the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, and they are binding upon the faith of all the faithful, including theologians.
How long have you known Pope Benedict?
Pope Benedict came as prefect of this office in late 1981, when I was in my last year as an official in the congregation. I was here with him for four or five months. Later Cardinal Ratzinger appointed me to be a bishop-member of the editorial committee of the catechism project, and we met frequently, two or three times a year, sometimes for a period of a week or two at a time. We reviewed all of the 25,000 or so suggestions, amendments and other items sent in by the bishops of the world. At one point it was necessary to bring extra people in to help until we got the work done. I’ve known Pope Benedict over the years in different capacities, and I feel that I know him well enough through the work we are doing and have done together.
Is he different in some ways now as pope?
Yes and no. I see him now in a different role that requires him to step out on a very public stage, which he never had to do before. He has overcome a certain innate reserve so that he can accept his role comfortably, and I’m delighted to see that. At papal audiences, for example, his natural instinct now is to pay attention to babies. He shakes hands, extends his arms and seems very much like he wants to embrace the world. I think of this development as an actual grace from God. People find the pope very genuine and warm. He also has the ability to put any topic, especially complicated and more abstract ones, into very clear terms. In my dealings with him I have witnessed that he can sum things up in a few lines and get to the heart of what people are saying or are trying to say. His intellectual breadth and uncommon ability to synthesize lots of material—those things have not changed.
Do you think he misses doing the work of this office?
Not exactly misses it—he continues to have a very keen interest in our work, because our questions move very slowly through a long process of review by commissions and consultations with theologians. Ultimately they come up for review at the level of the congregation, or meeting of cardinals and bishops, after which they are presented to the pope. Through my weekly visits with him we have an opportunity to bring him up to date with what’s going on in the congregation and what the status of the more significant questions is. We do this not only because he is interested but because the pope is the one who has the ultimate responsibility for teaching the faith, guarding the faith, promoting the faith. These responsibilities we have as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in service to the pope, so it’s important that the pope knows what we are doing. Along the way, if he wants to give us an orientation or direction, he can.
You meet with the pope weekly?
We meet on Fridays at 6 p.m. in the library of his apartment on the fourth floor of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Thirty to 45 minutes would be the typical length of a meeting, and we speak in Italian. It’s more convenient for the pope, so that he doesn’t have to jump from language to language, even though he’s quite capable in many languages. Most of his work is in Italian now, the common language used in the Roman Curia.
Is your meeting strictly business?
It’s not chit chat, but some small talk that might be of interest to the pope, yes, there’s that. There are many things that I might refer to him—articles, news reports, meetings. I would also let him know items of my schedule related to the work in the congregation.
You are closely associated with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Is it what you and the commission hoped for?
I think none of us were quite sure in the beginning that it would be possible to put into one volume a complete, updated description of the faith. The result, I think, is that the catechism (published in 1992) turned out to be a major contribution to the church in the post-Vatican II era as a succinct expression of what the church believes. It has been received better in some circles than others. In the United States, in general, the catechism has served bishops as a guide for catechetical materials and theological education. Personally, I have found it very useful as a bishop in preparing homilies and articles. It’s the go-to book for basic orientation in contextualizing an issue. I’ve talked to bishops in other countries where the catechism was not received as well, sometimes because of initial criticism. I think that has been unfortunate.
Now there is a companion volume…
Yes, the compendium that was approved by Pope Benedict shortly after he took office.
The compendium is shorter by intention, yet it does not include the phrase from the catechism that “the traditional teaching of the church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty.” Is this a signal of development?
I think you are correct to note that there is a development of church teaching in the area of capital punishment. With regard to the compendium’s omission of a phrase from the catechism, I have asked those responsible for the compendium to indicate whether this is a “signal” of development, as you put it. The response to this is negative. The literary genre of the compendium is a brief presentation of essentials, and the omission is due to the need for brevity. Not everything said in the catechism could be included in the compendium, but the latter was careful not to introduce changes into the text of the catechism.
At the same time, the need to take into account Pope John Paul II’s “development” in regard to the death penalty, contained in his 1995 encyclical letter The Gospel of Life (No. 56), resulted in a change in the text from the first editions of the catechism (French, 1992; English, 1994) to the Latin typical edition published in 1997. A comparison of the English translation of 1994 and those made after 1997 will demonstrate the “development” in the catechism’s treatment of the death penalty to reflect, among other things, the papal teaching that “cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically non-existent” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2267).
It’s also important to remember that when we speak of the “development of doctrine”—we often think of the later Marian doctrines as classic examples of such development —we are referring to a rereading of the tradition of the church from the Scriptures until now. As Pope Benedict has remarked, such development is characterized by its continuity, not discontinuity, with the apostolic tradition as taught and lived in the church through the centuries.
Would you say that the catechism and compendium have met expectations?
Both books are good examples of the primary focus of this congregation: the promotion of the faith. We are very aware at the congregation of the deliberate recommendation of the bishops in the postconciliar reform of Vatican II that this congregation would develop a positive orientation in its work, in addition to its traditional focus of rejecting heretical and erroneous teaching. And all of us are sincerely committed to that.
But I gather that’s not always possible?
It’s true that we spend a certain amount of our time safeguarding doctrine—advising theologians of errors in their work and doing so by taking every opportunity to correct in a way that does not become a public reprimand. I’m rather confident that if corrections took place by peers, if there were a functioning process of serious review and assessment in light of Catholic doctrine by theologians competent to evaluate the work of one of their own, there would be much less work for us to do in the congregation.
Evaluation by the academy?
Yes, by the academy. I like to insist that in addition to academic freedom there also exists an ecclesial freedom—or more precisely, an ecclesial responsibility and obligation—to engage problematic areas in the writings of theologians, especially major theologians who are the point-persons in their fields. If someone teaches Catholic theology as a Catholic theologian, then the church has an obligation to say what’s in the tradition and what isn’t.
We ended our conversation talking about prayer. What, I asked, does the cardinal pray for? First among his intentions are prayers for the pope, for himself and for the members of the curia for their work in service to the people of God by communicating and promoting the good news of the Gospel. He prays also and especially, he said, for the poor who live with the unjust effects of globalization and are pushed even further into misery and suffering. The work of the congregation, both global and personal in its scope, is in human hands that depend on wisdom, strength and guidance from prayer.
Doris Donnelly is a professor of theology at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she directs The Cardinal Suenens Center for Theology and Church Life.
The Inquisition Comes Home?
Apr 19, 2007
Earlier this month, as Cardinal Edward Egan reached the retirement age of 75, it didn't take long for the buzzmill to hit a fever pitch with visions, rumblings, floaters and speculations of the succession to one of global Catholicism's most visible posts, the archbishopric of New York.
(whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com, April 18, 2007) Tomorrow's start to Year Three of B16 has brought a fresh set of reports predicting "revolution" or "earthquake" in the Roman Curia. Of course, prior alarms of the same all failed to come to pass, but when even the papal intimates are talking openly of "surprises" -- and others of "big surprises" -- in the offing, you know something's afoot.
Among the various scenarios being presented in the Italian press, one of particular note is quickly gaining steam. The race for 452 Madison seems to have begun -- not in New York, however, but in Rome. And the prospect tipped to take it in recent days is a genuine bolt from the blue: Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
When observing the chessboard, it could usually be said that stranger things have been bandied about. But not this time.
Gerry O'Connell, the keen Vatican eye for the UK's Universe, broke the buzz into the Anglophone world earlier today, citing the existence (echoed elsewhere) of "tensions" within the CDF and reporting that "things are not working out so well" in the dicastery charged with ensuring the purity of church teaching. Others have raised the specter of Levada's dissatisfaction in the post, with some holding out the possibility of a clash between the cardinal-prefect and his congregation's former #2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Secretary of State.
With Benedict reportedly "aware" of (and displeased with) the difficulties in the office he led for 23 years, still said to be in the ascent is the CDF secretary Archbishop Angelo Amato, the ghost-author of Dominus Iesus -- Cardinal Ratzinger's famous 2000 decree on salvation and justification -- and, not coincidentally, a Salesian confere of Bertone's. According to O'Connell's sources, Amato could end up with a red hat as early as June.
While it still exists only in the hypothetical, a homecoming of the 70 year-old Californian whose job is descended from the "Grand Inquisitors" of old would shatter multiple conventions, not least of which the unprecedented placement of a lifelong West Coaster atop the legendary bulwark of East Coast Catholicism.
As archbishop of Portland in Oregon, and especially over his decade as archbishop of San Francisco, Levada won prelatial and political plaudits alike for his unique ability to find creative, consensus-winning solutions to thorny doctrinal and pastoral situations, which earned the church a place at the public policy table not on the basis of its numbers, but street smarts and savvy. Keeping that record in mind, to fill New York with the holder the Vatican's #3 post would also have the effect of restoring some of the traditional prestige which, Egan's critics say, has diminished over the course of the incumbent's seven year tenure.
Among other Romans rumored to be shuffling is Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, the retired diplomat and currently archpriest of the Pontifical Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls. An Italian paper reported earlier this week that the post -- and its ex officio red hat -- could end up going to Archbishop Piero Marini, the longtime Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.
Faith Congregation work: Mostly, it's behind the scenes
Mar 23, 2007
As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2005, Cardinal William J. Levada has found that most of his work is behind the scenes.
(CNS, March 23, 2007) The recent action against Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino was an exception: He was the first theologian to be publicly censured during Cardinal Levada's tenure, and the case immediately brought the doctrinal congregation into the media spotlight.
Although some critics described the Vatican's action against Father Sobrino as authoritarian, for Cardinal Levada it was an example of how carefully and cooperatively the doctrinal congregation operates.
"I think we work in a more collegial fashion than in most instances in the church," Cardinal Levada told Catholic News Service in a wide-ranging interview in mid-March.
"We take into account all the relevant data before articulating our position," he said. That means thorough reflection and discussion by groups of theological peers before decisions, reprimands or decrees are handed down, he said.
Cardinal Levada, 70, is the first U.S. prelate to head the doctrinal congregation, which is the oldest of the Vatican's nine congregations and considered primary in responsibility and influence.
The study of Father Sobrino's works began well before Cardinal Levada arrived at his position, at a time when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) was at the helm of the doctrinal congregation.
On March 15, the congregation said some of Father Sobrino's writings on the nature of Christ were "erroneous or dangerous" and conflicted with church doctrine.
Cardinal Levada said Father Sobrino was given ample opportunity to consider and respond to the critical review.
"The congregation works very slowly in reviewing a theologian's work, perhaps too slowly in many respects. It attempts to guarantee fairness for the theologian and put aside any idea that somebody is being railroaded," the cardinal said.
Theologians under review can have their own theological or canonical adviser. Any critique is based not on anonymous accusations but on the theologian's published works or public statements.
"Often the question is whether a theologian really believes something that is contrary to the faith, or whether he has expressed his thinking badly or partially," Cardinal Levada said.
Ultimately these questions are examined by a group of theological peers that routinely advise the congregation, then by the cardinal and bishop members of the congregation, and finally by the pope for his final judgment, the cardinal said.
"We don't publicize this process, because in some instances, I say gratefully, we have not had to come to a public notification. If a theologian acknowledges an error or a too-partial presentation and agrees to make an adequate correction in a subsequent book or article, then we'll consider the matter closed," he said.
So far, the cardinal said, that has not been the case with Father Sobrino, and so a public warning was necessary. Although Father Sobrino is 69 and currently not teaching, he remains an influential voice in Catholic theology, Cardinal Levada said.
"New generations of theologians and young believers need to have an accurate understanding of what the faith is. And here is a well-known, prominent Catholic theologian who does not give an accurate understanding of the faith, and we think someone has to correct it," he said.
Vigilance over theological publications is only one of many tasks carried out by the doctrinal congregation, which is responsible for safeguarding and promoting doctrine on faith and morals throughout the Catholic world.
That can touch upon a wide spectrum of topics: same-sex marriage, Marian apparitions, women's ordination, healing prayers, religious pluralism and many, many others.
With a permanent staff of only 36 people, the congregation is limited in what it can tackle at any one time. That's one reason documents and decisions are not churned out quickly, but take years to develop.
Currently, for example, the congregation is re-examining bioethics developments with an eye to updating its landmark 1987 instruction, "Donum Vitae" ("The Gift of Life").
"The principles of 'Donum Vitae' remain entirely valid, but there are new questions posed by technology and research -- in stem cells, to give just one example," Cardinal Levada said.
A separate question under study by the congregation is natural law, the term the church uses to describe the set of universal ethical or moral truths that form a common ground for all religious faiths and political systems.
Rather than embark on a new document, the congregation wrote to Catholic universities around the world asking them to focus their academic resources on the question of natural law, by sponsoring symposiums and other events. The idea was to get centers of Catholic learning involved in promoting a concept that is essential to understanding the church's position on issues like abortion, marriage, human rights and religious violence.
In dealing with fundamental issues of faith, Cardinal Levada said, the congregation must look sometimes at questions related to evangelization in the modern world: Is announcing the Gospel of Christ somehow an imposition on people?
Cardinal Levada said the doctrinal congregation has to set its priorities by evaluating the queries it receives from bishops, theologians, theological faculties or even individuals.
When the questions reach a critical mass, then a systematic response may be issued. The form can vary, from full-fledged instructions or declarations to less formal notes, commentaries, letters, responses, suggestions or observations.
Pope Benedict, of course, can help set the agenda. Cardinal Levada meets with the pope almost every week, and said he finds the pontiff "keenly interested" in details of the congregation's affairs. But the pope also respects the autonomy of the prefect, he said.
"He's very interested in these things, but he does not try to micromanage in any sense. I take into consideration any indications he wants to give. But it's not like I'm looking over my shoulder," the cardinal said.
Adding greatly to the workload is that Cardinal Levada's congregation is charged with reviewing the documents of any Roman Curia agency that touch upon doctrine. That can mean studies lasting weeks or months.
More than other Vatican agencies, the doctrinal congregation relies heavily on its 31 consultors, a group of theologians or canon law experts who meet once or twice a month to deal with specific questions. Often one or two sessions are needed for everyone to speak, and they end up being a theological "minicourse" in whatever is under study, Cardinal Levada said.
"The point is, the congregation tries to have the best theological expertise and reaches out to specialists, whoever they may be. The work here is not all done by in-house generalists," the cardinal said.
The consultors' discussions are written up in a report, which goes to the monthly meeting of the congregation's cardinal and bishop members. In practice, it's not always easy for distant members to make the trip to Rome for a meeting that lasts only a few hours.
Once every two years, the congregation's full membership meets in a weeklong plenary session to set long-term goals and hear progress reports.
Since 2001, by decision of Pope John Paul II, the doctrinal congregation has been responsible for the handling of cases of clerical sex abuse against minors. That created an enormous amount of new work, and the congregation's disciplinary section had to be expanded.
Cardinal Levada said many cases are still being processed, but the number is finally tapering off. "I think you could say the crisis dimensions (of the case load), caused by the situation in the United States, are behind us," he said.
A native of Long Beach ordained from St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, in 1961 for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, he was archbishop of San Francisco for 10 years before the pope called him to Rome. He had worked on the staff of the doctrinal congregation in 1976-82 and had been a bishop-member since 2000.
He meets with the congregation's other officials at least once a week, with a continual stream of others who bring questions, and with the frequent study sessions of advising theologians.
"I certainly don't feel that I'm sitting on a lonely mountaintop having to issue edicts all by myself," he said.
Neoliberalism is not compatible with Catholic social teaching
Mar 06, 2007
Some call him the Catholic Secretary of Ideology, others the numero due of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal William Joseph Levada is Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. That makes him a Very Important Bishop, at least.
14 februari 2007 (mo.be) - Cardinal Levada took out time for an in-depth interview with MO*, one of the first such interviews since he took office in May 2005. He spoke about religious fundamentalism and the social impact of belief, relations with Islam, and the excesses of globalization.
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is no small fish in the global institution of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Levada's predecessor, the current Pope Benedict XVI, headed the Congregation for 24 years, which gave him a platform to influence the public and intra-ecclesiastical positions of the Vatican long before he was elected Pope.
MO* encountered Cardinal Levada in his offices at the Vatican, under the shadow of Saint Peter's Basilica, with church bells as an appropriate backdrop. Cardinal Levada is not the kind of person you would expect to pat you on the back or to share a pitcher of beer with, though his formal distance does not stand in the way of a genuine friendliness. He is very accurate and articulate, and does not shy away from taking clear positions.
Before his appointment, Cardinal Levada served as Archbishop of San Francisco. His American background often comes through when he explains his explicitly conservative views on Church and society. MO* refrained from focusing on typical church issues such as same-sex marriage, clergy sexual abuse, and abortion. Instead, we focused on global issues including the relationship between Christians and Muslims, and between Europe and its Muslim neighbors.
Right to religious freedom
The Catholic Church shares quite a few values and even elements of faith with Islam. That should make Rome an important player in the indispensable dialogue between the West and Islam, says Cardinal Levada. "That dialogue is a crucial effort at this moment of history, not just for the religions but also for the future of humanity. We both share a common resistance to the violence that is perpetrated in the name of religion. Even though the Old Testament contains many passages in which God uses violence against the enemies of His people, we know that God is not a God of violence".
The rejection of a religiously motivated violence, in Levada's view, is in the first place a call to respect each person's freedom. "In the Catholic Church we needed centuries of religious and doctrinal development to arrive at the insight that each person has a right to religious liberty", says Cardinal Levada.
Would not the defense of religious pluralism gain in strength and credibility if the Church itself would present it with a bit more humility, for example by recognizing its own mistakes in the past? "I am not anymore responsible for the crusades than atheists are responsible for what Hitler or Stalin did", the cardinal responds.
"The Church's clear position on religious freedom is the result of many painful experiences: the crusades, the religious wars in Europe, the martyrs under the Protestant kings of England, and the Catholic prelates in Spain and France", he adds. "And, as a matter of fact, Pope John Paul II did recognize those mistakes in the past. But it becomes a bit strange when the Church, time and again is denied credibility to speak up against violence by refering to the crusades".
Rome, Ankara: one front?
The call for tolerance and against violence was the central point of the Pope's lecture in September in Regensburg, though that point was drowned out by the controversy caused by a quotation of the Byzantine emperor Paleologus. For a moment, the two largest world religions seemed headed on a collision course instead of playing their mutual roles as religions of peace and humanism.
The Pope cleared away whatever trouble was caused when he emerged from the plane in Ankara in December. He gave Prime Minister Erdogan his support for Turkish EU-membership. That was a surprising gesture for a man that, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, said that Turkey's future should be found in the Muslim world, rather than in the European Union.
Cardinal Levada: "The supportive words of the Pope to Prime Minister Erdogan do not represent an official position of the Vatican, let alone should they be understood as infallible. They do form, however, a very good way to put an important issue on the European agenda: Do we want to create a Europe that excludes every religious expression from the public domain or will the influx of Muslim communities force us to find another solution anyway? Maybe Europe should rather open up more space for religion on its public square".
The place religious conviction has in the public arena and in political discussions is an issue that gets the Cardinal sit up and speak out. "I discern the emergence of a 'fundamentalism of religious exclusion'. That is a position that under no circumstance accepts the holy conviction of a believer, unless he is willing to present himself as a searcher among searchers, and his convictions as a possibility among possibilities. Once you say that you've searched and you've found the answer, you're excluded. Conservative believers in the US describe this tendency as the aspiration for a naked public square: a public square stripped from every religious reference and from every religious participation". Cardinal Levada rejects that approach and reckons that his Catholic Church and the Islamic communities in Europe can agree on this point.
The literal text
Millions of people believe that the Bible, the Qoran, or the Torah are the literal Word of God. They organize their lives so that they follow as closely as possible the literal reading of their respective scripture. Professor Psychology of Religion Dirk Hutsebaut from the Catholic University of Leuven (Louvain) recently stressed that this kind of black-or-white belief increases the chances of an extremist rejection of the Other and of violent activism.
He formulated his findings at the occasion of the presentation of the book, Faith-based Radicalism. Every faith and every conviction functions as a foundation for a social identity by creating "in-groups" and "out-groups". The difference, says Professor Hutsebaut, is that believers who do not engage in a personal interpretation of their sources of faith fail much more to be in solidarity with those who are not considered part of their "in-group".
To be complete, Professor Hutsebaut added that the very same psychological tendencies can be found with unbelievers. In that category as well he found that the "closed" unbeliever, the one who considers anything not proven scientifically as non-existent, has a strong tendency to think of his own group as possessing the only real truth.
A good number of Christians would fall under the category "closed believers" and would only accept the literal text of the Bible as the guiding principle of their lives and, if possible, of the way society is organized. Asked if he would consider this fundamentalism problematic, Cardinal Levada responded:
"From the point of view of society, not necessarily. Take for instance the Amish, a Christian sect largely living in Pennsylvania. They continue living like their forefathers of the 17th century did, they reject modern farming equipment and mostly all electricity and powered machinery. But that does not seem to be a problem for them. Their agriculture often is more successful than that of their neighbors, and they get along quite well with the rest of society.
Their fundamentalist beliefs would turn problematic if they would start to believe that God calls them to use violence against all those who do not share their convictions. The crucial thing is that free choice is guaranteed. Even though that freedom is conditional too, of course. As soon as parents reject, from their literalist beliefs, blood transfusions and thereby endanger the lives of their children, we are in problematic territory.
It is like the conviction of the Mormons who hold polygamy acceptable. Society at large in the United States thinks that is unacceptable because it is detrimental to the women and the children and thus for society. So the law interferes and forbids this belief to be put in practice. A society has to formulate limits, whatever the religious convictions of individual believers or churches".
Someone has to decide
Cardinal Levada does not like fundamentalism as a way of life. At the same time he heads the administration responsible for formulating and guarding the doctrine of a billion Catholic believers. In what sense does his mission differ from the ambitions of movements who preach an undisputable truth and try all they can to subject others to that truth? The prelate's answer is a lengthy dissertation on the relation between faith and reason, concluded by the statement that accepting the dogmas of the Church is not the same as abdicating one's freedom of thought or capacity to reason.
"After all", he said, "human reason and intelligence are, after divine grace, the ultimate gifts, the capacities that differentiate us from the rest of creation. But reason is balanced by devotion, the acceptance of an authority beyond yourself, of God. That is not the same as a rejection of human reason or an autonomous judgment, but an exercise in challenging our own thinking by confronting it to calls that supercede or, on first view, even contradict this thinking".
The role of the Church in that dialogue between an individual and his or her God, says the Cardinal, is not to be the first interlocutor, but the role is indispensable. "We believe that the apostles and their successors received the mission to interpret revelation in new circumstances and in the light of new challenges. That creates a living tradition that is much larger than the simple and strict passing of existing answers, insights and convictions from one generation to another.
But at the end of the day there has to be an instance that can decide whether a specific lifestyle is coherent with the principles and values of our faith, that can judge whether our actions are in accordance with the commandment to love your neighbor. The mission of the Church is not to prohibit people from thinking, investigate different hypotheses, or collect knowledge. Its mission is to give those processes orientation".
The knowledge of good and evil
"My problem with the Church is that she has all the answers, while I prefer to leave the mystery intact", said a recently deceased Dutch singer. Robert Long, as he called himself, clearly was not waiting for bishops and priests to be his arbiter. Cardinal Levada is not impressed. He responds: "The mystery of God goes way beyond anything we know or ever can know".
And that is quite a lot these days, he adds, since "human knowledge and the challenges that come with it grow exponentially. The development of the nuclear bomb, for instance, was an incredible achievement of the human spirit, scientific progress without precedent -but now I am using 'progress' in all its ambivalence, of course. But was it good to develop the nuclear bomb? A similar question should now be asked concerning cloning. We can do it, but does that necessarily mean we want to apply the technique on humans too?
The ethical question whether something is good, continues to be more important than the scientific question whether something is possible. God revealed to us what love is and with that knowledge we must answer the question whether the nuclear bomb is in accordance with the commandment to love your neighbor. Is cloning an expression of love? These are the kind of questions you cannot solve by preserving God as an unknown mystery. You need to discover the truth".
Make no mistake. The Vatican has the solution to a lot of the questions evoked. The Church condemns cloning. The Church condemns stem cell research. But has the Church magisterium ever condemned the atomic bomb in equally clear terms? "No", the Cardinal admits, "but the magisterium is usually far behind on the evolution of moral challenges. Usually the magisterium will not take a position on issues that evoke opposed opinions that each claims to stand on solid faith arguments".
Neither Marxism...
Pope John-Paul II did not wait for centuries to speak very critically about economic globalization. Cardinal Levada stresses that "every Pope since Leo XIII has contributed to a beautiful collection of social doctrines that can stand up to any other, including those in the political arena". Catholic social teaching should get much more attention, he says, "but we are up against a consumer society that keeps everybody busy the whole time with consumption, sports, work, or vacation. The effect is that people hardly find the time to stop and reflect on the social dimensions of their faith. If we would give more attention to social issues during our liturgies, more people might show up because they would feel that these celebrations would concern their lives, would offer them something more".
These socially involved words have a slightly hollow ring to them in the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that did whatever it could during the seventies and eighties to stop liberation theology from its ascendancy, even though this movement placed social involvement squarely at the center of religious life. Liberation theology did not quite endear CDF predecessor Cardinal Ratzinger to the Catholic left, to put it mildly.
The current Prefect nuances the situation: 'The documents on liberation theology that were published by Cardinal Ratzinger defend the social teachings of the Church in their right application. They do warn however against a theology that makes common cause with communist or socialist ideologies, because that is in contradiction with the liberation as it was revealed in Jesus Christ and of which the gospels give testimony. The condemnation of liberation theology, in other words, was not a condemnation of a socially oriented Christendom".
... nor neoliberalism
If the Church could speak out so clearly against the combination of Christianity and Marxism, would there not be a need today for an equally clear pronouncement that Christianity is not compatible with the praxis and the values of neoliberalism? Cardinal Levada answered unequivocally: "That would certainly be in accordance with the teachings as formulated from Leo XIII onwards".
He continued: "In the United States, neoliberalism was fiercely debated on the occasion of the signing of NAFTA. The unions opposed that free trade treaty because they feared the consequences of a globalized competition for the workers and the circumstances and conditions in which they work. My sympathy in that debate is clearly with the unions. We cannot just leave the issue of a global economy to a few people with economic degrees. Economics is far too soft a science for that. Economists come along with new theories every so often, without a guarantee for the people that they will serve them better. That is why Catholic teaching says that we cannot blindly jump into this neoliberal approach of the globalizing economy.
You just cannot say that in the end everything will be all right, when your theory in its contemporary practice costs the lives of millions of human beings. That is not what we understand to be a successful economy and it does not stand the test of gospel values. Our mission is: love your neighbor. But how do you do that when almost every African country is suffering from the most acute poverty? How do we practise charity in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands are dying? Those are the challenges that really matter in the world today".
Church stance on technology affirms human dignity
Feb 16, 2007
Bishops must give lay Catholics the tools they need to be convinced and to convince others about why the church takes the ethical stands it does on some scientific and technological advances, the Vatican's top doctrinal official said.
WASHINGTON (CNS, Feb-16-2007) -- "The attitude is widespread, even sadly among many Catholics who believe and practice their faith, that the magisterium of the church is overly negative, that 'the old men in the Vatican' are against progress even when it is designed to help people who are sick, or infertile, or the like," said Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in a Feb. 7 talk in Dallas.
"It should be emphasized that the church's 'no' to certain practices is not a negative reaction to modernity, but rather is a positive 'yes' to the dignity of every single human being," he said. "It is above all a defense of those who have no voice, those who are most vulnerable and those who have no one else to defend them."
Cardinal Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco, spoke on "The Role of the Magisterium in Bioethics" at the National Catholic Bioethics Center's 21st workshop for bishops, funded by the Knights of Columbus. More than 150 bishops from the U.S., Canada, Latin America and elsewhere attended the Feb. 5-7 workshop on the theme "Urged on by Christ: Catholic Health Care in Tension With Contemporary Culture."
The cardinal, who once chaired the board of what is now called the National Catholic Bioethics Center, recalled introducing his predecessor in his Vatican post, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, as a speaker at a bishops' workshop years ago.
"When I told him I would be coming to address this audience, we recalled that visit in what for both of us must seem another life," he said.
Cardinal Levada outlined five basic principles that guide the Catholic Church in its pronouncement of moral teachings on bioethical issues:
-- "The essence of being a Christian ... is not a moral code but rather a person, namely Jesus Christ," and communion with him "involves a new way of living -- a choice to live according to the Gospel."
-- Although the church recognizes "the autonomy of the sciences and of technology," science must follow moral guidelines to "be at the service of man and not vice versa."
-- The magisterium must "defend the church's perennial teaching on the dignity of every single human life."
-- The church's "so-called negativity" toward different forms of artificial fertilization does not indicate a lack of compassion toward infertile couples but rather "a 'yes' to the dignity of marriage and of nuptial love which must not be replaced by technology at the origin of new life."
-- The church has a responsibility to be "at the service of society" by defending marriage and the family, promoting just laws and working to abrogate unjust laws, in order to promote the common good.
"To be sure, securing agreement on what constitutes the common good today is no easy task in many societies," Cardinal Levada said.
"But the difficulty of the task must not weaken the resolve of those of us responsible for articulating church teaching in the area of bioethics to continue to propose to the faithful and to society at large a reasoned voice in defense of human life and the family," he added.
The cardinal said he could "almost hear a collective 'Yes, but ...' in response" to his five principles.
"We surely all agree that the concrete application of these principles to specific issues is where we have the greatest difficulty in convincing our people, often so thoroughly formed by cultural values that make the underlying principles of Christian morality seem remote or hard to accept," he said.
The cardinal recalled the church's unsuccessful efforts in 2004 to defeat a California initiative that provided $3 billion in state funds for embryonic stem-cell research. Opponents of the measure faced both a huge difference in campaign funds (nearly $35 million versus $625,000) and an advertising blitz that featured dramatic, personal appeals from the sick and dying.
"One lesson I drew for myself as archbishop of San Francisco was this: In the face of such a sophisticated, personalized campaign, our people, even our priests, had not been prepared well enough to understand and articulate the argument based on the principle of the dignity of embryonic human life," Cardinal Levada said.
The experience underscored "the need to provide our Catholic people who practice their faith the tools to enter into informed dialogue with their fellow citizens about the increasing number of issues in the field of bioethics that are finding their way into the democratic political process, either in the legislative process or at the ballot box," he said.
The cardinal also stressed the importance of helping Catholics "avoid the tensions, even opposition, between the support of life and the promotion of justice and peace, too often in imitation of the political divisions that mark our cultures."
Returning cardinal gets warm welcome in San Francisco
Aug 04, 2006
On his first U.S. visit since he was elevated to the College of Cardinals in March and nearly a year since he left San Francisco to serve as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, Cardinal William J. Levada received a warm welcome as he celebrated Mass at San Francisco's St. Mary's Cathedral July 23.
(CNS, July 28, 2006) In May 2005 Pope Benedict XVI chose Cardinal Levada, then archbishop of San Francisco, to serve as prefect of the Vatican's doctrinal office, a post the pope himself had held for more than two decades under Pope John Paul II. Cardinal Levada, a native of Long Beach, is the highest-ranking American serving at the Vatican.
At the July 23 Mass, San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer --- like Cardinal Levada, a Southland native ordained originally for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1962, one year after the cardinal --- welcomed the former archbishop and praised him for being a man who faithfully speaks the truth of church teaching.
In an interview with Catholic San Francisco, newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Cardinal Levada described his first year as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as "intense."
He said the past year was filled with activities related to his Vatican responsibilities, meetings, and introductions; appointments to additional posts as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and as a member of the Congregation for Bishops; and efforts to "get up to speed" quickly.
Cardinal Levada said the experience of working with Pope Benedict, whom he sees regularly, reinforces the general understanding that this pope is extraordinary.
"There has been a wonderful reception to the new pope's teaching and homilies," Cardinal Levada said. "The pope has a peaceful serenity, which is a gift from God, and a way of setting people at ease."
As head of the doctrinal congregation, Cardinal Levada is concerned with issues throughout the global Catholic Church. He said issues are different in various regions of the world.
"However, there is no lack of challenges," he said, whether the region is one where the church is young and growing, or a region where the presence of the church is well-established.
Cardinal Levada stressed the theme of unity in the church. "People must understand that polarization is a political construct that is antithetical to the church," he said. "If we love Christ, we must love his church."
El cardenal Levada justifica desobedecer a las autoridades civiles "cuando sus exigencias son contrarias a las de la recta conciencia"
Jul 12, 2006
El prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, cardenal William J. Levada expresó esta mañana, durante su ponencia "La familia en el catecismo de la Iglesia Católica", que el "rechazo de la obediencia a las autoridades civiles, cuando sus exigencias son contrarias a las de la recta conciencia" se justifica en "la distinción entre el servicio de Dios y el servicio de la comunidad política".
(VERITAS, 07/07/2006) Valencia - El cardenal Levada, recordó que "la Iglesia se opone necesariamente a la aprobación de leyes humanas, tales como el caso de las leyes que reconocen los "matrimonios" entre personas del mismo sexo o también los "matrimonios polígamos"" y expresó que "el matrimonio y la familia tienen su base en el orden creado, confirmado por la Revelación explícita de Dios".
"Las leyes humanas y las decisiones judiciales que no respeten esta enseñanza fundamental inmutable son contrarias a la ley de Dios, y deben ser consideradas con toda razón, injustas", afirmó el prefecto par a la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe.
“Il Catechismo aiuta le famiglie a scoprire la bellezza della fede”, spiega il Cardinale Levada
Jul 12, 2006
Intervento a Valencia del Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede
VALENCIA, venerdì, 7 luglio 2006 (ZENIT.org).- Il Catechismo della Chiesa Cattolica costituisce un aiuto unico che permette alle famiglie di riscoprire la bellezza della fede, ha constatato questo venerdì a Valencia il Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, nel suo intervento al Congresso Teologico-Pastorale sulla Famiglia.
Quest’opera, così come il “Compendio” pubblicato recentemente, che ne riassume i contenuti dottrinari, ha detto il Cardinale William J. Levada, “possono aiutare le famiglie e ciascuno di noi a scoprire la bellezza della fede cattolica e a viverla gioiosamente, per trasmetterla alle nuove generazioni, ai padri e alle madri del domani”.
Il successore del Cardinale Joseph Ratzinger al Dicastero vaticano, ha articolato il suo intervento in tre parti: la prima è stata dedicata al Catechismo; la seconda alla famiglia nella tradizione della Chiesa; e la terza alla presenza del Catechismo nelle famiglie.
Il porporato ha ricordato che Giovanni Paolo II ha dato risalto all’importanza del nuovo Catechismo come “strumento di rinnovamento e unità nella Chiesa”.
“Il Catechismo – ha sottolineato il Cardinal Levada – aiuta al Chiesa ad assicurare l’unità della fede per la quale Gesù stesso pregò nell’Ultima Cena. Questa unità della Chiesa è accompagnata dalla coscienza che hanno i fedeli di essere in comunione con i cristiani di tutti i tempi, dall’epoca degli Apostoli fino ai nostri giorni”.
Nella seconda parte, il porporato ha segnalato che “la famiglia è a ragione chiamata la cellula fondamentale della società umana. Infatti, siamo soliti pensare alla famiglia come al luogo dove viviamo e trasmettiamo la nostra fede cattolica, senza porre troppa attenzione su come questa stessa risponda ad un disegno di salvezza in Cristo, che Dio ci ha rivelato nelle Sacre Scritture”.
“Una delle grandi sfide dei nostri tempi – ha quindi denunciato – è l’intento, nelle società secolarizzate, di cambiare le leggi che, nel corso dei secoli, spesso millenni, hanno riconosciuto il piano di Dio per il matrimonio e la famiglia come si presenta nell’ordine della Creazione, e che costituisce un patrimonio comune per tutta l’umanità governata dalla legge naturale”.
Infine, il Cardinale ha concluso sottolineando l’importanza della presenza del Catechismo in seno alla famiglia, indicandolo altresì “come uno strumento estremamente utile nella realizzazione della sua vocazione e missione”.
Cardinal left mark on Oregon
Apr 06, 2006
During his time as Archbishop of Portland, William Levada exercised strong leadership with an eye for the future and a leaning toward compassion for the vulnerable.
(Catholic Sentinel, 03/29/2006) He is expected employ the same qualities now that he is a cardinal and overseer of the church’s office of doctrine.
Throughout his years in Oregon, 1986 to 1995, he spoke out strongly for immigrants, criticized welfare reform, stood up for the unborn and issued the famous warning that “a right to die may become a duty to die.”
He became an early voice calling for the church to become involved in stewardship of the environment and opposed a measure that would have crimped civil protections for homosexuals.
When in Portland, Cardinal Levada raised priests’ salaries, provided them with a retirement home and allowed pastors to live in houses away from parishes. He urged schools to establish endowment funds and started a scholarship to help eighth graders with leadership potential afford Catholic high schools.
He hired the nation’s first lay woman chancellor and established formation for lay ministers.
“He’s a shy man, and people misinterpret that as cold and aloof,” says Father Paul Peri, who served as vicar general during the Levada years. “He is actually very warm. I have never met anyone who has outdone him in generosity.”
Father Peri describes a man eager to pick up people at the airport, to treat them to dinner, to enjoy an evening of stimulating conversation.
The man who became a cardinal last week has a keen sense of humor, Father Peri says. “He is very funny and very clever. He has the quick reply.”
Father Peri, now director of pastoral formation at Mount Angel Seminary, contends that many western Oregon priests do not realize that amenities they have now they owe to Cardinal Levada. That includes better retirement benefits, healthcare, continuing education and an extra week of retreat.
“He never got any thanks for it,” Father Peri says.
The new cardinal, says the priest, is flexible yet also a clear, straight talker, which not everyone can take.
Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth Steiner of Portland recalls the renovation of St. Mary Cathedral as a project that, while not universally popular, has turned out to be a good thing. The work, the idea of Cardinal Levada, has created a home all Catholics of the archdiocese can be proud of.
“He was a very great leader,” says Bishop Steiner, who has always been pastor of a parish while serving as a bishop. “He listened very well before he took any actions. He was very supportive of me as a pastor and was very collaborative.”
Sister Charlene Herinckx, now vicar general of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon, was impressed in the 1980s when the new archbishop listened to women religious who said a sister should be part of the diocese’s vocations office. She got the job.
“I have some very positive memories,” she says. “He was very interested in vocation work. He would give time to come to the advisory meetings. If he learned something new, he could change his mind. I admire that.”
At the same time, others say, the new cardinal is a man of honesty and conviction.
“He was a strong leader,” says Gene Feltz, an attorney who worked with the archdiocese. “There was no pussyfooting around.”
Father Chuck Lienert, tapped to be vicar for clergy during the Levada years, admires the cardinal’s administrative skills.
“He had a good grasp of what needed to be done — financially and with administrative policy,” Father Lienert says.
In May 2005, Portland Archbishop John Vlazny hailed the appointment that made Cardinal Levada prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The two were classmates in a Roman seminary in the late 1950s and became friends.
“There is not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for the work Archbishop Levada did during his tenure here,” Archbishop Vlazny wrote.
Dr. Charlie Gardner, now pastoral associate of St. John the Apostle Parish in Reedsport, first met then-Archbishop Levada at a meeting of the archdiocesan AIDS Task Force.
“It was during those times that I learned one of the great things about our archbishop — his ability to cut through the fog of prolonged discussion and get to the meat of the given topic,” Gardner says.
The archbishop once gave Gardner a rosary blessed by Pope John Paul, but first joked that maybe a rosary blessed by an archbishop should suffice.
Gardner intends to be buried with that cherished tool of prayer, associated in his mind with two great Catholic leaders.
“Cardinal Levada was very good for this archdiocese in many ways,” Gardner says, citing sound finances and increased efficiency and a forthright pastoral presence.
“He never pulled any punches—one always knew where he stood on any matter,” Gardner concludes. “I know that with his appointment to that very important job in Rome, the Church is in good hands.”
Concistoro: Indirizzo di omaggio del Cardinal Levada al Papa
Apr 05, 2006
Pubblichiamo di seguito l’indirizzo di omaggio e gratitudine che il primo dei nuovi Cardinali, monsignor William Joseph Levada, Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, ha rivolto al Santo Padre, a nome di tutti i porporati, in occasione del Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico di questo venerdì, 24 marzo 2006.
Beatissimo Padre,
È con cuore colmo di commossa gratitudine e di trepidazione, che a nome dei Cardinali creati dalla Santità Vostra, desidero esprimerLe i nostri sentimenti, in quest'ora così impegnativa e solenne per le nostre povere esistenze, che già in forza dell'Ordine Sacro sono interamente consacrate al Signore e al suo servizio nella Santa Chiesa.
Ella, Padre Santo, con atto di sovrana e amorevole paternità - che già traluce in tutti i Suoi gesti in questo primo anno di luminoso e sereno Pontificato - ha voluto insignirci della Porpora Romana, chiamandoci a far parte di questo Collegio Cardinalizio, che da oltre un millennio offre al Vicario di Cristo l'umile contributo della propria collaborazione nell'adempimento del Suo Universale Ministero Apostolico come Successore dell'Apostolo Pietro.
In questo Suo primo anno di Pontificato noi siamo il primo gruppo di Cardinali creati per continuare insieme agli altri Eminentissimi Porporati l'opera di collaborazione con Vostra Santità nella Curia Romana e nelle Sedi episcopali sparse nell'intero orbe terrestre. L'essere titolari delle Chiese romane ci unisce ancor più strettamente alla Chiesa di Roma e a Colui che "presiede nella carità", rendendoci non solo collaboratori di Vostra Santità nella missione per l'unità della Chiesa, ma anche testimoni della sua cattolicità, chiamati da tutto il mondo.
Sentiamo profondamente il compito di grave responsabilità, che esige un supplemento di dedizione, e che proprio per questo postula un incessante impegno di totale amore e di incondizionata fedeltà a Cristo Signore e al Popolo cristiano, destinatario del nostro apostolato e del nostro servizio pastorale.
Questo amore a Cristo Gesù e alla Sua Chiesa, questa fedeltà all'uomo che ha innanzitutto sete ardente di verità, noi desideriamo, Beatissimo Padre, deporre nelle Vostre mani, e insieme promettere a Lei, Padre Santo, come figli al Padre amatissimo, la nostra amorevole e devota fedeltà, senza limiti e riserva alcuna, libera da preoccupazioni per noi e per le nostre stesse vite, come questa Porpora incessantemente ci ricorda e ammonisce.
Mi piace richiamare il brano della catechesi che Vostra Santità ha tenuto il 22 febbraio scorso nella festa della Cattedra di Pietro. Riferendosi all'abside della Basilica di san Pietro, dove si trova il monumento della Cattedra dell'Apostolo, opera matura del Bernini, Lei, Padre Santo, invitava i fedeli a sostare di fronte a tale splendida e suggestiva opera, per ammirarla e pregare in modo particolare per il Ministero che Iddio Le ha affidato.
Noi oggi in modo speciale invochiamo lo Spirito Santo perché sostenga con la sua luce e la sua forza il Ministero Apostolico di Vostra Santità e doni a tutti noi, chiamati a cooperare al servizio del Successore di Pietro, e a quanti ci accompagnano con la loro presenza, con le loro preghiere e il loro affetto, la generosità nell'impegno cristiano e la gioia di sentirci e rimanere servitori del Vangelo. Ci assista la Vergine Maria, Madre della Chiesa e Regina degli Apostoli, nell'imminenza della Solennità Liturgica dell'Annunciazione. Il suo fiat sia anche il nostro.
Cardinal Levada to Help in Parish's Charitable Work
Apr 03, 2006
Cardinal William Levada says he will help with the charitable activity of the Parish of Santa Maria in Domnica, the deaconry assigned to him when he received his red hat.
ROME, MARCH 28, 2006 (Zenit.org).- "I would like to come frequently to be with you, to share your parish community's journey and proclaim to the world that the Church of Christ is love for us and for the world," said the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, during a solemn celebration Sunday afternoon.
"I also want to take part in our parish's charitable mission," the U.S.-born cardinal said. "Charity to others truly demonstrates the authentic nature of God, which is 'charity.'"
Many of the faithful of this Roman parish attended the Mass, along with the cardinal's relatives and friends, especially from Oregon and California, who came to Rome because of the consistory. The new cardinal, 69, was previously archbishop of St. Francisco.
The cardinal was welcomed by the pastor, Father Sergio Ghio. Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, as well as other U.S. archbishops and bishops and 50 priests, joined the celebration.
The Deaconry of Santa Maria in Domnica was built under the pontificate of Paschal I (817-824) and restored in 1513-1514.
The new cardinals are assigned a church of Rome -- a "title" or "deaconry" -- as a sign of their participation in the pastoral care of the Pope for the city.
At Vatican, power comes to the archbishop S.F.'s Levada is now church's top deputy
Apr 03, 2006
Rome is drizzling when the Californians arrive on Wednesday, March 22, to attend the Consistory of Cardinals at the Vatican. About 100 Bay Area church members have come to the Eternal City to witness former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada receive his cardinal's red hat from Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
(San Francisco Chronicle, April 2, 2006) The ancient stone of the walled city comes into view and our van moves under its pink-toned arches and climbs the Avantine Hill. We are pilgrims headed to the Hotel Excedra, a curved white columned hotel on one side of the Piazza della Republica, to witness Vatican history. I thought a pilgrimage involved sacrifice, perhaps some sackcloth and ashes, at least a long hike, but our hotel is five star and our itinerary filled with celebratory lunches and dinners. It's so posh, I begin to feel a twinge of good old Catholic guilt.
Inside the piazza, traffic moves in a mad vortex around an enormous spurting fountain where various Roman gods wrestle with strange animals. Vespas dart in and out of this great traffic snarl, as Smart Cars (two-seaters which resemble a roller skate and are roughly the same size) muscle in beside taxies while vans jockey for position and everyone competes with a myriad of buses to find a lane, move to the left -- no to the right -- no, it was the left -- and take an exit road. It is one of Rome's many mad traffic roundabouts.
This is Cardinal William Levada's new town, the place he will call home, perhaps for the rest of his life.
The pope has appointed Levada to two positions: Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Dean of the College of Cardinals. After Pope Benedict, Levada holds the second highest office in Vatican City. It is the same office Benedict himself held (as Cardinal Ratzinger) before he was elected pope.
No other American has risen so high in Vatican circles. Could this man from California become pope some day? In Rome, strange things can happen, and like the traffic in those roundabouts, history can make sudden right and left turns.
Back home, Levada leaves controversy. Mayor Gavin Newsom didn't attend the ceremonies, and some members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors are upset that an official city delegation is presenting Levada with a paperweight etched with the city's official seal, because of the church's policy against same-sex adoptions.
One of Levada's new jobs is controversial, too. The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has its roots in the Inquisition and its duty is to protect the church against heresy. It is the position many Catholics talk about, worry about and complain about. People wonder out loud if Levada will be as controversial as Ratzinger. Will he, too, reach into Catholic colleges and force resignations and like his predecessor, earn a nickname? Many called Ratzinger the "Panzer Cardinal," referring not only to his German ancestry, but to his zeal.
When I ask Levada what his hopes are for his new office, he regards me wearily and says, "I am just hoping I will not fall on my face."
Born in Concord, raised in Long Beach, this is a true Californian who finds himself in Pope Benedict's court.
On Friday morning (March 24), St. Peter's Square is bustling as hundreds of people pour out of buses and walk up the cobblestone hill toward the dome of St. Peter's. Fifteen cardinals will be elevated today and, like school children, we hold onto our yellow tickets and keep an eye on our guide's blue umbrella as she parts a way through the crowd.
San Francisco laity along with priests in their full regalia, Protestant ministers -- all pilgrims with panache -- file into seats and have a look around St. Peter's Plaza, at the lines of tall columns rising to incredible heights and the row of statues ringing the roof. I don't want to be here in an earthquake. The Swiss Guard members are wearing their blue and gold striped uniforms, once modern in the Renaissance, the garish colors descend to matching leggings and add to the carnival aspect to this day.
I see Father Michael Pappas, a Greek Orthodox priest from San Francisco standing next to Rabbi Stephen Pearce of Temple Emanuel and the Rev. James DeLange, a Lutheran minister, chair of the Interfaith Council. It is an ecumenical photo op and I snap a couple of pictures.
Iftekhar Hai, a South San Franciscan who is president of the United Muslims of American Interfaith Alliance, comes over to join the photo. Then they spot the Rev. Amos Brown, a Baptist minister in the Western Addition. With St. Peter's and a sea of the Catholic faithful in the background, the ministers joyfully mug for the camera.
The organ booms to life and we take our seats and eagerly watch the stage. The boys chorus begins to sing, their tender voices sending music into the air and back to the last seats in this enormous square. The pope, flanked by his entourage, enters the piazza and greets the crowd. Levada, now dean of the College of Cardinals, walks to a microphone and delivers the greeting in Latin. There is an address in Italian by the pope. Again, as in his first encyclical, he speaks of love.
Then the highlight: The newly appointed cardinals, one at a time, kneel before the seated pope and he blesses each one and places a bright red hat on each head. He assigns each a church in Rome that the cardinal must protect and support.
Levada's church is Santa Maria en Domnica (St. Mary in Dominic). With obvious affection, Benedict gently hugs Levada and the Californians cheer, but not, we will soon find out, well. We are immediately out-shown by the Slovenians, who flap yellow scarves and shake their banners when Cardinal Franc Rodé receives his hat. Next in line is a cardinal from Italy and after the Italian demonstration, we realize we have been far too reserved. In this Vatican ceremonial arena, the Europeans know what to do. We Californians are mere neophytes.
At a dinner that night, Levada makes an appearance. This time, we truly go wild, we cheer for Levada, we cheer for our fellow Californian, and perhaps we even cheer for ourselves. "Where were you today?" he quips. People shout apologies.
I am at a table with Pearce, his wife Laurie Pearce, and William Hurlbut, a stem cell researcher who may have found a way to extract stem cells from a tumor called a teratoma.
Using Altered Nuclear Transfer technique, no human embryo is destroyed during this process, yet stem cells are produced. Is this the precursor to the stem cell breakthrough the world has been hoping for, the path to be able to use stem cells without destroying embryos and earning the wrath of religious leaders? The rumor is that Hurlbut is speaking to someone in the Vatican and the Vatican is actually listening. Levada leans his head toward Hurlbut and they speak in earnest. I wonder if I have just witnessed a small slice of history.
On Saturday morning, the pilgrims again trek back to St. Peter's Square. Jet lag is setting in and today being a pilgrim is more difficult. The Mass of the Rings, where Levada will receive the Super Bowl of Roman rings, the ring of a cardinal, begins with a procession through the crowd. Today we have better seats in Piazza San Pietro and the cardinals march right in front of us. Our man Levada walks directly in front of Pope Benedict, who shyly peeks out at the crowd from under his high pope hat.
The pilgrims are not finished. There is a Mass on Sunday in Levada's ninth century titular church, Saint Mary in Dominic, and afterward a farewell dinner.
As the dessert dishes are being cleared in an ancient room in Castle Orsini outside of Rome on top of a hill in Nerola, California Episcopal Bishop Michael Swing stands to speak of his love for Levada as well as the late Metropolitan Anthony of San Francisco's Greek Orthodox Church. He recalls how several years ago the three decided to share their feelings with the respective heads of their churches, so they traveled to England to speak to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to Istanbul to speak to the leader of the Greek Orthodox rite, and to Rome to speak to Pope John Paul II.
Iftekhar Hai, president of the United Muslims of America, reminds us that our DNA goes back to Abraham and Ishmael. "We must work," Hai said, "to be one people living on one piece of real estate." Rabbi Doug Kahn of San Francisco offers a Hebrew prayer for special occasions and Lutheran Rev. James DeLange reminds us that every religion seeks to make people better.
Pappas reminds us that Cardinal Levada's ninth century titular church, where we just witnessed Mass, existed before the schism took place, before the Reformation, Henry VIII, or the split between the Greek and Roman rites. There was a hush in the room as everyone realized he was right. We have all been apart too long.
The pilgrims had one more activity, and mustered on Monday morning for our last trip together to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Benedict. This time, we are not outside in the elements, but inside Paulo VI Hall, a modern building constructed for gatherings such as this. The fifteen new cardinals file in.
In the audience, there are hundreds of people: African chiefs in colorful cloths, Polish pilgrims in costumes, and, of course, those wild Slovenians breaking into song at the drop of a yellow kerchief.
But lowly pilgrims like us do not get to genuflect in front of Benedict. Our audience, it turns out, is more symbolic -- we viewed the proceedings from afar, but we are able to watch our cardinals and bishops and their families meet and greet the pope. And thanks to the television screens, we could get a close look at all the blessings and baby kissing. Dozens of flash bulbs pop as Benedict XVI blesses the crowd for the last time, and then the pilgrims are released and head out into the welcome sunlight to become a part of the traffic snarls of Rome.
Concistoro: Indirizzo di omaggio del Cardinal Levada al Papa
Mar 31, 2006
Pubblichiamo di seguito l’indirizzo di omaggio e gratitudine che il primo dei nuovi Cardinali, monsignor William Joseph Levada, Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, ha rivolto al Santo Padre, a nome di tutti i porporati, in occasione del Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico di questo venerdì, 24 marzo 2006.
Beatissimo Padre,
È con cuore colmo di commossa gratitudine e di trepidazione, che a nome dei Cardinali creati dalla Santità Vostra, desidero esprimerLe i nostri sentimenti, in quest'ora così impegnativa e solenne per le nostre povere esistenze, che già in forza dell'Ordine Sacro sono interamente consacrate al Signore e al suo servizio nella Santa Chiesa.
Ella, Padre Santo, con atto di sovrana e amorevole paternità - che già traluce in tutti i Suoi gesti in questo primo anno di luminoso e sereno Pontificato - ha voluto insignirci della Porpora Romana, chiamandoci a far parte di questo Collegio Cardinalizio, che da oltre un millennio offre al Vicario di Cristo l'umile contributo della propria collaborazione nell'adempimento del Suo Universale Ministero Apostolico come Successore dell'Apostolo Pietro.
In questo Suo primo anno di Pontificato noi siamo il primo gruppo di Cardinali creati per continuare insieme agli altri Eminentissimi Porporati l'opera di collaborazione con Vostra Santità nella Curia Romana e nelle Sedi episcopali sparse nell'intero orbe terrestre. L'essere titolari delle Chiese romane ci unisce ancor più strettamente alla Chiesa di Roma e a Colui che "presiede nella carità", rendendoci non solo collaboratori di Vostra Santità nella missione per l'unità della Chiesa, ma anche testimoni della sua cattolicità, chiamati da tutto il mondo.
Sentiamo profondamente il compito di grave responsabilità, che esige un supplemento di dedizione, e che proprio per questo postula un incessante impegno di totale amore e di incondizionata fedeltà a Cristo Signore e al Popolo cristiano, destinatario del nostro apostolato e del nostro servizio pastorale.
Questo amore a Cristo Gesù e alla Sua Chiesa, questa fedeltà all'uomo che ha innanzitutto sete ardente di verità, noi desideriamo, Beatissimo Padre, deporre nelle Vostre mani, e insieme promettere a Lei, Padre Santo, come figli al Padre amatissimo, la nostra amorevole e devota fedeltà, senza limiti e riserva alcuna, libera da preoccupazioni per noi e per le nostre stesse vite, come questa Porpora incessantemente ci ricorda e ammonisce.
Mi piace richiamare il brano della catechesi che Vostra Santità ha tenuto il 22 febbraio scorso nella festa della Cattedra di Pietro. Riferendosi all'abside della Basilica di san Pietro, dove si trova il monumento della Cattedra dell'Apostolo, opera matura del Bernini, Lei, Padre Santo, invitava i fedeli a sostare di fronte a tale splendida e suggestiva opera, per ammirarla e pregare in modo particolare per il Ministero che Iddio Le ha affidato.
Noi oggi in modo speciale invochiamo lo Spirito Santo perché sostenga con la sua luce e la sua forza il Ministero Apostolico di Vostra Santità e doni a tutti noi, chiamati a cooperare al servizio del Successore di Pietro, e a quanti ci accompagnano con la loro presenza, con le loro preghiere e il loro affetto, la generosità nell'impegno cristiano e la gioia di sentirci e rimanere servitori del Vangelo. Ci assista la Vergine Maria, Madre della Chiesa e Regina degli Apostoli, nell'imminenza della Solennità Liturgica dell'Annunciazione. Il suo fiat sia anche il nostro.
L.B.'s Cardinal Levada settles into Rome
Mar 29, 2006
Cardinal William Levada, a graduate of St. Anthony High in Long Beach, took possession of his titular church Sunday in the heart of the Italian capital, where he was greeted by a crowd of cheering faithful and pilgrims many of them Americans.
(Associated Press, 03/27/2006) ROME — Levada, who was elevated to cardinal during Friday's consistory, was assigned to the St. Mary in Domnica church where he held a festive two-hour-long Mass.
"I'm very delighted of being titular of this basilica, a parish in this historical zone in the city of Rome," he said at the beginning of his homily. "I hope to be able to come here often."
St. Mary's in Domnica, also known as the Church of the Navicella (which means 'little boat') because of the boat-like fountain in front of it, lies on top of the Celian hill, one of Rome's Seven Hills.
The 15 new cardinals were each assigned a titular church in Rome to cement their links to the Eternal City.
The other new U.S. Cardinal, Sean O'Malley of Boston, was assigned to the St. Mary of Victory church, but he was not expected to possession of it during his current stay.
During his homily, Levada who spoke English, Italian and some Latin read passages from Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, "God is Love," in which the pontiff highlighted principles of love and charity.
"Charity is not for the Church a sort of activity of social assistance that could be also left to others but it belongs to its nature, it is an expression of its essence that cannot be given up," Levada said.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony also attended the ceremony, which hosted a large number of faithful from Levada's former archdioceses of San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.
"He's going to bring a lot of good to the Church, he probably will open the door to fresh air," said Charlotte Bayer, a retired secretary from San Francisco who traveled to Rome with a group of pilgrims to attend the consistory.
"He will listen to the parishioners, be more attentive, more at lay people level, rather than being aloof."
Levada was a priest, auxiliary bishop and chancellor in the Los Angeles Archdiocese before becoming archbishop of Portland and then San Francisco.
He took over Benedict's old job as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's chief doctrinal watchdog, last May.
Leading LGBT voice scorns Cardinal Levada LGBT adoption ban
Mar 22, 2006
Cardinal William Levada represents "all that is wrong with the Catholic Church" as evidenced by Vatican opposition to LGBT adoptions, a San Francisco LGBT leader said today.
(San Francisco Sentinel, March 14, 2006) Supervisor Tom Ammiano, longtime elected member of San Francisco governance and LGBT leading voice, gave an emotional condemnation of Rome policy and urged Levada to withdraw the directive.
Rome reiterated the 2003 policy over the weekend causing San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to withdraw his attendance from the March 24 formal installation of Levada as Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Catholic Charities of San Francisco place adoptees in LGBT families, and Ammiano urged the Vatican to permit local policy to continue.
Ammiano made the remarks during today's Board of Supervisors meeting.
"You know, as a gay Catholic, Cardinal Levada is everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church," Ammiano told Board colleagues.
"If this Cardinal would put the kind of energy into ending sexual abuse and homophobia in the church as he does in persecuting same sex couples…
"He said it is violence. You are doing violence when you place children with same sex couples.
"Well, I say to you, I think there is a reason that the office that he represents now was once called the Office of the Inquisition, because they cannot see beyond the humanness of this particular population.
"It seems to me that if the Catholic Church is losing members, they should welcome, they should embrace gay and lesbian and transgender people who embrace that faith.
"No one is going to tell me that I am not Catholic.
"No one is going to tell me that I am doing violence to children. That is criminal and if we could impeach him I would make that resolution," stated Ammiano.
Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Angela Alioto-Pier joined the Ammiano resolution as co-sponsors.
Dufty represents the heavily LGBT Castro District and is a member of the LGBT community. Alioto-Pier is among current generation of the prominent Alioto Italian Catholic clan.
"It seems that it's so contradictory that lives that so often are thrown away, that are being reclaimed, that the gay and lesbian parents that I know are most often involved in special needs adoptions of children who are not being supported in life.
"That somehow someone of faith could stand in the way of that and think that they know better - that's the most disappointing thing because here in San Francisco Catholic Charities has done such a good job of making it a priority for looking out for the children.
"I think it is truly tragic… that now children are going to be hurt and in the future children and could be denied the opportunity of having a good home," the District 8 supervisor said.
Dufty will hold a press conference March 27 encouraging LGBT families to participate in greater numbers with San Francisco Foster Care programs.
Text of the Ammiano resolution follows:
Resolution urging Cardinal William Levada, in his capacity has head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, to withdraw his discriminatory and defamatory directive that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco stop placing children in need of adoption with homosexual households.
WHEREAS, It is a insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great City's existing and established customs and traditions such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need; and
WHEREAS, The statements of Cardinal Levada and the Vatican that "Catholic agencies should not place children for adoption in homosexual households," and "Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children" are absolutely unacceptable to the citizenry of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, Such hateful and Discriminatory rhetoric is both insulting and callous, and shows a level of insensitivity and ignorance which has seldom been encountered by this Board of Supervisors; and
WHEREAS, Same sex couples are just as qualified to be parents as are heterosexual couples; and
WHEREAS, Cardinal Levada is a decidedly unqualified representative of his former home city, and of the people of San Francisco and the values they hold dear; and
WHEREAS, The Board of Supervisors urges Archbishop Niederauer and the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to defy all discriminatory directives of Cardinal Levada; now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Board of Supervisors urges Cardinal William Levada, in his capacity as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican (formerly known as Holy Office of the Inquisition), to withdraw his discriminatory and defamatory directive that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco stop placing children in need of adoption with homosexual households.
San Francisco Mayor Boycotts Elevation of Former Bishop to Cardinal, Over Prohibition Against GLBT Adoptions
Mar 19, 2006
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom will cancel his plans to attend Vatican ceremonies elevating Archbishop William Levada to Cardinal, after Bishop Levada reiterated Vatican opposition to GLBT adoptions last weekend.
SAN FRANCISCO, United States, March 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The San Francisco Sentinal reported yesterday that mayor Newsom considered an email sent by Bishop Levada instructing the diocese not to permit adoptions by GLBT persons to be “patently offensive.”
He told the Sentinal the Vatican’s position was “corroding and divisive,” and suggested the Vatican needed to move beyond “stale and questionable documents” if it wanted the Church to evolve. Newsom is said to be a practicing Roman Catholic.
Archbishop Levada will be formally installed as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formally headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who became Pope Benedict XVI.
He sent the email to the archdiocese of San Francisco in response to questions about adoptions to same-sex couples through Catholic Charities of San Francisco, during his years as bishop of the diocese.
In the email he said “Catholic agencies should not place children for adoption in homosexual households.”
The Vatican issued a document in 2003 on same-sex unions that included instructions on gay adoptions. It said in part, “Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children.”
The archbishop said, “The reasons given in the (2003) document, as well as the potential scandal for the faithful should an archdiocesan agency act contrary to the clear teaching of the church’s magisterium, require that a Catholic bishop follow this clear guidance form the Holy See in his oversight of Catholic diocesan agencies.”
Boston Catholic Charities announced last week they would no longer be placing any children for adoption, since the organization cannot refuse to place children with gays or lesbians under state rules against same-sex “discrimination.”
Vatican elevates Levada to cardinal
Feb 28, 2006
San Francisco's former archbishop, William Levada, was named a cardinal on Wednesday, making the California native eligible to vote to select the next pope and increasing the chance that he could one day lead the Roman Catholic Church.
(San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2006) Levada was the seventh archbishop of San Francisco and the first in the 153-year history of the archdiocese to be elevated to cardinal. He left San Francisco in August to run the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the highest position any American has ever held in the Vatican.
Levada, 69, was among 15 new cardinals from around the globe named this week by Pope Benedict XVI. His elevation to the elite group was expected, as the highest offices at the Vatican are run by cardinals; it becomes official at a solemn Mass in Rome on March 24.
When Levada left San Francisco in August, San Francisco lawyer Angela Alioto was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to lead a delegation to attend the anticipated installation. Alioto had expected the Mass to take place in February.
"I've been crying all morning," said Alioto, who will be in trial in March.
Her son, Joseph Alioto Veronese, will now lead the 21-person interfaith delegation.
"Levada is just fantastic," Alioto said. "He is a real character. He makes me smile. We went to a lot of Giants games together."
German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger held Levada's current job as the church's top arbiter on questions of faith and morals before his election in April as pope. Levada and the pope have a friendship that spans more than two decades.
"The fact that Ratzinger made Levada his successor doesn't mean that he's tapping him now as the next person who could be pope," said the Rev. Jim Bretzke, chairman of the theology department at the University of San Francisco.
Bretzke, who as a member of a San Francisco priests council met monthly with Levada, said the role of cardinal has changed little over the past century. Cardinals, who wear elaborate red hats called birettas, attend important functions on behalf of the pope. The cardinals' highest honor is the super-secretive selection of pope.
After the March 24 ceremony, called a consistory, the College of Cardinals will have 193 members, of whom 120 will be under the age of 80, making them eligible to vote to select Benedict's successor. Fifteen will be Americans.
Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley was the other American named cardinal by Pope Benedict on Wednesday. His appointment also was expected, as he is head of a major U.S. diocese.
"My dad always wanted a cardinal from San Francisco, and now we've finally got one," said Alioto, a former San Francisco supervisor whose late father, Joseph Alioto, was a two-term mayor.
San Francisco's new archbishop, George Niederauer, installed last week in a ceremony led by Levada, said, "This news is a wonderful recognition from the Holy Father of Archbishop Levada's great gifts."
Levada, who was San Francisco's archbishop for 10 years, had his critics. Priest abuse victims and their advocates said Levada did more to protect abusive priests than to help victims.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an online archive of clergy sex abuse cases, said Levada and O'Malley were "keepers of secrets."
"The pope picked two Americans who are vigorous enforcers of conservative church doctrine and who will maintain the high levels of secrecy essential to being a cardinal," Barrett Doyle said. "On March 24, they will kneel before the pope and say an oath in which they promise never to reveal anything that would bring harm or dishonor to the church."
Linda Pieczynski, the spokeswoman for Call to Action, a national lay Catholic group that advocates for the rights of gays, women and priests to marry, said she was disappointed by the pope's choices.
"Levada wasn't exactly rushing to disclose the names of perpetrators and reach out to victims, and now he's being honored by the Vatican," she said. "We see this as business as usual."
Other prelates named cardinals are archbishops from Venezuela, South Korea, France, Spain, the Philippines, China and Poland.
“La Encíclica invita a la Iglesia a un renovado empeño en el servicio de la caridad”
Feb 12, 2006
Esta mañana, durante la presentación de la primera Encñiclica del Santo Padre Bendicto XVI “Dios es Amor”, el cardenal William Joseph Levada, Prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la fe, declaró a modo de conclusión que “la Encíclica invita a la Iglesia a un renovado empeño en el servicio de la caridad como parte esencial de su existencia y su misión”.
(VERITAS, 25/01/2006) Roma - El cardenal se centró más en la primera parte de la Encíclica donde el Santo Padre se explaya definiendo la palabra amor y en el último aspecto de la segunda parte sobre el amor al prójimo.
“La Encíclica ofrece una visión del amor hacia el prójimo y la misión eclesial de trabajar en la caridad como cumplimiento del mandamiento del amor, que encuentra sus raices en la esencia misma de Dios, que es el Amor”, explicó el cardenal.
Cardinale Levada: la Chiesa contrasta in maniera esemplare la piaga degli abusi
American ‘city on a hill’ is barren without God’s word
Le Vatican juge "absurde" d'opposer foi en Dieu et évolutionnisme
Kardinal bezeichnet Dawkins' atheistische Evolutions-These als absurd
"Toca las raíces del género humano"