And it wasn't until the papacy of Paul VI that St. Pio was exonerated and liberated.
In the summer of 1960, the Holy Office of the Vatican dispatched an apostolic visitor to investigate Padre Pio...
...anxiety about Padre Pio stemmed from a set of audiotapes surreptitiously recorded in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo that purported to document improper relations between Pio and a group of lay sisters, who formed a kind of protective guard around him. Keepers of the Padre Pio cult, they controlled access to the future saint, handled money coming in for the hospital, and appeared to have free run of the monastery at all hours.
The apostolic visitor, Monsignor Carlo Maccari, left San Giovanni unimpressed by the person of Padre Pio and horrified by the cult that surrounded him, which he thought, according to his report, smacked of “idolatry and perhaps even heresy…religious conceptions that oscillate between superstition and magic.” - Source
For a time it looked like Padre Pio would live out his remaining years being treated as a miscreant.
But Paul VI changed things around rapidly. The Pope was not averse to St Pio. As Cardinal of Milan, Paul VI had sent a request for prayers to Padre Pio in 1959. In 1964, Pope Paul intervened with the CDF and ordered that Padre Pio be allowed to practise his ministry “in complete freedom” and that he was not to be confined “like a criminal”. - Source
How did St. Pio act when he was 'imprisoned' and maligned?
Saint Pio's response:
"God's will be done,"...then he covered his eyes with his hands, lowered his head, and murmured, "The will of the authorities is the will of God." - Source
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ReplyDelete"How did St. Pio act when he was 'imprisoned' and maligned?
ReplyDeleteSaint Pio's response:
"God's will be done,"...then he covered his eyes with his hands, lowered his head, and murmured, "The will of the authorities is the will of God."
Sadly, in today's Catholic world, many online so-called Catholic bloggers have taken the opposite road. Let's all take the high road and imitate St. Padre Pio and pray for the grace to do so.
P.S. And to think it was Paul VI who brought about St. Padre Pio's vindication...what a blessing indeed!
Sorry! I had a few typos I could not edit thus the second post. ^^
Two wrongs don't make a right
ReplyDeleteLaity don't take a vow of obedience. The obedience owed by a religious to a superior is a different relationship than the relationship the laity should have to a bishop who doesn't think with the Church. In the latter case, the laity should respect the office, but humbly and charitably work to ensure that the faith is being passed on.
ReplyDeleteI think this topic is a minefield and doesn't admit of simple solutions. For example, if I had a post-modern bishop who constantly talked of moving beyond the Church's past and the need for a "new epistemology" I would do everything I could to counter-act his poison by expressing the contrary view (though without rancor). If such a bishop did something crazy like barred the laity from their peaceful loving presence at Planned Parenthood, I would ignore him and urge others to do the same. But if he instructed me to stop wearing my tunic and calling myself an 'urban missionary' than I would do that. I would still hit the streets, but with some other clothing or sign that people would recognize.
So in other words, you decide on you own whether a member of the hierarchy is worthy of your respect and obedience and even though he is not telling you to do anything in contradiction to church teaching or doctrine, if you don't like what he says, you can choose to disobey him. Somehow, I don't think St. Padre Pio would agree with you. We must always take into account that we see only a small portion of the picture, and that the Holy Spirit is quite capable of leading the Church without our help.
DeleteBased on your comment I don't think you understood what I wrote. Your comment also assumes a great deal of bad faith (in other words, you are doing exactly what the rad trads are doing) and there are some red herrings in there as well (e.g., about dissenting on doctrine, and the Holy Spirit only works through the laity?).
DeleteWould you care to show me what I misintepreted in your comment?
DeleteSorry, I'm very busy this morning--I might have mis-read your comment. As to your last sentence, read what I posted at the end to Diane. All of us have to give an account to God, and I am conscious of my responsibility. The Holy Spirit works through all of us in a perfect symphony--we have to do our part. Have you noticed that all of the great reform movements in the Church started outside the hierarchy: the desert fathers, mendicant orders, the Jesuits?
DeleteSo if a bishop forbade the laity from Planned Parenthood (assuming the laity provided a peaceful, loving presence) then you would go along? I think it's "in contradiction to church teaching and doctrine". But I've never been in that situation, and so maybe God would direct me otherwise.
Pax Christi, I don't have time for any more replies.
I agree with you, Scott. And actually I met with my bishop once and his canon lawyer and one of things we talked about was obedience and the fact that the laity do not, in fact, owe the bishop blanket obedience, only obedience with respect to doctrines, the same obedience they owe to Holy Mother Church.
DeleteI just finished reading Alice Von Hildebrand's autobiography of her philosopher husband Dietrich and she relates over and over situations where he confronted Catholic prelates in Germany over their support for the Nazis. He was ostracized in some places (a Dominican seminary for one) because of his strong opposition to the Nazis. Some priests and bishops were infected with a distorted nationalism that led them into supporting evil. Sad...but it continues today. I thank God for that great man with the "soul of a lion" and his philosopher widow who writes of him with such tender and articulate love. I recommend the book. It reads like a thriller since Dietrich had to flee the Nazis more than once.
St Padre Pio's example is one the laity can also look to. We only need to see Pio's response to laymen who wanted to use less than virtuous means to get back at the bishops and liberate him. He had no tolerance for that.
ReplyDeleteWhat we have online with some Catholics, is an inability to raise concerns in a way that does not involves impudence, insolence, condescension.
One can disagree with Cdl Dolan's decision to be involved with St Pat's day, as I do, on grounds, partly, that it will be exploited in the worst possible way. But it's just that simple to state. I don't need to upbraid him or use photos that are intended to mock for shock value. That's the way of the world, not the way people of virtue deal with conflicts. To make matters worse, it puts an ugly face on Catholicism when people voice their objections in a way that mocks.
Even here, I'll have my position misrepresented as it has do many times before (not by Terry, of course).
But people would do well to read that part of Aquinas where he tells us how NOT to speak about bishops, even when they are wrong. See his answer here and replies to objections for more. Read *all* of article 4. When it comes to fraternal correction of prelates it's a "yes, but..." And most completely miss that qualifier. http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3033.htm#article4
Thank you for these sane comments, Diane.
DeleteI think we're in agreement. Thanks for always offering the voice of reason. To use the Vortex as an example, I agree with Msgr. Pope. The content is usually good and a needed contribution, but the tone (lack of charity) ruins the good that could have been done. FWIW, I've avoided the Vortex for several years--though Voris' long presentations of the faith/Church history are very good.
DeletePadre Pio's example is a salutary lesson, but the reason the persecution of Padre Pio does not work as a universal example, is precisely because it was not intended as a universal state of the faithful (in part because laity are not under such vows). It's similar to martyrdom: if it was a universal fate than all the Christians would be dead. God allows such persecutions to show that in weakness (submission to an unjust decision) a greater good can come about. But the norm of the faith life is not martyrdom or quiet submission to injustice, but freely presenting the truth in charity. To take a concrete example, after Vat II it was not God's active will that the laity allow clericalist prelates to strip the altars, teach heresy and foist perverted sex ed books on Catholic school children. A healthy laity would have humbly thwarted the sex ed books in creative ways while respecting the office of the bishop.
One thing that's missing from this conversation is that we will be judged on what we've been given. If we've been given the gift of faith, and lay down under a false sense of "whatever the bishop says" rather than defend the faith as it's been passed down, then we have to answer to God. I've had a taste of purgatory, and I'm going to strain to avoid it at all costs. So I've decided to blog more on the faith, and if any one thinks that includes skewering prelates, then go and read for yourself.
"A healthy laity would have humbly thwarted the sex ed books in creative ways while respecting the office of the bishop." I have some experience here and can testify that they mightily tried. One of the priests in our diocese is from Milwaukee. When he was a teen his mom was involved in a group fighting for orthodoxy, but the bishop thwarted it all. Look at Milwaukee today. The mess continues. I was involved somewhat with Mothers' Watch. They were reviled and detested for opposing the evil in these sex ed programs. Sometimes a "healthy laity" cannot thwart the sex ed books "humbly." In my own diocese it took a public meeting covered by the press to stop the de facto implementation of the horrible Good Touch/Bad Touch program. It was laity rising up in protest that convinced the diocese not to implement a program developed by a group for prostitutes. Here's the article Julia Duin wrote for The Washington Times. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2004_01_06/2004_02_12_Duin_DioceseReplaces.htm Somehow I don't think anything less would have been successful. And I don't think the laity were guilty of skewering prelates, just protecting their children. The bishop and parents should be allies in that fight, but often, sadly, they are not.
DeleteFor many years I have "humbly" thrown away heretical books and newspapers (NC Reporter) that have appeared in our adoration chapel. LOL
DeleteGood for you! I call that guerilla warfare. I do it in the grocery store with the indecent magazines at the checkout. I put them under bags of dogfood in the pet aisle. I think that sends a double message. I used to talk to the managers, but that seemed pointless and usually got no action.
DeleteMary Ann - you are a valiant woman - God bless you. You've been a faithful Catholic mother and witness to truth all of these years - never giving up, never falling away.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Terry. You are too kind. Just call me a mama bear. I hate murdering and scandalizing children. Falling away was occasionally a temptation, but I say with Peter, "Where is there to go?" And then I think of Ann Roche Muggeridge (Malcolm Muggeridge's daughter-in-law) who was fighting for the faith in Canada. When she was so angry she told a friend she wanted to leave the response was, "Don't let the bastards drive you out." She died not that long ago faithful to the end while the hospice folks kept trying to convince her husband to "let her go," i.e. stop treating for things like infections, etc. Her husband finally took euthanasia fighter Wesley Smith with him to the hospice meeting and that ended the pressure on the husband. Thank God for advocates!
DeleteMy dad was career Navy, a Pearl Harbor survivor, In fact he was the ranking officer (an ensign) on the U.S.S. Detroit, a light cruiser and one of only two ships to get out of the harbor that morning. All of the senior officers were on shore because it was a Sunday. I guess fighting bad guys is in my blood. My dad was always one of my heroes.
Scott - you said, "Padre Pio's example is a salutary lesson, but the reason the persecution of Padre Pio does not work as a universal example, is precisely because it was not intended as a universal state of the faithful (in part because laity are not under such vows)."
ReplyDeleteI agree that the situation for laity is different than it is for clerics and religious. But, there is something to glean from his example of faith in the midst of trial. Padre Pio saw that the injustice happening to him I'm not saying that the laity need to sit back and take everything they believe is harmful to the faith of their children and grandchildren. But when you use every option available and it does not change the situation, st. Francis de Sales explains how it should be handled.
"The following advice of St. Gregory is useful: whenever you are 'justly accused' of a fault, humble yourself, and candidly confess that you deserve more than the accusation which is brought against you; but, if the charge be false, excuse yourself meekly, denying your guilt, for you owe this respect to truth, and to the edification of your neighbor. But if, after your true and lawful excuse, they should continue to accuse you, trouble not yourself nor strive to have your excuse admitted; for, having discharged your duty to truth, you must also do the same to humility, by which means you neither offend against the care you ought to have of your reputation, nor the love you owe to peace, meekness of heart, and humility." Source
I also don't think it helps when you have some out there who are raising every prudential decision a bishop makes that they disagree with, to the level of a heresy. Some of what I see, could probably well fit Fr. Hardon's definition of Pharisaical Scandal. (this seems to be the opposite of what Fr. Hardon calls a Pharasaic Conscience).
I'm not blind to what is going on out there, but the solid priests who have counseled me in recent years have made something abundantly clear: Living the faith is not about making a spectator sport of what everyone else is doing wrong, or supposedly doing wrong. That is precisely what we have in some blogs and media.
If something is truly at odds with doctrine, or contrary to rubrics, etc., I have a right, and even a duty to raise questions and speak up, carefully observing the virtues. The same could be said if something is implemented in my diocese that I find harmful or objectionable. Mary Ann gives a good example of that. I recall that situation and people were right to speak out when other, reasonable means were not effective.
Can we not say that some are doing the equivalent of an e-riot or cyber-lynching on mere rumors, before anything is confirmed in some situations? Wouldn't silence in the face of rumor be more virtuous than feeling the need to opine? Some of what is out there may as well be in a grocery store check out lane. Why do we digest this over spending time reading Scripture or the saints?
Wish I could edit my edits that ended up in bad sentences. But, I'll try to have faith people will understand what I was trying to convey rather than try to fix what's wrong. I'll address any questions if they come. LOL
DeleteBTW - that quote I provided by St. Francis de Sales, where he discusses St. Gregory's thoughts on handling false accusations, also applies to injustices we try to resolve and don't seem to get anywhere. At some point, it is simply best to give it over to God and ride the rocking boat with some faith that He knows what is happening and for whatever reason, is permitting it to happen. I'm always mindful that if God doesn't like what this or that bishop is doing, or the Pope, he can take him out. So, when God is permitting the thing to happen, and we have done all we can do without crossing the line into sinful anger and unvirtuous responses, we need to let the matter rest. If it's a problem in a parish, find another parish. If you can't, then going to a valid but illicit Mass is the cross you must carry. That's just an example.
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