Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

The Vatican Secret Archives

Yesterday, Mark, our dean Michael Simons, and I went to the Capitoline Museums in Rome.  The Capitoline is one of the most famous of Rome’s museums, but we actually spent most of our time at the absolutely incredible exhibition of the Vatican Secret Archives (there was an amusing note explaining that in Italian “segreto” just means “private,” not “secret”…but they felt pretty secret to me).  For those interested in law and religion, you really couldn’t ask for a more exciting exhibit.

Among the many highlights:

  • The Dictatus Papae of Pope Gregory VII
  • A petition from many members of the House of Lords asking Pope Clement VII to grant Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, to which they attached their individual seals
  • Leo X’s papal bull excommunicating Luther, and Charles V’s corresponding imperial edict divesting Luther of any civil protection
  • A surprisingly obsequious letter by Voltaire to Pope Benedict XIV telling him in ornate terms how great he was (in fact, he was pretty great)

I surreptitiously (‘segretamente’) took a few pictures of some additional documents of special relevance, which I’ll put up when I get back.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian · 1 Comment

More on the SSPX, the Vatican, and Religious Freedom

A couple of days ago, I noted the negative response of the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist Catholic body, to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ recent statement on the importance of religious freedom. The SSPX criticized the American concept of religious freedom, which the Conference had endorsed, as a more or less Protestant idea inconsistent with traditional Church teaching. I guessed that the SSPX represented a rather small movement within Catholicism, but thought it interesting that the bishops’ stance on religion in public life could draw criticism from the right as well as the left.

It turns out I may have underestimated the importance of the SSPX.  (A lesson: outsiders really should not assume they understand relations at the Holy See). La Stampa reports this week that the Vatican and the SSPX are poised to sign an agreement to make the SSPX a personal prelature of the Pope, like Opus Dei. This is big news. Pope John Paul II excommunicated the founder of the SSPX, the French Cardinal Marcel Lefebvre, for disobedience, but Pope Benedict has been working hard to bring the group back into the fold. One major sticking point has been the issue of religious freedom. The SSPX believes that Vatican II’s famous endorsement of religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, contradicts  earlier papal statements, most importantly the 19th Century “Syllabus of Errors,” which famously condemned the idea that “every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.”

What does this week’s apparent agreement suggest about the Church’s position on religious freedom? According to La Stampa, although the agreement requires SSPX to submit to the Pope on important doctrinal matters, it specifically allows for “legitimate discussion, study and theological explanation of particular expressions or formulations found in the documents of the Second Vatican Council.” Given the SSPX’s long, and apparently continuing, discomfort with Dignitatis Humanae, this language might mean that the concept of religious freedom, at least as understood in at Vatican II, is once again up for debate within the Church. That’s what the La Stampa article suggests. But, as I say, outsiders really should not assume they understand relations at the Holy See.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian · 1 Comment

Outflanking the Bishops Conference on the Right

Last week, we noted  a report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the importance of religious freedom in America, Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty. Most of the time, one hears about dissents from the Catholic Left, which disagrees with the bishops on issues like abortion and homosexuality. Last week, though, there was a reminder that dissenters also exist on the Catholic Right.

The Society for Saint Pius X is a traditionalist Catholic body, formed around opposition to Vatican II, with an ambiguous relationship to the Church. Pope John Paul II excommunicated the society’s founder, and the society lacks canonical status, but recently the Vatican and the SSPX have been negotiating a formalization of the society’s place within the Church. It’s noteworthy, therefore, that the SSPX has responded to Our First, Most Cherished Liberty with a statement of its own. The SSPX is not impressed. In fact, it views the bishops’ statement as another example of an Americanist compromise that dilutes the Catholic faith. “Liberty,” the society asserts, is a matter of freely following the will of God, as that will is expressed in the Catholic Church; it has nothing to do with the American notion — strongly influenced, the SSPX argues, by heretical Calvinist theology — of personal freedom. It is precisely this American idea of personal freedom, the society maintains, that has led to things like the HHS contraceptives mandate. The SSPX calls on the bishops to abandon the principles of the Church’s “opponents” and return to the Church’s own.

As Rick Garnett points out over at Mirror of Justice, this argument was settled at Vatican II itself, in the Church’s Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae. I don’t know how large a movement the SSPX represents within Catholicism, though I suspect it’s fairly small. Still, it’s interesting to think of the bishops as reflecting a middle-of-the-road position — within the Catholic Church, that is.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Vatican Office Rules American Bishop Wrongly Closed Parishes

According to news reports, a Vatican office has taken the extraordinary step of overruling a bishop’s decision to close 13 parishes in his diocese. The Bishop of Cleveland, Richard Lennon, ordered the parishes closed as part of a diocesan downsizing three years ago. Parishioners challenged the closings as violations of canon law, and yesterday the Congregation for the Clergy, an office in the Roman Curia, ruled in their favor. According to the parishioners’  lawyer, the Congregation held that Bishop Lennon had failed to follow the canonical procedure for closing parishes, for example, by neglecting to consult clerical advisers and issue a formal decree. Bishop Lennon may now appeal to the Vatican’s high court. This week’s ruling is yet another example of the growing interest in canon-law litigation in the Catholic Church.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

The Vatican Apostolic Library

In September 2010, the magnificent and extremely ancient Vatican Apostolic Library reopened after a period of renovation.  First opened by Pope Nicholas V in 1448 (the Pope wished to share his books and manuscripts), the library contains centuries of undiscovered and unknown works.  It is not open to the general public — one needs to be an academic or a student to gain entry. 

In this story, Paolo Vian, chief of the manuscript division, talks a little about an early work of Spinoza which was recently discovered in the library (he notes that one of the reasons it was not discovered earlier was that it was not signed by the author, or otherwise so designated).  There are other discoveries waiting to be made in this vast repository.  Vian mentions about 200 verses of a comedy by the Greek dramatist Menander which were recently found, as well as a seminal 1615 work by Tommaso Campanella, “L’ateismo trionfato” (“Atheism Defeated”).   

An elegant quote by Vian, when asked why so many initially sought entry but went away somewhat disappointed:

The treasures, the real ‘secrets’ of a library or of an archive are not discovered by pushing a button.  One requires a long and burdensome patience which, as in the case of [Spinoza’s] Ethics, puts together separate elements, re-knots shredded strands, sees value in minute and almost invisible clues.  One needs the patience and tenacity of someone in love and only then can one reach one’s goal. 

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Allen on the Closing of Vatican Embassies

John Allen, always worth reading, has a story about the closing of the Embassy to the Holy See in Ireland and the possible future closings, at least among Western nations, that may be on the way.  The primary causes are three, he says: the desire to cut costs;  “a perception that the Vatican is less internationally engaged and less effective under Pope Benedict XVI than Pope John Paul II”; and the effect of the sex-abuse scandals, which have made the political climate more favorable to the closings than it otherwise would be.

I also thought these lines were interesting:

Vatican diplomats today, [Western ambassadors] say, are highly focused on issues of religious freedom and anti-Christian persecution, but sometimes less interested in other matters . . . . Most observers say that if there are to be additional closures or downsizings, it’s more likely, at least in the short term, to come from Europe rather than the United States. It’s a long shot, they say, that a Democratic president who already faces a rocky relationship with the Catholic church would take such a step — especially heading into 2012 elections in which the “Catholic vote” will once again be in play.

Of course, the Catholic vote will no longer be in play after the election.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Vatican Statement on World Financial Crisis, Cont.

Some more information about the Pontifical Council”s recent statement on the world financial crisis, which drew attention for suggesting the need for global government. According to veteran Vatican correspondent Sandro Magister of the Italian newsweekly, L’Espresso, the Pontifical Council’s statement surprised many inside the Vatican, including Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone, who apparently did not know of the statement until shortly before its release. Magister argues that the Pontifical Council’s statement, particularly its call for a global financial authority, contradicts the  tone of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, which endorses subsidiarity rather than centralized world government. The Vatican has not withdrawn the Pontifical Council’s statement. According to Magister, however, Cardinal Bertone will now have to approve all Vatican documents before their release. — MLM