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| Pope John XXII |
In order to sort out the best
Catholic response to such a crisis, it often helps to look back at history.
Sometimes one can find historical situations in the Church similar to our own.
We can then take a look at how the Catholic faithful and clergy responded to a
crisis in their own time to see if there are any parallels to our own day.
In this way we can discern what
the proper course should be to lead us out of the crisis. The advantage of
looking back is that we can see the means by which everything was resolved.
Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.
Who was Pope John XXII?
Pope John XXII was the second of
the Avignon popes who reigned from 1316 to 1334. Pope John was a good
administrator and held a keen interest in world affairs. He was also the pope
who canonized the great Thomas Aquinas in 1323.
Throughout most of his pontificate,
Pope John had to deal with problems. On the secular side, he had to contend
with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV. On the spiritual side, he had to contend with
a rigorist band of Franciscans known as the “Spiritualists.”
For our purposes, however, the
most interesting part of Pope John’s life was his last few years on earth. To
elucidate what occurred during these years, I will quote extensively from an
excellent article on the topic entitled John XXII and the Beatific
Vision. This article was written by Fr. Victor Francis O’Daniel, O.P. and
published in The Catholic University Bulletin in 1912.
A Crisis is Born
I will let Fr.
O’Daniel set the stage:
"…About the year
1330, disturbing reports began to be circulated abroad through the intellectual
centers of Europe that the Pope was teaching or favoring a strange
and erroneous doctrine concerning the state of the souls of the just
after death. It was said he held that
souls departing this life and needing not to pass through the cleansing fires
of purgatory, and those that had already been so purified, would not be
permitted to cross the threshold of heaven, or admitted to the beatific vision,
before the day of the final judgment; that before then they would enjoy, it is
true, some foretaste of the heavenly bliss, some fruit of their merits, but not
until after the resurrection and the re-union of body and soul would they
receive the full measure of the supernatural reward which consists in what the
apostle calls the full and direct vision of God."
To relate this story
to our own time, it might be useful for us to imagine some of our Neo-Catholic[i] media and apologetic friends living
in this time period. Upon hearing ordinary Catholics spreading the stories
mentioned in the quote above, the Neo-Catholic personalities would no doubt
balk at the mean-spiritedness of those who would dare speak of the pope in such
a manner.
After all, they
would tell us, nobody had yet received a confirmation from the Papal Office
that these reports were true. Certainly, then, they would say it must be much
ado about nothing. In any case, they would assure us that this story was
certainly not news. If anything they would blame stubborn “Rad-Trads” for
attempting to stir up yet another controversy against the Holy Father by
spreading vague disquieting rumors.
Fr. O’Daniel
continues…
"At first there were
only vague, disquieting rumors, but by the end of 1331 the theological world
was rent by the certainty that the Head of the Church was really preaching
against a Catholic teaching which had long been considered as practically of
faith divine, the denial of which was tantamount to heresy. On
November 1, of that year, John preached before
the assembled cardinals, prelates and theologians resident at the Papal Court,
and numbers of the faithful, taking as his text: "Mementote operum
partum vestrorum quae fecerunt in generationibus suis." During the course
of his sermon, touching upon his favorite topic of the beatific vision, he gave
a thinly veiled expression of his personal opinion by declaring that the souls
of the just, before the general judgment, are under the altar of God, that is
to say, under the protection of the glorified humanity of Christ, and enjoying
the happiness of its presence. After the day of judgment, they will be placed
on the altar of God, or will be admitted to the presence of His divinity, and
that of the Blessed Trinity in whose direct vision man's full and complete
happiness consists."
At this point, the
Neo-Catholic media would launch into full damage control mode. One can already
see the headline “Did the Pope Really Preach that Souls Don’t See Beatific
Vision Until General Judgment? 10 Things to Know and Share!”
After the obligatory
“faulty translation” excuses (though the quote above even gave the original
Latin), our Neo-Catholic apologist friends would set about reinterpreting or
“fixing” poor Pope John’s unfortunate sermon for him. They would tell us that
the quote above deliberately fails to employ the hermeneutic of continuity and
that we must reinterpret Pope John’s analogy in the most orthodox way possible.
Thus, when John XXII
says that after death, but before the general judgment, souls of the just are
“under the altar of God,” our apologist friends would tell us that Pope John is
simply using a metaphor. What the pope is really saying is that the
souls of the just are indeed in Heaven right after death, but that the rest of
the world is, in a certain sense, hidden from knowing where they are.
Then they would tell
us that the phrase “on the altar of God” means that once the soul and body of
the just are reunited at the general judgment, all of the world will then know
that the just are in Heaven. Thus, the fact that the justified are seeing the
Beatific Vision will no longer be hidden to the world “under the altar of God”
but shown to all “on the altar of God!”
See Rad-Trads?
Nothing to see here. Pope John is merely reiterating Traditional doctrine in a
most ingenious, beautiful, and metaphoric way. At this point Neo-Catholic
publishers would start selling books to help “unpack” the wisdom of Pope John’s
new insight. Copies of “On the Altar of God: The Genius of Pope John” would
then be sold for the medieval equivalent of $19.95 with a signed forward by Sir
Scott Hahn.
Fr. O’Daniel
continues…
"Growing bolder, it
would seem, and determined plainly to speak out his mind on the subject, he
preached again two weeks later, November 15, before the same distinguished
audience. This time he took as his text: "Gaudete in Domino semper ";
and laying aside all cover of metaphor and veil of mysticism, he declared
himself openly in favor of the delay of the beatific vision. His words are: “I
say that the souls of the faithful departed do not enjoy that perfect or face
to face vision of in which, according to St. Augustine (in Psalm xc,
sermon II, No. 13), consists their full reward of justice; nor will they
have that happiness until after the general judgment. When, and only when, the
soul will be re-united to the body, will this perfect bliss come to man, coming
to the whole man composed of body and soul, and perfecting his entire being… in
[sermons], preached at a later date, he touches on the subject obiter, always
manifesting a continuance of his belief in the doctrine he had taught in them.
And, in 1333, he wrote a treatise in its defence: “Queritur utrum anime
sanctorum ab omnibus peccatis purgate videant divinam essentiam." "
At this point, it
would finally become clear even to the most stubborn Neo-Catholic apologist
that Pope John is teaching something novel. What would be their response?
Embrace it, of course! One can already imagine the Neo-Catholic apologists
shifting their argument as they churn out articles stating that Pope John has
just put forward an amazing new “development of doctrine.”
As for the
“Rad-Trad” claim that Tradition teaches the souls of the just enjoy the
Beatific Vision after the particular judgment, the Neo-Catholic apologist would
remind us that we are citing Tradition as it stood in 1331. They would then
kindly explain that we must understand the concept of “living Tradition!”
After all, who gets to decide what is Tradition? You? Me? Surely not!
They would tell us
that no one other than the Pope himself gets to authoritatively decide what is
authentic Tradition. Thus, they would say that if Pope John XXII, Christ’s own
vicar, says that the souls of the just don’t see the Beatific Vision until the General
Judgment, we must now understand that this view is authentically Traditional.
Thus, even though
the Church taught and Catholics everywhere believed that just souls see the
Beatific Vision after the Particular Judgment for 1330 years, Pope John XXII
would have gloriously revealed to us that this is not the case anymore.
Our Neo-Catholic
apologists would tell us that we must humbly submit our intellect and wills to
the mind of the Most Holy Roman Pontiff, Vicar of Christ on Earth. We should
especially not dare to contradict the Holy Father on such a matter of Faith
publicly; for to do so would be to spread scandal to a great many Catholics who
might be in danger of losing their fragile Faith as a result.
How Did Catholics in
the 1330’s Respond?
If the Neo-Catholic
apologists are correct about the concept of “living Tradition”, then we should
always expect to see faithful Catholics throughout history responding to every
teaching of the pope with extreme docility and submission. After all, only disobedient
schismatics and heretics would publicly oppose the pope, correct?
Did Catholics in the
1330’s act as our Neo-Catholic apologist friends would expect?
Let’s take a look:
"The news of such a
doctrinal lapse on the part of the Church's Supreme Head, beginning at Avignon,
rapidly spread over Christendom, everywhere causing consternation and arousing
great indignation. The Catholic world was profoundly stirred. Controversies
waxed strong and vehement. Quite naturally, in Avignon, where the Papal Court
resided, these were of a much less pronounced character. There, indeed, the new
doctrine, possibly because of hopes of preferment, found a number of ardent
supporters. On the other hand, fear of incurring papal disfavor caused its
opponents to be less emphatic in their denunciations. Yet, even at the very
foot of the pontifical throne, there was not wanting the strong voice of
protest; for there also the old traditional doctrine, sanctified by the
acceptance of ages, found able and courageous defenders. Among these the
theologians of the Order of St. Dominic took decidedly a leading part."
Thus, just like in
our own time, a pope espousing a novel teaching caused wide spread confusion,
chaos, and frustration among Catholics. A few different camps began to develop.
A few individuals supported the new doctrine for hopes of personal gain. Others
were personally opposed, but very measured in their criticism out of fear of
the pope. And still other opponents lead a strong and more vocal protest. This
latter group included the Dominicans, who earlier in John’s papacy were his
staunchest allies and defenders.
How did Pope John
XXII react to such protest and chaos? Read Part II here: http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/fetzen-fliegen/item/732-how-catholic-resistance-saved-the-church-and-how-it-can-do-it-again-part-ii
[i]When I use the term Neo-Catholic
in this article, I am referring to those Catholic media entities that make
money off of maintaining the tragic status quo in the Church. They do this by
selectively choosing not to cover news that contradicts their agenda or by
filtering all Catholic news through a re-interpretive lens that protects their
own interests. These media entities will go to any lengths to deny there is
currently a crisis in the Church or else they will downplay its severity. I am
also referring to Catholic media outlets that presume to condemn all public
criticism of the pope or Vatican II. On the other hand, I am in no way
referring to the large number of good, honest, and sincere conservative
Catholic faithful who don’t consider themselves Traditional, but yet are doing
the best they can to live an authentic Catholic life during the current
crisis.
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