Record Post Day

Did I post 16 or 17 posts today? Snowed in, more or less. Readers can count the posts for me today.

Wow!

More on the formation of the child and education

The end of the Society is not only to care for the salvation and perfection of their own souls with divine grace, but with the same [divine grace] seriously to devote themselves to the salvation and perfection of their neighbors. For it was especially instituted for the defense and propagation of the Faith, and the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine. St. Ignatius




Tomorrow, I shall post the Salesian Preventive System and then look at my favourite, the Benedictine system. St. John Bosco's ideals were written in his The Preventive System in the Education of the Young.

There is no right or wrong or even a hierarchy of preferences for these methods. Only, parents involved in home education, or merely looking for good schools, should be aware of these different methods of formation.

Very important for parents would be the discovery of the movements of their own souls towards learning and formation. Too many lay people merely jump from one saint's ideas to the next instead of focussing on a way to approach God, prayer, time, scheduling, the formation of their own souls and those of their children. Talents and temperaments decide on choices.

These methodologies prove to be very different and serve different needs in the families, as well as talents and temperaments.

How interesting it is to meet men who are older than myself, who were raised in a Jesuit or Salesian or Benedictine schools and had real formation.

It shows.

This type of formation has all but disappeared. Home schooling parents benefit from using what has already been developed by these inspired men.

Ignatius
John Bosco
Benedict
and others

If I have time, I shall write about the Ursulines and Dominicans. But, sadly, few of those schools exist which still follow the original methodologies. Again, to preserve these aspects of our Catholic identity, it may be up to home schooling parents to carry on the various visions.

Does this bother anyone but me?

Pius V Parish, Fr. Brendan influence Illinois legislation

http://www.stpiusvparish.org/en/node/551

Leaders from St. Pius V Parish were instrumental in passing legislation Jan. 8 that will provide undocumented immigrants with drivers’ licenses. Fr. Brendan Curran, OP and others from the parish were in Springfield, Illinois to actively lobby legislators and witness the culmination of long campaign to garner support for the legislation. They were sent off from St. Pius V Jan. 6 with an Epiphany blessing that included a prayer from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also championed the measure. The bill passed with support from the Illinois bishops. One legislator said on the floor, “Thanks to Fr. Brendan for bringing the Holy Spirit who changed the hearts of many legislators who had opposed this bill.” Mayor Emanuel said when he spoke at Mass at St. Pius V on Epiphany Sunday—the start of National Migration Week—that he sees the drivers’ licenses as an important step toward national comprehensive immigration reform, which has had the support of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for years.

Continuing with the Ignatian Methodology in Education

The development of the student’s intellectual capacity is the school’s most characteristic part. However, this development will be defective and even dangerous unless it is strengthened and completed by the training of the will and the formation of the character. Ratio Studiorum

If you are just shooting for intellectual knowledge and you are not strengthening the will and forming the character at the same time, not only is education defective, but it is capable of being "even dangerous," and possibly extremely so! Education prepares nature to receive and cooperate with Our Lord’s grace. We are instructing the intellect, training the will, and forming the character —in other words, the whole man —based upon serious principles. Father Michael McMahon

Memory and  the analytical go together.

Following the use and strengthening of the Memory is Understanding. Now, understanding anything depends on three things. The first is the introduction of the material and how it is introduced. The second is repetition and examination, and the third is appropriation.

Those who teach anything, including sport, can see this simple plan. The child begins kicking a soccer ball without much understanding of the techniques or even the rules of the game.

Thanks to wiki for the Jesuit Astronomers

Then, skills are learned by practice and imitation. Finally, the appropriation of the skill becomes second nature and the epiphany moment of one's ability connected to the training and discipline create an understanding and creativity regarding the game and the skills.

Understanding must be guided by the teacher, even in Socratic Method, until it is appropriated.

The student who is baptized and learning the life of the virtues finally has the advantage of the graces of Confirmation, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to help him.
.
(By the way, most Jesuit schools no longer teach the Ratio Studiorum) The Spiritual Excercises came out of St. Ignatius being taught by Christ in much the same way as the development of the Ratio.

Marvellous that some parents have picked this up in home schooling.

The Will is then strengthen through practice and perseverance. The will of each one of us is a precious gift and cannot be taken for granted.

There is an old saying that the parent must break the will of the child, but not the spirit. Much like training a horse on a lunge line, the parent has to balance discipline and freedom or creativity.

The books used for all of this are the Classics, of course. You may like to know that when St. Ignatius died, there were 35 colleges in Europe and within 200 years, 800 schools, colleges, and universities. That is not the case today. The peak of Ignatian education is over, and some of the schools are steeped in Liberation Theology.

Here is an interesting list of goals for Jesuits educational institutions, which help show the connection between formation and education. Here is a snippet from a small booklet on some aspects, not all, of Jesuit education.

When Jesuits began their schools, two models were available. One was the medieval university, where students prepared for professions such as law, the clergy, and teaching by studying the sciences, mathematics, logic, philosophy, and theology. The other model was the Renaissance humanistic academy, which had a curriculum based on Greek and Latin poetry, drama, oratory, and history. The goal of the university was the training of the mind through the pursuit of speculative truth; the goal of the humanists was character formation, making students better human beings and civic leaders. Jesuit schools were unique in combining these two educational ideals.

Perhaps the most important reason for the success of the early Jesuit schools was a set of qualities that Jesuits aspired to themselves and which they consciously set out to develop in their students:

• Self-knowledge and discipline,
• Attentiveness to their own experience and to others',
• Trust in God's direction of their lives,
• Respect for intellect and reason as tools for discovering truth,
• Skill in discerning the right course of action,
• A conviction that talents and knowledge were gifts to be used to help others,
• Flexibility and pragmatism in problem solving,
• Large-hearted ambition, and
• A desire to find God working in all things.

These qualities were the product of the distinctive spirituality that the early Jesuits had learned from Ignatius and that Ignatius had learned from his own experience. Jesuits hoped, in turn, to form their students in the same spiritual vision, so that their graduates would be prepared to live meaningful lives as leaders in government, the professions, and the Church.

http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/mission/publications/guide/success.html

Ironically, the institution which published the little booklet with the goals no longer believes in these.

Lofty ideals from Memory, Understanding and Will and parents, you can do this.

The Jesuit philosophy of education is nothing more than the Catholic philosophy of education intimately and inextricably linking scholastic philosophy and the dogmatic teachings of the Church, that is, reason and religion, St. Thomas and the Magisterium. Paramount is the proper understanding of human nature as created by Almighty God and the ultimate destiny of man.

Man is not merely a citizen of this or that country; he is born to be a citizen of heaven. Therefore, in all truth, we can say that the purpose of education is a preparation for life, proximately this life, but ultimately everlasting life. That is why the Jesuits educate, why we educate. And we’re here to learn the principles necessary to fulfill that end. The glory of our role as priests and our specific vocation as educators is just that; we have the opportunity to form young souls. That is something that principals and teachers need to meditate on constantly; it should be their daily concern. We are intimately involved in the formation of citizens for heaven, souls made for the Beatific Vision. And that can never be over-emphasized.

Therefore, we are not talking about intellectualism. Education is not just intellectual formation nor instruction; it is the formation of the whole man. It is interesting to note that formal religion classes in most of the Jesuit schools never were never given more than two hours a week. Instead, the Jesuits strove to have religion permeate everything. They thought it somewhat odd or superficial to make religion a course all by itself, or to devote many, many hours to it sheerly because their teachers were religious. Unlike the Jesuits, we don’t have only priests or religious brothers teaching. We must make sure we staff our faculties with the right kind of teacher, not just someone who knows math or history, but a Catholic man in the state of grace and striving for sanctity so that religion permeates his class, whatever the subject. This is critical, because religion is not just a class at a certain time; religion is everything. Fr. Michael McMahon

Teacher and Teaching by Fr. Richard Tierney, S.J. 

True education is generally the work of skillful teachers. Since the former is a pearl without price [true education], the value of the latter can scarcely be overestimated. Teaching is the art of the interesting, the inspiring (p.27).

Before he can teach men, or mold teachers of men, or even conceive the first idea of legislating for the intellectual world, he must, himself, first learn. There are two fundamental lessons which he does learn, and they go to form him: one is that, among all the pursuits, the study of virtue is supreme. The other is that, supreme as virtue is, without secular learning, the highest virtue goes unarmed, and at best is profitable to oneself alone (p. 15). Fr. Thomas Hughes, Loyola and the Education of the Jesuits. 

McMahon. Hughes, and Tierney quotations, as well as the above from the Ratio in this post are at  http://www.edocere.org/articles/jesuit_model_education.htm

To be continued.....

Education and Formation of the Child Part One

Many years ago, I studied, taught, did teacher training, and gave talks on Liberal Education, the Trivium and Quadrivium, as well as the Catholic methods or approaches of education. I shall share the latter with you on this blog per request of a reader.

When I did home schooling, and when I taught Socratic Method and the Classics, I used a paradigm based on Benedictine educational paradigms, which I shall save to last.

The primary reason for presenting these ideals is to show that a home schooling family needs to choose a way which suits them both practically and spiritually. A religious or philosophical approach to education must be present in order to unify coursework, the day, the entire formation of the child.

That is the main point. Education is NOT about stuffing information into a child in order for him to pass exams.

Education has several goals, and the normative child, to use a Montessori phrase, learns these goals. Let me share those first.

Maria Montessori developed, by watching and through inspiration, the list of character building goals for a parent raising a child and for a teacher. Now, the advantage of the baptized Catholic is that a parent can help form with life of the virtues with the grace given in baptism and the sacraments.  Incrementally, the child grows both spiritually and in maturity.

The virtues are connected to the levels of maturity and to character building.

For example, patience is learned through tasks and chores.

Obedience and humility are learned through submission to learning.

Fortitude, or perseverance, is learned by sticking to tasks and overcoming obstacles.

Knowledge is a combination of study and infused knowledge through the graces.

And so on...

Here are the list of pre-school goals in formation. The awareness in the child towards these goals starts around age three.


(1) a love of order; 
(2) a love of work; 
(3) love of silence and working alone; 
(4) mutual aid and cooperation; 
(5) profound spontaneous concentration; 
(6) obedience; 
(7) independence and initiative; 
(8) spontaneous self-discipline;
 (9) attachment to reality; 
(10) sublimation of the possessive instinct; and 
(11) joy

I have witnessed young children achieve these goals in a very short time with the help of parents.

I myself experienced these goals because of two excellent teachers in kindergarten and first grade, as well as an observant. 

Notice how these goals fit into the growth of the virtues. Notice also, how these fit into a Benedictine paradigm, as well as the Jesuit methodology.

To start with the Jesuit methodology, one can read the entire Ratio Studiorum texts online. but that is not necessary. I do recommend the link below for more information, however.

http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/pedagogy/schw/schw1.html

The pragmatic approach of the Jesuits is based on Memory, Understanding and Will.

First of all, Memory. The child is capable of tremendous memorizing and picks up knowledge quickly. One can see this even in the youngest Millennials, who know all the statistics of Barcelona Football, or the intricacies of games. Most parents and teachers underestimate the value of memorizing. The Jesuit method gives great emphasis on details, especially in literature and history, realizing that the training of the mind in such things as reading and grammar lead to greater skills.

I am going to highlight points here.. The Jesuits had this phrase: "Tantum scimus quantum memoria retinemus." This means that boyhood is the best time for memorizing. And, it is. The parts of the classics are copied out exactly, and one could use, for example, The Hobbit, and have a 9 or 10 year old copy out paragraphs exactly by hand in order to learn excellent English. Rhetoric, or the art of speaking, can also be learned in this way.

Memory is also important in the reading of Scripture, the Catechism, and prayers. Memory follows the teacher's presentation, or praelectio.  The classics, especially age appropriate, but challenging, are explained and

presented. 
Jesuit teaching is NOT Socratic Method, but much more directive. 
Self-motivation takes over by the internal reward of learning, which does not take that long. An average child can learn poetry, grammar, syntax from one selection in a week, easily. Two characteristics of this type of learning is competition and modelling, or emulation. Positive feedback for work well-done is part of this method. Sadly, most Ignatian institutions no longer follow the strict regime of the Ratio Studiorum. I shall continue in the next post on the Understanding and the Will.

From the Readings: it is not works merely but obedience

Hebrews 4: 1 - 5, 11
1	Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest remains, let us fear lest any of you be judged to have failed to reach it.
2	For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers.
3	For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, `They shall never enter my rest, '"although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4	For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."
5	And again in this place he said, "They shall never enter my rest."
11	Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. One cannot do good works without being orthodox and in obedience to Rome. One cannot enter into the Presence of God without Faith. The wrath of God is Justice and Real Love.

The Catholic Heritage

I am going to post a series on Catholic educational philosophies and parental involvement in education in the next few days. I am going to show how parents and teachers must see the formation of the spiritual life of the child as integral with the physical and academic growth. The heritage of Catholic education, if it is real and independent, form the soul.

Traditional Nuns vs. Feminists

I completely agree with this study. Again, LifeSiteNews has an excellent article on the disaster of having certain types of teachers in the classroom. I shall make a comment, but here is a snippet.

My choice of photos, by the way...........

January 17, 2013,  (LifeSiteNews.com) – Has the Sexual Revolution, and the feminist ideology that drives it, pushed men out of universities by undermining boys in school as early as kindergarten? 

Some writers are beginning to connect the dots between the shift over the last few decades in educational practices from fact-based grading to evaluation based on “non-cognitive” and “emotional skills” and the drop in school performance of boys.

In the 1970s, feminist critics regularly complained that the school system favored “male thinking.” Facts, dates, rote learning, and math skills that were seen as “too masculine” for girls. In the intervening decades, feminists have made huge strides throughout the Western world, and education – particularly in the training of teachers – has been transformed as a result.

That most government policy makers and academics accept this as an unqualified success has left bewilderment as to how the new, more “fair” teaching styles have resulted in poor outcomes for boys and ultimately for the men they must become.

A five-year research project, funded by the Departments of Education and Justice in Northern Ireland, has just been released that found “systemic flaws” in the way students are evaluated that leave boys disadvantaged. Boys from poor neighbourhoods in Belfast and other cities are especially vulnerable to learning underachievement and health problems.

Dr. Ken Harland and Sam McCready from the University of Ulster said that the problem has been clear for “several decades,” but that “it was extremely difficult for the research team to find specific strategies addressing boys’ underachievement.”

“Although teachers who were interviewed as part of this study recognised the predominance of boys with lower academic achievement, they generally did not take this into account in terms of learning styles or teaching approaches,” he said.

Now, some of you will say, that nuns taught boys for years and there was not any of this damage. Or, if there was, it was on the side of strictness. 

Here is my take on this dilemma.

One, nuns in the pre-seventies days of feminism were trained in logic and rational thinking. They taught mostly from an Aristotelian, Thomistic background, which was part of their training.

Two, if not Thomistic, then the orders learned Ignatian educational methodology, the Ratio Studiorum, which is disciplined. I have studied Catholic teaching methodologies based on the orders, and there are many. All are disciplined.

Three, strictness and discipline were part of the nuns' lives and this was passed on into the discipline and order in the classroom. Some people complained of this strictness, but for boys especially, this type of discipline was a good. As a Montessorian, I know that order, peace, and even quiet is necessary for learning.

Four, prayer creates objectivity in thinking and spirituality, so that the person moves away from working our of the emotions and passions. THIS IS KEY for teachers and parents or anyone involved in child-formation to obtain. (NOTE: I call teaching child formation, and it is-just as a seminarian is formed, so is a child, from birth on..more on this later)

Five, the nuns knew and praticed obedience themselves, so that the students had examples before them of diligence, order, humility, and so on...

By the way, my aunt, who is a nun in her 90s taught fifth grade boys mathematics for years and years. She is one, tough lady.

to be continued................

More on real time propaganda: LifeSiteNews on top of things again.

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Planned Parenthood quietly abandons term ‘pro-choice’

BY JILL STANEK

• Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:51 EST
• Comments (206)
• Tags: Abortion, Operation Rescue, Planned Parenthood

January 11, 2013 (JillStanek.com) - Pro-lifers have always disdained the term “pro-choice,” because it is intentionally ambiguous. It lets abortion supporters off the hook.

Now, apparently even “pro-choice” has become radioactive.

On January 9, with carefully controlled fanfare (no press release, hand-picked reporters), Planned Parenthood announced it was abandoning the term “pro-choice.” From Buzz Feed:

“Pro-choice” isn’t as misleading, but it doesn’t have the same strong ring to it as “pro-life,” either. Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens spoke about the problematic use of “choice” at a press briefing Wednesday, explaining how women once had way fewer choices than they do today. Now, she said, maybe “‘choice’ as word sounds frivolous.”

“Pro-choice” has certainly been taking more and more of a beating in polls. This year a record low 41% of Americans said they considered themselves “pro-choice” in Gallup’s annual survey.

This is not necessarily because people are abandoning abortion support, says PP. It is because people are confused about the terminology.  Explains Jezebel:

When Planned Parenthood polled Americans to figure out how they felt about the labels, the results were confusing, because people found the labels confusing: for example, in one 2012 poll, 35% of voters who identified as pro-life also said they didn’t think Roe v. Wade should be overturned. In another, 12% of online survey takers said they were both pro-life and pro-choice, while another 12% didn’t want to use those terms, and 40% said “it depends on the situation” when asked about their moral opinions on abortion.

Actually, some pro-lifers have been drawing a similar conclusion, as I’ve mentioned before.

Click “like” if you are PRO-LIFE! 

To clarify terms and also keep abortion in the spotlight, “we are moving away from using ‘pro-life’ to ‘anti-abortion’ or ‘abortion abolitionist,’” wrote Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, to me in an email.

“They don’t want the word abortion to be used, and we want to keep putting it in their face,” added Hawkins. “Anti-drunk driving groups aren’t pro-sober driver groups. Anti-smoking groups are pro-clean air groups.” (Also read this new manifesto by Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger.)

But as elements of the pro-life movement aim for more specificity, PP will aim for even less, trying to reshift an already shifty debate away from its prized morally relativist term, which, thanks to pro-life efforts is no longer relativist but negative, to morally relativist dialogue.

“And so Planned Parenthood’s newest messaging will be moving away from the language of choice,” announced Buzz Feed, adding:

Rather than selecting a new term to replace “pro-choice,” Planned Parenthood hopes to move beyond such terms entirely and present abortion as something too complicated to be divided into two sides. A soon-to-be-released Planned Parenthood video takes this new approach, casting labels like pro-life and pro-choice as limiting and abortion as a complex and personal decision. “We just don’t know a woman’s specific situation,” says the ad (not yet online). “We’re not in her shoes.”

Ah without the Internet--but good news for Tyburn

I could not tell you until today that the Tyburn nuns (I was just there for a few days again--sigh) have been asked by the Bishop Martin Igwe Uzoukwu of Minna  to open a place of Adoration and prayer for peace in Nigeria. The cornerstone has been laid..

If you are young and Novus Ordo, consider this order.


I am jealous. How wonderful it would be to bring God's Presence into that war-torn country

Here is the entire article from the Catholic Herald.

A London-based order of nuns is to open its seventh convent in the space of just 20 years.

The Tyburn Nuns, whose mother house is situated near Marble Arch, have started to build their first African monastery in the Diocese of Minna in Niger State in the north of Nigeria.

It will be their 11th monastery, the 10th since the Second World War and the seventh to open in a rapid global proliferation of religious houses under the order since 1993.

The contemplative Benedictines were invited to Nigeria to promote Eucharistic Adoration and to pray for peace in a country afflicted by a bloody conflict between local Christians and Muslims.

The monastery will be dedicated to Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and is expected to be fully completed, with a novitiate, by 2015.

Bishop Martin Igwe Uzoukwu of Minna laid the foundation stone of the monastery at Kafin-Koro last month.

He said he invited the nuns – whose proper name is the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre – because he wanted a place in his diocese that would serve as a “watershed for prayer”.

“Their specific apostolate is Adoration of the Eucharist so the Eucharistic Adoration will be taking place here and it is Perpetual Adoration morning, afternoon and night,” he said.
Bishop Uzoukwu said he flew to England to visit the order and was so impressed by their apostolate that he invited them to his diocese immediately and offered them land.

Mother Mary Xavier McMonagle, the Mother General of the Tyburn Nuns, said she visited several sites in his diocese before opting for Kafin-Koro.

“As soon as we came to Kafin-Koro and saw all those people and they all waved at us as if we were their long lost friends, and I don’t know why they did, but we felt we were warmly welcome by these so friendly people,” she said.

“So that is how it happened. And then when the bishop brought us and showed us the place he would like us to have, we thought that this was just a gift from heaven, from God.

“The parish priest tells us that he has been praying for years to have nuns here. So I think it is God’s Holy Will.”

The nuns will be the first contemplative religious order in the diocese since it was erected in 1911.

The Tyburn Nuns are themselves a young order, having been formed into a community in Paris in 1898 by Mother Marie Adèle Garnier, a French mystic.

They soon fled to London to escape anti-clerical laws and in 1903 established themselves just yards form the site of the Tyburn gallows, where 105 beatified and canonised Catholics were martyred during the Protestant Reformation.

After the Second World War, the order expanded to Ireland, Australia and Peru and since 1993 the nuns have opened houses in Scotland, Ecuador, Colombia, Italy and two in New Zealand.

There are about 80 nuns in total and six will be sent to build the new monastery in Nigeria. The bishop is hoping that a chapel will be open on the site by March.

Five local women have already expressed an interest in joining the order.

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Read and Tweet--Bad news for religious freedom in Europe

European court rules on religious freedom cases
Out of the four British Christians who claimed discrimination only Nadia Eweida, employee of British Airways, won her appeal Serious See the Catholic Herald on line. http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/01/15/european-court-rules-on-religious-freedom-cases/ Here is a snippet and read more on site. Nadia Eweida, a worker for British Airways, and Shirley Chaplin, an NHS nurse, both complained when their employers ordered them to cover up crosses worn around their necks. Ms Eweida was initially told by BA that crosses were prohibited as they undermined the professional presentation of staff – despite hijabs, turbans and skull caps being acceptable. BA subsequently changed their policy, and today she has won her case for discrimination. Ms Chaplin, along with Lillian Ladele and Gary McFarlane, lost their appeals before a panel of seven judges. Ms Ladele was a marriage registrar for Islington Borough Council who asked not to perform same-sex civil partnerships when these were introduced. She requested to do other work instead, but was told this was against the council’s equality and diversity policy. Mr McFarlane, a relationship counsellor for Relate, did not want to participate in sex therapy with homosexual couples. Both cited Christian teaching in defence of their objections. All four are Christians who claim that their actions are aspects of their faith which are protected under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This defends the right to “manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance”, subject to proportionate limitations, “prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others”.

The Third and Fourth Levels of Infallibility

c) Third Level: Pius XII, in Humani generis: "Nor must it be thought that 
the things contained in Encyclical Letters do not of themselves require 
assent on the plea that in them the Pontiffs do not exercise the supreme 
power of their Magisterium. For these things are taught with the ordinary 
Magisterium, about which it is also true to say, 'He who hears you, hears 
me.' [Lk 10. 16]. . . If the Supreme Pontiffs, in their acta expressly pass 
judgment on a matter debated until then, it is obvious to all that the 
matter, according to the mind and will of the same Pontiffs, cannot be 
considered any longer a question open for discussion among theologians."

  We notice: (1) These things are protected by the promise of Christ in Lk 
10. 16, and so are infallible, for His promise cannot fail. Though that 
promise was first given to the 72, it is certain that the Apostles were in 
the group, and as the trajectory advanced, it became clear that the full 
teaching authority was only for them - the mission given to the 72 was 
preliminary, and the full meaning was made clear later when the Apostles 
were given the authority to bind and to loose. This was part of the broader 
picture: Jesus wanted only a gradual self-revelation. Had He started by 
saying: "Before Abraham was, I am", He would have been stoned on the spot. 
(2) Not everything in Encyclicals, and similar documents, is on this level 
- this is true only when the Popes expressly pass judgment on a previously 
debated matter, (3) since the Church scattered throughout the world can 
make a teaching infallible without defining - as we saw on level 2 -then of 
course the Pope alone, who can speak for and reflect the faith of the whole 
Church, can do the same even in an Encyclical, under the conditions 
enumerated by Pius XII. Really, on any level, all that is required to make 
a thing infallible is that it be given definitively. When a Pope takes a 
stand on something debated in theology and publishes it in his Acta, that 
suffices. The fact that as Pius XII said it is removed from debate alone 
shows it is meant as definitive. 

  In this connection, we note that LG 12 says: "The entire body of the 
faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of 
belief." This means: If the whole Church, both people and authorities, have 
ever believed (accepted as revealed) an item, then that cannot be in error, 
is infallible. Of course this applies to the more basic items, not to very 
technical matters of theological debate. But we note this too: If this 
condition has once been fulfilled in the past, then if people in a later 
age come to doubt or deny it -- that does not make noninfallible what was 
once established as infallible. Many things come under this , e. g. , the 
existence of angels. 

  This does not mean, however, that the Pope is to be only the echo of the 
faithful. 

  d) Level 4: LG 25: "Religious submission of mind and of will must be 
shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff 
even when he is not defining, in such a way, namely, that the judgments 
made by him are sincerely adhered to according to his manifested mind and 
will, which is clear either from the nature of the documents, or from the 
repeated presentation of the same doctrine, or from the manner of 
speaking."

  We note all the qualifications in the underlined part The key is the 
intention of the Pope. He may be repeating existing definitive teaching 
from Ordinary Magisterium level - then it is infallible, as on level 2. He 
may be giving a decision on a previously debated point - as on level 3, 
then it falls under the promise of Christ in Lk 10. 16, and so is also 
infallible. Or it may be a still lesser intention - then we have a case 
like that envisioned in Canon 752 of the New Code of Canon Law: "Not indeed 
an assent of faith, but yet a religious submission of mind and will must be 
given to the teaching which either the Supreme Pontiff, or the College of 
Bishops [of course, with the Pope] pronounce on faith or on morals when 
they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they do not intend to 
proclaim it by a definitive act." If they do not mean to make it 
definitive, then it does not come under the virtue of faith, or the promise 
of Christ,"He who hears you hears me". Rather, it is a matter of what the 
Canon and LG 25 call "religious submission of mind and of will." What does 
this require? Definitely, it forbids public contradiction of the teaching. 
But it also requires something in the mind, as the wording indicates. This 
cannot be the absolute assent which faith calls for - for since this 
teaching is, by definition, not definitive, we gather that it is not 
absolutely finally certain. 

  How can anyone give any mental assent when there is not absolute 
certitude? In normal human affairs, we do it all the time. Suppose we are 
at table, and someone asks if a dish of food came from a can, and if so, 
was it sent to a lab to check for Botulism. It is true, routine opening of 
a can would not detect that deadly poison. Yet it is too much to check 
every can, and the chances are very remote, so much so that normal people 
do not bother about it - yet their belief takes into account a real but 
tiny possibility of a mistake. Similarly with a doctrine on this fourth 
level. And further, the chances of error on this level are much smaller 
than they are with a can of food. Similarly, in a criminal trial, the judge 
will tell the jury they must find the evidence proves guilt beyond 
reasonable doubt. He does not demand that every tiny doubt be ruled out, 
even though it may mean life in prison or death. 

  If one should make a mistake by following the fourth level of Church 
teaching, when he comes before the Divine Judge, the Judge will not blame 
him, rather He will praise him. But if a person errs by breaking with the 
Church on the plea that he knew better - that will not be easily accepted. 

Second Level of Infallibility

b) Second level: LG 25: "Although the individual bishops do not have the 
prerogative of infallibility, they can yet teach Christ's doctrine 
infallibly. This is true even when they are scattered around the world, 
provided that, while maintaining the bond of unity among themselves, and 
with the successor of Peter, they concur in one teaching as the one which 
must be definitively held." This means: (1) The day to day teaching of the 
Church throughout the world, when it gives things as definitively part of 
the faith, (2) If this can be done when scattered, all the more can it be 
done when assembled in Council. Thus Trent (DS 1520) after "strictly 
prohibiting anyone from hereafter believing or preaching or teaching 
differently than what is established and explained in the present decree," 
went on to give infallible teaching even in the capitula, outside the 
canons. 

To know whether the Church intends to teach infallibly on this second 
level, we notice both the language -- no set form required - and the 
intention, which may be seen at times from the nature of the case, at times 
from the repetition of the doctrine on this second level.

EWTN on the levels of infallibility--First Level

Fr. William Most

First level:

  a) Solemn definition. LG 25: No special formula of words is required in 
order to define. Wording should be something solemn, and should make clear 
that the teaching is definitive. Councils in the past often used the form: 
"Si quis dixerit. . . anathema sit." That is: "If someone shall say. . . . 
let him be anathema." But sometimes they used the formula for disciplinary 
matters, so that form alone does not prove. Further, they also could define 
in the capitula, the chapters. Thus Pius XII, in Divino afflante Spiritu 
(EB 538) spoke of such a passage of Vatican I (DS 3006 -- saying God is the 
author of Scripture) as a solemn definition. 

 The Pope can define even without the Bishops. Of his definitions LG 25 
said: "His definitions of themselves, and not from consent of the Church, 
are rightly called unchangeable, for they are pronounced with the 
assistance of the Holy Spirit, an assistance promised him in blessed Peter. 
So they need no approval from others, nor is there room for an appeal to 
any other judgment." So collegiality even in defining is not mandatory. Yet 
most definitions of the Popes have been taken in collegiality, that is, 
with consultation of the Bishops. Even the definitions of the Immaculate 
Conception and the Assumption were such, for the Popes did poll the Bishops 
by mail. 

On Papal Infallibility

From 

SESSION 4 : 18 July 1870

Chapter 4. On the infallible teaching authority of the Roman pontiff

1. That apostolic primacy which the Roman pontiff possesses as successor of Peter, the prince of the apostles, includes also the supreme power of teaching.
   • This holy see has always maintained this,
   • the constant custom of the church demonstrates it, and
   • the ecumenical councils, particularly those in which East and West met in the union of faith and charity, have declared it.
   [councils]
2. So the fathers of the fourth council of Constantinople, following the footsteps of their predecessors, published this solemn profession of faith:
   • The first condition of salvation is to maintain the rule of the true faith. And since that saying of our lord Jesus Christ, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church [55] , cannot fail of its effect, the words spoken are confirmed by their consequences. For in the apostolic see the catholic religion has always been preserved unblemished, and sacred doctrine been held in honour. Since it is our earnest desire to be in no way separated from this faith and doctrine, we hope that we may deserve to remain in that one communion which the apostolic see preaches, for in it is the whole and true strength of the christian religion [56] .
   What is more, with the approval of the second council of Lyons, the Greeks made the following profession:
   • "The holy Roman church possesses the supreme and full primacy and principality over the whole catholic church. She truly and humbly acknowledges that she received this from the Lord himself in blessed Peter, the prince and chief of the apostles, whose successor the Roman pontiff is, together with the fullness of power. And since before all others she has the duty of defending the truth of the faith, so if any questions arise concerning the faith, it is by her judgment that they must be settled." [57]
   Then there is the definition of the council of Florence:
   • "The Roman pontiff is the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church and the father and teacher of all Christians; and to him was committed in blessed Peter, by our lord Jesus Christ, the full power of tending, ruling and governing the whole church." [58]
   [Holy See]
3. To satisfy this pastoral office, our predecessors strove unwearyingly that the saving teaching of Christ should be spread among all the peoples of the world; and with equal care they made sure that it should be kept pure and uncontaminated wherever it was received.[Custom]
4. It was for this reason that the bishops of the whole world, sometimes individually, sometimes gathered in synods, according to the long established custom of the churches and the pattern of ancient usage referred to this apostolic see those dangers especially which arose in matters concerning the faith. This was to ensure that any damage suffered by the faith should be repaired in that place above all where the faith can know no failing [59] .[Holy See]
5. The Roman pontiffs, too, as the circumstances of the time or the state of affairs suggested,
   • sometimes by
     • summoning ecumenical councils or
     • consulting the opinion of the churches scattered throughout the world, sometimes by
     • special synods, sometimes by
     • taking advantage of other useful means afforded by divine providence,
   • defined as doctrines to be held those things which, by God's help, they knew to be in keeping with
     • sacred scripture and
     • the apostolic traditions.
6. For the holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter
   • not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine,
   • but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles.
   Indeed, their apostolic teaching was
   • embraced by all the venerable fathers and
   • reverenced and followed by all the holy orthodox doctors,
   for they knew very well that this see of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine promise of our Lord and Saviour to the prince of his disciples: I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren [60] .
7. This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this see so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the whole church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of hell.
8. But since in this very age when the salutary effectiveness of the apostolic office is most especially needed, not a few are to be found who disparage its authority, we judge it absolutely necessary to affirm solemnly the prerogative which the only-begotten Son of God was pleased to attach to the supreme pastoral office.
9. Therefore,
   • faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the christian faith,
   • to the glory of God our saviour,
   • for the exaltation of the catholic religion and
   • for the salvation of the christian people,
   • with the approval of the sacred council,

     ---

   • we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that
     
     • when the Roman pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA,
       • that is, when,
         1. in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians,
         2. in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority,
         3. he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church,
     • he possesses,
       • by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter,
     • that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals.
     • Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable.

     ---

   So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.
   
   
   To be continued.....

The Dangers of False Ecumenism: Even the Orthodox Warn Against This

Just quoting the Vatican and EWTN sources, as well as an Orthodox website.

 Here is a quotation from http://oca.org/questions/romancatholicism/communion-in-roman-catholic-church

Orthodox Christians are not permitted to receive Communion in non-Orthodox communities, including the Roman Catholic. To do so would imply a unity that in fact does not yet exist. Also it implies that we are “united” to the faith community from which we receive the Eucharist.

In brief, while Roman Catholicism sees Orthodoxy as a “sister church”, Orthodoxy sees herself as the fullness of the Church, not the “other half” of the Church, as implied in the notion of a “sister church.” Fr. John Matusiak 

Letter to Presidents of Episcopal Conferences (25 January 2007)

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith William Cardinal Levada, Prefect

Image of Letter (PDF format) January 25, 2007 Prot. N 54/92-24945 Your Eminence / Your Excellency,          The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continues to receive requests for clarification in relation to the writings and activities of Mrs Vassula Ryden. These requests address in particular the import of the Notification of 6 October 1995, and the criteria to be considered by the local Church in judging whether the writings of Mrs Vassula Ryden may appropriately be disseminated. In this regard, the Congregation wishes to state the following:           1)      The Notification of 1995 remains valid as a doctrinal judgment of the writings examined (see Enclosure I)           2)      Mrs Vassula Ryden, however, after dialogue with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has offered clarifications on some problematic points in her writings and on the nature of her messages which are presented not as divine revelations, but rather as her personal meditations (see Enclosure 2: Letter of 4 April 2002, published in True Life in God, vol. 10). From a normative point of view therefore, following the aforementioned clarifications, a case by case prudential judgment is required in view of the real possibility of the faithful being able to read the writings in the light of the said clarifications.           3)      Finally, it remains inappropriate for Catholics to take part in prayer groups established by Mrs Ryden. Concerning the question of ecumenical meetings, the faithful are to follow the norms of the Ecumenical Directory, of the Code of Canon Law (canons: 215; 223, §2 and 383, §3) and of Diocesan Ordinaries. Thanking you for your attention and with sentiments of esteem, I am Yours sincerely in Christ, William Cardinal Levada Prefect

NOTIFICATION ON VASSULA RYDEN (6 October 1995)

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Many bishops, priests, religious and lay people have sought an authoritative judgement from this Congregation on the activity of Mrs. Vassula Ryden, a Greek Orthodox residing in Switzerland, who in speech and in writing is spreading in Catholic circles throughout the world messages attributed to alleged heavenly revelations.A calm, attentive examination of the entire question, undertaken by this Congregation in order to "test the spirits to see whether they are of God" (cf. 1 Jn 4:1), has brought out-in addition to positive aspects - a number of basic elements that must be considered negative in the light of Catholic doctrine. In addition to pointing out the suspect nature of the ways in which these alleged revelations have occurred, it is necessary to underscore several doctrinal errors they contain. Among other things, ambiguous language is used in speaking of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, to the point of confusing the specific names and functions of the Divine Persons. These alleged revelations predict an imminent period when the Antichrist will prevail in the Church. In millenarian style, it is prophesied that God is going to make a final glorious intervention which will initiate on earth, even before Christ's definitive coming, an era of peace and universal prosperity. Furthermore, the proximate arrival is foretold of a Church which would be a kind of pan-Christian community, contrary to Catholic doctrine. The fact that the aforementioned errors no longer appear in Ryden's later writings is a sign that the alleged "heavenly messages" are merely the result of private meditations. Moreover, by habitually sharing in the sacraments of the Catholic Church even though she is Greek Orthodox, Mrs. Ryden is causing considerable surprise in various circles of the Catholic Church. She appears to be putting herself above all ecclesiastical jurisdiction and every canonical norm, and in effect, is creating an ecumenical disorder that irritates many authorities, ministers and faithful of her own Church, as she puts herself outside the ecclesiastical discipline of the latter. Given the negative effect of Vassula Ryden's activities, despite some positive aspects, this Congregation requests the intervention of the Bishops so that their faithful may be suitably informed and that no opportunity may be provided in their Dioceses for the dissemination of her ideas. Lastly, the Congregation invites all the faithful not to regard Mrs. Vassula Ryden's writings and speeches as supernatural and to preserve the purity of the faith that the Lord has entrusted to the Church. Vatican City, 6 October 1995.

Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 25 October 1995, 12.