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Outside the Beltway, VA
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Papal Candidates: Cardinal Francis Arinze, Nigeria
Posted by Robert Tagorda at 17:19
Because he hails from Africa, Cardinal Arinze has attracted considerable
media attention and prompted questions about whether the world is ready for
a black pope. But his background runs deeper than skin color. As a convert
and a citizen of Nigeria, where approximately half the population is Muslim,
he can speak with authority on interfaith and cross-cultural matters: in
1985, Pope John Paul II tapped him to lead the Pontifical Council for
Inter-Religious Dialogue. But he's equally comfortable in dealing with
internal Catholic issues, having spearheaded the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Thus his 1973 quotation, noted
by the Washington Post, is appropriate:
The Church has to be at home in every culture, while not being tied down or
imprisoned by any.
"Proposed, Not Imposed"
Buddha is "a great teacher of humanity." Muslims and Christians are "part of
one human family." Indeed, writes Cardinal Arinze, "Christians must remember
that God has also manifested himself in some way to the followers of other
religious traditions."
So how does Catholicism distinguish itself? Cardinal Arinze highlights
"God's salvific will" and emphasizes the Church's role as "the universal
sacrament of salvation." He then adds:
But there are people who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ
and his Church. They also are included in God's plan of salvation. There
are, however, conditions. They must be sincere in their seeking of God. They
must be open to the secret but real action of the Holy Spirit in them. They
should follow their conscience in all matters of right and wrong. Because
Christ has taken on human nature and somehow united himself with every man
and woman, God can in ways known to him put people in link with the saving
mysteries of Christ (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22). He can give them the grace
needed for salvation.
But to say that the followers of other religions can attain salvation under
some conditions does not mean to ignore the fact that in these religions
there are limits, errors and shadows. As St Paul says: "Very often, deceived
by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than
the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are
exposed to ultimate despair" (Rom 1:21,25). This explains why the Catholic
Church "painstakingly fosters her missionary work" (Lumen Gentium, 16) so
that, becoming full members of the Church, people may have access to the
fullness of the means of salvation, a fullness to be found only in the
Church which is the ordinary means to salvation.
In stressing respect for human dignity and recognizing religious freedom,
Cardinal Arinze not only reveals his conversion story but also aligns
himself with Pope John Paul II's message:
This stand is in perfect line with the Catholic doctrine that the human
response to God in faith should be free. "He who believes and is baptized
shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned" (Mk 16:6).
Religion is proposed, not imposed. "The truth cannot impose itself except by
virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once
quietly and with power" (Dignitatis Humanae, 1).
There have been periods in Church history when this principle has not been
sufficiently respected in practice. Vatican II itself admits this: "In the
life of the People of God as it has made its pilgrim way through the
vicissitudes of human history, there have at times appeared ways of acting
which were less in accord with the spirit of the Gospel and even opposed to
it" (Dignitatis Humanae, 12). This happened, for example, when people
accused of heresy were imprisoned or burnt. In the 12thMarch 2000 ceremony
in St Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father asked pardon of God for all such
acts.
"Culture Is Broader Than Religion"
According to Cardinal Arinze, "religion can be said to represent the
transcendent dimension of culture and in a certain way its soul." But he
also acknowledges the "alienating influence" that religion can sometimes
have on politics and civilization. This realism is particularly evident in
his views on Christian-Muslim relations.
He recognizes the commonalities between the two faiths:
Among the values shared between Christianity and Islam, peace deserves
special mention. Both religions stress the pre-eminence of peace. "Peace I
bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you" (Jn 14:27), said Jesus to his Apostles the night
before he suffered and died. And after his Resurrection when he appeared to
them he generally began with the greeting: "Peace be with you" (cf. Jn
20:19, 21, 26). St Paul calls Christ "our peace" (cf. Eph 2:14). For
Muslims, Peace is one of the Beautiful Names of God. Does this fact not give
added significance to the customary greeting among Muslims: alsalamu
'alaykum? Peace is necessary for individuals, within the same religious
community, between two or more religions, between peoples and between
States. Christians and Muslims have a duty to promote this tranquillity of
order. No rightthinking Christian or Muslim today should support crusades
or holy wars. Nor should they allow their conduct to be tainted by racist
considerations or give way to discrimination on the basis of race, colour,
condition of life or religion.
But Cardinal Arinze is unafraid to point out differences -- even those with
serious political implications. Consider his thoughts on human rights:
Christians see human beings as having been created in God's image and
likeness. They are brothers and sisters of Christ, the Son of God made man.
The Incarnation has ennobled the whole of humanity. This is the real
foundation of human dignity. Moreover, Christ died on the cross to redeem
all humanity. So we can say that love of God passes through love of
neighbour. The Muslim vision is different. The human person is the servant
of God, and remains so even when receiving God's call to be caliph or God's
viceregent, among created things. This vision finds expression in the names
used. Many Muslim names begin with 'Abd (servant) followed by one of the
numerous names for God. Christians see man as created by God with certain
inalienable rights. Prominent among these is the right to religious freedom.
"This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part
of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that
in matters religious no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to
his own beliefs. Nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance
with his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in
association with others, within due limits" (Dignitatis Humanae, n. 2).
Here's the money quote:
[S]ome predominantly Muslim countries have their reservations regarding the
United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which they see as
an expression of Western culture. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in Islam, proclaimed in Paris in 1981, does contain an article on the right
to religious freedom (art.13). It is however very short, merely stating:
"Every person has freedom of belief and freedom of worship in conformity
with his belief: 'to you your religion, to me mine' (Q. 109:6)". The
following article treats of the right to summons (da 'wa) and to
proclamation (balagh), but the content of the article remains vague. It is
not clear whether or not people of religions other than Islam have the right
to propagate their religion. There is certainly no mention of a right to
change one's religion. So the question of human dignity and the rights which
flow from it is one on which Christians and Muslims who have learned to know
and trust one another can exchange views in the hope of greater service to
the human person and therefore to the world.
That's a pretty firm criticism. It's also highly relevant for a post-9/11
papacy. Whereas a different religious leader might struggle to make such
strong statements, Cardinal Arinze seems to have genuine credibility. At the
same time, it's hard to confuse him for a bellicose neoconservative when he
asserts:
Poverty, underdevelopment, justice and corruption are fertile grounds for
the rise or growth of extremist religious tendencies. In such societies
those who reject the present situation, or who oppose the government in
power, may find it easy to get the support of the suffering poor who are the
vast majority, by making appeal to extravagant religious claims. The
temptation that the answer to these situations of suffering is a return to
what is presented as an original or pure form of a certain religion -
whether Christianity or Islam - is an easy one. The effective response is
not a crackdown on religious fanatics. It is rather a joint commitment of
Christians and Muslims, and other citizens, to justice, development, sound
economic programmes, honesty in private and public life, and willingness on
the part of the rich to show serious solidarity with the poor. Peace stands
on the pillars of love, truth, development, justice and solidarity.
"Sometimes It Shows a Lack of Faith"
When it comes to liturgical issues, Cardinal Arinze frowns upon departures
from approved rites:
The general approach is that the liturgy is the public worship of the
Church. It is not an area where individuals do their own thing, feed the
people with the latest production of their over-fertile imaginations. This
would do damage to the faithful and the liturgy. Sometimes it shows a lack
of faith.
Some abuses make the Mass invalid. For example - nobody did this - but
suppose a priest says, "I don't like wine at all. I am going to use
Coca-Cola." From the point of view of theology, it would not be Mass at all.
If he didn't use bread made from wheat but uses bread from cassava or wine
from the palm tree and not from the vine.
These are abuses that affect the validity of the sacrament. But there can be
abuses that do not make the sacrament invalid. Like if a priest begins Mass
by saying, "Good morning. Did your favorite football team win?" That's
banalization. Everyone would recognize that.
Suppose in preaching it is no longer on the Gospel and our faith but on
politics. Or suppose he says, "I do not like these vestments. I think I will
use my overcoat." Or if he says, "I do not like some of the words in the
book, I am going to invent my own prayers. I composed these myself last
night."
On the other hand, he stresses the principle of subsidiarity, as this
statement on liturgical dance makes clear:
In the last analysis, the bishops of each country must look into this
matter. It is not cut and dried. There are many rites: Ethiopian, Byzantine,
Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Chaldean, for example. The Latin rite has not
traditionally known dance. If you say "dance" to anyone in Europe, I leave
it to you to see what comes to their mind. They will say, "That has nothing
to do with the liturgy. When we want to see a dance, we don't go to Mass. We
go somewhere else." It is a cultural thing.
In the same vein, note his recommendation for addressing liturgical abuses:
Do your best to speak with those in the parish who can do something about
it. If there is no success, if it still very important, you can approach
your diocesan office. But the first thing to do is not to take paper and
write to the Vatican. There must be a better solution than that, although as
a last resort, people retain that right.
"Each One Will Have a Separate Story"
In the end, Cardinal Arinze seems strongly influenced by his conversion to
the faith. Though he shuns the term -- "in Nigeria, we would hardly call the
person a convert" -- he's quick to invoke the "work of God's grace." "This
is," he says, "God's own mystery."
--Boundary_(ID_9vQs7zuaDoVHK36C1BnIjA)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Papal Candidates: Cardinal Francis Arinze, Nigeria
Posted by Robert Tagorda at 17:19
Because he hails from Africa, Cardinal Arinze has attracted considerable
media attention and prompted questions about whether the world is ready for
a black pope. But his background runs deeper than skin color. As a convert
and a citizen of Nigeria, where approximately half the population is Muslim,
he can speak with authority on interfaith and cross-cultural matters: in
1985, Pope John Paul II tapped him to lead the Pontifical Council for
Inter-Religious Dialogue. But he's equally comfortable in dealing with
internal Catholic issues, having spearheaded the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Thus his 1973 quotation, noted
by the Washington Post, is appropriate:
The Church has to be at home in every culture, while not being tied down or
imprisoned by any.
"Proposed, Not Imposed"
Buddha is "a great teacher of humanity." Muslims and Christians are "part of
one human family." Indeed, writes Cardinal Arinze, "Christians must remember
that God has also manifested himself in some way to the followers of other
religious traditions."
So how does Catholicism distinguish itself? Cardinal Arinze highlights
"God's salvific will" and emphasizes the Church's role as "the universal
sacrament of salvation." He then adds:
But there are people who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ
and his Church. They also are included in God's plan of salvation. There
are, however, conditions. They must be sincere in their seeking of God. They
must be open to the secret but real action of the Holy Spirit in them. They
should follow their conscience in all matters of right and wrong. Because
Christ has taken on human nature and somehow united himself with every man
and woman, God can in ways known to him put people in link with the saving
mysteries of Christ (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22). He can give them the grace
needed for salvation.
But to say that the followers of other religions can attain salvation under
some conditions does not mean to ignore the fact that in these religions
there are limits, errors and shadows. As St Paul says: "Very often, deceived
by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than
the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are
exposed to ultimate despair" (Rom 1:21,25). This explains why the Catholic
Church "painstakingly fosters her missionary work" (Lumen Gentium, 16) so
that, becoming full members of the Church, people may have access to the
fullness of the means of salvation, a fullness to be found only in the
Church which is the ordinary means to salvation.
In stressing respect for human dignity and recognizing religious freedom,
Cardinal Arinze not only reveals his conversion story but also aligns
himself with Pope John Paul II's message:
This stand is in perfect line with the Catholic doctrine that the human
response to God in faith should be free. "He who believes and is baptized
shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned" (Mk 16:6).
Religion is proposed, not imposed. "The truth cannot impose itself except by
virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once
quietly and with power" (Dignitatis Humanae, 1).
There have been periods in Church history when this principle has not been
sufficiently respected in practice. Vatican II itself admits this: "In the
life of the People of God as it has made its pilgrim way through the
vicissitudes of human history, there have at times appeared ways of acting
which were less in accord with the spirit of the Gospel and even opposed to
it" (Dignitatis Humanae, 12). This happened, for example, when people
accused of heresy were imprisoned or burnt. In the 12thMarch 2000 ceremony
in St Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father asked pardon of God for all such
acts.
"Culture Is Broader Than Religion"
According to Cardinal Arinze, "religion can be said to represent the
transcendent dimension of culture and in a certain way its soul." But he
also acknowledges the "alienating influence" that religion can sometimes
have on politics and civilization. This realism is particularly evident in
his views on Christian-Muslim relations.
He recognizes the commonalities between the two faiths:
Among the values shared between Christianity and Islam, peace deserves
special mention. Both religions stress the pre-eminence of peace. "Peace I
bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you" (Jn 14:27), said Jesus to his Apostles the night
before he suffered and died. And after his Resurrection when he appeared to
them he generally began with the greeting: "Peace be with you" (cf. Jn
20:19, 21, 26). St Paul calls Christ "our peace" (cf. Eph 2:14). For
Muslims, Peace is one of the Beautiful Names of God. Does this fact not give
added significance to the customary greeting among Muslims: alsalamu
'alaykum? Peace is necessary for individuals, within the same religious
community, between two or more religions, between peoples and between
States. Christians and Muslims have a duty to promote this tranquillity of
order. No rightthinking Christian or Muslim today should support crusades
or holy wars. Nor should they allow their conduct to be tainted by racist
considerations or give way to discrimination on the basis of race, colour,
condition of life or religion.
But Cardinal Arinze is unafraid to point out differences -- even those with
serious political implications. Consider his thoughts on human rights:
Christians see human beings as having been created in God's image and
likeness. They are brothers and sisters of Christ, the Son of God made man.
The Incarnation has ennobled the whole of humanity. This is the real
foundation of human dignity. Moreover, Christ died on the cross to redeem
all humanity. So we can say that love of God passes through love of
neighbour. The Muslim vision is different. The human person is the servant
of God, and remains so even when receiving God's call to be caliph or God's
viceregent, among created things. This vision finds expression in the names
used. Many Muslim names begin with 'Abd (servant) followed by one of the
numerous names for God. Christians see man as created by God with certain
inalienable rights. Prominent among these is the right to religious freedom.
"This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part
of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that
in matters religious no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to
his own beliefs. Nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance
with his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in
association with others, within due limits" (Dignitatis Humanae, n. 2).
Here's the money quote:
[S]ome predominantly Muslim countries have their reservations regarding the
United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which they see as
an expression of Western culture. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in Islam, proclaimed in Paris in 1981, does contain an article on the right
to religious freedom (art.13). It is however very short, merely stating:
"Every person has freedom of belief and freedom of worship in conformity
with his belief: 'to you your religion, to me mine' (Q. 109:6)". The
following article treats of the right to summons (da 'wa) and to
proclamation (balagh), but the content of the article remains vague. It is
not clear whether or not people of religions other than Islam have the right
to propagate their religion. There is certainly no mention of a right to
change one's religion. So the question of human dignity and the rights which
flow from it is one on which Christians and Muslims who have learned to know
and trust one another can exchange views in the hope of greater service to
the human person and therefore to the world.
That's a pretty firm criticism. It's also highly relevant for a post-9/11
papacy. Whereas a different religious leader might struggle to make such
strong statements, Cardinal Arinze seems to have genuine credibility. At the
same time, it's hard to confuse him for a bellicose neoconservative when he
asserts:
Poverty, underdevelopment, justice and corruption are fertile grounds for
the rise or growth of extremist religious tendencies. In such societies
those who reject the present situation, or who oppose the government in
power, may find it easy to get the support of the suffering poor who are the
vast majority, by making appeal to extravagant religious claims. The
temptation that the answer to these situations of suffering is a return to
what is presented as an original or pure form of a certain religion -
whether Christianity or Islam - is an easy one. The effective response is
not a crackdown on religious fanatics. It is rather a joint commitment of
Christians and Muslims, and other citizens, to justice, development, sound
economic programmes, honesty in private and public life, and willingness on
the part of the rich to show serious solidarity with the poor. Peace stands
on the pillars of love, truth, development, justice and solidarity.
"Sometimes It Shows a Lack of Faith"
When it comes to liturgical issues, Cardinal Arinze frowns upon departures
from approved rites:
The general approach is that the liturgy is the public worship of the
Church. It is not an area where individuals do their own thing, feed the
people with the latest production of their over-fertile imaginations. This
would do damage to the faithful and the liturgy. Sometimes it shows a lack
of faith.
Some abuses make the Mass invalid. For example - nobody did this - but
suppose a priest says, "I don't like wine at all. I am going to use
Coca-Cola." From the point of view of theology, it would not be Mass at all.
If he didn't use bread made from wheat but uses bread from cassava or wine
from the palm tree and not from the vine.
These are abuses that affect the validity of the sacrament. But there can be
abuses that do not make the sacrament invalid. Like if a priest begins Mass
by saying, "Good morning. Did your favorite football team win?" That's
banalization. Everyone would recognize that.
Suppose in preaching it is no longer on the Gospel and our faith but on
politics. Or suppose he says, "I do not like these vestments. I think I will
use my overcoat." Or if he says, "I do not like some of the words in the
book, I am going to invent my own prayers. I composed these myself last
night."
On the other hand, he stresses the principle of subsidiarity, as this
statement on liturgical dance makes clear:
In the last analysis, the bishops of each country must look into this
matter. It is not cut and dried. There are many rites: Ethiopian, Byzantine,
Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Chaldean, for example. The Latin rite has not
traditionally known dance. If you say "dance" to anyone in Europe, I leave
it to you to see what comes to their mind. They will say, "That has nothing
to do with the liturgy. When we want to see a dance, we don't go to Mass. We
go somewhere else." It is a cultural thing.
In the same vein, note his recommendation for addressing liturgical abuses:
Do your best to speak with those in the parish who can do something about
it. If there is no success, if it still very important, you can approach
your diocesan office. But the first thing to do is not to take paper and
write to the Vatican. There must be a better solution than that, although as
a last resort, people retain that right.
"Each One Will Have a Separate Story"
In the end, Cardinal Arinze seems strongly influenced by his conversion to
the faith. Though he shuns the term -- "in Nigeria, we would hardly call the
person a convert" -- he's quick to invoke the "work of God's grace." "This
is," he says, "God's own mystery."
--Boundary_(ID_9vQs7zuaDoVHK36C1BnIjA)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress