Continued
from previous post –
On
December 7, 1965, a Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of His
Holiness Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I,
lifted the mutual excommunication against Catholic and Orthodox which
had been in force since the Great Schism of 1054. This
was sign of spiritual maturity on the part of Churches since their
history. Papal power began to come to age after several years of
Roman Catholic Church life.
The bishops agreed
that the pope exercises supreme authority over the church, but
defined "collegiality", meaning that all bishops share in
this authority. Local bishops have equal authority as successors of
the Apostles and as members of a larger organization, the Church
founded by Peter and entrusted to the subsequent apostles. The pope
serves as a symbol of unity and has additional authority to ensure
the continuation of that unity of all faithful however, they continue
to have that superior position over all other Churches! Pope also
wanted to be leader of that unity of churches. During the Second
Vatican Council, Catholic bishops drew back a bit from statements,
which might anger Christians of other faiths. Cardinal Augustin Bea,
the President of the Christian Unity Secretariat had always the full
support of Pope Paul VI in his attempts to ensure that the Council
language is friendly and open, to the sensitivities of Protestant and
Orthodox Churches, whom he had invited to all sessions at the request
of Pope John XXIII. Bea also was strongly involved in the passage of
'Nostra aetate', which regulates relation of the Church with
the Jewish faith and members of other religions. This adjustment had
become essential as more and more intellectuals were interested in
other philosophies such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Brahmanism. In many
1Universities, subject "Comparative religions" had become
regular.
The
establishment of national conferences of bishops tended to erode
papal authority to some degree, and Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae
Vitae (1968), reaffirming the prohibition of artificial birth
control, was met with both evasion and defiance in the USA and
Western Europe but warmly welcomed in South America, Eastern and
Southern Europe.
Pope
Paul VI (1963–1978), however, continued the ecumenical efforts of
Pope John XXIII in his contacts with Protestant and Orthodox
churches. He also continued John XXIII's attempts to make discreet
moves in the direction of pragmatic accommodation with the Communist
regimes of Eastern Europe, a policy that were possible in the eras of
Krushchev and Brezhnev. Paul VI also reorganized the curia and spoke
strongly for peace and social justice.
Pope
Paul VI faced criticism throughout his papacy from both
traditionalists and liberals for steering a middle course during
Vatican II and in the course of the implementation of its reforms
thereafter. His passion for peace during the Vietnam War was not
understood by all. The urgent task of overcoming World poverty and
start real development resulted partly in benign neglect of papal
teachings by the influential and the rich. On basic Church teachings,
this pope was unwavering. On the tenth anniversary of Humanae Vitae,
he strongly reconfirmed his teachings. In his style and methodology,
he was a disciple of Pius XII, whom he deeply revered. He suffered
under the attacks of his predecessor for his alleged silences,
knowing from personal association with the late pope the real
concerns and compassion of Pius XII. Pope Paul is not credited to
have had the encyclopaedic culture of Pius XII, nor his phenomenal
memory, his amazing gift for languages, his brilliant style in
writing, nor did he have the Charisma and outpouring love, sense of
humor and human warmth of John XXIII. He took on himself the
unfinished reform work of these two popes, bringing them diligently
with great humility and common sense and without much fanfare to
conclusion. In doing so, Paul VI saw himself following in the
footsteps of the Apostle Paul, torn to several directions as Saint
Paul, who always said, I am attracted to two sides at once, because
the Cross, always divides.
Continues
in next post –
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may contact me on my Email ID given below,
You are invited to
visit my other blogs
Ashok
Kothare, http://ashokkotharesblog.blogspot.com/
for stories
I
reckon,
http://kotharesviews.blogspot.com/
for philosophy
You
may visit blog, Freedom of Expression,
Freedom
of Expression, http://kothare-thinks.blogspot.in/
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blog, http://kothare-marathi.blogspot.in/
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