Mgr Joseph Farrugia
Lead kindly light is a good prayer
Cardinal John Henry Newman, beatified by Pope Benedict only last Sunday, distinguishes between sin committed “in darkness”, as in the case of Saul’s persecution of Christians before his illumination, and sin committed “against the light”, as would have been the case if he had gone on harming them.
Whether committed “in darkness” or “against the light”, an evil action is always sinful, albeit the degree of personal responsibility depends on three conditions: the action’s objective evilness, knowledge of what one is doing and freedom of will in doing it.
Given these conditions, the Church speaks of sinfulness, whatever the issue.
One matter being debated is the case of a Catholic opting for divorce legislation. In the case of priests – or “ecclesiastics” if one wanted to distance oneself from the caste – the matter is still more serious since what they say is a guide in matters of Christian faith and morals.
Of course, for non-Catholics all this would be a non-issue if it were not that the opinion of Catholics cannot be discounted in the event of certain legislation coming up for a parliamentary decision or a referendum.
For Catholics, on the other hand, it is a personal issue because teaching on marriage is clear and allows for no plasticisation of conscience.
Indeed, it reaches into the very peculiarity of Catholic Christianity with respect to Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism.
From the pastoral perspective, this is good because it is upon the distinction and correlation between principle (doctrine) and practice (love) that the Church shepherds Christ’s flock, made up more of sinners than saints.
The tragedy would be for the Church to adjust to a culture of falsehood and mislead Christ’s faithful into the belief that what he said is not, after all, what he meant.
As, for example, by saying that “it is not a sin to vote for divorce”. Because, given the clarity of Christ’s teaching regarding marriage, this would be an offence “against the light”.
I would say that, for a Catholic, the real issue is not whether he can be for divorce but, rather, how to discern the voice of Christ within his conscience.
The question is: Can a voice, within my conscience, be truly Christ’s voice when it is at odds with the teaching which, upon Christ’s own authority, the Catholic Church holds and proclaims?
The answer is that it may not. Any action a Catholic takes according to an alleged God’s inner voice in the knowledge that it is at variance with the word of Christ constitutes a sin “against the light” that the Christian knows to be Christ.
Over the last 50 or so years, a mixture of curious impulses has drugged a number of Catholic theologians into the conviction that there exists a post-Vatican II Church that has somehow conceded its teaching office to theological faculties or religious columnists.
A case in point is what has been referred, in recent editions of The Sunday Times, as coming from St Thomas Aquinas (1525-74).
In a disagreement that he had struck with elder theologian Peter Lombard, St Thomas is alleged to have said he’d rather die excommunicated than violate his conscience.
Really! But it seems that, rather than affirming the possibility of a praiseworthy act of conscience in conflict Church teaching, St Thomas was in fact asserting the validity of a marriage against a bishop who seemed to be undermining it. Lombard had acquiesced to the bishop. St Thomas disagreed.
He wrote: “Hic magister falsum dicit, quia potius esset excommnicatus mori quam coniugatus illi quae non est qua uxor.”
In plain English, St Thomas holds that “the Master” is wrong in submitting to the bishop’s decision in favour of a public marriage when a valid clandestine marriage had preceded it. The Aquinate point was that the spouse should rather die excommunicated than live with a woman who was not his wife!
Such cases happened since, prior to the Council of Trent, an authorised minister and witnesses were not required for a validly celebrated Christian marriage.
Difficulties may, of course, arise in a Catholic’s conscience. They are helpful insofar as they make us aware of human finitude. The magisterium of the Church is there to guide us into Christ, who is “the” Truth. There is no other.
When the newly-beatified Anglican was seeking this Truth he prayed: “Lead kindly light.”
It makes a good prayer.
The author is a lecturer at the Faculty of Theology, University of Malta.
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Sabrina Borda
Sep 24th 2010, 06:43
Yes, please do come and Lead Kindly Light...... is a good prayer much needed here for it does not shine at all for us.
There is no light here on Malta where there is no divorce.
We are left in the harsh dark with quotes, after quote, after quote in the very Maltese christian way of convincing, hammering us painfully that they are all we need.
They believe they have monopolized God and moulded him in their fashion as they alone mentally incarcerate decent individuals from making choices to their better life.
We are not sharing the same God or the same guiding light that shines the way forward with love and understanding as for divorced people in other European Christian countries.
William P Flynn
Sep 24th 2010, 00:01
@N.Balzan
Mhux biżżejjed li daħħaltu mnieħerkhom f'kull gażżetta, TV, radju, f’kull liġi, fil-qrati, f’kull dritt sekularju, u fil-parlament (barra milli infestajtu l-Konstituzzjoni bir-reliġion bl-Artiklu2); kissirtu l-ilsien Malti ukoll? "Simply nithassrek"(sic)?! Dan x’Malti hu? Dejjem tħalltu il-liġi mar- reliġion; l-Ingliż mal-Malti, u l-ħass mal-karozzja tal-linja.
Grazzi ħafna iżda la għandi l’ebda bżonn tal-ħasra tiegħek u l-anqas l’ebda tagħlim u l-melħ ta’ l’ebda qassis, teologu, isqof, jew papa.
Kieku kelli xi bżonn immur il-knisja nhux naqra it-Times.
Staqsejtni jekk nafx bil-Malti; issa x'taħseb baħbuħ?
charles caruana
Sep 23rd 2010, 18:45
Much thanks, Mgr Farrugia, for showing up the mendacity and dangers of selective quotation.
J.V.Micallef
Sep 23rd 2010, 17:58
I agree with the whole article, after all. Priests are all the time warning about divorce law.
No one bothered me about cohabitation. Joe Zammit was never writing one letter after another, no theologian, no priest, no half priest, was saying anything or will be saying anything. No great pieces of old latin coming in. Just plainly enjoying life and love, as long as it lasts.
Enjoy your studies, Mgr.
J.V. Micallef
Sep 23rd 2010, 17:31
Simply brilliant, but it's all like ir-raddiena tal-gigifogu. Brilliant because it throws a lot of light and within a short time there is absolute darkness.
And is Mgr Farrugia a theologian ? If so, is he beating a mea culpa that he takes a whole column to speak from such high authority ?
Btw, all the others are not as good as you are, Mgr. Hope you become dean or even bette than that.
charles caruana
Sep 23rd 2010, 19:01
So Mr Flynn, you have egregiously elected yourself as national spokesman for ‘an angry electorate.’ Talking of psychological projection! You ridicule saints for hearing voices, forgetting the unceasing voice of your God- obsession driving you on relentlessly to take up arms against religion. The only piece of sane advice in your post is that people who hear voices should go see a psychiatrist. I suggest you follow it.
J.V.Micallef
Sep 23rd 2010, 20:47
@ Charles Caruana - I"m not Mr F Im Ms
William P Flynn
Sep 23rd 2010, 12:38
Joseph.Farrugia too many of your flock have gone feral.
This is a straight-forward secular question; should the secular government continue with these disgraceful, cruel, mindlessly archaic, incoherent, undemocratic, fraudulent family law processes based on one religious notion?
Forget saint this or that and voices in your head. If they hear voices people should go see a psychiatrist.
What sort of twilight zone is Farrugia in, thinking Latin quotes, doctrine numbers and morbid preoccupation with quotations would stop people separating and /or cohabitating?
The church has had 1800 years and couldn't stop the de facto divorce.
Wheeling out these archaic non-entities one after the other like bogeymen is ridiculous as it works only with 7-year-olds. (Do they have a weeping Madonna on standby?)
Farrugia’s message to the elected reps and the voters is crystal clear: Everyone is entitled to a conscience as long as it mirrors my conscience.
Divorce (of one kind or another, legal or not), co-habiting and bad marriages will always be with us. It’s only human.
Unless the bishops, the theologians and the priests duck and mind their own business, they’re going to get bowled over not by a low-hanging branch like Aquinas; but by an angry electorate.
N Balzan
Sep 23rd 2010, 13:53
William P Flynn.
Do you understand Maltese? Simply nithassrek!
Raymond Bezzina
Sep 23rd 2010, 12:06
I believe that for truth to come to light, I have suggested that the divorce issue
should be discussed by a series of television programmes, where :
1. The speakers from each side of the debate would be equal in number, and,
2. That these speakers would be chosen by their respective communities and
not by any one person, because such a person could be biased and could
have partisan interests, and instead of delivering a fair discussion, it would
end up in being a propaganda display.
At present, I cannot think of a better method for the general public, to learn the truth
about the issue of divorce.
renald williams
Sep 23rd 2010, 11:33
1.do not want to enter into divorce issue
2. The Gospels are quote… there to guide us into Christ…
May believers daily read the words of Jesus; follow Him, and be His disciples.
Peace… health.
Joe Zammit
Sep 23rd 2010, 11:02
Only one with a totally perverted concept of the real nature and function of conscience could repudiate the infallible Magisterium of the Catholic Church in the name of conscience.
The infallibility of the Catholic Church in no way breaches the integrity of conscience, but on the contrary safeguards it in the ultimate and decisive questions through the surest orientation toward truth.
Through infallibility there is a clear delineation of the area in which the conscience is given an absolute certain guidance.
William P Flynn
Sep 23rd 2010, 13:36
"Through infallibility there is a clear delineation of the area in which the conscience is given an absolute certain guidance".
You must be joking; but no, you actually believe this crap.
No wonder the European dictators of the 20th Century were almost all catholics and the Vatican loved them so much.
Well, my Matrimonial Expert friend, those days are over. People are entitled to their own thoughts and choices.
Join me in this prayer, Joe, by the hammer of Almighty Thor, they shall have their own thoughts and they shall make their own choices. Amen.
If this is disgusting to you, that’s how offensive your dogmatic religious drivel is to others.