This was the week that the leadership of the Catholic Church in England and Wales disgraced itself. Pope Benedict XVI issued one of the most significant documents written by a pontiff for many years â?? and the English bishopsâ?? â??communications networkâ?? effectively killed the story.
Real anger is building up in the parishes over the bishopsâ?? behaviour, which led to the document â?? Sacramentum Caritatis – a historic, 60-page statement on the Eucharist and the Liturgy â?? receiving minimal coverage in most secular newspapers.
Why did the Bishops of England and Wales keep silent? Inevitably, conspiracy theories are already forming, suggesting that they didnâ??t like the contents of the document. And Iâ??m sure that some of them didnâ??t. Pope Benedict calls for all new priests to be trained to say the new rite of Mass in Latin â?? he has yet to pronounce on the future of the Old Rite â?? and for a return to Gregorian chant. He also seems to shut the door on the prospect of married priests. Not the sort of thing that the English Churchâ??s right-on employees like to promulgate.
But those are side issues. The real point of Sacramentum Caritatis (Sacrament of Love) was its fabulously lucid and intellectually daring synthesis of Catholic teaching on the centre of the Churchâ??s life â?? the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Reading the exhortation, I was awestruck by the quality of Benedictâ??s thinking: this is the most intellectually gifted pope for centuries.
Damian Thompson Shameful silencing of the Pope
