Papal Hermeneutic of Continuity

So much for those who argue that Papa Cisco is criticising Papa Benny! Whatever vestments/clothes he chooses to wear, Pope Francis is singing from Pope Benedict’s hymnsheet. He has already quoted the two of the most memorable phrases from Pope Benedict’s magisterium.

In his speech to the diplomats at the meeting last Friday, he used the term “dictatorship of relativism”.

And yesterday in his homily for Palm Sunday of the Passion of our Lord, he took a phrase right out of the first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est:

Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but it comes from having encountered a Person, Jesus, who is among us.

Benedict’s original and memorable words were:

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.

The next boot to fall (on Eccles’ three legged man) will be for him to use the actual terminology of “hermeneutic of continuity”…

About Schütz

I am a PhD candidate & sessional academic at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. After almost 10 years in ministry as a Lutheran pastor, I was received into the Catholic Church in 2003. I worked for the Archdiocese of Melbourne for 18 years in Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations. I have been editor of Gesher for the Council of Christians & Jews and am guest editor of the historical journal “Footprints”. I have a passion for pilgrimage and pioneered the MacKillop Woods Way.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Papal Hermeneutic of Continuity

      • Tony says:

        I think you’re leading me astray, Pere!

        Eccles: Are you Neddie Seagoon?
        Seagoon: I am.
        Eccles: Oh, good. You been waiting long?
        Seagoon: Yes.
        Eccles: Who for?
        Seagoon: You, you idiot!
        Eccles: Oh! Fine.
        Seagoon: Now, how do I get through the firing line to the Herr Schütz headquarters?
        Eccles: How do you get there? You go straight up that road there.
        Seagoon: But they’re shooting down it!
        Eccles: Oh! Don’t go that way! You take this road here. They’re not shooting up that one.
        Seagoon: That road doesn’t lead to it!
        Eccles: Oh! Don’t take that one!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *