...as the old Soviet archives open up, that the campaign to smear Pope Pius XII was started in 1963/64/65 as part of the general work against the Church. It was in no way generated by Jewish people, who on the contrary were admiring of the man whose efforts had ensured the survival of so many during against all the odds during the Holocaust, by opening up the Vatican and its associated convents and monasteries as places of refuge and hiding. The next two to three years will see intense battles between historians and campaigners on this, as history vindicates truth...
Watch out, incidentally,for a new campaign: this one is against the canonisation of John Paul II. The line being pushed is that all those "Santo Subito" calls in St Peter's Square, the home-made banners etc were "just an orchestrated thing" by "people who had been organised to do this". All part of some plot, you see. And presumably Papa Benedict is part of the plot too with his immediate reference to "the great John Paul" his waiving of the five-year-rule etc. Meanwhile, says the campaign, JPII wasn't really holy, it's all a Polish thing really, he's been over-hyped...all that stuff about his role in defeating Communism, the gathering of the young at those vast prayer-rallies, the fostering of vocations, the revival of Confession and the Rosary, the outreach to people of all faiths,the devotion to Mary, the fresh vigour brought to the notion of the Church centred on a rock, the inspirational teachings on love and marriage and family, the staunch upholding of eternal truths in a world with so many tired agendas. All just, um, "an orchestrated thing"...
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2 comments:
The Devil's Advocate is a fine Catholic tradition. Anyone who was put forward for canonisation used to have one assigned. I understand that now the post has been abolished, so pressure groups have to do it.
John Paul the second inherited a Church which was seriosuly weakening in the West, and when he died it was still losing members and legal influence. However the greatness of a man cannot be measured simply by counting his successes. You could argue that he staved off total collapse. And of course, out of the pubic eye, exciting things were happening in China all through his pontificate.
Of course, if he is canonized it is not because of success or failure in leading the Church. If/when John Paul II is beatified or canonized, it will be because Karol Wotyla was a holy man, who practiced the virtures of faith, hope and charity in an extraordinary way, and two miracles have been performed through his intercession, so that the Church knows that he is in heaven among the holy. The judgments Mr. McLean brings up are historical analysis that also take time to make, but they are not part of the considerations of beatitude or sanctity.
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