The Pope's visit to the Philippines from January 15 to 19 saw him celebrate Mass three times for the public -- at Manila Cathedral on January 16, at Tacloban on January 17, and a final Mass at the "Rizal Park" of Manila on January 18. This last Mass, the Philippine government claims, was attended by 4 million people, concelebrated by 2,500 priests and 200-250 bishops. (Numerous online sources mention 6-7 million at the Mass, but if the Philippine Star, one of that country's top broadsheets is correct, the actual breakdown is 4 million who attended the Mass, another 360,000 at the perimeters of the venue, and 2 million along the route of Pope Francis' motorcade from the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila to Rizal Park.)
More conservative estimates put the number at 3 million at the Rizal Park itself, if not a bit less than that. Regardless of the numbers, it was without doubt an enormous display of Filipino Catholic faith, in all its richness -- and poverty.
errata: In addition to the justified criticism I suggest a prayer of expiation which in Poland will take place tomorrow, on Thursday January 22, 2015. Moreover, anyone can send a protest to the Curia in Manilla.
I know the feelings run deep on this subject among some. But, I found myself asking -- What Would Jesus Do? Well, during the Last Supper, didn't he say: 'Take this and eat....'? It seems that those at this supper took the bread into their own hands.....
Does it really matter if the Holy Father 'knew' what was happening concerning the Most Sacred Host or not? No! I doubt if he was in charge of this way of distributing Holy Communion and perhaps he wouldn't care, but that's not the point. The Vatican, Rome, Holy Mother Church knows the proper way of distributing Holy Communion, what to do and what not to do, and the proper steps to take when our Lord …More
Does it really matter if the Holy Father 'knew' what was happening concerning the Most Sacred Host or not? No! I doubt if he was in charge of this way of distributing Holy Communion and perhaps he wouldn't care, but that's not the point. The Vatican, Rome, Holy Mother Church knows the proper way of distributing Holy Communion, what to do and what not to do, and the proper steps to take when our Lord falls to the carpet. To take the chance to allow Him to fall into the mud of Manila or even to just be taken away to be used in a Black Mass, to take that chance is unthinkable, really. They are either blind stupid or just don't care, or both. Example: If the Fraternity or the Society decided to stage one of this mega-type Masses, do you think they would allow anything like this to happen? Of course not, dumb question I know, Communion is always received on the tongue but my point is that they would take extreme care to be sure that even one Host would not by chance be blown off by the wind! They understand the holiness and importance of what is taking place. Rome today, sadly, does not.
Blasphemy occurs when a person wants to be in the "center" - the focus and the object. Anthropocentrism places the man in the place of God. One of the main symptoms of anthropocentrism is the loss of faith in the real presence of God in the Blessed Sacrament - Holy Communion. This in turn leads to a mass insensitivity. One of the injections against violent doubt of the presence of Our Lord in the …More
Blasphemy occurs when a person wants to be in the "center" - the focus and the object. Anthropocentrism places the man in the place of God. One of the main symptoms of anthropocentrism is the loss of faith in the real presence of God in the Blessed Sacrament - Holy Communion. This in turn leads to a mass insensitivity. One of the injections against violent doubt of the presence of Our Lord in the Holy Host may be a spectacular profanity when the insensible actors in the society of spectacle suddenly become agitated or faithful Catholics through protests and encouragement urge them to publicly expiate.
Responsible for the particular blasphemy are specific individuals with a name. One may read in the news report dated in January 19, 2015 "The Cardinal of Manila(Luis Antonio Tagle) canceled other Masses throughout the archdiocese to enhance turnout. The crowd was so dense in spots that people passed hosts to fellow worshippers unable to reach priests distributing Communion." It is therefore important that the faithful are not deliberately, at all costs, focused to the worship of man, as in this case the Pope, but always encouraged in the first place to worship God. If so, the probability of intentional or unintentional blasphemy will be significantly reduced. It will be possible provided that the Catholic faith is based on the "fides et ratio" and not on "fides et sensus".
In addition to the justified criticism I suggest a prayer of expiation which in Poland will take place tomorrow, on Thursday January 21, 2015. Moreover, anyone can send a protest to the Curia in Manilla.
@Leonard Wessell We may never know if he knew unless he or one of his advisors makes a statment but I'd agree that it may not have bothered him too much - although I am guessing like you. I am not entirely bothered by it either considering the extraordinary circumstances - I wouldn't be comfortable if it was in a smaller setting like a parish church etc. We may disagree on the interpretation of …More
We may never know if he knew unless he or one of his advisors makes a statment but I'd agree that it may not have bothered him too much - although I am guessing like you.
I am not entirely bothered by it either considering the extraordinary circumstances - I wouldn't be comfortable if it was in a smaller setting like a parish church etc.
We may disagree on the interpretation of this event and whether it is beneficial to the faithful or not but I appreciate your point of view.
Pardon the misspellings below. My health is playing tricks on me that my 3rd grade teacher would have caught and, knowing her, slapped my hand with a ruler. Good old days!
An honest question: As I read about the hand-to-hand passing on of the Hosts I wondered about sacrilege, intended or probably NOT. Does or did the Pope know of the technique and, if so, did he approve of it? My personal/subjective intuition or feeling is that such passing on the Hosts would not bother him in the least as, well, to be bothered is to be a victim of the letter of the law (and we know …More
An honest question: As I read about the hand-to-hand passing on of the Hosts I wondered about sacrilege, intended or probably NOT. Does or did the Pope know of the technique and, if so, did he approve of it? My personal/subjective intuition or feeling is that such passing on the Hosts would not bother him in the least as, well, to be bothered is to be a victim of the letter of the law (and we know what the Pope thinks of that letter) instead of letting oneself be surprised by the Holy Ghost? Can Gloria.tv or someone give me an answer?
I do not like the whole event. It reminds me of the mega-churches in America and, allas, of the mass-crowed situation visible in the 1938 Nurnberg Party celebration of hugh proportion. No comparison of content, but the same mass crowd dynamism freightens me. It reminds me ot the rock-n'-roll aspects of the Rio Mass. If this is the be the future of Vat 2 Catholism, I will return to the Middle Ages.
I do not hold that any lack of faith was present, only an educated and serene control of faith that knows about the Holiness it is receiving. Distribution means corresponding the the solemnity of Communion should have been planned. The poor people are not being judged by me, rather the authorities responsible. Mass, irrantional, hopped up Pentecostal-like religiosity is very suspiciious as feeling represes the intellectual integrity of the recipient.
@Gottlob I don't think you could call such an extreme set of circumstances sacrilege and then go on to question whether these people have faith in the Real Presence. As usual Rorate Caeli are trying to whip up the communion on the tongue crowd into a frenzy. Even the headline itself is clearly trying to say something to this effect. How sad that these people, many of them poor, are now placed in …More
I don't think you could call such an extreme set of circumstances sacrilege and then go on to question whether these people have faith in the Real Presence.
As usual Rorate Caeli are trying to whip up the communion on the tongue crowd into a frenzy. Even the headline itself is clearly trying to say something to this effect.
How sad that these people, many of them poor, are now placed in the judgement of many who are far removed from their situation to be judged agenda driven anti-Francis internet warriors.
