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Just a clarifying comment, if I may, from a discussion in the comments: One cannot re-unite himself to "pre-Trent Catholicism," because that doesn't exist. The Council of Trent is an ecumenical council of Christ's Church. A child of that Church, then, submits himself to that Council unequivocally as a matter of divine faith. The later Councils (say, Vatican I and Vatican II) may express the deepening understanding of God's People (properly speaking) but the Councils cannot be placed in opposition to one another. An ecumenical council, the fullest and most solemn engagement of the Church's authority, is true as such. The bishops of the Church, united with their head, the successor of Peter, guided by the Holy Spirit, discern God's will for his people. The only proper response to the determinations of the Council is submission, to the pope, to one's bishop, and to the priests united to that bishop.

Comments

Timothy R. Butler said…
We're not disagreeing per se. If you accept the Catholic claims (which Protestants do not, obviously!) then you must accept Trent. However, the point stands that you can't put all the pieces back together to how they were before the split -- as you had mused about in your other post -- because one side's doctrine makes it impossible to return its shards of glass. It has melted more glass onto the edges of the pieces and they no longer fit even if all the other pieces were willingly returned to their pre-Reformation places. True ecumenism headed towards unity, I think, can only occur when all sides are willing to learn from the other sides and, as Dulles and Newman suggest, be willing to learn from the other.

I should send you Dulles excellent little article on the Reformation. A lot of 20th century Catholics seemed to see the value in appreciating the Reformation -- and owning the cause of it.
4:29 PM
Jason said…
Please do! I love Cardinal Dulles (may he rest in peace). I would say that much has been learned on all sides. But the amount that can be learned is limited by the separation.
6:23 PM
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