There are a number of posters here who are becoming quite tiresome in their criticism of this forum and the reasonably argued positions of those with whom they disagree. Enough of the hand bags, stop the hissy fits or just do us all a favour....
Brian, those of us who can't always adore on our knees do so in our hearts. At his age and with his state of health, I think we can assume that Pope Francis is kneeling in his heart. Not everyone who bends the knee is adoring with the heart. As I have said already, we don't know whether genuflecting on one knee would be harder for him. I can't find it in my heart to denounce him when we don't really know how his illness affects him. I read half the piece you linked from One Peter Five but had to stop because it was too depressing. What I read was way over the top for any Catholic. Shame on whoever wrote it. Criticism and disagreement is understandable. That kind of character assassination is not. We are supposed to correct with charity. I didn't see an iota of charity in that article. Take care, Brian, to not let your mind be poisoned by people who would go too far in telling the Pope how to be Pope.
I've written for 1Peter5 so I tend to agree with most of the stuff I post from or link to there. Yes the recent linked article is a bit harsh, but that doesn't make it less true. Unfortunately. Everyone deals with this debacle in different ways. Some with silence, some with joyful perseverance in defending the Faith, some gallows humor, some bitter sarcasm, some obstinate denial and brutal insult to those stating uncomfortable Truth. Who am I to judge?
Who are any of us to judge? We are called to correct errors with charity. Yes, I know that Pope Francis has been less than charitable in his dealings with those who disagree with him. That doesn't give us the right to respond uncharitably. The article was vicious and certainly not Christian. Such viciousness does more to harm the cause of the writer than to garner support for his argument. Its tone was more Martin Luther than Catherine of Sienna.
You are probably as deeply disturbed at my comments as I am at yours. I am as certain that my support of The Pope is right as you are certain I am wrong. What I can definitely say is that none of The Pope's opponents are trying to follow Paul's example of trying to be all the things to all people so that by all possible means some might be saved. None of the Pope's opponents have shown me or anyone I know, anything that the Pope has done or said that contradicts or contravenes the Catholic Faith. None of the Pope's opponents have said anything positive about him. All of them have shown great disrespect and disdain for him, for his Ministry of Mercy and for his love of the poor, oppressed and marginalized, for his love and care for God's creation, for the pastoral priority he rightly gives to his role as shepherd, for his achievements in improving the attitude of Catholics to their own faith in taking the emphasis of fear and giving it to faith, from rules to personal relationship with God and neighbour, to change Catholic Psyche for the better from exclusive to inclusive, from arrogance to humility, for speaking the language of the heart that is clear in content and intent to all whose pure hearts resonate his truth, for his valiant efforts to show the Truth that is essential to our Salvation in the proper practice of our Faith, in short for refreshing in us the very mind of Christ. Laugh, vomit, do what you will with this. Our minds will never meet under present circumstances.
Yes, thank you. He bows, but he never genuflects. He can kneel for other events, even lowering himself to kiss the feet of Muslim women at the washing of the feet in the Holy Thursday liturgy, but he does not genuflect at the consecration.
This was noted in a blog post in March 2013, in response to Pope Francis' bow at the consecration at his first mass as pope: This is Pope Benedict’s last public Mass on Ash Wednesday, February 13, 2013. Note that Pope Benedict, frail to the point of citing his frailty as a reason for his abdication, fully genuflects to the knee, as every priest MUST do as a non-negotiable rubric of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And for anyone arguing that it is simply too difficult for anyone over the age of twenty-four to genuflect, may I remind you that the rubrics call for both hands to be flat on the altar, which lends a great deal of physical support to the priest, and for there to be servers on each side who can assist with the genuflections by holding the elbows of the priest. That is one of the reasons the servers are there – to physically assist the priest if needed. The genuflection after the consecration of the Host is at 1:19:33. The genuflection after the consecration of the Chalice is at 1:20:21.
It was done routinely here in the States as a purposeful liturgical abuse in many churches by many priests as a sign of their progressive orientation and refusal to obey "Rome's rubrics." When the current pope violates liturgical rules by kneeling to wash and kiss the feet of Muslim women at Holy Thursday liturgies, proving he is indeed able to kneel, but refuses to do so at the consecration, again violating liturgical rules, I don't judge him, I just scratch my head and wonder why. Don't you? Again, a pope who had to retire due to poor health still insisted on genuflecting at the consecration. If a pope who has clearly illustrated his ability to kneel in ecumenical settings refuses to do so in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, what exactly should we conclude from this bizarre behavior?
It is always edifying to see old people struggle to genuflect,even more so in a Pope. It is something I often notice ,even in the old folks in my parish.
I always try to kneel at communion even though my knees are stuffed but my old dad had such bad knees they were beyond surgery. The bones just ground together. Maybe the Pope's knees are like that.
When I'm at the daily (Novus Ordo) mass I always genuflected prior to receiving but since I had a stroke my balance won't permit me. When I make it to our diocesan Traditional Latin Mass a couple Sundays a month they have kneelers, a great blessing. There are still elderly that stand at our Latin Mass who are unable to kneel and no one thinks anything of it. As far as your point about the pope's knees, they appear to function fine, especially at ecumenical gatherings. View attachment 3818 View attachment 3819 View attachment 3820 View attachment 3821 View attachment 3824
When I was with the Chistercians we never ever genuflected all the time we were there. If you are doing a lot of liturgy genuflecting can get in the road, we always used to bow to the tabernacle. Also at the Gospel we used to bless ourselves instead of the triple cross. This was a traditon going back , I suppose 800 years. When I see people at Mass not genuflecting at Mass I always make allowances, they might have a medical condition or something else wrong. It is better to make allowances. If the Pope has bad knees I can understand and make allowances and think the best. Earlier on in the year I hurt my own leg and was not able to genuflect for some months , I hope people made allowances for me as I do for them.
It is better on the whole, I think to err on the side of thinking the best of people, rather than the worst, in such circumstances. Not just for Popes, but for everyone.
The Pope spoke about two temptations after assuring those present that "I will not go through a list of temptations, like the 15 temptations I went through with the Curia..." The first was Pelagianism, which “pushes the Church away from humility, disinterestedness and blessedness. And it makes it seem as though it is doing a good deed. Pelagianism brings us to have faith in structures, organisations, and plans that are perfect because abstract. Sometimes it even leads us to adopt a controlling, tough and prescriptive attitude. The law gives the Pelagian a certain sense of superiority.” Francis explained that “in the face of the Church’s afflictions or problems, it is no good seeking solutions in conservative or fundamentalist attitudes, in the revival of types of conduct and forms that are dated and that lack a capacity to be significant even culturally. Christian doctrine is not a closed doctrine that is incapable of generating questions, doubts, queries but it is alive and able to unsettle and enliven people. It has a face that is not rigid, a body that moves and grows and a tender flesh: it is called Jesus Christ”. http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-firenze-44568/
Our spiritual director, a Passionist, spent a number of years with the Cistercian Monastery in Kentucky and they followed the Cistercian Rite of the Mass, which, unlike the Roman Rite, did not have as many genuflections. However when he returned to the Passionists (due to health reasons) he faithfully fulfilled the rubrics of the Roman Rite, the Rite all us Roman Catholics use, and which included the genuflection at the consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ, until he died at age 93 two years ago. View attachment 3823
