From
I have pretty much just copied his post as it needs some context. Of course we wouldn’t want to hear this, so best to ignore it 🙂
I was struck by the following, a quote within a quote from the June 7th 2010 issue of Time Magazine. The article I’m referencing was the feature article on the Papacy and trouble besetting the world-wide Catholic Church
It reads:
“…One vision for the future echoes from the past. A conservative website is circulating a prophecy uttered by a 42-year old Catholic theologian in 1969, amid the turmoil of that year of radicalism and barricades.
“From today’s crisis, a church will emerge tomorrow that will have lost a great deal,” he said on German radio. “She will be small and, to a large extent, will have to start from the beginning. She will not longer be able to fill many of the buildings created in her period of great splendor. Because of the smaller number of her followers she will lose many of her privileges in society. Contrary to what has happened until now, she will present herself much more as a community of followers… As a small community, she will demand much more from the initiative of each of her members and she will certainly also acknowledge new forms of ministry and will raise up to the priesthood proven Christians who have other jobs… It will make her poor and a church of the little people… All this will require time. The process will be slow and painful.”
The theologian was Joseph Ratzinger. And his vision from 40 years ago may now unfold in ways he could never have imagined…”
I think this is very interesting. It also sounds like a wonderful vision for the Church (Roman or otherwise).
Have you been in a RC church lately? Or talked to some of the youth that have been formed by John Paul II’s papacy? They are a different kind of Catholic…
[BTW I don’t identify as Roman Catholic.]
Fantastic quote – thanks for this.
I wonder if he’s been reminded of it?
I had a couple more questions about the sunbeam coffee machine … but it seems the comments on the thread were shut down. 🙁