I found this through my Blogger Feed .... It's numerous translated excerpts of the last words spoken to the Conclave 2013 attendants, from the Latin Text in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (The Church's Official Bulletin of recordings of major decrees, proceedings, etc.). I am reproducing it in full from Sandro Magister's Chiesa Espresso site from here: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350575?eng=y
The content that was translated within is very important. My emphasis in bold and my comments are in the square brackets. Pax, Julian.
Groundbreaking: The Last Warning to the Pope's Electors
The official bulletin of the Holy See has lifted the secrecy from the meditation dictated to the cardinals at the beginning of the last conclave, with the doors already closed. Here are the essential passages
by Sandro Magister
ROME, August 13, 2013 – The Holy See has an official bulletin entitled “Acta Apostolicae Sedis." It is written in Latin, while the documents reproduced there are in the original languages. Its issues can be read on the Vatican website beginning with that of 1909:
> Acta Apostolicae Sedis
Since 2003 it has been issued in monthly booklets with the pages numbered starting in January. The latest booklet taken to press is also the first of Francis's pontificate:
> Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 5 aprilis - 3 Maii 2013
It contains among other things the proceedings of the conclave that on March 13, 2013 elected pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio. With one innovation with respect to what was already known.
The innovation - previously covered by secrecy - is the complete text of the meditation dictated to the grand electors on March 12, behind closed doors, immediately before the start of the voting.
The cardinal charged with the meditation was the Maltese Prosper Grech, an Augustinian, 87 years old and therefore without the right to vote. After his meditation, in fact, he left the Sistine Chapel.
The complete text of the meditation is on pages 352-357 of the cited issue of the "Acta Apostolicae Sedis."
Ten passages from this are reproduced below. Corresponding to as many points concerning “that which Christ wants from his Church,” in the judgment of Cardinal Grech.
Rereading them today spontaneously brings up an exercise: to identify on which of these points Pope Francis has exerted himself more, at the beginning of his pontificate, and on which less, and how.
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"The action you are about to carry out within this Sistine Chapel..."
by Prosper Grech
[…] I have no intention of making the identikit of the new pope, and much less of presenting a plan of action for the future pontiff. This very delicate task belongs to the Holy Spirit, who in recent decades has gifted us with a series of excellent holy pontiffs. My intention is that of drawing from Scripture some reflections to help us understand what Christ wants from his Church. […]
GOSPEL WITHOUT COMPROMISE
After his resurrection Jesus sent the apostles into the whole world to make disciples of all peoples and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 29:19). The Church does this by presenting the Gospel without compromise, without diluting the word. […]
[Editor's note. The BRIDE OF CHRIST as THE CHURCH does this, Your Eminence, but numerous members of the clergy and the educated laity and their educators either offer a watered down version, or NOT the Gospel ....] When one descends to compromises with the Gospel one empties it of its “dynamis,” as if one were to remove the explosive from a hand grenade. [YESSSS!!!!!!! Exactly!!!! and you wonder why the majority of the laity aren't moved by the "Gospel" presented to them. It's not the one you are talking about above.] Nor must one give in to temptation thinking that, since Vatican Council II is believed [the key word here] to have leveled out salvation for those who are outside of the Church as well, the need for baptism has been relativized. Today is added the abuse of many indifferent Catholics who neglect or refuse to baptize their children [as well as another malady he mentions, only bringing their kids for sacraments like baptism and NEVER setting foot in the Church again until marriage, if at all].
THE SCANDAL OF THE CROSS
The proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is made concrete in the proclamation of “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). […] It is precisely this scandal of the cross that humbles the “hybris" of the human mind and elevates it to accept a wisdom that comes from above. In this case as well, to relativize the person of Christ by placing him alongside other “saviors” means emptying Christianity itself of its substance. It is precisely the preaching of the absurdity of the cross that in less than three hundred years reduced to the minimum the religions of the Roman empire and opened the minds of men to a new view of hope and resurrection. It is for the same hope that the modern world is thirsting, suffering from an existential depression.
CHURCH OF MARTYRS
Christ crucified is intimately connected to the Church crucified. It is the Church of the martyrs, from those of the first centuries to the many faithful who, in certain countries, are exposing themselves to death simply by going to Sunday Mass. […] Jesus predicts: “if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you" (Jn 15:20). Therefore, persecution is a "quid constitutivum" of the Church, […] it is a cross that it must embrace. But persecution is not always physical, there is also the persecution of falsehood: “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake" (Mt 5:11). You have recently experienced this through some media outlets that do not love the Church. [here, as will be said below, the Cardinal is referring to the sex scandals that recently came up AGAIN in the Church. While it is truly a minority of ALL priests in the Church who have committed these heinous actions, the mainstream anti-Catholic media loves to pounce on it like wolves to game meat.] When the accusations are false one must not pay attention to them, even if they cause immense pain.
WHEN THE ACCUSATIONS TELL THE TRUTH
It is another thing when what is said about us is the truth, as has happened in many of the accusations of pedophilia. Then we must humble ourselves before God and men, and seek to uproot the evil at all costs, as did, to his great regret, Benedict XVI. And only in this way can we regain credibility before the world and give an example of sincerity. Today many people do not arrive at believing in Christ because his face is obscured or hidden behind an institution that lacks transparency. [One can now see a likely factor that influenced the decision of who to vote for amongst the Cardinals to be Pope. Basically, to restore the tarnished public image of the Catholic Church and Catholicism.] But if recently we have wept over many unpleasant events that have befallen clergy and laity, even in the pontifical household, we must consider that these evils, as great as they may be, if compared with certain evils in the history of the Church are nothing but a cold. [I disagree with his eminence. Sexual scandal at the hands of these men are NOT common colds, they are "vile diseases" of grave sin, mental, and physical illness.] And just as these have been overcome with God's help, so also the present crisis will be overcome. Even a cold needs to be taken care of well to keep it from turning into pneumonia.
SMOKE OF SATAN IN THE CHURCH
The evil spirit of the world, the “mysterium iniquitatis" (2 Thes 2:7), constantly strives to infiltrate the Church. [unfortunately, this cardinal could have and should have said it has to a degree, with that evil spirit taking the form of secuarlism/relativism/selfish and prideful ideaologies and wanton desires of the flesh. This tense implies it is TRYING to penetrate its walls. Things in the world seem to show it has gone farther than that at a societal and cultural level. Spiritually, the Church as Bride of Christ will NEVER fall to Satan. See Matthew 16:18] Moreover, let us not forget the warning of the prophets of ancient Israel not to seek alliances with Babylon or with Egypt, but to follow a pure policy "ex fide" trusting solely in God (cf. Is 30:1; 31:1-3; Hos 12:2) and in his covenant. Courage! Christ relieves our minds when he exclaims: "Have trust, I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33). […]
LURKING SCHISMS
No less easy for the future pontiff will be the task of keeping unity in the Catholic Church itself. Between ultratraditionalist extremists and ultraprogressive extremists, between priests who rebel against obedience and those who do not recognize the signs of the times, there will always be the danger of minor schisms that not only damage the Church but also go against the will of God: unity at all costs. [While other Traditionalist blogs are upset with this statement, I agree here with the Cardinal. Both sides have fallen off the "narrow path", though the ultratraditionalist sides have shown their ugly heads more prominently, thanks to the combination of Summorum Pontificum and the Internet blogosphere. Further, the SSPX were featured again in the last few years due to the talks with Benedict, that failed at their hands when they did not sign the doctrinal preamble. They chose division and a rejection of Holy Mother Church.] But unity does not mean uniformity. It is evident that this does not close the doors to the intra-ecclesial discussion present in the whole history of the Church. All are free to express their thoughts on the task of the Church, but they should be proposals in line with that "depositum fidei" which the pontiff together with all of the bishops has the task of guarding. […] [in other words, criticize validly and in Catholic fraternal charity what is problematic, but if you don't like what you see, don't go all "Luther/Henry VIII/Lefebvre, etc." and start you own "church" away from Holy Mother Church. That's what gets you not in communion with Her. You gotta stick to the major stuff]
SEXUAL FREEDOM AND PROGRESS
Unfortunately today theology suffers from the feeble thought that dominates the philosophical environment, and we need a good philosophical foundation in order to be able to develop dogma with a valid hermeneutic that speaks a language intelligible to the contemporary world. [I have to disagree here. This sounds like liberal garbage, using high level words to say something. NO. We do not need a hermeneutic with an intelligible language for the world. The world, while created good by God, is not of Christ and if anything is contrary to the Church should one give into it. If anything, we need a clearer faith, one that does not appeal to novelties or the modern world. We need a clear, traditional, loving (Caritas) message that unites both faith and works, one that is obedient to Christ and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. We don't need some philosophical gobbledegook from some theologian or left/right wing priest.] It often happens, however, that the proposals of many faithful for the progress of the Church are based on the level of freedom that is granted in the area of sexuality. Certainly laws and traditions that are purely ecclesiastical can be changed, but not every change means progress, it must be discerned whether such changes act to increase the holiness of the Church or to obscure it. […]
THAT LITTLE REMNANT WHICH DOES NOT BEND THE KNEE TO BAAL
In the West, at least in Europe, Christianity itself is in crisis. […] There reigns an ignorance and disregard not only of Catholic doctrine, but even of the ABC's of Christianity. The urgency is thus felt of a new evangelization that begins from pure kerygma and plain proclamation to nonbelievers, followed by a continual catechesis nourished by prayer. [Yes!!! We must proclaim the Gospel's basic message to people, and even get the most faithful Catholics to know WHAT the kerygma is, to further solidify the faith, have a personal encounter with Christ, say YES to him, and THEN when all that happens to have those solid people evangelize to others.] But the Lord is never defeated by human negligence and it seems that, while they are closing the doors to him in Europe, he is opening them elsewhere, especially in Asia. And even in the West God will not fail to keep for himself a remnant of Israel that does not bend the knee before Baal, a remnant that we find mainly in the many lay movements endowed with different charisms [I hope this is not a blatant love for Charismatic Catholicism. Certain parts are ok, probably along the lines of George Weigel's Evangelical Catholicism book] that are making a strong contribution to the new evangelization. […] Care must be taken, however, that particular movements should not believe that the Church is exhausted in them. [This is both for lay movements, orders, etc. and the "trads" alike!] In short, God cannot be defeated by our indifference. The Church is his, the gates of hell can wound its heel but can never suffocate it. […] [MATT 16:18!]
THE FAITH OF THE SIMPLE
There is another factor of hope in the Church that we must not overlook, the “sensus fidelium.” Augustine calls it "the inner teacher" in each believer. […] This creates in the depths of the heart that criterion of discernment of true and false, it makes us distinguish instinctively that which is "secundum Deum" [meaning second in importance to God] from that which comes from the world and from the evil one (1 Jn 4:1-6). […] The coals of devout faith are kept alive by millions of simple faithful who are far from being called theologians but who in the intimacy of their prayers, reflections, and devotions can give profound advice to their pastors. It is these who "will destroy the wisdom of the wise and nullify the intelligence of the intelligent" (1 Cor 1:19). This means that when the world, with all of its knowledge and intelligence, abandons the logos of human reason, the Logos of God shines in simple hearts, which form the marrow from which the backbone of the Church is nourished. […]
UNDER THE HAND OF CHRIST THE JUDGE
While professing that the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, we do not always take him into consideration in our plans for the Church. He transcends all sociological analysis and historical prediction. He surpasses the scandals, the internal politics, the ambition, and the social problems, which in their complexity obscure the face of Christ that must shine even through dense clouds. Let's listen to Augustine: "The apostles saw Christ and believed in the Church that they did not see; we see the Church and must believe in Christ whom we do not see. By holding fast to what we see, we will arrive at seeing the one whom now we do not see" (Sermo 328, 3). […] In 1961 John XXIII received in audience in this Sistine Chapel the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. He indicated the dominant figure of Christ the judge in the fresco of Michelangelo, and told them that Christ will also judge the actions of the individual nations in history. You find yourselves in this same Chapel, beneath the figure of that Christ with his hand raised not to crush but to illuminate your voting, that it may be "secundum Spiritum," not "secundum carnem." […] [he means that it is influenced by the Holy spirit, and not by subjective or material motives]. It is in this way that the elected will be not yours, but essentially His. […] [++Collins, our Archbishop and Cardinal, often remarks on this very fact when he went for the Conclave. The judgement part of our lives for our eternity based on our actions is what he often emphasizes of this painting.]
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English translation by Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.
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