Abandonment of internal church discipline over the past half century
has undermined the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, said the
American cardinal who heads the Vatican’s supreme court.
Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic
Signature, made his remarks Oct. 23 in a submission to the of the world
Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization.
The cardinal said that a secular version of “antinomianism” – the belief
that grace exempts Christians from obedience to moral law – is “among
the most serious wounds of society today,” responsible for the
legalization of “intrinsically evil” actions such as abortion, embryonic
stem-cell research, euthanasia and same-sex marriage, and for
infringements of religious liberty.
“Excitement following the council, linked to the establishment of a new
church which teaches freedom and love, has strongly encouraged an
attitude of indifference toward church discipline, if not even
hostility,” he said.
“The reforms of ecclesial life which were hoped for
by the council fathers were, therefore, in a certain sense, hindered if
not betrayed.”