瀏覽是次主教會議，小弟所注意的另一言論，是出自聖路易總教區主教 Raymond L. Burke 論及「聖經」與「律法」之間的關係。
這位總主教是知名的聖教法典學者，先前在美國與某些支持墮胎的天主教政客周旋的事跡，乃廣為人知。而最近亦被教宗本篤十六世委任，主理教廷的司法部門「Apostolic Signatura」。
他首先提到「神聖律」（divine law）和「自然律」（又稱「性律」－－natural law）的概念。當中的訊息是：天主所銘刻在人心中的自然律，乃普世共通的。因天主所啟示而為人所知悉的誡命，乃是將人性的規律，予以闡明。他指：教會現時處身於「物質主義、相對主義、個體主義」的文化環境中，特別需要向社會作出這方面的見證。
此外，他亦提到按照聖經教導，「守法」的地位和重要性。遵守法律並不是德行生活或美善表達的「最高理想」，而只是「基礎」而矣。
在這脈絡下， Abp Burke 亦提出，教會法（Canon Law）的角色和重要性需要被肯定。他指出：法律的本質是為「公益」（common good / bonum commune）。而教會法律的存在，乃為教會本身的使命服務。現時教會生活中，往往擺脫不了俗世社會某些習尚的負面影響。對「禮儀紀律」和「法定程序」的廣泛輕視和忽略，往往導致教會生活受到影響，亦使信眾們應有的權利未能受到充份保障。
精彩。
1. Regarding no. 58 of the Instrumentum laboris, the Holy Scriptures teach that God has written His law upon every human heart. The divine natural law, inscribed upon the human heart, can be discovered by reason but is clearly announced to all through the inspired Word of God (cf. Rom 2:15).
2. In the context of pervasive materialism, relativism and radical individualism, it is especially urgent that the Scriptural teaching on the natural moral law be presented as the common heritage of every man.
3. Also urgently needed is the proclamation of the divinely inspired teaching on the discipline which disposes man to do what is good and to avoid what is evil. Holy Scripture teaches us that the observance of the law is not the height of man's self-expression, but it is the irreplaceable foundation of the highest expressions of human goodness.
4. Proclaiming the Scriptural teaching on the place of discipline in the lives of individuals and of society is a challenge in a culture which is either antinomian or has made law a tool in the hands of the most powerful.
5. Regarding the relationship of the Word of God and law, it is important to underline the service of canon law in the Church, by which the life of Christ can grow and develop in the whole Church. In his Apostolic Constitution Sacrae disciplinae leges, Pope John Paul II, describing the service of Canon Law in the Church, referred to "that long heritage of law, which is contained in the books of the Old and New Testament and from which the whole juridical and legislative tradition of the Church takes its origin, as from its first source."
6. In the Church, as in society, the understanding of the law has been obscured and, in some cases, lost, leading to gravely harmful effects, for example, the widespread disregard of liturgical laws and the failure to follow the procedural laws by which the faithful vindicate their rights and ecclesiastical delicts are duly sanctioned.
7. The deeper appreciation of the service of law in the Church, through the study of the Word of God, not only helps the Church to understand and treasure the gift of its canonical discipline for the attainment of its divine mission, but also assists society, in general, to understand and treasure the irreplaceable service of law for the attainment of the common good.
3 則留言:
Edward兄：
說開律法，有件事情使我百思不得其解！
就是有關「天主教書籍」出版前，是否須要有Nihil Obstat和Imprimatur？最近在公教進行社遊覽時，看過很多本有關「解經」的書籍。我心知只有教會有釋經權，而Imprimatur和Nihil Obstat是保障了內容無誤，及與教會相乎之唯一參考途經。
所以，有購書前，必先參閱此兩項！但眼見大部份的書籍都欠奉Imprimatur，即使有Imprimatur的也缺乏了Nihil Obstat。到底這是什麼一回事？
Calvin
Calvin兄：
法典第八二七條，應可解答你的疑問－－
Can. 827 §1. To be published, catechisms and other writings pertaining to catechetical instruction or their translations require the approval of the local ordinary, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 775, §2.
§2. Books which regard questions pertaining to sacred scripture, theology, canon law, ecclesiastical history, and religious or moral disciplines cannot be used as texts on which instruction is based in elementary, middle, or higher schools unless they have been published with the approval of competent ecclesiastical authority or have been approved by it subsequently.
§3. It is recommended that books dealing with the matters mentioned in §2, although not used as texts in instruction, as well as writings which especially concern religion or good morals are submitted to the judgment of the local ordinary.
§4. Books or other writings dealing with questions of religion or morals cannot be exhibited, sold, or distributed in churches or oratories unless they have been published with the permission of competent ecclesiastical authority or approved by it subsequently.
按照現行規定，並非每一本關乎信仰或倫理的書籍，都「必須」經過教區主教的審閱，除非該書藉是用作教理講授、宗教教育、或在聖堂內傳閱之用。
但據小弟所知，與「大赦」有關的祈禱文及與「私人啟示」有關的書藉、單張、或其他資料，則必須得到教區當局的批准，方可刊印或傳閱。
講真的，即使主教或審查者發出imprimatur或nihil obstat，都不過是一紙聲明而矣，它們不一定「正確」。
我的見解是：這種制度與其說是保障內容的正確，倒不如說是為確保「冤有頭、債有主」，當發現有問題物品的時候，可以更有效快捷地作出妥善處理。
若無記錯，這種審查制度是在特倫多大公會議中，被正式欽定的－－
And wishing, as is just, to impose a restraint, in this matter, also on printers, who now without restraint, - thinking, that is, that whatsoever they please is allowed them, - print, without the license of ecclesiastical superiors, the said books of sacred Scripture, and the notes and comments upon them of all persons indifferently, with the press ofttimes unnamed, often even fictitious, and what is more grievous still, without the author's name; and also keep for indiscriminate sale books of this kind printed elsewhere; (this Synod) ordains and decrees, that, henceforth, the sacred Scripture, and especially the said old and vulgate edition, be printed in the most correct manner possible; and that it shall not be lawful for any one to print, or cause to be printed, any books whatever, on sacred matters, without the name of the author; nor to sell them in future, or even to keep them, unless they shall have been first examined, and approved of, by the Ordinary; under pain of the anathema and fine imposed in a canon of the last Council of Lateran: and, if they be Regulars, besides this examination and approval, they shall be bound to obtain a license also from their own superiors, who shall have examined the books according to the form of their own statutes. As to those who lend, or circulate them in manuscript, without their having been first examined, and approved of, they shall be subjected to the same penalties as printers: and they who shall have them in their possession or shall read them, shall, unless they discover the authors, be themselves regarded as the authors. And the said approbation of books of this kind shall be given in writing; and for this end it shall appear authentically at the beginning of the book, whether the book be written, or printed; and all this, that is, both the approbation and the examination, shall be done gratis, that so what ought to be approved, may be approved, and what ought to be condemned, may be condemned.
發佈留言