Rosario Francesco Esposito: Difference between revisions
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On March 1 2007 Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of the [[Apostolic Penitentiary]], reacted to Esposito's declaration by making a statement that membership of Masonic organisations "remains forbidden" to Catholics,<ref>[http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49651 Masonic lodge membership is gravely sinful, Vatican official says] - [[Catholic World News]]</ref> and called on priests who had declared themselves to be Freemasons to be disciplined by their direct superiors.<ref>[http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=103884 Regent Restates Vatican's Anti-Masonry Position], [[Zenit News Agency]], 2007-03-02</ref> |
On March 1 2007 Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of the [[Apostolic Penitentiary]], reacted to Esposito's declaration by making a statement that membership of Masonic organisations "remains forbidden" to Catholics,<ref>[http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49651 Masonic lodge membership is gravely sinful, Vatican official says] - [[Catholic World News]]</ref> and called on priests who had declared themselves to be Freemasons to be disciplined by their direct superiors.<ref>[http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=103884 Regent Restates Vatican's Anti-Masonry Position], [[Zenit News Agency]], 2007-03-02</ref> |
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===Dialogue between the Church and Freemasonry=== |
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Fr. Rosario took to heart the dialogue between the Church and Masonry, on which he wrote various works (the first was La Massoneria e l’Italia in1956). He intentionally mirrored and cultivated this dialogue, seeing in them a “suggestive emblem of Church-World dialogue. He encountered misunderstandings and sufferings, often also stimulated by his impetous manner of unsheathing the weapons of reason. On the other hand, the purity and provocation formed part of his character: he said and wrote clearly what he thought and in which he believed; and punctually took account of the reactions of his interlocutors. Yet all was done with a Pauline priestly heart “in order to give glory to God and peace to men”, even if “in the journey of dialogue I know I have not always been at the top of the situation”. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 12:57, 5 December 2007
Rosario Francesco Esposito (25 September 1921 - 23 November 2007)[1] was an Italian Paulist priest.
He gained noteriety when he announced that he had joined Freemasonry. He dismissed the Church ban on membership in the Masonic lodge, saying that it is “a thing of the past.”
Prior to his joining the fraternity, Esposito, together with Father Giovanni Caprile, had been commissioned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to study the Church’s teaching on masonry. In 1983 the prefect of the Congregation, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, made a Clarification concerning status of Catholics becoming Freemasons which stated that the Church's the ban on Masonic membership remained in place.[2]
On March 1 2007 Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, reacted to Esposito's declaration by making a statement that membership of Masonic organisations "remains forbidden" to Catholics,[3] and called on priests who had declared themselves to be Freemasons to be disciplined by their direct superiors.[4]
Dialogue between the Church and Freemasonry
Fr. Rosario took to heart the dialogue between the Church and Masonry, on which he wrote various works (the first was La Massoneria e l’Italia in1956). He intentionally mirrored and cultivated this dialogue, seeing in them a “suggestive emblem of Church-World dialogue. He encountered misunderstandings and sufferings, often also stimulated by his impetous manner of unsheathing the weapons of reason. On the other hand, the purity and provocation formed part of his character: he said and wrote clearly what he thought and in which he believed; and punctually took account of the reactions of his interlocutors. Yet all was done with a Pauline priestly heart “in order to give glory to God and peace to men”, even if “in the journey of dialogue I know I have not always been at the top of the situation”.
References
- ^ Obituary notice (PDF)
- ^ Italian priest joins Masons - Catholic World News, Feb. 19, 2007
- ^ Masonic lodge membership is gravely sinful, Vatican official says - Catholic World News
- ^ Regent Restates Vatican's Anti-Masonry Position, Zenit News Agency, 2007-03-02
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