The following is quoted from the text of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman's famous "Biglietto Speech", given by Newman on the occasion of his appointment as Cardinal, on May 12, 1879. Does this liberalism sound familiar for our times?
"Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another, and this is the teaching which is gaining substance and force daily. It is inconsistent with any recognition of any religion, as true. It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. Devotion is not necessarily founded on faith. Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither. They may fraternise together in spiritual thoughts and feelings, without having any views at all of doctrine in common, or seeing the need of them. Since, then, religion is so personal a peculiarity and so private a possession, we must of necessity ignore it in the intercourse of man with man. If a man puts on a new religion every morning, what is that to you? It is as impertinent to think about a man's religion as about his sources of income or his management of his family. Religion is in no sense the bond of society."
Source: Biglietto Speech
Greccio at 800
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(This is a reflection I prepared for our quarterly magazine, *The Capuchin
Journey*)
One of St. Francis of Assisi’s early biographers, Brother Thomas of ...
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