+ Father Anthony Zimmerman, SVD +
Divine Word Missionary Father Anthony Zimmerman, 88, a beloved and world-renowned pro-lifer and defender of Catholic truth, marriage and the family against contraception, abortion, sterilization and the rest of the culture of death, died May 19 in Nagoya, Japan. A true missionary, he kept working almost to the end and thus "died with his boots on."
Father Zimmerman was a professor of moral theology, an author, a missionary and a pro-life apostle for many years. He never feared to explain why contraception is evil. For one thing, he noted that the contraceptive pill does act as an abortifacient -- and he pointed out that Catholic women who use the pill might be aborting their babies while in the Communion line at Mass.
Father Zimmerman's Webmaster, Matt Dula, has promised to keep his Website online. You can visit it at: www.CatholicMind.com and there you can still subscribe to Father's free e-mail newsletter, more issues of which will be forthcoming.
Father Zimmerman filled his e-mail newsletters with profound yet easily understandable reflections on the Gospels. In humility, he tagged his e-mail newsletter isssues as "Low Priority"; to his subscribers they were anything but that, of course.
In what turned out to be his last newsletter, May 8, Father Zimmerman defended Vatican II but noted that the Church, in the Catechsim and the Vatican II document Christus Dominus, does not give episcopal conferences special teaching authority:
"We are wrong, therefore, if we expect Episcopal Conferences and Federations to have the backing of Christ if they teach doctrines that the Church does not teach (e.g. the legitimacy of possessing atomic weapons, homosexuality, contraception, divorce and re-marriage)... Individual bishops teach their diocesan flocks authentically, and all bishops teach with the power of Christ when joined to the Chair of Peter. But Christ looks the other way when episcopal conferences try to teach new doctrines."
In this last newsletter of his, Father Zimmerman specifically defended Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae Vitae against the dissenting "spin" that some episcopal conferences gave it. He also predicted that Church dissenters and their "mischief" will fade away.
Cardinal Mahony and Sister Edith could do the attendees at their next Religious Education Congress a real favor if they would honor the memory of faithful Father Anthony Zimmerman, SVD, by bringing in lots of speakers (many are available, after all) to reprise his timeless message of fidelity to Catholic teaching on marriage, family and the right to life.
(Okay, this might not happen. But it surely ought to.)
Father Zimmerman, may the angels lead you into Paradise and may the countless millions of aborted and contracepted-to-death babies thank you for doing your utmost to save them. Please pray for us and all the Church, and for victory for the Culture of Life! Amen.
Father Zimmerman was a professor of moral theology, an author, a missionary and a pro-life apostle for many years. He never feared to explain why contraception is evil. For one thing, he noted that the contraceptive pill does act as an abortifacient -- and he pointed out that Catholic women who use the pill might be aborting their babies while in the Communion line at Mass.
Father Zimmerman's Webmaster, Matt Dula, has promised to keep his Website online. You can visit it at: www.CatholicMind.com and there you can still subscribe to Father's free e-mail newsletter, more issues of which will be forthcoming.
Father Zimmerman filled his e-mail newsletters with profound yet easily understandable reflections on the Gospels. In humility, he tagged his e-mail newsletter isssues as "Low Priority"; to his subscribers they were anything but that, of course.
In what turned out to be his last newsletter, May 8, Father Zimmerman defended Vatican II but noted that the Church, in the Catechsim and the Vatican II document Christus Dominus, does not give episcopal conferences special teaching authority:
"We are wrong, therefore, if we expect Episcopal Conferences and Federations to have the backing of Christ if they teach doctrines that the Church does not teach (e.g. the legitimacy of possessing atomic weapons, homosexuality, contraception, divorce and re-marriage)... Individual bishops teach their diocesan flocks authentically, and all bishops teach with the power of Christ when joined to the Chair of Peter. But Christ looks the other way when episcopal conferences try to teach new doctrines."
In this last newsletter of his, Father Zimmerman specifically defended Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae Vitae against the dissenting "spin" that some episcopal conferences gave it. He also predicted that Church dissenters and their "mischief" will fade away.
Cardinal Mahony and Sister Edith could do the attendees at their next Religious Education Congress a real favor if they would honor the memory of faithful Father Anthony Zimmerman, SVD, by bringing in lots of speakers (many are available, after all) to reprise his timeless message of fidelity to Catholic teaching on marriage, family and the right to life.
(Okay, this might not happen. But it surely ought to.)
Father Zimmerman, may the angels lead you into Paradise and may the countless millions of aborted and contracepted-to-death babies thank you for doing your utmost to save them. Please pray for us and all the Church, and for victory for the Culture of Life! Amen.
posted by Quintero at 3:55 PM
4 Comments:
Hmmmm . . . . If I remember correctly a "certain archbishop" in a certain diocese reduced "Hoc Est Corpus Meum" to " . . . simple gifts of bread [and wine.]" And a feistly little nun set him straight!
She was lauded by a curial cardinal when he said that she had the guts to tell this archbishop things that other bishops were afraid to tell this "certain" archbishop.
I suppose that this certain archbishop believes like other bishops that collegiality means, "I can do whatever I want. What about the Pope? Why he's just a guy far away . . . in . . . in . . . oh yeah, Rome!"
Hello, Mr. Fisher:
RE: "Certain Archbishop."
Before I go on I must admit that I was being a little facetious. However, I believe you might already know to whom I referred in my post. The bishop in question is Cardinal Majony. In the late 1990's the Cardinal "let out" a pastoral letter on the liturgy. It was titled "Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass." In this letter, among other things, the cardinal reduced the body and blood of Our Lord to ". . . simple gifts of bread and wine" and put the Real Presence in a footnote. The feisty nun who was insulted by this and took on the cardinal was Mother Angelica of EWTN. This incident is well covered by Raymond Arroyo in his new biography of Mother Angelica. An excellent book BTW.
Bishop Tomas Tobin of the Diocese of Youngstown, in the diocesan newspaper discussed Mother's and others outspoken reactions to Church leaders whom they find defiant to Rome. And although Bishop Tobin did not directly criticize the Cardinal, he did say that the teachings of the Catholic Faith should be taught clearly to the faithful by Her leaders. Monsignor Tobin also pointed out that it was "disturbing" to some to find that the "primary teaching of the Church regarding the Eucharist" relegated to a footnote in a pastoral letter.
Matt Dula is the webmaster for the Father Zimmerman site? I have never met Mr. Dula but he is a model for me of how to witness the Catholic Faith to a non Catholic.
If you are not familiar with Mr. Dula,
please listen to Tim Staples conversion story (available at St. Joseph's Communications). Matt Dula is a hero of the Faith!
Dear Still_Catholic,
Thanks very much for the tip! Best wishes to you.
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