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Twitter is a great platform for sharing information - and this little gem was on Twitter, posted by a great Catholic blogger called Ben Trovato.
As you know, I am doing much research into the controversies surrounding the Second Vatican Council - it isn't pretty, I can tell you! But I have a love of Church history and this period leading up to and after Vatican 2 is important. The Penny Catechism edition of 1971 was printed after the council and it seems impossible to me that there could be ANY changes to the Penny Catechism - after all - the Catholic Faith does not change with the times! So you may want to print out the 1958 version - I will.
The changes are subtle but this is the problem. Even a subtle change of terminology can alter one's perception of the Truths of the Faith.
I have read through it and my biggest worry is no 265 of the penny catechism. It is regarding the new rite of Confirmation - I was confirmed in the new rite. I am worried. Why?
This is what it says.
The 1958 edition says - the words used for confirmation are these: "I sign thee with the sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
The 1971 edition says - with the 1976 revision - says, the words used in Confirmation are these; "N.........be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit." This is extraordinary!
The shocking thing here, is that the new rite of Confirmation omits the sign of the Cross, the chrism of salvation, the words 'I confirm', and the first two Persons of the Holy Trinity. Thus the proper form is absent, and the validity of the sacrament is open to question (see Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas, III, a.72,4).
This shocks me - I now ask the question - is my confirmation valid?? Do I need to get confirmed again? If I am not confirmed properly I don't have the fruits of confirmation.
I have made it a policy now, that I only consult catechisms up to 1958 and not after. The ambiguities of Vatican 2 scare and scandalise me.
Here is the link
