M
Muzhik
Guest
That does not mean there *is *no Eschatological significance; it just means that the Church has not declared infallibly as to its significance or lack thereof. “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”The establishment of the State of Israel was done by a UN general assembly resolution. The Catholic Church places no Eschatological significance on the event.
I have to deal with questions like this from the Protestants on some of the End-Times boards I frequent. We (the Roman Catholic Church) are NOT the “Church of True Believers in Christ Jesus” down on the corner with maybe 200 people attending at Christmas and Easter. Unlike them and most of the other Protestant confessions, we have more than a billion members around the world looking to Pope Francis for leadership. The Mainstream Media (MSM) in America don’t pay attention to what John Hagee or Rick Warren say unless it’s something sensational (and the MSM overseas certainly don’t care); but Pope Francis’ statements during Sunday homilies (and frequently his weekday homilies and his mid-day audiences) are analyzed around the world for nuances and subtle shifts in policy. (Except by the MSM – they think “nuance” is some kind of French pastry.) And unlike ALL of the Protestant confessions, WE claim the charism of infallibility: what was pronounced true a thousand years ago is still held as true today.
This gives the Magisterium a special burden in regards to Israel. Modern Israel is NOT a holy place: in its short history, many of its presidents have been charged with criminal activity, and one was found guilty of rape. Israel’s abortion rate continues to drop, but it still is about 1,000 per week – about 1 in every 4 pregnancies ends in abortion. The Vatican currently has strong disagreements with Israel over issues such as taxation of religious sites and its treatment of Arab Christians.
Given all this, and not even considering the world-wide political implications of such an act, the Vatican is NOT going to declare that Modern Israel is the return of Scriptural Israel (i.e., the Valley of Dry Bones described in Isaiah). That does not mean that there are not strong movements inside the Church both for and against, but it has not been declared one way or another by the Magisterium.
Dispensationalism (or Millennialism) is a heresy Remember, though, a heresy is a truth that is out of balance with other truths. It’s not that the Church does not recognize the growth and development in our relationship with G_D over the ages; it’s that heretical sects have taken that truth and forced into a theology that teaches the completion of G_D’s Salvation History within the arc of time. This heresy goes back to the 4th and 5th centuries as Chialism (officially condemned as heresy by the Council of Ephesus in 431AD), so it’s been around for a long time.Again, there is nothing in Church teaching concerning any of this. You seem to be confusing the teaching of the Catholic Church with the dispensationalist theology of certain protestant sects.
My point in all of this is the Church’s teachings on Eschatology are, by necessity, bare-bones. This is because the Holy Spirit has not revealed to the Magisterium all SORTS of things related to the End Times: for example, who will be the Man of Sin? (Remember that, just as we do not know, neither does the Evil One. This means the Evil One has had to keep a whole slew of understudies ready to step on the world stage at a moment’s notice.) What we have that the Protestants DON’T have is close to 2,000 years of APPROVED prophecies, visions, and locutions from saints. These are by no means infallible, being non-scriptural, but they can be used as markers and guides.
My greatest fear in all of this is that people are sensing SOMETHING IS COMING, and all we are doing is telling them, “Don’t worry, the end is not near, it is not coming in our lifetimes, go back to sleep.” If we do not avail ourselves of the above-mentioned “markers and guides”, we will lose them to Protestant groups who will tell them, “THIS is what it means. Don’t bother praying the Rosary, that will do you no good! Just read Scripture, and G_D will tell you what to do!” I want to be able to tell people, when they are asking “What is happening?”, that one possible explanation is this, that was prophesied by St. so-and-so. It’s not a complete answer, but neither does it leave them in the dark.