OUR LADY OF FATIMA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
|
|
OUR LADY OF FATIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH |
|
A Most
Revealing Conference
Summorum pontificum one year on...
November 19, 2008
In September a 2 day
conference in Rome was organized to celebrate the one year anniversary of the
implementation of the MP. Although the President of the Ecclesia Dei commission
was not scheduled to speak, he did so anyway. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, whose famous
blog seems to be ubiquitous these days was present for the impromptu conference.
Even he was startled by what he heard. One can detect a certain sense of personal chagrin on
the part of the Cardinal who no doubt has had to take a lot of flak from all
kinds of crazies including yours truly...
Cardinal: Some not satisfied even after pope's Tridentine Mass decree
ROME (CNS) -- Rather than being grateful, some people have reacted to Pope Benedict XVI's wider permission for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass with further demands, said Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos. [Well I'm not surprised that people have flooded the commission with requests particularly since (as we shall see later) the bishops around the world have reacted pretty negatively to the MP on the whole.]
The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," spoke Sept. 16 at a conference marking the first anniversary of "Summorum Pontificum," the document by which Pope Benedict expanded access to the Tridentine rite, the Mass rite used before the Second Vatican Council.
Cardinal Castrillon, whose commission works with communities using the old rite, said his office continues to receive letters requesting the Tridentine rite be used not just at one Mass a week but at every Mass, and that such Masses be available not just at one church in a town but at every church. ["Houston, we have a problem !" - Wait a minute Your Eminence but you stated in London in June that the Holy Father wanted this Mass available in every church inh England and Wales... has something changed again ????]
He said he even got a letter demanding that Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major be dedicated exclusively to the celebration of the Tridentine-rite Mass.
Such people, he said, are "insatiable, incredible." [And yet Pope John Paul II wrote of the "legitimate aspirations of people attached to the former rites" and Pope Benedict XVI said in the letter that accompanied the MP: "As for the use of the 1962 Missal as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted." nowhere do I see a limit of Sundays only for the Trad Mass...]
"They do not know the harm they are doing," Cardinal Castrillon said, adding that when the Vatican does not accept their demands immediately "they go directly to the Internet" and post their complaints. [Like myself, for example. Sometimes a public forum such as this is the only way a Trad can get redress. What is one to make of a letter that was written over a year a go to this Cardinal that never received a response ?]
The cardinal and officials in his office have been saying for more than a year now that they were preparing detailed instructions responding to questions about how to implement the papal document, which said the Mass in the new Roman Missal, introduced in 1970, remains the ordinary way of Catholic worship.
Asked about the status of those detailed instructions, Cardinal Castrillon told Catholic News Service that his office had completed its work and passed the draft on to the pope, who would make the final decision about its publication. [.... and still we wait, and wait, and wait, and wait...]
In addition to responding to the desire of Catholics who wanted more frequent and easier access to Mass celebrated in the old rite, the pope's 2007 document was seen as a major step toward reconciliation with the followers of the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was excommunicated when he ordained four bishops against the express wishes of Pope John Paul II.
But the process of reconciliation broke down in late June when Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior of the Society of St. Pius X and one of the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre, failed to meet four conditions posed by Cardinal Castrillon for moving the process forward. [Yes that is what it is all about - snagging the Society of St. Pius X]
"The Eucharist should never become a point of contrast and a point of separation," Cardinal Castrillon said at the Sept. 16 conference. "What is more important: the mystery of God who becomes bread or the language by which we celebrate the mystery?"
The cardinal said the Mass -- in whatever language it is celebrated -- must be a service motivated by love and "never a sword" used against other Christians. [I agree but these issues are being made a "sword of division and have been for the last 40 years as Trads have been kicked in their teeth time and time again by officials in the hierarchy who want to steam-roller Tradition - big time ! It was just a few years ago that anyone saying the Traditional Mass in St. Peter's basilica would have had their maniple and missal confiscated by a sacristan - yes even interrupting the action of the Mass - on the orders of Cardinal Virgilio Noe.]
By making it easier for priests to celebrate the older liturgy and for the faithful to have access to it, he said, "the vicar of Christ (the pope) was not just exercising his task of governing, but was exercising his task of sanctifying" the people of God.
"When we are before the greatest expression of love for humanity -- the Eucharist -- how can we fight?" Cardinal Castrillon asked. [We "fight" because our "rights" are not being met in most cases. Put another way, there would have been no MP without the Catholic resistance movement. The Ecclesia Dei communities mostly came from the SSPX in the first place.I can remember (in so far as the Eucharist is an "expression of love for humanity" is concerned) back in 1996 preparing to celebrate Mass at the tomb of St. Louis Marie de Montfort having the shrine rector fling an alb at me in the sacristy and then during the celebration of the Mass stand on the opposite side of the tomb glaring at me for most of the Mass with a look of contempt. No we shouldn't fight should we ?
Another anecdote comes to mind. Once in Lourdes, Sister Mary Michaela and I were welcomed by an Italian nun dressed in a grey modified habit to stay in her convent. The Italian nun asked me in French, (after taking a look at Sister Mary Michaela in her traditional habit), if she hadn't heard that there was a Vatican II and that women religious no longer dress like that. Like a flash I responded (in French) "Haven't you heard, Sister, that Vatican II calls for pluralism and tolerance and if she wants to wear a full habit the Council allows it ?" Not another word was heard in any language thereafter !]
As part of this 2 day
conference the Vice-president of Ecclesia Dei gave a more realistic
vision of what has happened this past year in so far as the reaction to the MP
is concerned:
Rome- “In Italy, most bishops” have placed obstacles to the application of the motu proprio of Benedict XVI which liberalized the use of the ancient, pre-Conciliar, Missal in 2007.…[Camille] Perl participated in Rome at a conference named “The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of His Holiness Benedict XVI: spiritual richness for the entire Church one year later.”
“In Italy – the cleric said – most bishops, with few admirable exceptions, have placed obstacles to the application of the motu proprio on the Latin Mass. The same must be said about many Superiors who forbid their priests to celebrate the Mass according to the ancient rite.”
Monsignor Perl provided a not very rosy picture of the situation also in other countries, recalling that “in Germany, for instance, the Episcopal Conference published highly bureaucratic directives, which make for a difficult application of the motu proprio”, while in France “there are lights and shadows”. Yet to consider Italy, the nation of which the Pope is the primate, as a nation in which bishops have impeded the papal decision, represents a serious judgment, coming from the lips of the number two of the Commission.
Now you can see why I have a much less optimistic view of this pontificate than I had before. A some time correspondent recently noticed my more negative take on things from Rome and wrote me reminding me that I had told him to be more upbeat a year or so ago in one of these columns:
Although, nearly two years ago, I was.
http://www.olfatima.com/January%2021%202007.html
But, the cat is out of the bag and the traveling I do that forces me to attend the worst liturgies in fulfilling my Sunday obligation leads me to conclude that the opposition is dying out and their strategy to ignore the MP will fail. [I doubt it. He is almost 82... the US bishops have been rather savvy... just wait until he dies....] Even though it may take a generation to notice. [I really don't think we have that long to wait before the end of time. The apocalyptic language of this Sunday's gospel and the following Sunday (Advent I) seem to me to be being fulfilled even as I type these words.] The Holy Father is trying to serve all Catholics, not just advance a personal agenda. [True, but he's also trying to be all things to all men, and when we see a mess like we have in today's Church that just won't cut it.]He will likely fail in bringing in the worst of the Novus Ordo fanatics, but they won't go on. They have no vocations and while their masses are well attended now, there are no kids. [You forget the Life teen Masses - those abominations are filled with kids - yes even distributing Holy Communion in halter tops - so I've been told !]
A reality check is in
order here: we are almost 4 years into this pontificate and no significant
strides have been made other than paper with words on it. When Pope Benedict XVI
was elected, our Ordinary said on the local TV station that he did not expect
the new Pope to make major changes. Back in 2005 I thought him wrong. Recently I
had the opportunity to agree with him and tell him that he was right. He told me
that the conservatives were all hoping for great things but that their hopes had
been dashed. Yes, my hopes have been well and truly dashed.
+TF
  
|
Copyright© Our Lady of Fatima Spring Hill, |
|
