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Monday 26 July 2021

Dutch Bishop says Bergoglio has "Shot himself in the foot!"

The statements from bishops in many places with regards to the action by Bergoglio to attempt to abrogate the Holy Mass codified by Pope Pius V continues. This one by Bishop Robertus Gerardus Leonia Maria Mutsaerts, Auxiliary Bishop of ’s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), Netherlands hits pretty hard. My emphasis.


Pope Francis promotes synodality: everyone should be able to talk, everyone should be heard. This was hardly the case with his recently published motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, an ukase [imperial edict] that must put an immediate termination on the traditional Latin Mass. In so doing, Francis puts a big bold line through Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict’s motu proprio that gave ample scope to the old Mass. 

The fact that Francis here uses the word of power without any
consultation indicates that he is losing authority. This was already evident earlier when the German Bishops’ Conference took no notice of the Pope’s advice regarding the synodality process. The same occurred in the United States when Pope Francis called on the Bishops’ Conference not to prepare a document on worthy Communion. The pope must have thought that it would be better [in this case] not to give advice any more, but rather a writ of execution, now that we’re talking about the traditional Mass! 

The language used looks very much like a declaration of war. Every pope since Paul VI has always left openings for the old Mass. If any changes were made [in that opening], they were minor revisions—see, for example, the indults of 1984 and 1989. John Paul II firmly believed that bishops should be generous in allowing the Tridentine Mass. Benedict opened the door wide with Summorum Pontificum: “What was sacred then is sacred now.” Francis slams the door hard through Traditionis Custodes. It feels like a betrayal and is a slap in the face to his predecessors. 

By the way, the Church has never abolished liturgies. Not even Trent [did so]. Francis breaks completely with this tradition. The motu proprio contains, briefly and powerfully, some propositions and commands. Things are explained in more detail by means of an accompanying longer statement. This statement contains quite a few factual errors. One of them is the claim that what Paul VI did after Vatican II is the same as what Pius V did after Trent. This is completely far from the truth. Remember that before that time [of Trent] there were various transcribed manuscripts in circulation and local liturgies had sprung up here and there. The situation was a mess. 

Trent wanted to restore the liturgies, remove inaccuracies, and check for orthodoxy. Trent was not concerned with rewriting the liturgy, nor with new additions, new Eucharistic prayers, a new lectionary, or a new calendar. It was all about ensuring uninterrupted organic continuity. The missal of 1570 harks back to the missal of 1474 and so on back to the fourth century. There was continuity from the fourth century onwards. After the fifteenth century, there are four more centuries of continuity. From time to time, there were at most a few minor changes—an addition of a feast, commemoration, or rubric. 

In the conciliar document Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican II asked for liturgical reforms. All things considered, this was a conservative document. Latin was maintained, Gregorian chants retained their legitimate place in the liturgy. However, the developments that followed Vatican II are far removed from the council documents. The infamous “spirit of the council” is nowhere to be found in the council texts themselves. Only 17% of the orations of the old missal of Trent can be found in the new missal of Paul VI. You can hardly speak of continuity, of an organic development. Benedict recognized this, and for that reason gave ample space to the Old Mass. He even said that no one needed his permission (“what was sacred then is still sacred now”). 

Pope Francis is now pretending that his motu proprio belongs to the organic development of the Church, which utterly contradicts the reality. By making the Latin Mass practically impossible, he finally breaks with the age-old liturgical tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. Liturgy is not a toy of popes; it is the heritage of the Church. The Old Mass is not about nostalgia or taste. The pope should be the guardian of Tradition; the pope is a gardener, not a manufacturer. Canon law is not merely a matter of positive law; there is also such a thing as natural law and divine law, and, moreover, there is such a thing as Tradition that cannot simply be brushed aside. 

What Pope Francis is doing here has nothing to do with evangelization and even less to do with mercy. It is more like ideology. BINGO!

Go to any parish where the Old Mass is celebrated. What do you find there? People who just want to be Catholic. These are generally not people who engage in theological disputes, nor are they against Vatican II (though they are against the way it was implemented). They love the Latin Mass for its sacredness, its transcendence, the salvation of souls that is central to it, the dignity of the liturgy. You encounter large families; people feel welcome. It is only celebrated in a small number of places. Why does the pope want to deny people this? I come back to what I said earlier: it is ideology. It is either Vatican II—including its implementation, with all its aberrations—or nothing! The relatively small number of believers (a number growing, by the way, as the Novus Ordo is collapsing) who feel at home with the traditional Mass must and will be eradicated. That is ideology and evil. 

If you really want to evangelize, to be truly merciful, to support Catholic families, then you hold the Tridentine Mass in honor. As of the date of the motu proprio, the Old Mass may not be celebrated in parish churches (where then?); you need explicit permission from your bishop, who may only allow it on certain days; for those who will be ordained in the future and want to celebrate the Old Mass, the bishop must seek advice from Rome. How dictatorial, how unpastoral, how unmerciful do you want to be! 

Francis, in Article 1 of his motu proprio, calls the Novus Ordo (the present Mass) “the unique expression of the Lex Orandi of the Roman Rite.” He therefore no longer distinguishes between the Ordinary Form (Paul VI) and the Extraordinary Form (Tridentine Mass). It has always been said that both are expressions of the Lex Orandi, not just the Novus Ordo. Again, the Old Mass was never abolished! I never hear from Bergoglio about the many liturgical abuses that exist here and there in countless parishes. In parishes everything is possible—except the Tridentine Mass. All weapons are thrown into the fray to eradicate the Old Mass. 

Why? For God’s sake, why? What is this obsession of Francis to want to uproot that small group of traditionalists? The pope should be the guardian of tradition, not the jailer of tradition. While Amoris Laetitia excelled in vagueness, Traditionis Custodes is a perfectly clear declaration of war. 

I suspect that Francis is shooting himself in the foot with this motu proprio. For the Society of St. Pius X, it will prove to be good news. They will never have been able to guess how indebted they’d be to Pope Francis….

+ Rob Mutsaerts, Auxiliary Bishop

An evil oekaze of Pope Francis – Fortes in Fide

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Bishop Mutsaerts, for your pointed defense of the Traditional Latin Mass as well as those of us who cherish it. You have spoken plainly and accurately, not couching your response in abstract and vague terms, this is a rarity, we appreciate it. This is the latest attack by Francis, and he knows, his coup de grace. He has been leading up to it, and now, it is finished. He has made his feelings plain, and as you said, it is ideological, he hates the old rite, the treasure of the church and the worship of God as God intended. He hates the people who love it, who are devoted to it and have found so much solace in it. He wishes to deprive these of the sustenance they find in it. He cares not at all for those who have had it all their lives and would be denied it at the end of their lives. He cares not at all for the seminarians who have gone through seminary with the intention to focus on the TLM and are now told they cannot "without permission". He is not giving any thought to people and families who have literally uprooted themselves in one community and moved to another, solely so they can give their children access to the Traditional Latin Rite and are now realizing they moved for nothing. He has not cared about those who have discovered the TLM and found a transcendent experience with God they had never found within the Novus Ordo. With all his talk about "mercy", he has not only not shown mere mercy to these, he has treated them in a manner that can only be described as brutal. This adjective should never be used to describe a pope, but the signs have been there all along, that this is the case, for those with eyes willing to see.
It does appear that his cruel edict is going to be largely ignored, save for the usual like-minded culprits. It is so over the top he has embarrassed himself and once again, the office.

Aqua said...

That sums it up.

We should advance the premise, now made by the Bishop of Rome himself: the Magisterial Mass of Pope St. Pius V and the New™️ Mass are not the same; not “two usages of the one Roman rite”, they represent, instead, two different theologies, two different faiths, two different Churches.

And so we are left with a clear choice, defined by the Bishop of Rome: which Faith?

Tradical said...

Wow - nice to see a bishop speak so clearly

Unknown said...

The pope detests rigidity. Hopefully the bishops will follow the Pope's lead and not be rigid when it comes to applying TC.

Johnno said...

"Why? For God’s sake, why? What is this obsession of Francis to want to uproot that small group of traditionalists?"

Because the Devil and his globalists minions who are close to completing their new Babel project are getting close to their deadline and are ramping things up as things accelerate downhill.

Removing the Latin mass is a pre-emptive move to ensure there are fewer obstacles in their way.

It is unlikely Francis just did this out of the blue all on his own. Somebody or some group or something out there leaned into him to make it so. Just as they are Macron, Draghi and everyone else.

C. LaSalle said...

I wasn't surprised that this document was in the works because rumors had been swirling. What did surprise me was the hatred embodied in it.

It's become painfully clear that Francis came to the Papacy with his own agenda and has been carrying that out regardless of the impact on the whole Church.

I has respect for the Papacy and none for Francis although I do pray for him daily. I attend and FSSP parish and our bishop has always been accommodating and that will continue. I beg Our Lord to soften the heard hearts of the clergy world wide who see this document as a boost to their power and control.

Ana Milan said...

If the celebration of TLM was allowed & supported by all Bishops since VII without the need for papal permission as is now being implied, the world's population would have been allowed access to it in every parish. The recent statistic is 1% which is no indication of the number of those who pine to have it but is a factual statistic of the hatred NO Bishops have for it which IMO is satanic. We have been deprived of our inheritence since 1970 & nothing ever has been done about this situation, despite countless meetings, petitions, letters to high ranking Cardinals & the local Bishop who has prevented traditional orders from setting up in my diocese of Malaga. The nearest SSPX is 600 miless away so not accessible. This is simply ecclesial persecution & must in charity be put right. It is also disobedience to PBXVI's SP & his remark that the Mass of Ages had not been abrogated & didn't need his permission to celebrate it.

I hope & pray that those who rightfully decry this JB Motu Propio will bear the above in mind & work with Una Voce associations the world over to ensure that TLM is fully restored to all Catholic parishes as is their God-given right, without any indult or hassle from NO Bishops

Anonymous said...

Some bishops will allow their “TLMs” if only to prevent the mass migration over to the SSPX. Over the years, when the Society opened a permanent Mass location the Fraternity came along to set up nearby in order to draw people away so I don’t see the bishops closing up shop now because of crazy Francis.

Johnno said...

Hamilton's Satanic Bishop Crosby is issuing threats that unvaxxed priests will not be allowed to offer the sacraments to the sick and dying in hospitals, and will prevent them from entering schools.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canadian-bishop-priests-who-refuse-coronavirus-vaccine-may-find-themselves-limited-in-their-ministry

Jack said...

Quite astonishing from a bishop.

P. O'Brien said...

A lie doesn't become a truth just because a reputed pope states it.