Francis’ Trustworthiness (with related thoughts on SSPX) - by John Vennari

Francis’ Trustworthiness in Light

of the Forte Revelation

With related thoughts on the present SSPX drama

by John Vennari

Archbishop Bruno Forte, confidant and collaborator of Pope Francis, revealed in a recent interview a statement from Francis that displays the cagey manner by which he manipulated the Synod toward a pre-determined heterodox outcome.

To quote the May 3 Zonalocale.it Italian news report provided in English by Steve Skojec:“Archbishop Forte has revealed a ‘behind the scenes’ [moment] from the Synod: ‘If we speak explicitly about Communion for the divorced and remarried,’ said Archbishop Forte, reporting a ‘joke’ of Pope Francis, ‘you do not know what a terrible mess we will make. So we won’t speak plainly, [but] do it in a way that the premises are there, then I will draw out the conclusion’.” 1

Let’s take a look at what is here revealed:

1) Francis is determined to open the door for sacrilegious Communion via admission of divorced and remarried to the Blessed Sacrament;

2) He is aware that to speak openly of this aim would make a ‘terrible mess,’ in other words incite a healthy Catholic opposition;

3) He urges his collaborators not to speak plainly of this insidious aim but to lay the groundwork and prepare the structure;

4) “And I will draw out the conclusions,” that opens the door to sacrilegious Communion under the false pretext of tenderness and mercy.

Is anyone else long weary of dishonest tactics enacted by the one man on earth who has the greatest obligation to speak the truth?

The rest, including his observations on the SSPX, can be read at:

http://www.cfnews.org/page88/files/e995e0dde652653406dd0e5a0cd1ba9a-594.html

Winnipeg Catholics! Get thee to a Corpus Christi Procession!

The good Catholics of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Winnipeg have sent along a press release which I am happy to share -  a Solemn Mass and Procession to be held on the external solemnity of Corpus Christi Sunday on May 29th at 11:00AM.

To all the Voxers in Winnipeg, how large can you make this procession to take the King of kings and Lord of lords through Winnipeg? At at time of great moral confusion in Canada and error in the Church, there is nothing more important you can do.

Remember, Pope Francis has given formal Faculties to the priests of the Society of St. Pius X to hear Confessions until December 8, 2016. There is great hope that formal recognition and structure for the Society will take place soon. 

Can there be any doubt that Heaven is behind this?

Roman Catholics set record in Winnipeg!

Hundreds to attend Feast of Corpus Christi traditional procession. Largest in 50 years!

Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church, 478 McKenzie Street, will be celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi with a Traditional Solemn Procession on Sunday, May 29th at 11:00 a.m., following the Traditional Latin Mass (Solemn High Mass with Celebrant, Deacon and Subdeacon), which will be offered at 9:30 a.m. 

Rev. Fr. Pfluger, First Assistant to Bishop Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), will be travelling from the headquarters of the SSPX in Switzerland to lead the Corpus Christi Procession.

Hundreds of Catholics will be participating, with familes and faithful travelling from different parts of Winnipeg, Manitoba and neighbouring Saskatchewan and North-West Ontario. 

The church invites Catholics to attend and to set a new record by making it the largest Corpus Christi solemn traditional procession in the history of the city. 

The Most Blessed Sacrament will be carried under canopy by the Priest assisted by the deacon and the subdeacon, along with the Cross bearer, candle bearers, altar boys, thurifers, Catholic associations with processional banners, and faithful. The Police will escort the procession. The rosary will be prayed during the procession, interspersed with traditional hymns in English and Latin.  

Last year, Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church held the largest Corpus Christi traditional procession in Winnipeg in five decades: http://sspx.ca/en/winnipeg-corpus-christi-procession-2015

ROUTE

The procession will proceed from Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church, 478 McKenzie Street, to East on Church Ave, along McGregor St., Mountain Ave., Arlington St., West on Church Ave. to Sinclair Park for Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the Altar of Repose. It will then proceed back East on Machray Ave., returning to the church for final prayers and the singing of Tantum Ergo, Oremus Pro Pontifice and Adoremus in Aeternum. 

ORIGIN

The feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ) was established in A.D.1246 by Bishop Robert de Thorete of Liège at the suggestion of St. Juliana of Mont Cornillon. It was extended to the universal Catholic Church by Pope Urban IV in A.D.1264, granting many indulgences to the faithful for the attendance at Mass and at the Office. 

SIGNIFICANCE

Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite liturgical solemnity of the Roman Catholic Church to commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

The office was composed by the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, at the request of the Pope. It is one of the most beautiful piece of the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church, and has been admired by millions of people over the centuries.

Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church is under the priestly care of the Society of St. Pius X.

For more information, please visit: www.sspx.ca

  

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"Little by Little" Rome is being dragged kicking and screaming to accept the Society of St. Pius X!

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DAILY NEWS

Daily News

SSPX’s Bishop Fellay: Little By Little Rome Is Giving Us All We Need for Reconciliation (521)

In a wide-ranging interview with the Register, the leader of the traditionalist priestly society details how Pope Francis has opened the door to the SSPX’s full integration with the Church.

BY EDWARD PENTIN 05/18/2016 Comment

Bishop Bernard Fellay

– Edward Pentin

MENZINGEN, Switzerland — Reconciliation between the Society of St. Pius X and Rome looks to be imminent as a key obstacle — opposition to certain aspects of the Second Vatican Council — may no longer be a cause for continued separation from the Church.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the SSPX, told the Register May 13 that he is “persuaded, at least in part, by a different approach,” in which, he believes, Pope Francis is placing less weight on the Council and more emphasis on “saving souls and finding a way to do it.”

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/sspxs-bishop-fellay-little-by-little-rome-is-giving-us-all-we-need-for-reco/#ixzz490PdxdB2

"Fundamental agreement should be established" with SSPX says Pope Francis

It has certainly been coming. What began with Pope Benedict XVI may finally be delivered by Pope Francis. May it be so. May it be so, soon. If any Pope can do this, if only because of his sheer will to do things out of the ordinary, and more than often enough causing us consternation because of it; if any Pope can do this, it is Francis. 

Francis will do it and some may fear it, thinking the Society will compromise. What is happening, in my view, is really quite simple; the Holy Spirit and Our Lady will bring this all together are bringing this all about in spite of the personalities involved. 

Pope Francis has his reasons for doing this, he certainly likes, "dialogue." Bishop Fellay and the other leadership know that it is not healthy to put another generation through the insecurity and isolation - it will not have good long-term effect. For those who fear what Francis or others might do to the Society, in my view, there is nothing which can be done to negatively affect the Society unless they "sell-out" which is not going to happen. They simply would refuse. Good heavens, have you ever met these priests? They are men of God, men of Mary, men of steel!

This is the work of the Holy Spirit right before our eyes. While on one hand we see much in the Church at near collapse, we see the work of the Paraclete actively preserving the Holy Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as I believe He did acting through Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre throughout the 1970's and 80's. The Holy Spirit also gave us Benedict XVI who was and is hated by many for Summorum Pontificum. From countless others, he is loved for this, and more. If they hate Papa Ratzinger for that motu proprio, then they hate the Holy Spirit and Christ Himself. 

As for explaining why Pope Francis seems prepared to reconcile, maybe it's just as simple as he wants to do everything for everybody or maybe its the active work of the Holy Spirit dragging all of them kicking and screaming to what must happen.

La Croix: You received, on the past April 1st, Bp. Bernard Fellay, Superior-General of the Society of Saint Pius X. Is the reintegration of the Lefebvrists in the Church once again being considered?

Pope Francis: In Buenos Aires, I always spoke with them. They saluted me, they asked for [my] blessing on their knees. They consider themselves Catholic. They love the Church. Bp. Fellay is a man with whom we can dialogue. It is not the case of other somewhat strange elements, such as Bp. Williamson, or others who have radicalized. I think, as I had expressed in Argentina, that they are Catholics on the path to full communion. During this Year of Mercy, it seemed that I should authorize their confessors to pardon the sin of abortion.[*] They thanked me for this gesture. Before that, Benedict XVI, whom they respect greatly, had liberalized the Mass according to the Tridentine Rite. We dialogue well, we do a good work.

La Croix: Would you be ready to grant them a status of personal prelature?

Pope Francis: It would be a possible solution, but, before, a fundamental agreement should be established with them. The Second Vatican Council has its value. We move forward slowly, with patience.

Society of St. Pius X in New Hamburg growing - what is it saying about the Diocese of Hamilton?

New Hamburg is a lovely old Ontario town just west of Kitchener which prior to the great European family fight that killed 20,000,000 was called Berlin; it has a large historical German population.

The Society of St. Pius X purchased an unused elementary school a few years ago and a solid community has grown around it. An old woodshop was converted to a lovely little chapel. They have just announced the purchase of a Martin Luther worship centre, ironically called St. Peter's Lutheran Church, with the intent to turn it into a Catholic Church. 

Congratulations to the Society on this growth and work towards the restoration of the Catholic faith.

The Diocese of Hamilton and its Bishop will be held accountable some day for the hardship of the Catholics in Waterloo, Kitchener and Hamilton.They have had the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite bounced around from parish to parish and from time to time and in Hamilton, to a ridiculous twice per month and wherever, to ridiculous times of day!

Please friends, support the work of Una Voce Hamilton. They are committed and hard-working. They are friends of this writer -- priests and laity; but they have been waging an uphill fight from the get-go with little to no support. At the same time, let us appreciate and pray for the wonderful work being done by the priests of the Society in New Hamburg and Toronto where a third Sunday Mass has also been added even though they are only two kilometers from two Sunday Masses at the Oratory.


The day will come friends, when the Church will apologise for what it did to Marcel Lefebvre. The unjust suspension of the 1970's under Paul VI and excommunication under John Paul II and on that day he will be known as Venerable Marcel Lefebvre and his cause will begin. 

History will look back and agree that the Holy Ghost was working through that great man with the serene countenance. When we look at the realities today, it can no longer be denied.

Abp. Pozzo and the Society of St. Pius X

Where are we with the SSPX?—Abp. Pozzo

February 26, 2016 

District of the USA

Read what Archbishop Pozzo had to say about the SSPX in Zenit on February 26, 2016.

We here present some extracts of Archbishop Pozzo's interview, given to Luca Marcolivio and published today in the Italian online version of Zenit. Archbishop Pozzo has been working on the reconciliation of the SSPX in the Pontifical Comission Ecclesia Dei for some years, especially after having been appointed Secretary, for a second time, in 2013.

It is not always easy to know exactly what Archbishop Pozzo really means to convey to the press when he speaks about the SSPX.

These comments are to be taken in light of the following elements given by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta in his January conference published today. 

On July 2015, Rome made another offer to the SSPX.

The SSPX Superior General’s intention before answering this proposal from the Congregation of the Faith was

to write an exhaustive explanation to make it very clear how we are and how we act, what we preach, what we do, what we do not do, and what we are not ready to do, in order to find out if the Society really is accepted 'as it is'."

---

About the status of the Society of St. Pius X

The SSPX is still in an irregular position, because it has not received canonical recognition by the Holy See. As long as the Society has no canonical status in the Church, its ministers do not exercise in a legitimate way the ministry and the celebration of the sacraments. According to the formula endeavored by the then Cardinal Bergoglio in Buenos Aires and confirmed by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the members of the SSPX are Catholics on the path toward full communion with the Holy See. This full communion will come when there is a canonical recognition of the Society.

What steps has the Holy See taken?

Following the lifting of the excommunications in 2009, a series of meetings were initiated between doctrinal experts appointed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, after the motu proprio of Benedict XVI, Unitatem Ecclesiae (2009), and experts of the SSPX to discuss and exchange views on major doctrinal issues underlying the dispute with the Holy See: the relationship between Tradition and the Magisterium, the questions of ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, religious freedom, and of the liturgical reform, in the context of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.

We are now at a stage that I believe constructive and oriented to achieve the desired reconciliation. The gesture of Pope Francis to grant to faithful Catholics the opportunity of receiving validly and lawfully the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick by the bishops and priests of the SSPX during the Holy Year of Mercy is clearly a sign of the will of the Holy Father to favor the path towards a full and stable canonical recognition.

What obstacles remain?

I would distinguish two levels. The proper doctrinal level concerns some differences about individual topics proposed by the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar Magisterium relating to ecumenism, the relationship between Christianity and the world religions, religious freedom, especially in the relationship between Church and State, and some aspects of liturgical reform. There is also the level of mental and psychological attitudes, which is to move from a position of polemical and antagonistic confrontation, to a position of listening and mutual respect, esteem and confidence, as it should be between members of the same Body of Christ, which is the Church. We need to work on both of these levels. I think the rapprochement undertaken has borne some fruit, especially for this change in attitude by both parties and it is worth pursuing that.

Even on the issue of the Second Vatican Council, I think that the SSPX must reflect on the distinction ...between the authentic mens of Vatican II, its intentio docendi, as shown by the official Acts of the Council, and that I would call the "para-council", i.e., the set of theological guidelines and practical attitudes which accompanied the course of the Council itself, then pretending to cover themselves with its name, and that the public, thanks to the influence of the media, overlapped often as the true thought of the Council.

Also as regards the Lefebvrian criticism on religious freedom, at the bottom of the discussion it seems to me that the SSPX position is characterized by the defense of traditional Catholic doctrine against the agnostic secularism of the State and against secularism and ideological relativism but not against the right of the person not to be constricted or obstructed by the State in the exercise of the profession of religious faith. However, these are issues that will be a topic for discussion and clarification even after the full reconciliation.

What appears crucial is to find a full convergence on what is required to be in full communion with the Apostolic See, namely the integrity of the Catholic Creed, the bond of the sacraments and the acceptance of the Supreme Magisterium of the Church. The Magisterium, which is not above the Word of God written and transmitted, but serves it, is the authentic interpreter also of previous texts of the Magisterium, including those of the Second Vatican Council, in the light of the perennial Tradition, which develops in the Church with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, not with a novelty contrary (which would deny Catholic dogma), but with a better understanding of the Deposit of Faith, in the same doctrine, the same sense, and in the same judgment (in eodem scilicet dogmate, eodem sensu et eademque sententia, cf. Vatican Council I, Const. Dogm. Dei Filius, 4). I believe that on these points the agreement with the SSPX is not only possible, but necessary.

I do not think that the SSPX has denied a doctrine of faith or the truth of the Catholic doctrine taught by the Magisterium. The criticisms concern instead statements or claims regarding the renewed pastoral care and ecumenical relations with other religions, and some issues of prudential order in the relationship between Church and society, Church and State. On liturgical reform, I will only mention a statement that Archbishop Lefebvre wrote to Pope John Paul II in a letter dated March 8, 1980:

About the Mass of the Novus Ordo, despite all the reservations that one has to do about it, I never claimed that it is invalid or heretical."

Therefore the reservations about the rite of the Novus Ordo, which are obviously not to be underestimated, do not refer either to the validity of the celebration of the sacrament nor the line of the Catholic Faith. It would therefore be appropriate to continue the discussion and clarification of these reservations.

About the gesture of Pope Francis

The Holy Father encouraged the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei from the start of his pontificate to pursue a less official and less formal [dialogue] with the SSPX. In this context, the soothing and magnanimous gesture of Pope Francis on the occasion of the Year of Mercy has undoubtedly helped to calm further the state of relations with the Society, showing that the Holy See has at heart the rapprochement and reconciliation which will also need a canonical form. I hope and wish that the SSPX shares the same feeling and the same will.

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/where-are-we-sspx%E2%80%94abp-pozzo-14381

Listen to a real "Catholic" Bishop!

St. Thomas Becket knew what today is denied

St. Thomas Becket knew. In the Office of Readings, or Matins, for this Christmastide Feast, we read in his Letter, 

"As successors of the apostles, we hold the highest rank in our churches; we have accepted the responsibility of acting as Christ’s representatives on earth; we receive the honour belonging to that office, and enjoy the temporal benefits of our spiritual labours. It must therefore be our endeavour to destroy the reign of sin and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up the Church of Christ into a holy temple in the Lord.

There are a great many bishops in the Church, but would to God we were the zealous teachers and pastors that we promised to be at our consecration, and still make profession of being."

I print below the latest Letter to Friends and Benefactors of the Society of St. Pius X in Canada. It refers to the scandalous statement by the Vatican that the Jews do not need conversion to Christ. This is the third time I have posted on this because I am so disgusted that our so-called Shepherds, would make such statements as they did a few weeks ago.

They deserve public rebuke for it. 

St. Thomas Becket knew.

So do those in the Society of  St. Pius X. 

It is my firm belief that the day will come when the Church will declare Blessed, Marcel Lefebvre and it will be fully realised that the Holy Spirit was acting through him to preserve the Faith from the those, the likes of which we have not seen for many decades, who know raise their heads with such heterodoxy.

http://sspx.ca/en/publications/newsletters/january-2016-district-superiors-letter

"There is no other Name under Heaven..."

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

2016 A.D. i.e., anno Domini – in the year of the Lord.   Let us never hesitate to tell people of the meaning of these two little Latin letters that remind us all year long of the historical coming of the Saviour.  The Freemasons in the French Revolution did try to put the years back to zero in their attempt to eliminate any reference to the Divine Saviour.  They failed, but others continue to attack the very fact that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” (Jo 1:14) and that “this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David” (Lk 2:11).  The Incarnation is an objective, historical fact, -- “when the fullness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman” (Gal 4:4) --and with Our Lord’s death on the Cross, the Old Testament came to an end, as was proven by the veil of the Temple being torn from top to bottom.  When one writes a new will, it supersedes all previous wills.

Modernism, moral or doctrinal, puts subjective conscience above the need to submit to anything objective.  For modernists, just as your conscience replaces the objective moral law, similarly your ideas or religious feelings replace the objective Revelation. St Pius X called that “vital immanence”. “If you think it is true, then it is true for you, but don’t try to impose your truth on someone else.”

The Modernists at the Vatican produced more bad fruit on December 10 in a document called: “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Council’s document Nostra Aetate.

At the start, it is truly scandalous to publish such a document a mere two weeks before Christmas, and to take for its title a quote from the epistle to the Romans (11:29), an epistle all geared at proving that the Jews, in order to be saved, must accept Our Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior: “For the end of the law is Christ, unto justice to everyone that believeth” (10:4).  This document “is not a magisterial document or doctrinal teaching of the Catholic Church, but is a reflection prepared by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews”.  But being published by the Vatican, signed by a cardinal (Koch), it will be quoted as an official document.  Here are the key blasphemies and heresies (what other theological notes apply here?) of this text:

• The New Testament does not supersede the Old Testament, the Old Testament has not been revoked; (nn.17, 23, 33) “33. In this covenant community it should be evident for Christians that the covenant that God concluded with Israel has never been revoked but remains valid on the basis of God’s unfailing faithfulness to his people.”
  ‐‐ But then, what about the tearing of the veil of the Holy of Holies by Angels: “And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom” (Mt 27:51)? This tearing expressed the abrogation of the Old Law with the fulfilment of the redemption of the New Law (cf. Pirot Clamer, Cornelius a Lapide).
   
• The Jews do not have to believe in Our Lord to be saved: “36. From the Christian confession that there can be only one path to salvation, however, it does not in any way follow that the Jews are excluded from God’s salvation because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. Such a claim would find no support in the soteriological understanding of Saint Paul…”
  – But what about Our Lord’s words: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me” (Jo 14:6)?
   
• The Catholic Church has no mission to convert Jews (n.37, 40‐43) “The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelization to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views. In concrete terms this means that the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews.” (n.40)
  – But what about: “And He said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mk 16:15‐16)?
• 
  The Word of God is present to today’s Jews by means of the Torah, and to today’s Christians through Jesus Christ: “Whoever observes the Torah has life in its fullness. By observing the Torah the Jew receives a share in communion with God. In this regard, Pope Francis has stated: "The Christian confessions find their unity in Christ; Judaism finds its unity in the Torah. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh in the world; for Jews the Word of God is present above all in the Torah.” (n.24).
  – But what about: “Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jo 3:5)?

This shocking document is one of the worst in the last 50 years! “The Christians believe this… The Jews believe that… whatever you like is fine!” The Word made flesh or the word of God in the Torah – these are word games in the mind and have no basis in historical reality.”

We object with all our soul and strength! At the start of this New Year “of the Lord”, we do profess that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, born in Bethlehem 2016 years ago, that He is the only way to Heaven, that without the shedding of His blood, without baptism, there is no redemption for anyone, Jews or Gentiles. “There is no other Name under Heaven whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

---

News of the District: Last November 27, Rev. Father Paul Greuter, from Nanaimo, BC, left us “strengthen with the rites of holy Mother Church”. Born in Holland, Father Greuter was ordained in Calgary on April 3, 1954, and, after some parish and hospital work, moved to Vernon, BC as early as 1973 in order to save his priesthood and to remain faithful to the mass of his ordination. He was the last (of perhaps 6) priest in Canada ordained before Vatican II who never said the new mass. Then on December 12, it was Fr. Stephen Somerville who died near Toronto after a long illness. Having been part of the ICEL team (International Commission on English in the Liturgy), he had the courage to renounce his work and come back to Tradition in 2002. May they rest in peace.

Father Daniel Couture
District Superior

Father Stephen Somerville - Requiescat in pace

Updated with funeral arrangements...

Father Stephen Somerville passed to his eternal reward last night, (December 12, 2015) around 11:00 P.M. Father was a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto. He recently suffered two serious strokes, he was 86.

Father Somerville was also a musician and composer. He wrote the Good Shepherd Mass for the English liturgy in 1965 which was adapted in 1970 for the bowdlerised Gloria and Sanctus and then corrected back by St. Michael's Choir School in 2011 with his permission. I enjoy every opportunity to sing his Responsorial Psalms in CBWII which are finely crafted based upon his authority in chant at St. Michael's Choir School. Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of his first conducting of the Tenor/Bass Choir of St. Michael's at the annual Massey Hall Christmas Concert. I have great memories of singing Handel's Messiah standing beside him in the Bass section a number of years ago in Etobicoke and singing his corrected Gloria translation (later modified by the Choir School) with him at the piano just a few years ago when visiting him at St. Bernard's Convalescent Home. Father Somerville was also the Chaplain on the set of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

The ICEL rebuke

He was well-known as "Canada's liturgist" having participated on the International Committee for English in the Liturgy (ICEL) which translated the Missal of Paul VI into English from the original Latin. It is important to know that the English translation used from 1965 to 1969 of the modified 1962 Roman Missal was a faithful translation. The Novus Ordo Missae was translated by ICEL using a translation method called dynamic equivalence. Father John Zuhlsdorf began his blog from years of writing in The Wanderer highlighting the grievous textual errors in the Missal, now corrected, and which still exist in the Liturgy of the Hours.

In his later years, Father Somerville regretted his work on ICEL. He came to the conclusion that the virtual abolition of the Roman Missal of 1962 was a grievous error; but not only that, but the translation of the Latin of the Novus Ordo Missae was "damaging" to the Faith. He issued his rebuke of ICEL and an apology for his participation in their now repudiated and disgraced work in what is known as The Somerville Letter.

The suspension

Father Somerville began assisting at the Holy Mass with the Society of St. Pius X in Toronto on a periodic basis to cover for their vacations. Following a much publicised series of communications with the then Monsignor and Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Toronto, the now laicised banker and investment advisor, John K. Murphy, then Cardinal Archbishop Aloysius Ambrozic known for his over-eager suspensions of conservative and orthodox priests, suspended Father Somerville after consultation with the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. To be fair to Ambrozic, Father Somerville left him little room to proceed in any other direction. Summorum Pontificum was still five years away and the lifting of the excommunications on the SSPX bishops, even further.

To his credit, Cardinal Thomas Collins has brought back many of these good men, victims of the so-called "conservative" Ambrozic's vengeance. Yet, even in Father Somerville's retirement, this was not possible as he continued to refuse to follow the previous Cardinal's demands, which had been made public by him, leaving Cardinal Collins with little room to find a solution to Ambrozic's suspension.

I spoke to Father Somerville about it once. It saddened him greatly; but he insisted that he could "not retract what he fundamentally believed to be true." Ironically, it was on our way to the lounge in the convalescent home where he would play on the piano as I sang his revised, revised Gloria in English for the corrected translation in 2011. The irony and contradiction were not lost upon me.

Funeral arrangements are pending but it is known that Father requested that his funeral rites be undertaken at the Society of St. Pius X Chapel in Toronto. Sadly, it will mean that the priests of the Archdiocese will probably not be able to attend. 

If, magnanimity and mercy were to prevail, his funeral would be held at St. Paul's Basilica with St. Michael's Choir School so loved by Father Somerville (and his late brother Father Peter Somerville) with the Society of St. Pius X Toronto Pastor given "faculties" for a day to celebrate the funeral rites with the Cardinal in attendance, all in the spirit of the worldwide facilities for the SSPX from Pope Francis for the Sacrament of Penance. It is the Year of Mercy, after all. 

Rest in peace good Father. I was happy to have known you a little, sang with you, sang Mass for you and visited with you. Thank you for all you did, your Responsorial Psalms are still the best!

This is the only recording of his beautiful L'arche hymn which I have been able to find. The lyrics follow:

Lord Jesus, of you I will sing as I journey.

I’ll tell all my brothers about you wherever I go.

You alone are man's life and his peace and his love, 

Lord Jesus, of you I will sing as I journey.

Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.

May all of my joy be a faithful reflection of You.

May the earth and the sea and the sky join my song.

Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.

As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant,

To carry your cross and to share all your burdens and tears;

For you saved me by giving your body and blood.

As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.

I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey,

But courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side,

And with all of my brother you saved by your love,

We’ll sing Your dawn at the end of our journey.

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that the soul of Thy servant Stephen, Thy priest, whom in this life Thou didst honour with the sacred office, may rejoice in the glory of heaven for evermore. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, we pray Thee that the soul of Thy priest, Thy servant Stephen, which, while he abode in this world, Thou didst adorn with sacred gifts, may ever rejoice in a glorious place in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.   

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant Stephen to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchisedech, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy holy presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labours. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord. Amen.

Eternal Rest grant unto him O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen.

Father Somerville after Solemn Mass at Martyr's Shrine, Midland, Ontario
Photo courtesy of Carl Vanderwouden

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Stephen Somerville
            Born April 1, 1931; ordained priest by Cardinal McGuigan of Toronto May 26, 1956;

died December 12, 2015, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Visitation at Humphrey’s Funeral Home,

1403 Bayview Avenue (at Davisville) Toronto,

on Wednesday, December 16, 2 - 4 pm,    

Fr. Emanuel Herkel will lead the Rosary at 3 pm.

6 - 8 pm – Prayers by Fr. Brian Clough (Toronto Diocese).

Traditional Latin Requiem Mass will be celebrated at the Church of the Transfiguration (SSPX)

11 Aldgate Ave, Toronto, ON 

on Thursday, December 17^th at 11 am

followed by reception at the church hall. 

416-503-8854 (Church)   416-251-0499 (Priory)

There will also be a Novus Ordo Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 520 Sherbourne St, Toronto,

on Friday, December 18^th at 10:00 am, celebrated by Fr. Brian Clough

 Internment will follow at St. Augustine’s Seminary - Our Lady of the Clergy Cemetery.
 As an organist, conductor, composer and singer of church music; as an ardent birdwatcher and camper; as a writer, a mentor and pastor of souls, Father Somerville was in all things a priest of Jesus Christ.

Requiescat in pace

The Pope's words on the SSPX confessions were not "magic" and the two little words that are looming on the horizon - all in the name of "mercy"

This writer has no authority to pronounce on the SSPX. The point of this blogpost is to relieve frustration and point out the ridiculousness of the whole situation. The whole affair is a circus and Rome is as much at fault, maybe more, than the SSPX itself.  


Whenever I got into a discussion about the Sacrament of Penance and the Society of St. Pius X, my brain would always hurt. On one hand, we have the obvious canonical jurisdictional issues of the local Ordinary and "Faculties" and on the other hand we had the consistent position of the SSPX on the supplied jurisdiction by the Church due to an emergency. Ultimately, one has to consider the "mercy" of God the Father to the humility and contriteness of the Penitent, confessing. That emergency clearly existed at the time that Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated the four bishops, it surely declined after Pope Benedict XVI efforts, particularly with Summorum Pontificum; though, I should think, it is may be raising its head again.

The Pope's acknowledging of the validity of the penitent's confession is a recognition that their Sacraments were valid all along for the very reason the SSPX has always claimed. There is no "magic" with the Pope's announcement, either they are valid or they are not. There is no magic about the date that they become "valid" of December 8 and nothing magic a year later when they theoretically do not. No, they are valid after December 8, 2015 and they will be valid in 2017 for the same reason and they are valid today just as they were valid last week and twenty years ago. Some people whom I love and respect take a different position. I do not agree with them. I do not attend or chant at the Chapel of the SSPX in Toronto. I did in the past. I received Holy Communion. I did not go to Confession because I had a Confessor elsewhere. I did not doubt the sincerity of the good people there who did go. They were living a life an apparent grace due to it and who was I to judge? 

If the Pope has validated their Confessions, then logic would follow that their marriages must be valid as are their Confirmations, Baptisms would have always been, regardless. Further, the Mass at the SSPX, while always valid, must now also be licit! Logic would presume it. If a person goes to Confession to an SSPX priest, one would presume they would go to Mass too in their chapels. One plus one is indeed two and the Pope knows that and now so does everyone else interested in this issue. The Mass at the Society of St. Pius X chapels is not only valid, it is licit because if there Confessions are, how can the Holy Mass not be. It is illogical to think otherwise.

What the Pope has done by this masterstroke is undermine his episcopal brethren by removing their ability to use the jurisdictional argument on their local levels. The recent Bishop of Madison's letter is now moot. He also affirms, though unwittingly, that the Church is in disaster mode and has been. Everything the SSPX has ever argued on is right and correct. They have not changed one iota of the Catholic faith of my young childhood or that of my parents or my ancestors.

The Pope has used the same canonical juridical provision for his decision as the SSPX have always claimed. They were right all along and he knows it.

The Pope has acknowledged what is a fact; the SSPX is not in schism. If they were in schism, then the issues relating to them would be under Christian Unity and ecumenical offices with the Curia. They are not, they are in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the very reason that they are Catholics and not in schism. One plus one is two. Logic friends, logic. After all, the Church long ago validated that the Sacraments of actual schismatics, the Orthodox are valid. The local juridical argument against the SSPX priests never held any water and Francis has confirmed it.

So, good for Francis, Bishop of Rome. The Pope has thrown a bone, so to speak. to more traditional Catholics. He has, most likely unwittingly, revealed what has been spouted by the hierarchy for fifty years has been a house of cards and a fraud.

But don't be fooled friend.

This is only a bone to get everyone distracted off the real agenda.

It is coming in 30 days and it is about two words that are not so little.

Two. Very. Big. Words.

Over. My. Dead. Body.