Vicious power struggle in the Vatican

From Catholic Church Conservation...
 
Machtkampf im Vatikan – Benedikts XVI. Plan diesen zu beenden – Neuer Staatssekretär? › Katholisches

Power struggle in the Vatican which Pope Benedict XVI plans to end - New Secretary of State?

A book, published in Italy is creating unrest in the Vatican and has made Pope Benedict XVI angry, which is the new publication "Santità Sua "(Holiness) by Gianluigi Nuzzi. In it were numerous confidential letters directed to the pope and his personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein. About such a breach of trust and violation of privacy, the Pope is furious. The Vatican announced on Saturday that it is initiating legal proceedings for "theft" and "receiving stolen goods". Legal proceedings have been started already within and outside the Vatican.

Code name "Mary" - behind the theft, the people around Cardinal Sodano are suspected

The journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi said that "Maria" was his source. Hidden behind this code name are several people who - according to the author - have smuggled documents from the Vatican which bring to light facts hidden by the Vatican State.

The Vatican looks quite differently on what is being sold as "noble deed" in the "struggle against dark forces" . There one sees the release of confidential documents in a power struggle of the old guard who turned against the appointment of non-diplomat Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as Secretary of State for the Vatican State. The culprits of the confidential data theft were suspected to be supporters of Bertone's predecessor Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Bertone's appointment was not accepted by the "old guard"

Cardinal Sodano is a different figure to his successor in the prestigious Diplomatic Academy at the Piazza Minerva in Rome. It is not that Cardinal Sodano is himself accepted as an initiator of the leak, but certainly his immediate people. The public dissemination of the leaks has only one purpose: to discredit the incumbent Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone and, ultimately, to affect Pope Benedict XVI himself.

Many of the letters published in Nuzzis book are strictly confidential. The secretary of the Pope, after he had read them will have passed them from the papal apartment to the State Secretariat. There, someone has crept in, made photocopies and passed them on. The leak come from far up in the hierarchy of the Vatican State. At least the perpetrator acted with conscious or unconscious cover. Only then can one explain how easily they moved in the smallest state in the world.

Commission anticipates rapid investigation

An ad-hoc commission formed under the leadership of Cardinal Julian Herranz, Josef Tomko and Salvatore de Giorgi to give a name to the leak and bring to light the person who committed this "outrageous" and "criminal breach of trust". Investigations are already underway. It is expected that those responsible will be quickly determined. The range of persons who have access to confidential documents in the archives of the Secretariat of State is very small.

Diplomats against the Salesian

The new style of government by the Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone which can be summed up with the formula "less diplomacy and more Gospel" angered the previous team. This was increased by several errors made by the new Cardinal Secretary of State, especially in the first five years of the reign of Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Bertone had not supported enough the prophetic intellectual momentum of the Pope and made it visible within and beyond the Church. Above all, he gave preference within the Roman curia to Salesians when appointing to posts that traditionally were in the hands of Vatican diplomats The Cardinal Secretary of State is himself a Salesian of Don Bosco. His desire to surround himself with people he trusts is natural. The newly appointed are distinguished in academic qualifications, but they have no diplomatic experience. The split between the new and the old guard has been deepened

The appointment of the Bishop of Savona, Domenico Calcagno, as apostolic administrator of the Holy See, the Bishop of Vercelli, Giuseppe Versaldi, prefect for Economic Affairs and the rector of the Salesian University, Enrico Dal Covolo, to the Pontifical Lateran University, while these three are undoubtedly qualified for these tasks, caused the old team anger. And it seems that the anger was so great that they wanted the new Secretary of State to feel it. In this context, the nominations of the Pope, which concerned his closest circle, became the object of criticism. There were the new secretaries, of course, who brought their own way of working and the women who lead the papal household. John Paul II was cared for by nuns, but Benedict XVI prefers consecrated laity of Memores Domini, as the Vaticanist Paolo Rodari notes

Viganò made the power struggle public

The case of Viganò exemplifies the grave internal struggle and allowed it for the first time to be openly visible to the outside. Afterwards blows were returned and are thus likely to be directly related. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a faithful follower of the former Secretary of State Cardinal Sodano, Secretary of the Governorate since 2009, the Papal States, was removed in October 2011 before the expiration of his term of office in the Roman Curia. Viganò, number two in the administrative office of the Papal States, wanted to become the new governor and competed to succeed Cardinal Lajolo. Instead, he was deported to the post of nuncio to the United States of America.

The ambassadorship is one of the most prestigious in the world, but Viganò did not wish his "deportation" to occur without comment. Probably in the hope of being able to prevent his transfer, the Curial Archbishop let off his the first "bomb". He wrote several letters to among others, Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone and Pope Benedict XVI in which he gave the names of those whom he claimed had placed him in a bad light with the goal of doing him a disservice The letter to Cardinal Bertone was leaked to the media and read in the television broadcast of journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi , who has since published a book. The appointment of Viganò to the US looks ill-fated. Especially now that the bishops are engaged against President Obama in a bitter struggle for religious freedom.

The "old guard" campaigned for Viganò

Viganò claimed in the letter that he had been removed because he wanted to take action against "bad apples" who had allegedly been lining their own pocket behind the back of the Pope. He did not forget to note that these "apples" stood close to the Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone. But there is nothing more could be done.

The Pope had decided that Viganò after his two strongly worded letters which immediately appeared in the media, and probably because of it, should leave Rome. He had to go although in his favour, and ultimately against Secretary of State Bertone, several important cardinals had offered support who invariably belonged to the old guard of John Paul II and who had prevailed mainly in the last years of his pontificate. Among them was Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the former prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, who was regarded in 2006 as a possible successor to Sodano as Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Georges Cottier, theologian of the Pontifical House, and especially Cardinal Agostino Cacciavillan who sent the Pope an urgent letter, and is also a close companion of Cardinal Sodano.

Benedict XVI resolute advocate of transparency should be discredited as "coverer-up"

One purpose of the publicly leaked documents was also to discredit Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope, who more than any other supported since the beginning of his pontificate transparency and internally insisted on several occasions tackling unpleasant and painful affairs openly and aggressively, and not only supported this in the paedophile scandal but also implemented it with new rules is placed by the indiscretions which have a distortionary character as someone who puts the brake on and covers up. Whoever committed this breach of trust, reckons on the anti-religious reflections of many journalists.

"New Guard" does not give the expected backing of Pope

The truth is quite different. Behind the back of the Pope, two groups of the Roman Curia are in a bitter struggle against each other: the old guard, which Benedict XVI. wanted to overthrow after his election and the new guard, in which he placed his confidence, but which has not yet repaid that trust in reality. From it, he has not received the hoped-for support to strengthen the reform and renewal plan that Pope Benedict XVI envisions for the Church and with which he wants to equip the church for the third millennium.

These include profound reorientation such as in Europe taking leave of the traditional idea of a national church. It seems that different, heterodox old forces want desperately to hold on to the idea. To some extent they also include the paradox of "grassroots" groups that adorn themselves with the label of radical reformers. The Pope sees on the other hand faithful Catholics as a minority in Europe and ventures to speak for them in contrast to bishops and lay representatives . He sees his task is to strengthen the minority and not to indulge in the fiction of a national church, which no longer exists.

The Pope actually the victim of intrigue - appointment of a new Cardinal Secretary of State?

Pope Benedict XVI is the real victim of scheming game. But the Pope differently from that commonly assumed is a strong man of action. His understanding of many things is different from prevailing ideas. The Roman Curia is close to new structural reform including the appointment of a new Cardinal Secretary of State. As a candidate for the office of the Vatican's "prime minister", the French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti is discussed. Mamberti, currently Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and thus "foreign minister" of the Holy See is a member of the Diplomatic Corps. He is said to possess the ability to work well with both factions This peace, the Pope needs as a prerequisite for his renewal program. Thus, with this as well as the appointment of a new prefect of the CDF, two key changes are in the offing.

Pope plans to fundamental transformation of the Roman Curia

Pope Benedict XVI last Wednesday took advantage of the Wednesday meeting of theCDF at which the future of the SSPX was discussed to receive the Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller in audience. Personnel decisions have not been taken neither for the one nor for the other post been taken. Completely other names for the Secretary of State and the CDF could arise.

Bishop Fellay: "It is the will of the Pope"

There is not one thing in the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI that will be more controversial than that which is now before him. He will decide. What he will decide will shape the Church for decades to come. Do not doubt how big this is.

There are enemies on both sides trying to prevent this. Those who are against this, do the work of Satan.

From Rorate and Gloria TV:

"You have surely heard that, in the last few months, Rome has offered us a solution - we could rather say, a recognition.

"This structure that is being offered to the Society is in fact entirely appropriate. That is, if it actually takes place, you will feel absolutely no difference between now and afterwards. We will remain as we are, so to speak. The problem is the [existence of] safeguards: will it actually happen this way? The fear is great that we will be transformed. ...

"It is quite clear that this offer is also very, very controversial in the Church at large. I can assure you: It is the will of the Pope. This must not be doubted. But it is certainly not the will of everyone in the Church.

"Whether this will come to fruition depends on terms that are not yet clear terms. There are still points that remain unclear. It could happen that, in the upcoming days, weeks - it is very hard to ascertain this - the Pope will decide directly. It could be that he takes the case back to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. There is a lot of pressure in Rome. Which is why I couldn't say more than this. That is the current status.

"One must not think that things will be easy afterwards. To use the words of the Pope that describe the situation quite well: 'I know,' he said, 'that it would be easier both for the Society and for myself to leave the situation as it currently is.' This describes very well the situation, and also that the Pope himself knows that he, when he does it, will be attacked. And also that the situation will not be easy for us. That which will arise out of this situation will be with Rome or against it. Both of which will be difficult.

"Yet we have trust in the good God. He has guided us very well so far. We must not think that, praying so much, He would abandon us in the moment of greatest danger. That would be [a thought] against hope. We are counting on God's assistance. His will be done.

SSPX Canada District Superior -- "Let us trust in the leadership"

In the past year, the SSPX District Superior moved from Toronto to their new St. Joseph Centre at St-Césaire, Quebec Father Jürgen Wegner. I came to know Father Wegner a little while he was in Toronto as I sang Tenebrae with them one Triduum a few years ago. He is a fine priest and has issued an extensive letter dealing exclusively with the current situation between the Holy See and the SSPX.

Let us remember today, those Catholics in Canada who attend Mass at the SSPX Mass Centres and that those who have doubts and do not trust the Holy Father and have in fact, developed a "schismatic mentality," some of whom I know, will humble themselves to the words of Father Wegner, the former District Superior now in the United States, Father Rostand and of course, to Bishop Fellay. Let us also not fall victim to rumour mongering or spread unfortunate misinformation.
Here is the introduction but please go to Rorate Caeli to read it in its entirely.

Dear friends and benefactors,

There has been, during the past few weeks, a veritable flood of articles and opinions concerning the relations between Rome and the SSPX. The information provided by these texts may seem alarming and even contradictory, threatening to trouble our peace of mind and obscure our judgment. I would like, during these confusing times, to outline clearly the purpose of the Society, its common and unwavering aim to promote the Catholic faith, and the importance of unity.

Toronto Missa Solemnis - Ascension of the Lord

In honour of the Ascension into heaven of Our Lord Jesus Christ; Una Voce Toronto is once again sponsoring a Solemn High Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Roman Missal 1962). The Mass is on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 7:30 P.M. at St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Church in Scarborough. More information is available here.

 MUSIC PROGRAM

Organ Prelude: Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV553; J.S. Bach
Processional Hymn: Sing We Triumphant Hymns of Praise;  Venerable Bede
LASST UNS ERFREUEN
Gregorian Chant Propers
Missa de Angelis
Credo III
Jesu Rex Admirablis; St. Bernard of Clairveaux - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Panis Angelicus; St. Thomas Aquinas - Cesare Franck
Regina Caeli
Recessional Hymn: Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise  Charles Wesley LLANFAIR
Organ Postlude: Choral Variations on "Veni, Creator Spiritus" Op. 4. Maurice Duruflé

Toronto Anglican Ordinariate Sodality

Today, Sunday  May 6, the Toronto Sodality of the Anglican Use will celebrate its first Holy Mass according to the Anglican Use. Congratulations to all those Anglicans in Toronto who have entered the Catholic Church and have the grace to have this wonderful liturgy. \

It is with great joy that the Toronto Sodality of the Anglican Use announces weekly Masses according to the Anglican Use starting Sunday, May 6^th, 2012. Please spread the word!

Mass will be held every Sunday at 1:45pm at Sacré-Coeur (the Church of the Sacred Heart) at 381 Sherbourne St, at the corner of Sherbourne and Carlton, in downtown Toronto.  Anglican Use Masses fulfill Sunday obligation for all Catholics, regardless of whether or not they are of an Anglican background.  There is parking immediately north of the Church, a children’s program during the Liturgy of the Word, and coffee hour afterward.

The Toronto Anglican Use Sodality is a group of Catholics coming from the Anglican tradition who are in full communion with the Pope and who strive to preserve and celebrate our Anglican heritage as a Catholic parish church.

In the words of Anglicanorum Coetibus, we “celebrate the Holy Eucharist and the other Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical celebrations according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See, so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared.”

Everyone is welcome to attend and we hope to see you there.

Laus Deo!

Reason #1,988 why the SSPX needs to come home!

Lipstick on a Pig

“We were at Easter Mass in our own parish in Iona, P.E.I., and I had sung a song that ended with the word Hallelujah being repeated,” Mooney told The Catholic Register.  “After Mass, our parish priest asked if I would sing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah.’ Promising that she would, she looked up the lyrics. But to her dismay, she found that Cohen’s lyrics were not appropriate for Mass."

Well. at least Miss Mooney was smarter than her parish priest!

Notwithstanding, the puff-piece by the Catholic Register, this is NOT appropriate for Mass and it is everything this blogger and those of us involved in true liturgy have fought against.

If you don't believe me, ask St. Pius X!

Because you can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig!

Le Figaro - "Rome and Écône on the verge of reaching an agreement"

Breaking: From Rorate Caeli:

I am scheduled to have dinner with a priest of the SSPX in two weeks; may it be a joyous celebration. Vox.

   

Rome and Écône on the verge of reaching an agreement

by Jean-Marie Guénois

The signing of a document establishing the relations between the Holy See and the disciples of Abp. Lefebvre is a matter of days.

Officially, the Vatican awaits the response of Bp. Bernard Fellay, the chief of the Lefebvrists. As soon as it is received in Rome - "it is a matter of days, and no longer of weeks", - it will be immediately examined. If it conforms to expectations, the Holy See will very quickly announce a historic agreement with this group of faithful, known under the name of "integrists".

But unofficially, and with the greatest discretion, emissaries have worked, from both sides, to "reach an agreement". In the past few weeks, the final adjustments have been concluded between Rome and Écône in order to better respond to the demands of "clarifications" asked for by the Vatican last March 16.

A very delicate negotiation 

It is thus that the final response of Bp. Fellay, very well pondered and well prepared, should settle - this time, for good - a very delicate negotiation which was relaunched by Benedict XVI following his election, in 2005. 

The "Ecclesia Dei" commission, sheltered within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most important ministry in the Vatican, is in charge of this dossier. But it is also, at this point, personally followed by Benedict XVI. And he wants an agreement. 

Which allows for the consideration, by well informed persons, that a positive outcome will truly come into being. Even at the cost of the permanence of profound disagreements regarding the Second Vatican Council.

Disagreements completely accepted, besides, by the Pope. He has placed his pontificate under this line of reinterpretation of the Vatican II Council. Following two axes: emptying the spirit of "rupture" of '68 and avoiding opposition between the highest tradition of the Church and modernity.

Fifty years of opposition

On Monday, Benedict XVI will reach 85. He is tired. His entourage do not hide this. He has had to rest this week in Castel Gandolfo from his exhausting voyage to Mexico and Cuba, then from the long services of Holy Week. He should be back in the Vatican on Friday evening. As a priority on his bureau: this decision on the Lefebvrist affair. It will be one of the weightiest of the pontificate.

For fifty years, the Lefebrvists have stood in opposition to the Holy See regarding Vatican II. And in formal juridical rupture since June 1988, when Abp. Marcel Lefebvre ordained four bishops despite the Pope's interdict.

Joseph Ratzinger was placed at the time by John Paul II in charge of the negotiations with the rebellious bishop. He has never accepted that failure. Nor, once having become the Pope, the prospect of an enduring schism in the Church.

Benedict XVI compels the Church to reconcile with herself

One after the other, Benedict XVI has demolished, with all his papal authority, the obstacles that prevented a full reconciliation with the disciples of Abp. Marcel Lefebvre.

And, if a final agreement is announced in the upcoming days, the essential part of the work was already put in place by this pope:

-The reestablishment in 2007 - as an "extraordinary" rite of the Catholic Church -- of the Mass celebrated in Latin, that is, according to the Missal of John XXIII in force before the Council.

-The removal, in 2009, of the excommunications which fell on the four bishops ordained by Abp. Lefebvre.

-The launch of the doctrinal discussions between the Holy See and the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, in that same year, regarding the Second Vatican Council

The apparent failure of the latter, one year ago, had given the impression of a complete failure of the negotiation. 

The doctrinal disagreement between the Lefebvrists and Rome regarding the Second Vatican Council was effectively abyssal. But it had been forgotten that the object of those conversations was not finding an agreement, but establishing the list of divergences and of their reasons.

It is therefore knowingly and, thus, without any ambiguity, that Rome intends to seal this unity found once again with Écône, stronghold of the Lefebvrists in Switzerland.

It will probably be done with the creation of a special statute - a "personal prelature" - already experienced by Opus Dei. This structure grants a true autonomy of action at the same time as the Catholic faith is shared. Its superior answers directly to the pope, and not to the bishops.

But the true "revolution" that Benedict XVI intends to leave before the eyes of the history of the Catholic Church is elsewhere. It is not related to peripheral aspects of the Catholic Church. These have already enraged the groups opposed to this reconciliation. The so-called "Progressives" of the Conciliar Church who see the "gains" of Vatican II questioned. The "ultras" within the Lefebvrist ranks who see in this a betrayal and a compromise with Modernist Rome.

This revolution aims for an enlarged vision of the Catholic Church. Benedict XVI, the theologian, has never accepted that in 1962 the bimillennial Catholic Church would have cut herself from the culture and strength of her past. More than a reconciliation with the Lefebvrists, he aims, with this gesture, for a reconciliation of the Catholic Church with herself.

He is Risen!

Truly, this man was the Son of God.

The Marxist President

My American friends,

You must rebel against this Catholic-hating Marxist in the Whitehouse!

Quadragesimae MMXII

It has been a while since I have blogged. For over six weeks now, I've been suffering a pinched nerve which has caused a disruption of sleep and a lot of pain from my neck to my shoulder down my arm and to my wrist. I'm working through it with therapy and I've not missed any of my singing duties but it has limited my desire or ability to do much typing.

There is much on which to comment but y'all know what is going on.

And while you contemplate the Suffering Servant enjoy the new music, particularly the De Profundis by Arvo Pärt which I had the pleasure of singing many times during my tenure with The Victoria Scholars.

Apostolic Nuncio to Canada on Kneeling after Communion

I received a letter today from the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada regarding the issue of some bishops and priests forcing people to stand after Holy Communion. This has come about as misinterpretation of the GIRM (General Instruction on the Roman Missal) as it is in the Third Edition in force since the First Sunday of Advent past.

The Archbishop refers to my own provision of the evidence to him from a Dubium and Responsum involving the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops back in 2003 and Cardinal George. This fact has been well publicised and is readily available. The fact that some Canadian bishops and liturgists have taken a different view is unacceptable.

Vox Cantoris' letter received from the Apostolic Nuncio

You, dear Catholic friend, have the right to know the truth and to know when you are being misled.

What is important about the enclosure accompanying His Grace's letter is that it is taken directly from the bulletin, Notitiae, published by the Congregation. What is most notable about its content is that neither the dubium nor the responsum refers to the question coming from the USCCB. It is generic and in fact refers to "multis in locibus christefidelis"-- "Christians in many places." 

Therefore, with clarity the intent is universal. It did not specify the United States.

Let us be very clear. Paragraph 43 of the new General Instruction on the Roman Missal in Canada and elsewhere does not force you to stand after receiving Holy Communion.

It follows then that any bishop or priest in Canada ordering you to stand after receiving Holy Communion is in error and by doing so, they have exceeded their authority.

Let me repeat again.

The bishops, priests and liturgists who have forced you to stand after Holy Communion and to remain standing until all have received are wrong. Read that again. THEY ARE WRONG AND IN ERROR.

NOW, YOU ARE ARMED.

GET TO WORK, YOU'RE A GROWN-UP CATHOLIC NOW!

Here then is my translation of that pictured below from the September/October 2003 issue of Notitiae, the Bulletin of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments:

Question:

In many places during Holy Mass, some of the Christian faithful upon returning to their seats after receiving the Eucharist wish to remain in private prayer sitting or kneeling or standing.  Is it the intent of the statute of the third Latin edition of the Roman Missal to stop this practice?

Response

Negative according to our thoughts.

The mind of the Congregation is that by means of the provisions of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 43, on the one hand is intended to grant broad terms -- some uniformity of the habit of the Congregation for the various parts of the body in the celebration of Holy Mass; (Vox--as example, the Gloria, Offertory, or Lord's Prayer) and at the same time on the other side of the body, not to regulate the habit so rigorously in such a way that those who wish to stand or to sit or to be on their knees (after Holy Communion) were no longer free to do so.

Toronto Missa Solemnis-Candlemas

For more information, please write to unavocetoronto@rogers.com

Bishop Athanasius Schneider--"Communion in the hand must go!"

My old Grade 10 German is surely not sufficient and thanks to Google Translator; here is the latest from Bishop Athanasius Schneider from Kreuz and the Eponymous Flower. Communion in the hand was an error that must be corrected. You can start correcting it the next time you attend Mass--one person at a time and it begins with you.

 

Bishop Schneider: Hand Communion Must Go

It is a legend that hand communion goes back to the first century.  It comes much more from the devilish schismatic of Geneva, John Calvin. -kreuz.net

(kreuz.net) The current form of hand communion stems from the Calvinists.

This is what Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider (50) of Astana in Kazakhstan said at the end of October for the videosite 'gloria.tv'.

"That was an abuse"

Calvinist self-communion was introduced in the 1960s by decadent Catholic Communities in the Netherlands.

This step happened in disobedience to ecclesiastical rules -- Msgr Schneider stressed:  "That was an abuse and the Holy See forbid it in the 1960s."

Finally Paul VI († 1978) addressed hand communion in the Document 'Memoriale Domini' in May 1969 with a "heavy heart":

"In this document the Church said that this form is an exception and that kneeling Communion would remain the rule."

At hand communion the people would take the Host with their fingers and put it in their mouths themselves:  "this particular gesture has never taken place in the history of the Church, never."

It was a kind of self communion.

The Lutherans adapted themselves to the Catholics

Msgr Schneider recalled the Episcopal Synod of October 2005 on the Eucharist.

During a recess Msgr Schneider asked an attending Norwegian Lutheran "Bishop" how his community gave  the Lord's Supper.

The Lutheran answered that the Norwegian State Church had, up until about ten years ago, been giving supper only kneeling and on the tongue. Yet the influence of decadent Roman Catholics has caused hand communion to be introduced.

Liturgical Minimalism

The Auxiliary Bishop asks that hand communion be prayed and worked against:

"We must deeply desire that this form of current hand communion, which has never been practiced in the Church, be abolished"  -- he said with feeling.


Handcommunion is a minimal form of  reverence.  On the contrary, the Church ought never to be satisfied with minimalism.

Particles of Host on the floor

Msgr Schneider warned that giving hand communion will cause many particles to be lost.

The Hosts are often flaky.

The particles could also adhere to the fingers or remain on the
 palm.  They would fall on the ground and be trampled.

In Kazakhstan, according to the Auxiliary Bishop, Communion is only given kneeling and on the tongue.

"It so often happens to me and also to other priests, that there are a few particles on the paten."

Without Communion patens, these particles would fall on the floor or in the clothing of the people.

Msgr Schneider also warned that hand communion simplifies the theft of Hosts as well.

The Epiphany of the LORD

Whether it was Friday (as it was for me in the EF) or Saturday night (as it was for me where I sang the Vigil Mass) or today if you worship in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, may you have a blessed Epiphany. For me, it is Holy Family today and let us pray that some day, Epiphany in Canada will be transferred back to January 6 and that we will also have a unified calendar between the OF and EF.

Now that should prompt an interesting discussion, so let us have it.

If there was a new calendar for the OF and EF, what should it look like? Now, let us assume that it is not going to be one or the other but a blending of the best with a hermeneutic of continuity.

So, I shall start with this.

Return the Octave of Epiphany to both (it was done away with in 1962).
Restore the Octave of Pentecost to the OF.
Restore the Gesima Sundays to the OF as a "pre-Lent."

But enjoy this first.

 Here is the trio in English

.

Another great Churchman from Quebec

Today, January 7 the Church in Canada celebrates the Memorial of St. André Bessette of Montreal with a full Mass Proper. In the United States it was celebrated yesterday, January 6 which was the anniversary of his death as an "Optional Memorial." I am not sure why the Canadian bishops chose to seek Rome's approval for the approval of this Memorial on January 7, but I do agree with it. Often, feasts and memorials are on a significant day in the life of the particular saint and usually on the day of the death, the birthday into eternal life; but this is not always possible so dates close are sometimes chosen. The U.S. bishops chose January 6 but I believe this was wrong. While I can't say for sure that the Canadian Bishops felt that January 6 is truly Epiphany and that some day we might use this proper date again, I'd like to think so.



St. André Bessette of Montreal



Sitting at breakfast at the usual Aris' Place, with a seminarian friend after Mass this morning, the subject of the state of the Church once again arose. He reminded me about long ago investigations into goings on in the Curia by Don Luigi Villa of the Diocese of Brescia. I mentioned to him about something similar conducted by another great Quebec Churchman, the late Édouard Cardinal Gagnon, P.S.S., whom Msgr. Vincent Foy considered to be one of Canada's "most illustrious churchmen...a holy, learned and courageous teacher and defender of Life and the Faith."  



Édouard Cardinal Gagnon, P.S.S.



Perusing once again the tribute by Msgr. Foy in Catholic Insight, I could not help but wonder how much the late Cardinal took to his grave and how he suffered for the Church. Cardinal Gagnon believed many Canadian bishops to be in schism due to the Winnipeg Statement. He fought to keep Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX from breaking from the Church and he suffered for what he knew and what Pope Paul VI would not heed. While he was not totally ignored by Pope John Paul II and was eventually appointed to head a Pontifical Council, his findings were never revealed and we will never know, at least not on this side of eternity, whether any of his advice on the modernist corruption at the Lateran or the scandals in the Curia were acted upon.

Let us pray that St. André Bessette will seek the grace and mercy of God upon Quebec and Canada.

Let us also pray that through God's grace and St. André's intercession, Canada's newest Cardinal will seek to emulate the clarity, faith and holiness of the late éminence grise as we see upon us a new year which will be of great challenge and continued upheaval in our culture.

Responsorial Psalm Comparison

In an earlier post, I linked to some wise words by Jeff Ostrowski of the Corpus Christi Watershed. Here is a video comparing some fairly well-worn Responsorial Psalms and a chant version from CCW.

What do you think?

Which do you think would foster greater participation amongst the faithful?

Thomas Christopher Cardinal Collins

May the LORD on this Epiphany pour out his abundant graces on our new Cardinal Archbishop.

 

“I am deeply honoured that the Holy Father has called me to be a member of the College of Cardinals. I am grateful for the trust he has placed in me, and recognize this honour as a sign of his esteem for the role of Canada and of the Archdiocese of Toronto in the universal Church. I ask the people of the Archdiocese, whom I am privileged to serve as bishop, and all people in the community, to pray for me and for all who serve Our Lord through ministry in the Church."

Epiphany Missa Cantata in Toronto

Epiphany of the LORD

Friday, January 6, 2012

7:30 P.M.

Missa Cantata in the Extraordianry Form of the Roman Rite

St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Church

Scarborough

Et Verbum Caro Factum Est

 A most blessed Christmas to one and all.

Make him Mr. Lahey Now!

I was going to post little this week and generally stay away from controversial issues, but this has caused me to rethink that. Instead of his putrid defense and his waxing about renewing his past "homosexual" relationships, he should be accepting his sentence with no defense and spending after that civil penalty a life or prayer and penance in a monastery for his crimes against the Church, children and his own soul.

Well, he lives on in CBWIII, another reason to rid our churches of that wretched little book of his handiwork. Imagine, he was wrecking our liturgy whilst being a sodomite in bishops clothing and looking at little boys, naked, in sexual positions on his computer.

You know, this guy and Mr. Weakland really show how the buggery committed by these sodomies really darkens the conscience.

Perhaps Salt + Light might want to think this post that this man is "a kind and gentle pastor, particularly sensitive to the needs of those who have suffered the scourge of sexual abuse."

Seraphic is equally disgusted and has kept her cool, I will write no more, I cannot keep my cool.

At the risk of committing a sin, I will refrain from writing anything else on this except for this:

Defrock him now!

Read the putrid story here.

Toronto Missa Cantata-Epiphany of the LORD

Una Voce Toronto has announced that a Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite will be celebrated on Friday, January 6, 2012 at 7:30PM at St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Church.

If you are in Toronto, please make an effort to attend and support the growth of the Traditional Latin Mass.

More information can be found here on Facebook or at http://www.unavocetoronto.blogspot.com/
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SSPX Assessment of "Doctrinal Preamble"

I don't often post on matters of the SSPX, but I do think that this is important and I have lifted it here from Rorate Caeli blog. No doubt, for those who have been following the issues for the last while can pretty well confirm that the difficult point is indeed what Bishop Fellay says below; “Yes, you can criticize the Council, but on one condition: it is necessary to accept it first.”

If you read this blog, you probably tend to agree that there are issues with the implementation and interpretation of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, at least as a minimum. The Holy Father has worked unceasingly to ensure the correct "hermeneuitic of continuity." Bishop Fellay and the SSPX are actually doing all of us a favour because they are forcing the Vatican to address the matters. On the other hand, they are also displaying a prideful and strident stance that is also disconcerting. Who is right? Can we blindly say that the SSPX is wrong because we follow Rome? Can the Vatican be right on all of this and the SSPX is in fact, schismatic and disobedient? Where does the truth lay?

Clearly, the Holy Father wants this matter solved and formal unity established and he has gone a long way towards this. Summorum Pontificum, the lifting of the Excommunications, and the Doctrinal Talks and this latest Preamble prove this. What has the SSPX given?

Will the Pope go one step further, or maybe two? Can he, will he simply lift all priestly suspensions and recognise all marriages and jurisdictional matter of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or as some would prefer, Penance. What if he grants them a Personal Prelature and global diocese?

This whole matter is frustrating and going on far too long. It must be solved and soon, positions are hardening. If these talks to do not succeed, if there is not suitable good will and charity around all parties then the risk is that nothing further will happen and eventually, they will Consecrate another priest as bishop. If that happens, then it would seem that at this point, the Pope would be deeply hurt and left with no alternative but to declare that it is in fact, a formal schism.

Let us hope and pray that pride is reduced and charity abounds and that truth prevails.

From the sermon delivered by the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), Bp. Bernard Fellay, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. These are the latest words of that Fraternity on the ongoing discussions with the Apostolic See.

You have all heard that there was a proposal from Rome, a proposal that said, “We are ready to recognize you [canonically].” The problem is that there is always a condition. This condition may have varied a bit in its formulation, but basically it is always the same. This condition is: you must accept the Council. One could sum up the current situation by saying: “Yes, you can criticize the Council, but on one condition: it is necessary to accept it first.” Which leaves us saying, “What can we criticize afterwards?”

I think that this is an honest summary of the present situation. And it is not difficult to describe for you our response.

Obviously, the formulas are more and more interesting, closer and closer to what we say. We have arrived by now at a point that clearly shows the depth of the problem. In that famous proposal this is what they tell us: “You commit yourselves to acknowledging that with regard to points from the Council that cause difficulties, the only way to understand those points is to understand them in light of the continuous, perpetual Tradition, in light of the preceding Magisterium.” The light of Tradition is the only way by which one can understand the dubious points. They even go further: “Any proposition and any interpretation of the dubious texts that was opposed to that perpetual Magisterium, that continual Magisterium of the Church must be rejected.” That is what we have always said. But there is a tiny little incidental clause that adds, “as the New Catechism says”. Now the New Catechism adopts the Council.

In other words, concerning the principle we can only agree. As for the application, it is completely the opposite. They claim that they are applying the principle by saying: everything that was done at the Council is faithful to Tradition, is consistent with Tradition, whether it be ecumenism or religious liberty. That shows you the seriousness of the problem. There is a problem somewhere. It is not possible otherwise. The problem is based on the understanding of certain words. And these words are of course “Tradition” and “Magisterium”. Their way of understanding these words is subjective. Certainly there are cases in which one can understand “tradition” in the sense of “transmit”: the act of transmitting is a transmission. But the usual way of understanding this word has bearing on its content. What is transmitted? What is transmitted from generation to generation? The classical definition of Tradition is “that which has always been believed by all, everywhere and at all times” (Commonitorium by St. Vincent of Lerins). Here the expression “That which” designates the object. But nowadays, it is as though we went from the object to the subject, so as to consider only the one who transmits.

That is why they talk to you about “living tradition”, because the one who transmits, when he transmits, is alive. Now life moves, it changes. The popes change… and therefore tradition changes, but it remains tradition. It is the same tradition, but one that changes. The Church has also taken this sense into consideration, but in an altogether secondary way. That is not what she is talking about when she talks about Tradition; what we call the deposit of the faith, the set of truths that the Good Lord has entrusted to the Church so that she might transmit it from generation to generation, so that souls might be saved. This content is what she means. And this is the reason why, with the definition of infallibility at the First Vatican Council, the Church teaches that the Holy Ghost has effectively been promised to St. Peter and to his successors, therefore to the popes. But He was not promised in such a way that the popes might teach something new by a new revelation. He was promised so that, with the help of the Holy Ghost, Saint Peter and the popes might preserve holily and transmit faithfully that which does not change, the revealed deposit.

That is where we are. That is what we are trying to do, since there is in fact a gesture made by Rome toward us, we must recognize it, a surprising gesture after these doctrinal discussions in which we determined that we were not in agreement. In effect it is a situation similar to that of two persons who meet, discuss something and arrive at the conclusion that they do not agree. What do you do then? Rome tells us: “You accept nevertheless!” And we reply: “It is not possible.” And so what we decide to do, besides answering that it is not possible, is to tell them: Wouldn’t you like to look at things a bit differently? Wouldn’t you like to try to understand that the Society is not the one that is a problem. There is indeed a problem in the Church, but it is not the Society; we are not a problem because we are saying that there is a problem. Then we ask them to deal with the real problem. We are ready; we want only one thing and it is precisely to attack the real problem.

You understand very well that humanly speaking there is no great hope that they will agree to change such a position. Maybe the disappointments that the Church has experienced will move them? The fact that currently the disaster, the sterility is more clearly evident: there are no more vocations. It is frightening. I saw, a few moments ago, the statistics for the Sisters of Charity, the nuns who used to be everywhere in France: between thirty and forty years of age I think that there are still three left in all of France. Between the ages of 40 and 50, likewise three. The majority, in other words almost 200, are between 70 and 80 or between 80 and 90. Some of them are more than 100 years old, and they are more numerous than those who are 20, 30, 40 or 50 years old. If you take the ones from 20 to 50 years of age, you have one more than the group of those who are 100 years old or more: 9 as opposed to 8. Those nuns who used to do all sorts of charitable works in all the rural areas!

And it is over. That is one example among thousands. Take the priests. Take instances from whatever area you want: it is a Church that is dying, disappearing. Nevertheless that ought to make people reflect. We think, we hope that some are beginning to reflect. People do get the impression that that is just not enough. Of course, grace is needed. It is necessary to pray.

Pray! Pray that the Good Lord will truly deliver the Church, that the Blessed Virgin will do something. She is the one who promised that her Immaculate Heart would triumph at the end to get the Church out of this disaster. For us who are involved in this great battle for the Church, it is an extraordinary honor to be able to be members of this Society today. And so let us ask the Most Blessed Virgin Mary that we might be worthy members of this Society. Let us live faithfully according to its statutes. Follow the seminary rules, as it is expected of you, with all your heart, while practicing the great charity that the Statutes of the Society require of us. Let us request it from the Most Blessed Virgin Mary so that really, every day, we might please God, that we might sanctify ourselves and thereby might be able to win souls for the Good Lord, those souls that are entrusted to us, for the greater glory of God, for the honor of the Most Blessed Virgin and that of the Church. Amen.

[Source & translation: DICI, Dec. 15, 2011]

Divinum Officium and daily Missa - On-line Resources

The Internet has brought many resources to those interested in the Liturgy of the Church in all its Forms.

Here is a website which has the daily Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 and even the Divine Office from the ancient Monastic, to Trent to the Rubrics and New Calendar of 1962.

What an enormous work and to give due credit to the founder, let us read from their page.

This website was created and designed by the late Laszlo Kiss. Mr. Kiss, longtime resident of Forrest Lake, Illinois, died suddenly at his home on Monday, 11 July 2011, shortly after returning from a walk with his wife Marta. He was three days shy of his 73rd birthday. Mr. Kiss was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 14 July 1938, and married Marta Noske on 31 January 1968. He worked in Budapest as a computer engineer until emigrating to the United States of America in 1982. In 1983, he developed "Image," one of the first computer-controlled manufacturing systems in the world (still in use to this day). He retired in 2000, and, among other things, selflessly devoted hundreds of hours to creating the website divinumofficium.com, which provides free access to many different versions of the Divine Office (or breviary), the traditional daily prayer book of the Roman Catholic Church. His funeral was held at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Volo, Illinois, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (16 July). Mr. Kiss is survived by three brothers in Hungary, and in the States by his loving wife Marta (of forty-three years), their two sons Zoltan and Chaba, and their two grandchildren Sophie and Ryan.

On Monday, August 15, 2011, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, The Divinum Officium Project was founded, with the permission of Laszlo's son Chaba, to preserve and further Laszlo's work and to promote the worship of the Triune God through the Divine Office. Currently, The Divinum Officium Project consists of a diocesan priest as well as three software developers who maintain the site and ensure its accuracy.

T.A.D.M.N.

May Mr. Kiss rest in peace.