Friday, March 29, AD 2024 3:36am

PopeWatch: Father Z

‘I tell you naught for your comfort, Yea, naught for your desire, Save that the sky grows darker yet And the sea rises higher.’

Mary, GK Chesterton, Ballad of the White Horse

Father Z looks at the worsening news from Rome:

On this day in particular, I had wanted to put aside highly negative news.

However, to paraphrase Trotsky, we might not be interested in war, but war is interested in us.

My mail box is filling with notes from people about the rumor that some document is forthcoming from Francis or some office of the Curia which would, in effect, return the state of use of the Traditional Roman Rite back to Ecclesia Dei days, that is, that diocesan priests would need some sort of additional permission to use the Traditional Roman Rite, either from Rome or from the local bishop.

Such a document would be a huge mistake.

Attacks and even rumors of attacks on Summorum Pontificum underscore what I have said ever since it was released: it was perhaps the single most important thing that came out of Benedict XVI’s pontificate (other than his resignation) and it was a monumentally important gift for the whole Church.   The Enemy knows this.   The critical importance of Summorum for the renewal of the Church is confirmed by attacks on it.

Here is a brief explanation of what is up.

Pais Liturgiques (original in French, not my translation):

For some time now, the warning signs about Summorum Pontificum have multiplied: the majority of Italian bishops and the heavyweights of the Curia, in particular at the Secretariat of State, have convinced the Pope that the liturgical traditionalization of the young clergy was “Worrying” and that the “right to the traditional mass”, instituted by the motu proprio of Benedict XVI, was an attack on Vatican II.

On Pentecost Monday, opening in Rome the meeting of the Conference of Italian Bishops, the CEI, the Pope first washed the heads [I sense an idiom here: he gave them a beating] of the Italian bishops, who are dragging their feet to put the Italian Church in a generalized state of synod because they consider it an expensive idea and totally unnecessary. Old man’s mania, some even say.

Then, once the journalists had left the debating hall, the Pope addressed a theme that unites many bishops on the Peninsula: the execration of Summorum Pontificum. Francis confirmed the upcoming publication of a document that he was urged to write, intended to “reinterpret” the motu proprio of Benedict XVI. The publication was indeed delayed, because the document seems to have provoked objections and brakes, especially on the part of Cardinal Ladaria and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who argued that it would provoke worldwide unrest of uncontrollable oppositions. Despite everything, the Secretariat of State would push for the publication of the text, the essential provisions of which would be as follows:

– communities [e.g., FSSP, ICK, etc.] celebrating in the ancient form could continue to do so;

– on the other hand, diocesan priests should now obtain specific permission.

It is obvious that this document, inapplicable in many countries including France, will have above all a symbolic significance: to make the celebration of the traditional Mass no longer a right, but a tolerated exception.  [What rich irony… remember when Kasper talked about Communion for adulterers as “tolerated but not accepted”?]

The traditional anti-mass pressure group, at Saint-Anselme University, at the Curia and at the CEI, thus leads the Pope towards a major political error: the latent discontent of a whole section of Catholics in the face of doctrinal approximations, weaknesses in the face of German excesses, the multiplication of disconcerting statements to say the least, risks turning into a real “fed up” [ras-le-bol – a state of being completely fed-up, of having had enough]. Instead of striving to feel what a very living part of the Christian people thinks and aspires to, they would be driven to despair and exasperation.

The peace of the Church, especially the liturgical peace, to which Benedict XVI had contributed a lot with his wise liberating text, is deliberately torn: a return to the worst years of the post-Council period is coming.

A gloomy outlook.  Alas, trads tend to be a little gloomy.   On the other hand, open war on tradition might result in something that those in charge really don’t want.  “¡Hagan lío!”, after all.

However, one can understand some people will be frightened by these rumors.  However, even though there seems to be some concrete data points, they are still just rumors.

At this point there is no such document.

CONSIDER THIS: This could be a campaign of disinformation.   Italians are really good at this game.  Put out some rumors that are sure to rile up a certain sector and then stand back and watch their behavior.   When they react negatively, you can say, “See!  It would be right to get rid of these people!  Look at how they are behaving!

Go here to read the rest.  If a Pope wanted to provoke a schism, PopeWatch thinks the Pope would act precisely as Pope Francis is.  And on that somber note, PopeWatch will be on Memorial Day hiatus until June 1.

 

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Don L
Don L
Friday, May 28, AD 2021 5:11am

Latinphobia appears to be alive and well in Rome. I once had a
ultra-liberal teacher friend who became a priest (in a Vat II loving seminary) In a “discussion” about the faith, he cried out almost frightened that the younger priests were actually wearing their Roman collars in public again.
Someone once said that the Church needs an exorcism badly. I reluctantly concur.

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