From our friends in Una Voce Russia:
This letter was sent by the faithful of St. Barbara Parish in Vitebsk to Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk-Mohilev. While the diocese of Vitebsk and its St. Barbara Cathedral is one of the very few places in Belarus where Summorum Pontificum is implemented with several Masses celebrated in usus antiquor every week, the archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev still does not have any such Mass, except for those offered in the FSSPX chapel.
The letter concerns the annual pilgrimage to Budslau (a town within the archdiocese), the greatest event in Belarus’ Catholic life every year.
Translated from Belarussian by Oleg-Michael Martynov, Una Voce Russia.
St. Barbara Roman Catholic ParishBelarus 210001, 27 Leningradskaya Ulitsa, Vitebsk+375 212 349 654Your Excellency, Most Reverend Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz,Last year and again in April 2009 we the faithful of Vitebsk's parishes, adherent to Catholic liturgical tradition, have addressed Your Excellency asking for a Holy Mass in the so-called Tridentine Rite (or Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) to which Holy Father Benedict XVI has given the "green light" in his 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, to be offered in the celebrations to honor Our Lady of Budslau.However, we have been greatly saddened to learn that even in this year, when about 90 signatures of faithful have been sent to the Curia (a condition that Your Excellency had mentioned in the previous year), our request has not been not granted for unknown reasons, because,for example, the Mass could fit in the schedule on July 1, between 7 and 9 PM. There also was no necessity to celebrate it on the central altar, since the smaller one in the old church could be used as well.We think that Pope Benedict XVI would be very disappointed if informed that our request remains unanswered, especially after the Belarussian Conference of Catholic Bishops with the Reverend Episcopate addressed a letter to Pope Benedict, assuring him of their faithfulness to the Holy Father's teaching.We hope the lack of a positive response thus far has occurred due to an accident, which is why we again ask to be informed of the possible time and place where such a Holy Mass could be celebrated. With this we would like to show that, together with the services in Greek Catholic rite, the Catholic Church truly exhibits the "unity in diversity" which is an essential part of Her mission.Remembering Your Excellency in our prayers, respectfully and requesting your blessing,the faithful of St. Barbara ParishJune 14, 2009
