You Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Diocese of Arlington Churches offer TLM ...
"A newly added Mass will begin this Sunday in the Diocese of Arlington (Va.). Saint Anthony (mission church of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary) in King George, Va., will have Mass each Sunday at 12:45 p.m. This brings the total to 12 churches (plus Christendom College’s chapel) with regularly scheduled TLMs in the Diocese of Arlington, which has a total of 68 parishes, or nearly 20 percent of diocesan parishes."
This example proves that, even under the thumb of a bishop historically hostile to tradition, holy priests determined to bring about true restoration of the Mass and Faith can be successful.
And please remember to follow @RorateCaeli on Twitter.
34 comments:
That's awesome. Say what you will the future is ours.
Although it is a good thing that more TLMs are celebrated throughout the world due to the Motu Proprio, it is also a sad reality that many priests who celebrate it are not friends of Tradition. They most probably do not have a deep reason to prefer the TLM but maybe only like it aesthetically. Last Sunday I heard the priest say at the homily that Traditionalists are "practical Sedevacantists" and "Protestants" and compared the SSPX to the Vetero-Catholics "who are now ordaining women" and are "dry branches ready for the fire". There is always the danger that these priests use the TLM to undermine Tradition from the pulpit with the blessings of the Holy Father (who does not seem to like the SSPX either).
Bp. of Arlington obviously isn't that hostile if there are already 20% of the diocese celebrating the TLM. I doubt most other dioceses have a percentage adoption anywhere near that.
It also shows what a joke the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei was. So you're saying there was no desire on the part of the faithful...
The numbers are great, and I would love to see every diocese at over 20%, but the jab at Bishop Loverde is uncalled for and completely false. I live in the Diocese of Arlington, and His Excellency is nothing short of amazing. Hostile is the worst word that could be used to describe him, in any context.
I notice that Mr. Paulitz wrote "historically hostile to tradition," which would seem to be true as far as the Mass is concerned. The Diocese of Arlington only got its first episcopally approved TLM in 2006 (accompanied by permission for altar girls throughout the diocese), 18 years after Ecclesia Dei adflicta and seven years into Bp. Loverde's reign. Of course this does not necessarily mean that His Excellency is currently hostile to tradition.
Of these 12 churches, how many have a TLM every Sunday?
Arlington is "hostile to tradition"? What are you talking about? I used to serve a parish there; Arlington is a fine diocese.
Wow, that is great. I lived in Front Royal for a time and it was just amazing how even without a FSSP/SSPX presence, there were not only Sunday Masses but also between Christendom College and St. John's- a Mass every day!
As far as the bishop goes- I can attest that he has not been so friendly to tradition. The fact that there was no permission for an indult Mass until 2006 shows this. Also, a little anecdote: at St. John's they have their NO Masses ad orientem or in the 'Benedictine arrangement'. When the bishop came for Confirmation, they had to take the crucifix and candles off the altar.
I am a parishioner at St. John's in Warrenton and I can tell you we have it every Sunday. A quick search reveals that 8 of the 12 churches have it every Sunday according to the Arlington Diocese advance search tool for Mass, confession, and adoration times.
Here are the parishes with Mass every Sunday
1. St. John the Evangelist - Warrenton, VA
2. Holy Trinity - Gainesville, VA
3. St. John the Baptist - Front Royal, VA
4. St. Lawrence - Alexandria, VA
5. St. Michael - Annandale, VA
6. St. Patrick - Fredericksburg, VA
7. St. Anthony Padua Mission - King George, VA
Two Sundays a month:
8. St. John the Apostle - Leesburg, VA
Weekly (not Sundays)
9. St. John the Beloved - Mclean, VA
10. St. Rita - Alexandria, VA
11. St. Louis - Alexandria, VA
12. Holy Spirit, Annandale, VA
Interestingly enough 15 of the parishes in the diocese offer Eucharistic Adoration times and this includes all 12 of those parishes that have the Mass in the Extra Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
Yes, the Arlington situation is truly bizarre. Many of them had been Latin N.O. Masses under that Bishop who died while on his ad limina. Forgotten his name.
There are a few other cases like that of Arlington. The Diocese of Basel in Switzerland is one of them. It has Latin Masses in every little valley, it would seem. Two other Swiss dioceses have them everywhere too: Basel and Lausanne. But the other three have gone in the opposite direction, especially St. Gall and Lugano.
Then there is the opposite extreme: nothing for Lisbon, nothing for Bombay, nothing in the Archdiocese of Manila (or little), nothing in most of the dioceses of Catholic Argentina.
To answer Mr. Palad's question, many or most of them in Arlington have the T.L.M. every Sunday. It is a very bizarre situation, an anomaly, like that of Basel. Of course, Basel and Arlington are not enormous cities.
The U.S.A. is an odd place regarding tradition. As a Canadian, I look south and wonder what they are thinking down there. In Alaska, all three dioceses--even Juneau, with only 5,000 faithful--have the old Mass on the every-Sunday basis. Up here, we can't get the ancient Mass in important cities, such as Winnipeg, Trois Rivières, Halifax, Regina, Kingston. The Canadian bishops are a bad bunch. I'd better bite my tongue and write no more.
P.K.T.P.
For those doubting my credibility on whether the Bishop is hostile to tradition, I can tell you, without going into detail, that I have spoken with him personally for over an hour, one on one, before the motu proprio. I know first hand exactly what he believes in terms of Churches' sacred tradition.
What is happening in Arlington is in spite of his efforts, not because of his efforts.
A correction: St. John the Beloved in Mclean, VA has a TLM every sunday at noon.
that Bishop who died while on his ad limina.
Bp. Keating
And, by the way, there will be a TLM offered this evening at 7:30 at St. John's in McLean.
P.K.T.P.
There is a Traditional Mass in Kingston, Ontario.
See this please:
http://kingstontlm.blogspot.com/
D.A.J.D.
On the one hand, it is hard to call a bishop (Loverde) who permits altar girls - Arlington had been one of only two dioceses remaining that had forbidden them - as fully congruent with tradition.
On the other hand, it's apparent that many of his priests feel comfortable offering the traditional mass without fear of chancery reprisals, which is more than you can say for some dioceses.
As for why so many diocesan priests in Arlington are attached to tradition...we can thank Loverde's predecessors for that formation.
@ P.K.T.P.
In Halifax, we might yet get one... pray for us!
When my wife and I were married only four and a half months ago we managed to have a Missa Cantata. The celebrant was from the Oratorians, but one of the priests of our diocese participated in singing the Epistle and distributing communion.
L.V.T
Living in the Diocese of Arlington, I can also say there are some practical problems regarding adding Masses.
For instance, St Raymond of Penafort (http://www.straymonds.org/) actually had to agree to limit the number of Sunday Masses to simply build the parish.
So, while the new Administrator would like to add the traditional rite, practically, he cannot simply replace a Sunday Mass if it were to drive out a number of Parishoners. It's not as simple that they just go to another Mass, because almost all 7 Sunday obligation masses are standing room only.
At this time, he is trying to gauge interest and is looking at two Fridays a month.
I too have spoken with Loverde, and he is no friend of tradition. He does not like it, thinks it is simply politicized Catholicism and creates "two types" of Catholicism.
Christopher,
As you say, you spoke to the bishop before the motu proprio. And while Ecclesia Dei Adflicta encouraged liberal granting of permission to celebrate the TLM, it was never implemented as such.
Even assuming that Bp. Loverde is "hostile" to tradition, he has obviously taken Summorum Pontificum to heart and acceded to the will of the Holy Father. He should be commended for that, not criticized.
Also in the Diocese of Arlington is St. Athanasius Church on Leesburg Pike (perhaps a mile past the famed McLean Bible Church), an active "independent" traditional church closely allied with the SSPX. Its long-time pastor, Fr. Ronald Ringrose, is in his characteristically low-key way something of a notability in traditionalist circles.
My own guess is that the commonness of the traditional Mass in the diocese is largely because it has rich and powerful supporters in those parts (unfortunately, mostly of the Just Give Us the Mass persuasion), and to some degree the usual exercise of keeping people from resorting to Fr. Ringrose.
Bp. Loverde is also the bishop that started a scuttlebutt at Christendom College by demanding under obedience that they stop using the altar rail for the distribution of Holy Communion. The school administrators conceded but there was a deep rift in the student body. Even a note from Rome clarifying that the use of the rail was fine was not enough to turn the bishop away.
Having lived quite a few years in Arlington, I can attest to Mr. Paulitz's assessment: this diocese is tradition rich because of the priests own initiative. It is in spite of, not because of, Bishop Loverde. He "allows" the Mass of Ages because he cannot disallow it (as he did for a long time).
If anyone still doubts, a friend of mine was getting married in Front Royal in 2007. The wedding was after the release of Summorum Pontificum but before Sept 14 (when it was to be "in force"). Bishop Loverde refused to allow them to use the traditional rite for the wedding, despite the obvious will of the Holy Father that such permissions be granted and the knowledge that within a month he would not even be able to refuse.
He may be pro-life, but he is by no means a friend of tradition.
With much prayer, I hope the Milwaukee diocese follows suit.
Happy Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary! In honor of this occasion, Our Lord blessed us with over two feet of pure white snow!!
History of Arlington Diocese:
The Diocese of Richmond from which the land was taken from, had stuck/exiled all of the very conservative/orthodox priests to the northern part of the state. They petitioned Rome for their own Diocese so that they could be out from under the (still) liberal Diocese of Richmond. So basically, the formation of the Diocese was a conservative action.
An anecdote to provide more support to Mr. Paulitz's assertion regarding Bishop Loverde. An Arlington priest who is a close friend of my family's and a friend of tradition once said this of Bishop Loverde: "He's orthodox, but he's not conservative." (Conservative roughly meaning traditional, in this case.)
Something else to consider: To my knowledge, Cardinal Mahoney never has interfered with the Latin Novus Ordo Mass offered at Thomas Aquinas College. (On at least one occasion, however, he prohibited receiving Communion while kneeling at a Mass he offered on the campus.) He also allowed a monthly TLM to be offered there for years before the release Summorum Pontificum.
Looking back on the "Loverde question," here are a few thoughts:
1. The man is about 70 years old. He was in the seminary, was ordained, and was a younger priest in the 1960s and 1970s. Let's cut the guy a little slack for this. We're lucky he is even theologically-orthodox. He was also a JP2 appointee, and these were very uneven.
2. The man is about 70 years old. Just wait five years, and we will get a 50-something young turk who will fit like a glove into our conservative diocese. Take a look at who B16 has been appointing. He is appointing bishops just slightly to the right of the temperament of their diocese. That means we should get a bishop who doubles as a Tea Party activist on Tuesdays.
3. If you want to see how dumb making the perfect the enemy of the good is, all you need to do is cast your eyes northward to the poor Archdiocese of Washington. Similar type of diocese, hatefully anti-traditional bishop (Cardinal Wuerl). Loverde is in the second quintile of U.S. bishops. Wuerl is down there with the Jadot appointees. See his Wikipedia page for details.
4. I get it on altar girls, the slow Ecclesia Dei indults, versus populum, anti-kneeling sentiment, etc. I really do. That stuff makes me just as mad.
But what diocese (an actual diocese, not one made up in your head) would you rather be in? Name one better in the United States.
Here is the history of the birth of the Diocese of Arlington as related by Father Franklyn McAfee, Pastor Emeritus of St. John the Beloved in McLean, VA on July 11, 2010:
"Wolves in Sheep's Clothing"
http://www.tallguyav.com/stjhomilies/100711.homily.mp3
Loverde = Napoleon complex. Not liberal but not necessarily a conservative or friend of tradition but saw which way the wind was blowing.
Before him, Bishop Keating (?) neo-conservative and solid in many ways doctrinally but convicted that the post conciliar liturgy can and MUST work. Forbade it throughout his episcopacy, but in the mean time fostered orthodoxy in the sidelines that post SP exploded into this kind of amazing ratio of the available EFs!
And yet, here in the Diocese of Richmond, there is a grand total of two parishes that celebrate the TLM. I travel to Staunton just to attend a semi-reverent NO Mass.
"He's orthodox, but he's not conservative."
Seems to me the former gives birth to the latter.
Whatever happened to Fr. Haley (not sure of the spelling of his last name)?
Delphina
Having lived in the Arlington diocese for 10 years I attest to the comments of Paulitz and others regarding Bishop Loverde's hostility to conservative and traditional views, desires and piety. I would say that his orthodoxy, if sincere ought be reflected in his form of prayer. Is it really? He should be moving in the direction of the steak supper(to invoke an analogy of Fr. Zuhlsdorf) and eschewing the baby food. It is entirely the good priests there, many who predate the bishop's assignment there, that led to the taking advantage of Summorum Pontificum.
Regarding St. Raymond of Penafort. . . for heaven's sake, if there are 7 fully attended Masses there, for the good of the parish, switch one of them to the Extraordinary Form! That is entirely the perogative of the pastor. . . unless, as only administrator, the bishop bars his attempt to do so. Those who can't tolerate the Traditional Mass have SIX other Mass times to choose! Switch one to the Extraordinary Form. JUST DO IT!
Thank you all for your comments!
Post a Comment