COMMUNIQUĒ
XXth General Assembly of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce.
Rome, 5th/6th November 2011.
On the weekend of 5th and 6th November, delegates from around the world gathered in Rome for the XXth biennial General Assembly of the International Federation Una Voce (www.fiuv.org). For more than 40 years the members of the International Federation have travelled to Rome to plead the cause for the restoration of the traditional liturgy. For most of these years our presence has been acknowledged, rather than welcomed, but since the publication of Summorum Pontificum in July 2007 the atmosphere has improved noticeably.
On this occasion, our General Assembly was blessed by the presence and encouragement of two cardinals. At 10.00 a.m. on Saturday 5th November His Eminence Dario Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos celebrated a Missa Prelatizia in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter. In his sermon His Eminence paid tribute to the important work of the FIUV but said that our primary work was in trying to make the voice of the Holy Father heard on the question of the true value and liberty of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
His Eminence Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos gives the final blessing
His Eminence Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos at the end of Mass with, from left to right:
Don Marco Cuneo, Fr Guiseppe Vallauri, FDP, and Canon Joseph Luzuy, ICRSP.
His Eminence Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos with the FIUV delegates after Mass.
Special thanks must be paid to Don Marco Cuneo, an Italian priest (associate of the FSSP) who works at the Fraternity church in Rome, the Ss Trinita dei Pellegrini, who acted as the MC/coordinator for the Mass at St Peter's.
After the Mass the delegates were delighted to welcome His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke to lunch at the conference hotel. His Eminence had intended to join the delegates on Sunday afternoon at the Open Forum but had received a special invitation from His Excellency Mgr. Punt, Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, to celebrate the Pontifical High Mass in St. Agnes Church in Amsterdam on that date.
The Saturday Session of the XXth General Assembly was given over to internal business matters such as the election of a new Council and the presidential address. The president, Leo Darroch, was elected for a further term of two years. What was especially pleasing was the announcement that 11 new member associations had been admitted to the Federation since the previous General Assembly in 2009.
The second day of the General Assembly is always given over to an Open Forum at which a number of invited guests give talks on various topics. Fr. Joseph Vallauri, FDP, spoke about the ‘private prayers’ that the priest says during Mass; Don Stefano Carusi, IBP, informed the delegates about the spirit and progress of the Institute of the Good Shepherd; Dr. Helmut Ruckriegel, a founder member of the FIUV, gave a brief history of the Una Voce Federation; the Rev. Dr. José-Apeles Santolaria de Puey y Cruells, JCD (ABD), HistL, SMOM, gave a very detailed paper on the value of Romanity in the traditional movement and the Roman Rite as a factor of Civilization in the Western World; the Right Rev. Monsignor Valentín Miserachs, President of the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music addressed the General Assembly on Sacred Music and the Centenary of the Pontifical Institute which was founded by St. Pius X in 1911; Fr. Joseph Kramer, FSSP, spoke about the growing development of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter; and the final speaker was Canon Joseph Luzuy of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, who informed the delegates about the progress being made by the Institute.
A full report of proceedings will be sent to all the member associations as soon as possible.
