A report from Italy:
We wanted to bring to your attention the story of a group of pilgrims traveling through Italy with a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.
This group was denied the celebration of Mass at the Shrine of San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio), and subsequently at the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. At Loreto, they were initially denied as well, but the priest fortunately managed to convince the local authorities of his permission to celebrate.
At San Giovanni Rotondo, the group had to make do with having their Mass said in a hotel basement following the denial. At Loreto, they encountered — ironically enough — a station for "Dialogue and Listening," staffed by a habitless nun wearing a Roman collar (see image of the pseudo-confessional below). At the Basilica in Assisi, they were likewise denied the ability to celebrate Mass in Latin. Also notable is that they observed an Orthodox Mass taking place at Assisi at the very same time they were being refused the Latin Mass.
In all three instances, once the churches realized that the Masses in question were the Traditional Latin Mass, permission was subsequently denied.
We must emphasize that we do not believe the local bishop communicated directly with the group; the denials were conveyed by local religious and church staff on site, per their own statements.
We do not raise this in a spirit of malice or to inflame, but only to highlight the difficult situation facing our beloved Church in Italy.
