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| Michael Davies in 1959. He was 23 at the time, and a recent convert from a Protestant background. |
This is an article from the French Paix Liturgique, today's issue (my rough-and-ready translation).
The French bishops met in Lourdes last week under considerable psychological pressure. Even though it was not explicitly on the agenda, they were thinking of only one thing—and which the media constantly kept in the forefront of their minds—that the life of French dioceses is mortally sick from the lack of priests.
In La Croix of 5th November, the President of the Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Vingt-Trois, lost his legendary self-mastery and attacked (not by name, but the inference was obvious) his colleague, Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon. ‘One might have a bishop who believes in the New Communities: he rings the bell and calls six new communities into his diocese, and thinks that everything will now be fine! Well, it might be fine insofar as these communities are there, but what about afterwards?’ He is quite obviously talking about the pastoral strategy of Bishop Rey; in particular the welcome accorded to these communities. But he passes over in silence his principal reproach that he bears to his colleague; his generous welcome to those priests who celebrate according to the Extraordinary Form, or according to both forms: in short, his application of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. Because, to the Episcopal Conference, the subject remains strictly taboo.
Asphyxia on its way
1. The number of French diocesan priests working in France is fewer than 9000. For a number of dioceses, (Digne, 25 priests, Nevers, 38, Auch, Saint-Claude, Gap, Digne, Viviers, Verdun, Pamiers, Langres, etc) in ten years time the number of priests in active ministry will be ten at the most. In Bishop Gueneley’s diocese of Langres, the most liberal of French dioceses, one frequently finds one sole priest for 60 churches.
2. The number of seminarians has now fallen below the mark of 750 (740 in 2008, and this number includes a good hundred seminarians from non-diocesan communities). Pamiers, Belfort, Agen, Perpignan, &c, have no seminarians.
3. The number of ordinations remains fewer than 100 (90 in 2009—Paris, which is one of the best situated, had 10, 2 for the Emmanuel Community; 7 are predicted for 2010, and 4 for 2011)
4. 120 vocations have been declared for the class beginning in 2009.
The conclusion is dramatic: a third of French dioceses will cease to exist but will have to regroup within the coming 15 years.
Yet the majority of bishops, above all Archbishop Vingt-Trois, do not despair. Despite everything, the Church remains visible; she remains alive despite appearences. Archbishop Vingt-Trois has given a marvellous example of ‘visibility’ which was heard on Radio Notre-Dame (interview of 5th November): in a parish without a priest, the laity got themselves together to say the Rosary in a village hall: there they also had the idea of cleaning the church to recite the rosary in; so, nothing is lost; this church will live again…
A useful ‘reservoir’
The use of the ‘traditionalist reservoir’ won’t sort out every problem of the French dioceses like magic, but it might breathe some life into them, and above all, it will change the ideological tone. However it is just because of that, that for the Episcopal Conference, the subject remains rigorously taboo. For now.
Because the traditionalist world (not including the Religious) is becoming more and more difficult to ignore.
1. 3% of working priests are traditionalists (officially traditionalists, that is, not even mentioning the diocesan priests who observe the same liturgical practice). There are 260 priests equivalent to diocesan priests (140 in the SSPX and allied communities, around 120 priests in the communities under Ecclesia Dei).
2. More than 14% of ordinations are for the Extraordinary Form. (Paix Liturgique, 183, 22.06.2009): in 2009, 15 French priests were ordained for the Extraordinary Form (of whom 6 were for the SSPX).
3. Almost 20% of seminarians are destined for the Extraordinary Form (there are 160 of them, of whom about 40 were for the SSPX in 2008-9): op cit. 5.04.09. If this crossover continues as in past years, then in two years or more, a quarter of seminarians will be destined for the Extraordinary Form. Everybody knows that if the traditional priests had the assurance of a ‘normal’ apostolate in the dioceses, the number of these seminarians would be even greater.
4, Finally, 25% of vocations are inclined towards the traditional form (op cit 12.10.09). At the beginning of the academic year, September 2009, there were 41 entries (of whom 17 for the SSPX) into a traditionalist seminary.
However, the ‘Extraordinary’ clergy serve 400 Mass Centres in France, of which 184 are served by the SSPX and their allies. One should not forget in this regard that according to an important CSA poll, September 2008, that a third of practising Catholics would willingly attend a traditional Mass if it were available in their parish. It is no exaggeration to say that if we add to the fully traditionalist vocations those vocations of traditional sensibility that are found in diocesan seminaries, that a third of priestly vocations, were it permitted to them, would regard themselves as directed to the Extraordinary Form, or to Bi-Formalism.
A third of the laity, and, eventually, a third of the priests. It would only seem reasonable, then, officially to give these priests a proper freedom—no longer in ghettos, but now in the hearts of the parishes—to celebrate Mass according to their preferences (which is how they speak of the sense of the faith). Is this not the spirit (and the letter) of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum? And by this act, these priests would be able to give help by administering many other sacramental services, conduct missions, catechize…
But for the majority of the French bishops, this group of their flock, priests and faithful—who are willing, who demand nothing, but to be allowed to live and let live—simply do not exist, except as a thorn in their flesh. The dioceses are dying, but their ideology remains alive and kicking.
1. One remembers that the little diocese of Fréjus-Toulon has about 80 seminarians, destined for the Ordinary form, or the Extraordinary Form, or for both forms. The next biggest seminary (Paris, Issy-les-Moulinaux, for the Paris region) has at most 50.
On 7 July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI published the Apostolic letter "Summorum Pontificum". In it the pope decides that the Roman Missal of Pope Saint Pius V, which was rereleased in 1962 by Blessed John XXIII, would now be the extraordinary expression of the same "legis orandi" of the Church and would be kept in suitable regard because of its respectable and ancient use (art. 1). The Saint Willibrord seminary at the Tiltenberg will therefore organise a course for priests and seminarians to learn this rite, to be announced on the day of continued formation for young priests on Monday 2 November.
In his motu proprio, Pope Benedict XVI emphasises that liturgy is an expression of faith, so that liturgy and prayer define faith (lex orandi, lex credendi). This is why the Church asks that liturgical texts, such as prayers and also the acclamations, be authorised by Church authorities, and why the Second Vatican Council emphasised that no one can change, remove or add liturgical texts on their own authority (Sacrosanctum Concilium 22, par. 3). The importance of this decision becomes immediately clear when one considers the close bond between the faith of the Church and its expression in the liturgy.
In the education of priests and deacons special attention is paid to students becoming thoroughly acquainted with the liturgical books and the practice of the several priestly and diaconal liturgical duties, including in the first place Holy Mass, but also the other Sacraments, Adoration, Vespers, blessings, funerals and so on. The appointments which are received in the course of their education, chiefly that of acolyte, must also be practised. The seminarians will receive this practice from the priest who is responsible for this in the seminary: drs. F.J. Bunschoten. In this, he'll be assisted by Deacon J. Versteeg, who will be mostly working with the candidates for the permanent diaconate. The seminary's MC, Rudy Kinds, will assist him in this. The priest has been mastering the Tridentine rite and gained the required knowledge and abilities to practice this rite with other priests and the candidates for Holy Orders.
What is clear from these new reports is that there has been a mixed reception of Summorum Pontificum which includes a serious level of episcopal disapproval in many countries. The good will displayed by many bishops has been offset by concerted and continual attempts by many other bishops to thwart the will of the Holy Father.
The interest in the International Federation is growing, particularly in Latin America. We have just admitted new associations from Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. We have recently had requests for help from Cuba and Honduras. We are even getting requests from young men and women who are looking for traditional seminaries and religious orders.
Excerpts from "Tradition Restored," Part 1 of the abridged report (bolded emphasis added):
. . . During His teaching ministry the absolute concern of our Saviour was for the redemption and the salvation of souls – all souls. And for this purpose he left a legacy of epistles and gospels and a teaching authority under Peter and his successors. In this respect our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is exercising the teaching authority bequeathed to him by Jesus Christ in ministering to all the souls entrusted to his care.
Perhaps the greatest reason for the current crisis in the Church is that too many people in the Church, particularly in senior positions, no longer accept the authority of the Pope. Where there is dissent, and where personality and self-interest are uppermost, there is decay and lapsation. Where Christ and obedience are to the fore the traditional life of the Church is allowed to flourish unhindered and the spiritual life of the Church flourishes, parish life flourishes, priestly and religious vocations flourish, and the vitality of the faith flourishes. The evidence for this is becoming more clear as each year passes. Those who refuse to recognise this are allowing their own human rationale and agenda to blind them to the undeniable growth that is taking place before their very eyes. They wilfully refuse to see what is becoming incontrovertible.
Since the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum the signs, increasingly, are encouraging; tradition is no longer fighting a losing battle, it has been restored to its rightful place in the Church and is now making quite clear progress. It may not be evident in some places but the positive and confident public statements by an increasing number of senior prelates on the Missal of 1962, on a return to the celebration of Mass ad orientem, and on reception of Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling are becoming more widespread.
Tradition is the lifeblood of the Church.
The iron grip of Modernism is finally being loosened. It is a movement that has no past and no future. It is of the present, selfish and self-centred, with a blinkered vision that does not extend beyond the minds of its adherents. On the other hand, tradition has a secure foundation, a history, a present, and a future; a continuity. . . . We refuse to loosen our grip and abandon the faith and traditions so dear to our parents and grandparents, our great saints and humble sinners. We are adamant that we will not consign their lives, their faith, their liturgy, their fortitude and sacrifice in times of adversity to the fading memory of history. Tradition is a living thing and cannot be cast aside; it is impossible. Tradition is the lifeblood that flows through the veins of the Church and without it the Church will die. Our faith lives in the vibrancy of tradition as it has lived for 2,000 years and we will not dishonour the memory and steadfastness of our forebears by casting it aside in favour of an experimental modern creation; no matter how many times we are told that the new model is better for us. We would not abandon our family in life and we will not abandon them in death. This is our mentality, our driving force, and we cannot, and will not, change it.
Leadership, patience, and wisdom.
It has been a mark of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI that he is leading, by patience and wisdom, in the example of the Good Shepherd in gathering together a scattered and disenchanted flock. All his actions are guided by one principle: restoration of true Catholic liturgy for the unambiguous worship of Almighty God through the sacrifice on the altar of his Blessed Son. For it is the restoration of true liturgy that will revive the flagging spirits of clergy and faithful and be instrumental in the salvation of souls. By his courageous action in promulgating Summorum Pontificum, our Holy Father has now generated a debate at all levels in the Church about what was actually authorised by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. For forty years it has been taboo to discuss any aspect of the liturgical reform as though it were to be seen as a sign of disloyalty to Blessed Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI; as an act of disobedience to the Council, and a desire to turn back the great progress we are told, ad nauseam, supposedly has been made under the revised liturgy. Debate has been ruthlessly stifled and the liturgy has deteriorated as the nebulous ‘spirit’ of Vatican II has permeated every aspect of liturgical life.
It can be said, with some justification, that a desire for a critical examination of the liturgical reform has been driven, in great part, by the laity. Countless millions of the faithful have given their opinion of the liturgical reforms by abandoning the practice of their faith. This fact is incontrovertible. Others, who have refused to abandon their faith, have fought unceasingly for a restoration of the traditions of the Church and an authentic application of the wishes of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. Since the end of the Second Vatican Council the essential truths of the Catholic faith have been jeopardised in the headlong pursuit of ecumenism; a pursuit, for some, that desired unity at almost any cost. It is the leaders in pursuit of this all-consuming objective that resist any countenance of a restoration of such clearly identifiable ‘Catholic’ Latin liturgy as enshrined in the traditional Mass. Quite clearly, the Latin language, for example, is not ecumenical in the currently accepted understanding of the word but it is truly ecumenical, and universal, in the fact that:“It gives rise to no jealousies. It does not favour any one nation, but presents itself with equal impartiality to all…” [Bl. Pope John XXIII, Veterum Sapientia, 1962].
In promulgating the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum the Holy Father has done a great service to the Church in the search for truth. In this respect the new publication, Vatican Council II: An Open Discussion, by Monsignor Brunero Gherardini, is a timely contribution to the debate. Monsignor Gherardini concludes his book by asking that the Supreme Pontiff,“clarify definitively every aspect and contents of the last Council. Such omnia reparare [reparation of everything] could be accomplished through a great papal document, which would go down in history as a sign and witness of the vigilant and responsible exercise of His ministry as the Successor of Peter.”
Videre Petrum.
In recent Episcopal ordinations Pope Benedict XVI said to each candidate:“The Gospel must penetrate him, the living Word of God must, so to speak, pervade him…. The first characteristic that the Lord requires of the servant is fidelity….He is entrusted with a great good that does not belong to him. The Church is not ‘our Church’, but His Church, God’s Church. The servant must give an account of the way that he has taken care of the goods that have been entrusted to him. ….We know that things in civil society, and often in the Church too, go badly because those upon whom responsibility has been conferred work for themselves and not the community, for the common good.”
To have fidelity to the Lord also requires fidelity to Peter, and things are going badly in the Church because too many bishops refuse fidelity to Christ’s Vicar on earth in favour of temporary self-interest. But to “see Peter” is not a mere tourist, let alone administrative, endeavour. It is all too easy to go to the Pope in audience and be unaware of the tremendous graces attached to physical proximity with the Successor of Peter. That is why the Apostle Paul took great pains to write to the Galatians to assure them that, after three years of contemplative prayers in Arabia, he went to Jerusalem to “see Peter.” Since Paul was the only apostle who did not witness the Resurrection, nor even met Our Lord, it was important for him to prove that he was no less of an apostle. Therefore, he had to establish the moral authority upon which his Pauline doctrine would be based. Sin ce that time Catholics, have always yearned to Videre Petrum.
However, Paul went to “see Peter” for an even more important reason, upon which the first reason rests. The Apostle Paul wished to ensure that his doctrine was in perfect accord with the doctrine taught by Peter, Prince of the Apostles. . . .
Thus, the faithful bishop, or, indeed, any Catholic, will always have the desire to videre Petrum, to “see Peter”, to refine his faith and discern his role in the Church in the light of the faith. We cannot “see Peter”, beneath what is human in his successors, unless we look, listen and speak with the spirit of faith. On an even more concrete level, bishops must approach the audience of the Holy Father in a spirit of love, which will open the soul, attuning it to the wisdom of what one will hear. That is required both before and after the audience, to better ruminate what one has heard. Those many bishops who fail to act in perfect accord with Peter should think very carefully about their leadership under Peter and the adverse affect it is having on their priests and their flocks. Perhaps, at the second anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, and entering the third year at the end of which they have to provide “an account of the way that [they have] taken care of the goods that have been entrusted to [them],” it is an ideal moment to consider their fidelity to Peter and ensure that their teaching is in perfect accord with that of the Vicar of Christ. Therein lies the “interior reconciliation” and “peace and serenity” so desired by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in his Letter to Bishops that accompanied his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.
Bishop Marc Aillet of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron is said to be one of France's more tradition-friendly bishops, along with Bishops Dominique Rey (bishop of Frejus-Toulon), Jean-Pierre Batut (auxiliary of Lyons), Nicolas Brouwet (auxiliary of Nanterre) and Yves Le Saux (bishop of Le Mans).
Rorate recently featured Msgr. Aillet's response to Gay Pride in Biarritz (see here and here).
From the French Catholic website Eucharistie Sacrement de la Misericorde:
Mgr Aillet thinks that future priests must make the liturgy theirs again
July 8th 2009 - The Eucharist, Sacrament of Mercy – In an interview that appeared in the French Internet-magazine "Homme nouveau" dated on the 4th of July 2009, Mgr. Aillet, Bishop of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron, gives his instructions in the form of a “waybill” for how the mission in his diocese should be run. This waybill is marked by his experience in the Community of Saint-Martin and in the Diocese of Toulon where he was the Vicar General. Here is what Mgr Aillet has to
say about the liturgy:
"We must be very careful about liturgical education and see to it that it permits us to appropriate for ourselves the spirit of the liturgy. Future priests should benefit from a very attentive instruction in which the liturgy is included as a priority discipline in the course. And this is due to the simple reason that the liturgy must be “the source and summit of the whole Christian life”. It is a question of forming a liturgical life that is being taught in the very heart of the seminary. This formation should not only be carried out in the form of a mere study on liturgy, but above all arousing a liturgical spirituality and a practical usage of the liturgical rites. It is necessary to have in mind that the liturgy, more than being just an object of study, is a life in itself. However, all too often what we are doing is reducing the liturgy to a kind of intellectual discipline which actually studies the various stages of the constitution on the liturgy. This must of course also be done, taking care, however not to reduce the liturgy to a history of rites. It has not been sufficiently stressed that the liturgy is the place where the Christian experiences the Faith, receiving a concrete experience of the mystery of the faith. A whole vast field opens up in front of us in the liturgy.”It is more than 40 years since we have heard such words from the mouth of a Bishop!On the two forms of the Roman rite we were given this declaration by Mgr Aillet:
"(...) as for myself, it seems to me that the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI will in the long run be a necessary factor of unity as it will normalise the situation for those faithful who are attached to the extraordinary rite and make it possible for them to live their faith without having the impression of being marginalised. In my opinion, the more we implement the Motu proprio within the parish communities themselves, the better result we will have with the transition between the two forms of the Roman Rite (...) I think we must avoid to “chapelize” (in French, "chapelliser" -- CAP) the extraordinary form, meaning that we must avoid its remaining in a kind of marginalisation, which reduces the life of the Church of those who adhere to it. There are two ways of doing this. Either one addresses oneself to a well-defined community, or one arranges for a timetable for the extraordinary form to be inserted in the midst of the life of the parish, so that the parishioners – even if they participate only in one or the other form of the Roman Rite, may drink out of the same source in their own parish.In my opinion, the Reform of the Reform above all is about rediscovering the spirit of the liturgy, in its extraordinary form as well as in its ordinary form, such as we find it in the great uninterrupted tradition of the Roman liturgy. Thus I interpret the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum as a first stage where we implement the re-apprenticeship of the extra-ordinary form in order to reduce the gap between the two modes of celebration and learn to retrieve the same theological principles that govern the one and the other liturgical form. In a second stage, this might lead to a reform of the Missal (apparently referring to the Missal of Paul VI – CAP) into which could be incorporated the intuitions of the liturgical movement and which would then reduce the elements that may have become too arbitrary in the realization of the liturgical reform."
"The elements that may have become too arbitrary in the realization of the liturgical reform..” for once it is not the Pro Liturgia who says it but a French bishop. Bravo, Monseigneur!As for the “reform” of the Missal, it is perhaps not that which is pressing, but rather the formation which will make the priests – and thus the parish communities – use the Missal in a way which does not betray it, such as the Community to which Mgr. Aillet belongs knows how to do.
The blog of the Italian Traditionalist website Messainlatino is reporting that last July 11, 2009, Msgr. Mario Oliveri, Bishop of Albenga-Imperia in Italy, celebrated a Pontifical Mass in honor of St. Benedict at the small parish church of St. Michael the Archangel in Villatalla, a village with some 30 inhabitants. This parish church (and its rectory) is where, last July 2, 2008, the same bishop had installed some monks from Le Barroux who had left that monastery to form the 
"Benedictines of the Immaculate." The Bishop and the Benedictines were joined by priests from various traditionalist congregations; the cerimoniere of the Mass was Canon Gilles Guitard ICRSS. Due to the small size of the parish church, the Bishop had to pontificate from the faldstool.
First of all we would like to thank you for the teaching which you have lavished on us, in audiences, homilies, letters and encyclicals that for many years now have been accompanying our spiritual growth. This has been of great benefit to us, and we believe to the whole Church, especially in these times of big “crisis”.
Indeed your teaching represents liberation from the spiritual horrors of modern times, a true refuge and a good relief for the soul after having been indoctrinated by such an amount of false sagacity and personal interpretations, elevated to false dogmas.
Thanks to you, people are beginning to find some relief and solutions to the spiritual malaise which for many years has been hanging over the Church and which we had felt sorrowfully. A malaise which was due to a confusion and inability to separate between truth and falsehood, between what is just and what is erroneous, more and more difficult to distinguish and to perceive, even for the pastors themselves.
However, we wish to inform you of something which lies in our hearts, and which we have experienced after the 7th of July of 2007, in the simple ordinary life of a parish.
In particular, we would like to bring to your knowledge what has become of our lives, as has become the lives of many others, after the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.
Thanks to this and to the liturgical sensibility of your Holiness [which is near to the heart of those, like us, who do not see anything “evil” in the liturgical expression of the Faith which has given spiritual nourishment to so many Saints in the passing centuries] we had obtained, even by so many sacrifices, sufferings and humiliations imposed on us by our Bishop, the celebration of the Holy Mass of all Ages, in an oratory outside of our parish. The joy of discovering the Holy Mass, loved by our parents and which we thought was lost forever, has somewhat made up for the big disappointment in noting that this sacred liturgy has not found any place within our so much-loved parochial community.
In the article 5 § 1 of your Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, your Holiness gives a great gift to the whole church, when you reaffirm the importance and central position of the parish and of the parochial community. This unity is formed and comes into existence by way of the liturgy, for which there has for many years been a demand that the justice sees to it that it is shown.
The liturgical tradition has for almost twenty centuries shown with clarity that it has not been “excommunicated”, but always has been valid, legal, legitimate and sanctifying. Summorum Pontificum has indeed been a great act of justice.
The extraordinary riches of this document reside, we believe, in the fact that the Mass has finally returned to the parochial life of every day and is no longer relegated only to the hands of private persons and associations, to whom most certainly we owe the merit of having conserved this treasure.
True tradition lies not only in words and gestures that were codified in the antiquity and then during centuries handed over by the Church.
Tradition is also the bond of one’s own blood with one’s own land. The roots that sink down in one’s own community, that is where one truly experiences the mystical meaning of the tradition: not a law or a rite, but a communion in the spirits who, united and living, not even death has had the power to pull apart.
In the parish our ancestors, our parents and our descendants are all united spiritually with us, like one people, living and gathered together in front of the sacrifice of Christ. That is the meaning which we give to the notion “local church”.
It is with great sorrow that we discover the tragic choice that has been imposed upon us: to choose our roots to be maintained but (at the price of the) humiliation of our liturgical sensibility, or else to nourish this sensibility by uprooting our bond to the parish, and forcing us to become fugitives, exiled, relegated in chapels, without a parish, without true peace of mind.
Often these chapels become “mass centres”, gathering persons from many parts of the region, all on the run from their respective parishes. However, they do not have any possibility to sanctify themselves there, neither in the parish, the place where this should manifest itself.
This exclusion from the life of the community and the parish is a true “ghettoization” and moreover the real cause of the division, which we did not wish to happen but had to endure!
It is almost as if Tradition was an infectious disease of which one must keep clear in order to avoid getting into contact with any still unaffected Catholics. How great is our wish to participate in the Holy Mass of all Ages, celebrated in our own parish by our own parish priest, in the same way in which we attend the Holy Mass in its sacred Ordinary form!
And yet it is relegated far away from us, almost as if it was a by-product of the Catholic liturgy, of inferior dignity, and worthy of being frequented only by Catholics of an inferior class! Nothing to say of the many problems encountered by us when making available to priests in the whole world the Missal of the Blessed Pope John XXIII with all the explanations and spiritual comments on every gesture of the Holy Mass. There were many problems and sufferings that we had to encounter, both from our parochial community and from the Diocese.
Not even to take into account the slander endured by us every day, the mockery, which we at first did not understand, the hostility, and sometimes outright improper reactions from priests, either absolutely unwilling to celebrate the Holy Mass, which according to them – and in this opposing Your Holiness’ wish – should not be celebrated in a way considered by them henceforward obsolete and superseded, or because there is nobody in the parishes who is at all disposed to teach them the “ars celebrandi”.
It is almost as if our love for the Sacred Liturgy of all times and our obedience to its law which invites us to reach out for the treasures of the traditional cult, instead of being appreciated by the clergy as a manifestation of the Christian spirit, is represented as something ignoble, impure and polluted.
As a consequence of our fidelity to Your Holiness and to Christ we are being made to feel as lepers, kept at a due distance and being abused!
There are moments when the parish priests, with their continued accusation, critics and calumnies, make us feel as outsiders in the parochial community and even outsiders of the Church. If we would not participate in the Mass of all Ages, those persons would certainly not reprimand us in this wicked way.
The result is that NOW, thanks to these continuous and subtle persecutions, we feel, in spite of ourselves, that it is WE who are far from the Church. With aching pain we feel that our mother, the Church, has expelled us, turned her back against us, and humiliated us. The void this makes us feel is terrible! In other words, the distress that we feel when noting that many priests and many bishops interpret (our) Catholic faith and (our) divine liturgy, which is the final expression of that faith, as not being in “continuity” with its millenary tradition (something which Your Holiness has explained more than once), but in open and incurable “discontinuity”. Thereby they are really making of us a banner to be shown defiantly to the world.
It is terrible to learn each day, in a tangible way, that in the same Church it is impossible to have the freedom to fully adhere to all what the Magisterium teaches us, without being subject to a snorting and a condescending attitude!
This is completely absurd. We are only Catholics, sons and daughters of the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, obedient to the Vicar of Christ and to his laws, faithful to his teaching and desirous to participate in the same Sacrifice of Christ that materializes in the ordinary, modern, form as well as in the extraordinary and older form of the one and only Catholic Mass (of the Roman Rite -- CAP).
We feel as if we had been left alone, at the mercy of people who hate us. When the Motu Proprio was promulgated, its implementation was constantly being obstructed, in some cases even arbitrarily hindered, with intimidations, arrogance, defamation, retaliations, either against us laymen or above all against the priests who would like to offer this mass to the People of God.
No really effective measures have been taken, in order that our Catholic Church ensures the peaceful cohabitation of the two forms of the same Sacrifice, with reciprocal enrichment .
Instead of receiving this torrent of insults and humiliations from Christians and also from the same pastors, who ought to excel in their obedience towards you, we prefer to almost go back into the catacombs, where the Christians were real brothers, and the enemies, on the other hand, could be easily identified. The Church of that time, humiliated and hidden as it was, still seemed more united and faithful than the one we see in our days, torn to pieces in its interior by various currents, factions, religious or non-religious interpreters, heretics, independent and fanciful malevolent people.
Paolo and Giovanni
Gandolfo Lambruschini
Many thanks for the translation to Natasja Hoven of Katolsk Observator, with some editing by Rorate. The remaining rough edges in some places will be edited shortly.
Document 1:
Malaga, the 19th April 2009
Your Excellency, Bishop Catalá,
We the undersigned, faithful Catholics belonging to the Diocese of Malaga, with due respect address ourselves to you with the following petition:
1) As you know, on the 14th of September 2007 there entered into effect the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in which His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI gave permission to those faithful who wished it, to assist at the celebration of the Holy Mass in edition of 1962 of the Missale Romanum, promulgated by the Blessed John XXIII and which constitutes the so called extra-ordinary form of the Roman rite.
2) From this date and onwards, this form has expanded to the whole world and also aroused the interest of persons, who due to their youth could not know it beforehand. This development has taken place in many dioceses and has been peaceful and fruitful, enriching the life of Faith with its inestimable treasures (spiritual, cultural, historical) offered by the Liturgical Tradition of our Church. As the Holy Father says: “It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.” (See Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops presenting the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum).
3) As His Eminence Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, has explained on many occasions, His Holiness wishes this extraordinary form of the Roman rite to be made known to as great a number of faithful as possible, including in places where there is no demand for it. This in order that these faithful may also participate in the immense treasure contained in the millenary Liturgical Tradition of the Church.
4) Various bishops in the whole world have promoted distinct forms of application of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, for instance with following measures: the creation of personal parishes, celebration of pontifical masses and administration of the sacraments (confirmation and ordination), appointment of delegated priests, designation of parish temples for the celebration, invitation to establish institutes connected to the older liturgical books, etc.
5) In the special case of the Diocese over which Your Excellency in such a dignified way presides, on the 6th of October 2007, in the Parish of the Holy Martyrs, took place a celebration of the Holy Mass in strict conformity with the mentioned motu proprio. In it participated a very large number of faithful, which on the following day the Press was quick to mention (this fact may be ascertained by consulting the newspapers of that date). This shows the interest presented by the rite and its positive acceptance by the faithful who do not meet it with any opposition or with polemics.
6) The minimum number for a group to be thus nominated according to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is three persons, the same as that necessary to constitute a religious community.
Because of what has been said above, we, the undersigned, now have the honour of asking His Excellency to set up a regular celebration using the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII in the diocese and city of Malaga. We ask you therefore kindly to designate a priest who could assume the task of performing this Mass, without detriment to the right of any other priest of this Diocese to make use of the same Missal, as has been stipulated in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. Due to the experience of other Spanish parishes, we ask respectfully Your Excellency to designate a priest who shows interest in the usage of the extra-ordinary Roman rite, as well as a temple suited for the purpose, which could be for instance the parish church of the Holy Martyrs, the chapel of Santo Cristo de Salud, some chapel belonging to the Cathedral or other similar ones. It could start with a monthly mass, with the possibility of developing later into a weekly mass, once it has been consolidated.
We permit ourselves to indicate to Your Excellency that there exists a possibility that parish priests connected to traditional institutes, such as the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (the [Spanish] seat of which is in Madrid), may give some instruction in this diocese, in order that the priests so wishing may get a better understanding of the liturgical form. Or that such an institute may develop a permanent apostolate in Malaga.
Before concluding, we wish to emphasize our position as faithful members of the church, who take active part in the religious life of the diocese, adhering with total obedience and love to His Holiness the Pope and to Your Excellency, you who are the pastor of the special church of Malaga. We are also in full adherence to the Magisterium of our Holy Mother the Church, including adherence to all the ecumenical councils held up to now.
Asking you to take a favourable stand to our petition, and taking the opportunity to entrust ourselves to your pastoral benevolence, reiterating our respectful obedience to Your Excellency as your faithful sons and daughters, Q.B.S.P.A.
***
After a wait of some 2 months came the devastating episcopal reply to the traditional faithful of Malaga:
Document 2:
The celebration of the regular mass according to the extra-ordinary form refused in Malaga
Letter from His Excellency the Bishop of Malaga (Spain), from the 17th of June 2009, refusing the petition made by a group of faithful
Malaga, the 17 of June 2009
I have studied the request made on the 19th of April this year by eleven laymen and yourself, where you ask me to “set up a regular celebration using the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII in the diocese and city of Malaga”, and also that I ”designate a priest who could assume the task of offering this Mass”.
Naturally I recognize the inestimable treasure that the Church and her liturgical tradition has owned in the celebration done in conformity with the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962 and I also value your interest in this extraordinary form of the Roman rite.
However, according to my knowledge of and positive assumption of the dispositions made in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, as well as of the letter which the Holy Father sent to us Bishops and annexed to this document, and also in my role as Bishop for this Diocese, which is to see to its most urgent necessities, I consider that the adequate conditions for the regular celebration of the mass according to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite have not been met.
In the first place, the purpose of the mentioned document is to meet the concern of the Supreme Pontiffs “up to our times to ensure that the Church of Christ offers a worthy ritual to the Divine Majesty, 'to the praise and glory of His name,' and 'to the benefit of all His Holy Church.' "(1). Therefore, “there is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture" (2). In this sense, “the Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the 'Lex orandi' (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite”. (3) This is a fundamental principle which we must not forget.
In the second place, we are asked, all of us, to make an effort to look for the welfare of the faithful, “avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church” (4).Therefore, and also meeting the object of the document, there is no reason for us in this very moment to start to propagate the celebration of the mass according to the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII, because the ordinary form according to the Missal of Paul VI, promulgated through the Liturgical Reform, and the Second Vatican Council, has become well established in this Diocese and for the time being this ordinary form is well consolidated, extended and accepted.
In the third place, there is in the parishes of this Diocese of Malaga, except for a few persons originating from different regions and who keep a legitimate and lawful appreciation for this liturgical rite, no “stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition” (5). Moreover, there are neither parishes, nor pastors, who claim, or feel as a necessity, the celebration of Mass according to the extraordinary form, and this precisely for the reason that there are no stable groups who ask for it. In this respect, we may read in the eighth paragraph of the Explanatory Note regarding the Motu Proprio sent out by the Holy See on the same day as the promulgation of said document: “... when in that place is found a very substantial number of faithful who wish to follow the earlier liturgy...” (6).
Due to the reciprocal appreciation which unites us, among other questions concerning the Liturgical Tradition, I ask you to seek at the present time to promote the unity of the Church in those associations, parishes, groups, etc. where you habitually participate in the life of the Faith, and to do this as an expression and testimony of your baptismal vow. “The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives. This will bring out the spiritual richness and the theological depth of this Missal" (7). Therefore, I invite you to always, wherever you are, to demand – with loving compliance – that the liturgical norms in vigour should be well celebrated, in order that our celebrations may shine in all their splendour as the supreme manifestation of the faith of the Church.
I take this occasion of greeting you and giving you my blessing with my affection in Christ.
Jesús Catalá
Bishop of Malaga
(1) Introduction to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (7 July 2007).
(2) Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops of the world to present the “Motu Proprio” (7 July 2007).
(3) Summorum... Art. 1.
(4) Summorum... Art. 5. 1.
(5) Summorum... Art. 5.1.
(6) Explanatory note issued by the Press Office of the Holy See regarding the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (7 July 2007).
(7) Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops of the world to present the “Motu Proprio” (7 July 2007).
***
Although dated June 17, 2009, the letter denying the petition of the Catholic faithful of Malaga was posted on the blog of Una Voce Malaga on July 2, 2009.
What followed was a concerted campaign by Spanish-language blogs to expose the situation to the whole Catholic world.
A 'clarification' was not long in coming.
On July 9, 2009, the official website of the Diocese of Malaga posted the following "Nota Informativa":
Document 3:
Information
The Diocese of Malaga 09/07/2009.
Information from the Diocese of Malaga regarding the Extra-ordinary form of the Roman rite according to the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII
1. In various media has appeared the information that the Bishop of Malaga has refused the petition to celebrate the Mass in his Diocese according to the extra-ordinary form of the Roman rite.
2. Nothing can be further from the truth than this false notice. The Bishop has not refused the celebration of this extraordinary form to celebrate the Holy Mass. Among other things because this is something to which the believer has the right, which was confirmed by Benedict XVI, whom the Bishop values very highly and to whom he is bound by absolute loyalty and with whom he is in full ecclesiastical communion.
3. A small group of loyal faithful have made the followings special petition, referring themselves to Article 10 of the Motu Proprio. ”Because of what has been said above, we, the undersigned, now have the honour of asking His Excellency to set up a regular celebration using the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII in the Diocese and city of Malaga. We ask you therefore kindly to designate a priest who could assume the task of performing this Mass, without detriment to the right of any other priest of this Diocese to make use of the same Missal, as has been stipulated in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum”.
4. The answer of the Bishop to this concrete petition has been that for the very moment it has not been judged convenient to respond to the request, due to Diocese of Malaga having difficulties to meet the adequate conditions for this. However, there has never been any question of prohibiting or refusing the celebration of the Holy Mass with the use of the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII in the Diocese of Malaga.
5. In order to celebrate the Eucharist using the said Missal it is not necessary to ask authorization from the Bishop, as can be seen clearly in the article 5 §1 of the “motu proprio”: “In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962”. Thus it is the parish priests themselves who have to decide how to handle the requests made by the Faithful.
Malaga, the 9th of July 2009
***
It remains to be seen what will come out of this. Let us note, though, that even as the Bishop of Malaga denied that he was forbidding the 1962 Missal in his diocese, he still threw the question of its availability to the faithful back to the parish priests, when the faithful had appealed to him precisely because of the apparent unavailability of the parochial clergy.
Let us pray for a satisfactory resolution to this situation.