De episcoporum consecratione a Romano Pontifice

Joachim Nabuco: Episcoporum consecrationes Summo Pontifici a iure reservantur, qui sat frequenter personaliter eas persolvit, praesertim si consecrandi sint e familia vel domo sua, seu SRE cardinales [1].

1. Consecrationes a Summo Pontefice fieri solent intra missam lectam, praesertim propter duo, I° quia missa solemnis Papae est nimis prolixa, et 2° quia solus Papa consecratur ad altare papale, ubi Papa solet solemniter celebrare [2]. Vide notam I, p. 221 [: Romae saeculo XIII, dominus apostolicus electo dabat hostiam integram et diaconus ministrans calicem cum sanguine Christi. Id etiam probat episcoporum consecrationes intra missarum solemnia, id est cum cantu et sacris ministris, a summo pontifice fieri consuevisse. Andrieu tome II, p. 336].

2. Episcopi conconsecrantes intra archiepiscopos Apostolico solio assistentes seliguuntur. Vide notam 2, p. 182 [: Privilegium erat Apostolicum, et quidem exclusivum, consecrandi episcopos sine conconsecratoribus. In Ordine Romano XXXV saeculi X legis “Et benedicet eum Dominus Apostolicus per semetipsum... nam a ceteris episcopis benedici non potest minus quam a tribus.” Andrieu, Ordines Romani, IV, p. 44. Sed multum antea diaconus Carthaginiensis Fulgentius Ferrando, in suo Breviario, capite VI, scripsit “Ut unus episcopus episcopum non ordiner, excepta Ecclesia Romana.” Apud Duchesne, Les Origines du culte chrétien, ed. 3, p. 361. Grisar, Storia di Roma e dei Papi, Roma 1908, in- 4, p. 776. Privilegium tam insigne reliquerunt summi pontifices inde a saeculo XII vel circiter, amore forsan uniformitatis. Quis scit utrum ad tam singulare privilegium revertantur aliquando Petri successores. Vide excurcum De consecratione Summi Pontificis, n. 291a].

3. Capellani assistentes erunt episcopi duo ex assistentibus ad solium vel e familia sua, qui utuntur superpelliceo super rochetum et cruce pectorali.

4. Papa consecrationem exsequitur iuxta P[ontificalem] R[omanum] et induitur omnibus vestibus pontificalibus. Facit praeparationem et se vestit ad thronum, ubi in fine sacras deponit vestes.

5. Vittae lineae capiti et humeris electi imponuntur ab uno e subdiaconis apostolicis. Pius XI, Ad incrementum decoris, n. 78.

6. Super dona offerenda stemmata Summi Pontificis tantum apponentur.

7. Inthronizatio, quicumque sit electus, fit ad faldistorium, adstante Papa ad parvum thronum in suppedaneo a latere evangelii.

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[1] Apud APC (1907, p. 96) habes relationem episcoporum a summis pontificibus consecratorum; ibi videbis quam frequenter id fiebat. Gregorius XVI consecravit episcopum unum ad altare papale, contra regulam generalem. Die 25 Februarii 1906, in dominica quinquagesima, Pius X quatuordecim episcopos Galliae consecravit; die 28 Octobris 1926, in festo SS. AA. Simonis et Judae, Pius XI sex episcopos e Sinis sacravit; et in festo ssmae. Trinitatis anni iubilaei 1933 quinque episcopos e locis missionum nativos (Sina, India, Annam). Demum in festo D. N. Iesu Christi Regis anni 1939 Pius XII in Basilica sancti Petri duodecim sacravit episcopos missionarios, quos in perpulchra homilia salutavit. AAS 1940, p. 595. Die 27 Decembris 1958 Ioannes XXIII, g. r., consecravit cardinalem Tardini, a secretis Status, insimul cum aliis septem praesulibus.

[2] "Au XIIe siècle une vieille tradition (inde a sancto Gregorio Papa I) ne permettait de célébrer à l'autel de Saint-Pierre d'autre ordination que celle du Pape lui-même". Andrieu, Ordines Romani, IV, p. 127, Ordo XXXVI.

Henricus Cardinalis Dante - Magister Apostolicarum Cæremoniarum

HENRICVS S.R.E. CARD DANTE
PRESB. S. AGATHAE IN VRBE
ROMANVS
5.7.1884 - 24.4.1967

(Inscription in his tomb, church of S. Agata dei Goti, Rome)

Concilium Vaticanum secundum et Liturgia moresque Ecclesiæ Romanæ

The Impressive Ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica: Le 4 décembre s’est déroluée la séance de clôture de la Seconde Session du Concile œcuménique Vatican II. Un peu avant 9 heures, le Saint-Père revêtait les ornements sacrés, avec le manteau papal, le « formale » et la mitre précieuse, dans la Salle des Paraments, où l’attendait le Sacré Collège de Messieurs les Cardinaus qui avaient revêtu, dans l’appartement Borgia, les ornements blancs de leur Ordre (chape lamée d’argent pour les Cardinaux de l’Ordre des Evêques, chasuble bordée d’or pour les Caridnaux de l’Ordre des prêtres, dalmatique pour les Cardinaux de l’Ordre des diacres) et la mitre de damas blanc.

Cappella Papale in the Sistine Chapel - Apostolic Liturgy par excellence

« On appelle CHAPELLES PAPALES, les vêpres, les matines, les messes chantées, et les autres cérémonies ecclésiastiques auxquelles assiste le Pontife souverain, ou qu’il célèbre lui-même, d’après les vénérables rites de l’Église romaine, en présence des Cardinaux, Patriarches, Archevêques et Prélats, du plus grand nombre des Généraux d’ordres religieux, des premiers dignitaires de la cour papale, et de la Famille pontificale »

C. Moroni, Histoire des chapelles papales, Paris 1846, p. 1

Coronatio Summi Pontificis

Accipe thiaram, tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse Patrem Principum et Regum, Rectorem Orbis, in terra Vicarium Salvatoris Nostri, Cui est honor, et gloria in sæcula sœculorum.

"Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of Our Savior on earth, to Him be the honor and glory forever and ever".

Pius P. P. X

  

Pius P. P. XI

  

Pius P. P. XII

Proclamatio Dogmatis Assumptionis Beatæ Mariæ Virginis (A. D. 1950) [Edited 16.VII]

"Quapropter, postquam supplices etiam atque etiam ad Deum admovimus preces, ac Veritatis Spiritus lumen invocavimus, ad Omnipotentis Dei gloriam, qui peculiarem benevolentiam suam Mariae Virgini dilargitus est, ad sui Filii honorem, immortalis saeculorum Regis ac peccati mortisque victoris, ad eiusdem augustae Matris augendam gloriam et ad totius Ecclesiae gaudium exsultationemque, auctoritate Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, Beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac Nostra pronuntiamus, declaramus et definimus divinitus revelatum dogma esse : Immaculatam Deiparam semper Virginem Mariam, expleto terrestris vitae cursu, fuisse corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumptam".

Pius P. P. XII, Constitutio apostolica Munificentissimus Deus, A. D. 1950

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Final address: to the College of Cardinals"I vow unconditional reverence and obedience to the future Pope"

Dear beloved brothers

I welcome you all with great joy and cordially greet each one of you. I thank Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who as always, has been able to convey the sentiments of the College, Cor ad cor loquitur. Thank you, Your Eminence, from my heart.

And referring to the disciples of Emmaus, I would like to say to you all that it has also been a joy for me to walk with you over the years in light of the presence of the Risen Lord. As I said yesterday, in front of thousands of people who filled St. Peter's Square, your closeness, your advice, have been a great help to me in my ministry. In these 8 years we have experienced in faith beautiful moments of radiant light in the Churches’ journey along with times when clouds have darkened the sky. We have tried to serve Christ and his Church with deep and total love which is the soul of our ministry. We have gifted hope that comes from Christ alone, and which alone can illuminate our path. Together we can thank the Lord who has helped us grow in communion, to pray to together, to help you to continue to grow in this deep unity so that the College of Cardinals is like an orchestra, where diversity, an expression of the universal Church, always contributes to a superior harmony of concord. I would like to leave you with a simple thought that is close to my heart, a thought on the Church, Her mystery, which is for all of us, we can say, the reason and the passion of our lives. I am helped by an expression of Romano Guardini’s, written in the year in which the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council approved the Constitution Lumen Gentium, his last with a personal dedication to me, so the words of this book are particularly dear to me .

Guardini says: "The Church is not an institution devised and built at table, but a living reality. She lives along the course of time by transforming Herself, like any living being, yet Her nature remains the same. At Her heart is Christ. "

This was our experience yesterday, I think, in the square. We could see that the Church is a living body, animated by the Holy Spirit, and truly lives by the power of God, She is in the world but not of the world. She is of God, of Christ, of the Spirit, as we saw yesterday. This is why another eloquent expression of Guardini’s is also true: "The Church is awakening in souls." The Church lives, grows and awakens in those souls which like the Virgin Mary accept and conceive the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. They offer to God their flesh and in their own poverty and humility become capable of giving birth to Christ in the world today. Through the Church the mystery of the Incarnation remains present forever. Christ continues to walk through all times in all places. Let us remain united, dear brothers, to this mystery, in prayer, especially in daily Eucharist, and thus serve the Church and all humanity. This is our joy that no one can take from us.

Prior to bidding farewell to each of you personally, I want to tell you that I will continue to be close to you in prayer, especially in the next few days, so that you may all be fully docile to the action of the Holy Spirit in the election of the new Pope. May the Lord show you what is willed by Him. And among you, among the College of Cardinals, is also the future Pope, to whom, here today, I already promise my unconditional reverence and obedience. For all this, with affection and gratitude, I cordially impart upon you my Apostolic Blessing.

[Translation: Radio Vaticana, slightly corrected]

Fellay: "I thought that, with his resignation, he would perhaps make a final gesture in our favor as Pope." (Updated)

Interview granted by the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), Bp. Bernard Fellay, to Nouvelles de France (Feb. 15 edition). No time for a translation now, but he says that for a brief moment following the papal resignation he expected a sign in their favor, but now thinks this is unlikely to happen: "It will probably be necessary to wait for the next pope."

Update: full translation provided by the American District of the SSPX:

Your Excellency, would you appreciate it if the last major act of Benedict XVI’s pontificate could be the reintegration of the Society of St. Pius X?

Bishop Bernard Fellay: For a moment I thought that, with his resignation, Benedict XVI would perhaps make a final gesture in our favor as pope. That being said, I have a hard time seeing how he could do so. We will probably have to wait for the next pope. I will even go so far as to say, at the risk of surprising you, that the Church has more important problems than the Society of St. Pius X, and in a way, it is by resolving these problems that the problem of the Society will be solved.

Op-Ed (English - français) The basis for the future relations of the SSPX with Rome La base des prochaines relations de la FSSPX avec Rome

a guest-post by Côme de Prévigny 

The Spanish observers should be careful. This is not the first time they are mistaken on the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) by way of ready-made titles and misunderstood information. A few months ago, a colleague of José Manuel Vidal had affirmed that the discussions between Rome and Écône had ultimately failed. He was forced to turn around due to his rashness.

It is true that, on June 13, Cardinal William Levada had delivered to Bp. Bernard Fellay, Superior of the Society, a text to be ratified. Against every expectation, considering that the predictions had been optimistic, new and surprising demands had een added to the text and created an impasse following nine months of  negotiations. Even before the General Chapter had assembled, the Secretary General of the SSPX had been driven to state, in a letter dated June 25, that the Roman proposal was "unacceptable". Less than 48 hours later, the man responsible for the dossier, Mgr. Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, had been placed under a Vice-President who took charge of the matter from then on. One week later, it was Cardinal Levada who took the path to retirement.

That the SSPX would state that the proposal of the predecessor did not suit it is clear. To affirm it is to force an open door. And the Pope already took it into consideration several weeks ago because he changed the interlocutors of the SSPX, admitting that the previous ones had failed on that famous June 13. By submitting the affair to an Archbishop Vice-President with whom he has direct communication, and not anymore to a Monsignor secretary, he reshapes relations with the Society on different bases.

The latest SSPX communiqué stated that it will address a declaration to Rome. This text will undoubtedly serve as grounds for the upcoming relations. Those who think that this is the endpoint, that those in charge of the Fraternity have definitively given up on the idea of putting an end to the injustices that burden them, and of fulling restoring the Tradition of the Church to Rome, risk being disappointed in the days and weeks ahead. Abp. Lefebvre said that the solution would come from Rome. It is precisely for this reason that he never stopped going there.

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un post par notre invité Côme de Prévigny

Op-Ed (English - français) SSPX: Last-minute hurdles? FSSPX: obstacles de dernière heure?

a guest-post by Côme de Prévigny

On April 18, Andrea Tornielli titled on his blog Sacri Palazzi: "Fellay's response is positive". For him, the agreement had been made. Always well informed by the Romans responsible for the dossier, he deemed himself authorized to write: "the text of the preamble delivered by Bp. Fellay proposes some minor modifications of the version sent by the Vatican authorities." And, every day that followed it, the most optimistic rumors spread out. In support of what was known within the Vatican, from the very prelates in charge of the affair, Jean-Marie Guénois, always well informed, said from his corner: "It is a matter of days, and not of weeks anymore [...]. These last few weeks, the final points have been settled between Rome and Écône in order to better respond to the demands of 'clarifications' asked for by the Vatican on March 16." 

Yet, two months later, a thick fog descends upon the religious landscape. While all observers thought that they saw the Roman Pontiff decide once and for all the matter to which he had dedicated a good part of his pontificate upon the delivery of a new document to Bishop Fellay on June 13, the communiqué of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of June 14 foresaw an "additional moment of reflection". The one from the Society of Saint Pius X, of the same day, gave rise to the same uncertainty by evoking a "new phase of discussions". Even if it is known that this kind of rebound is usual in the end of difficult negotiations, one can only speculate, particularly since the number of Roman prelates who thought that the agreement would be formalized is quite larger than than those who seemed to want this new postponement. It is as if those who accused Bp. Fellay of never being able to decide suddenly found themselves with a beam in their eyes. 

Already within the Society, those spirits for whom an agreement with the Apostolic See is unthinkable began to delude themselves by imagining that their action had dealt a fatal blow to this fateful process which intended, in their view, to destroy them. If their reasoning were to be followed, it should rather be imagined that Rome would have taken advantage of the division of the four bishops to deal a fatal blow to the work of Abp. Lefebvre by moving on with the process until the end. The rebound of June 13 makes them look mistaken in every scenario. 

What was it then that happened between April and June? In the month of May, according to several agreeing sources, the feria quarta [Wednesday] meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, aware that they acted according to the will of the Pope, endorsed the final draft proposed by Bp. Fellay, following several movements of the text between Rome and Menzingen. The Pope imagined it - the Cardinals accomplished it. Despite a certain number of absentees and of some restriction of placet iusta modum, the text had finally had the consent of their Eminences, probably aware that they would not have to meet forever. On that day, the agreement was virtually concluded. On the basis of clearly defined positions on the occasion of the doctrinal discussions that had delineated the differences, Pope Benedict XVI was ready to grant to the Society that which Abp. Lefebvre had tirelessly asked from Cardinal Ratzinger: the assurance of a traditional episcopate independent from the pressures of the local conferences. 

If the internet offers a magnifying effect to the fiery sermons of some Traditionalist priests who think  they can undermine their hierarchy by having their words propagated by Sedevacantist websites, the web does not say anything of the real issues afflicting the Church. Bp. Fellay reached in mid-April the limits of the line granted to the Society by Abp. Lefebvre, at the very risk of causing dismay to some of his colleagues who increased the manifestations of their fears. Those Roman interlocutors who have provoked this rebound have probably not really perceived this. It is also likely that they feared the increase of the silent opposition of the German episcopate, who presented their own ultimatums to the Successor of Peter. The extreme reluctance of Bp. Fellay seemed to suggest that they hid themselves behind formulas that created an impasse upon several months of clarifications and discussions, thus risking their own disavowal.

Paradoxically, they have rendered a great service to Bp. Fellay, by allowing him to show that, while doing his utmost for the canonical recognition of the eminently Roman work of Abp. Lefebvre, his firmness remained intact, as is shown by the way by a letter of Father Thouvenot fraudulently released on the internet. The fact remains that  only the Pope has the power to bind and loose. Faced with all opposition - the strongest of which being that of those closes to him -, it is to him that belongs, in fine, the right to decide. After twelve years of discussions, at the end of seven years of pontificate, this man, who a few weeks ago said that enough injustices had been committed against the Society, will set in place the endpoint which he alone, as head of the Church, has the right to set in place.

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[French version:]