So... Canonizations... Infallible or not?

Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, a remarkable prelate and Canon Lawyer and current Adjunct Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, granted days ago the following interview to La Stampa (posted here for the record of current events):

Bp. Sciacca and Pope Benedict XVI

Is the Pope infallible when he proclaims a new saint?

“According to the prevailing doctrine of the Church, when the Pope canonizes a saint his judgment is infallible. As is known, canonization is the decree with which the Pope solemnly proclaims that the heavenly glory shines upon the Blessed and extends the cult of the new saint to the universal Church in a binding and definitive manner. There is no question then that canonization is an act carried out by the Petrine primate. At the same time, however, it should not be considered infallible according to the infallibility criteria set out in the First Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution “Pastor aeternus”.”

So, according to you, this means the Pope can make a mistake when he proclaims someone a saint?

“That’s not what I said. I am not denying that the decree issued for a canonization cause is definitive, so it would be rash and indeed unholy to state that the Pope can make a mistake. What I am saying, is that the proclamation of a person’s sainthood is not a truth of faith because it is not a dogmatic definition and is not directly or explicitly linked to a truth of faith or a moral truth contained in the revelation, but is only indirectly linked to this. It is no coincidence that neither the Code of Canon Law of 1917 nor the one currently in force, nor the Catechism of the Catholic Church present the Church’s doctrine regarding canonizations.”

Monsignor, it has to be said though that the majority of those who support the infallibility idea have an important ally on their side: St. Thomas…

“Of course, I am well aware of that. Thomas Aquinas is the most prestigious author supporting this theory. But it should be said that the use of the concept of infallibility and of language relating to it, in a context that is so far from that of the 19th century when the First Vatican Council was held, risks being anachronistic. St. Thomas placed canonization half way between things that pertain to the faith and judgments on certain factors that can be contaminated by false testimonies, concluding that the Church could not make mistakes: in fact, he claimed that: “thinking that judgment is infallible, is holy.” As I said before and I repeat again, the “Pastor aeternus” rigorously defines and restricts the concept of papal infallibility which could previously also encompass and contain or be likened to the concepts of “inerrancy” and “indefectibility” in relation to the Church. Canonization is like a doctrine which cannot be contested but which cannot be defined as a doctrine of faith as all faithful must necessarily believe in it.”

Institute of the Good Shepherd news: - 1 - Priestly Ordinations and Images - 2 - New IBP Foundation in Brazil - 3 - Vocational appeal

The most recent Ecclesia Dei foundation, the already burgeoning Institute of the Good Shepherd (IBP, for its Latin name), makes public several excellent items.

First, on Friday, June 27, in the IBP Church of Saint-Eloi, in Bordeaux, the amazing Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, current Adjunct Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, ordained three new priests for the Institute, Fathers Grégory Lutz-Wiest, Karol Zaleski, and Mateusz Markiewicz, and two deacons. Other images available here. Congratulations to the Institute and to the new priests!

Second, for several weeks now this excellent piece of news has been made public -- in the largest metropolis of the Southern Hemisphere, São Paulo, Brazil, the Institute has now a permanent official presence. Fr. Matthieu Raffray, Superior for Latin America, broke the news about a month ago:

On April 10, His Eminence Cardinal Odilo Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo, granted his agreement to Father Philippe Laguérie, Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, to erect canonically a house of the IBP in São Paulo. This house was thus established, according to Canon Law, by a decree dated May 11, 2014, on the Feast of Saints Philip and James. [Source]

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The IBP has only one major international "handicap" at the moment, and that is its lack of presence in English-speaking nations. It is our belief that the Institute of the Good Shepherd is highly interested in vocations from English-speaking countries -- if you are considering a traditional vocation, take a close look at the IBP, exclusively dedicated to the Traditional Mass and whose doctrinal firmness is assured. The IBP international Seminary of Saint Vincent is located in the village of Courtalain, in the Diocese of Chartres, France.

[Update: some ordination details corrected.]

Ordinations in the upcoming days and weeks: Ecclesia Dei institutes

Ordination and First Mass of Saint John of Matha
(Vincenzo Carducci, Museo del Prado)

For the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. 

The events in Arizona were tragic, extremely sad and distressing - but not despairing, because the Lord does not abandon his faithful people, ever. As Fr. Walker taught, it is our duty to recognize our lifetime as the time for our visitation and, during that time, "make use of the means that God has provided for us to show our repentance, our submission, and our trust in Him." (Sermon) [Temporary link: Fr. Kenneth Walker's Funeral Fund - Update: total amount raised]

As reported here on May 31, seven priests were ordained for the FSSP on that day in Nebraska. Two other ordination ceremonies remain for the Fraternity:

In Virginia: the Rev. Deacons Zachary Akers and Daniel Heenan, who will be Ordained tomorrow (Saturday, June 14, 2014, 9:00 AM), by the Most Reverend James Conley, Bishop of Lincoln, in Leesburg, Virginia (St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 101 Oakcrest Manor Dr. NE, Leesburg, VA 20176). We have checked for confirmation, and the ceremony will take place as foreseen.

In Chartres: It is a highly historical event: since the advent of the new Pontificale Romanum, in 1968, there has not been a traditional ordination ceremony in that highly emblematic French cathedral, Our Lady of Chartres. On June 28, at 9:30 PM, Bishop Marc Aillet, of Bayonne, will ordain the Rev. Deacons Jean de Massia, Thibault Paris, and Olivier de Nedde (Orléans).

For the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

In Bordeaux: Archbishop Giuseppe Sciacca will be in the Church of Saint-Eloi on Friday, June 27, at 9:30 AM, for the ordination of three deacons to the Holy Priesthood: the Rev. Deacons Gregory Lutz-Wiest, Karol Zaleski, and Mateusz Markiewicz.

For the Institute of Christ the King.

In Tuscany: Cardinal Burke will confer the ordinations of European seminarians in the Institute's seminary in Gricigliano on July 3. A total of 4 deacons will be ordained on that day.

In Missouri: The priestly ordinations of American seminarians for the Institute will take place in America this year: Cardinal Burke will once again be present, now at the St. Francis de Sales Oratory, in Saint Louis, MO, on August 5, and will ordain to the Holy Priesthood the Rev. Deacons Benjamin Coggeshall, Joel Estrada, Andrew Todd, and Francis Altiere.

Sciacca moved to Signatura

One of the noblest members of the Roman Curia, Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, was named today by Pope Francis Adjunct Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, headed by Cardinal Burke. 

Sciacca was the Secretary of the Governatorate of Vatican City State, headed by a papal favorite, Cardinal Bertello.

(In the image: Bp. Sciacca delivers an exhortation in the Brompton Oratory, Pontifical High Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 2012.)

Apostolic Chamber in Summorum Pontificum mode

Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, Secretary of the Governatorate of Vatican City State and Auditor General of the Apostolic Chamber (presided by the Cardinal Chamberlain and in charge of the affairs of the Holy See during its current vacancy), celebrated a Pontifical Mass yesterday in Città di Castello, Umbria, with the assistance, among other great priests, of one of our favorite Franciscans of the Immaculate, Fr. Serafino Lanzetta, as well as Fr. de Andrade, FSSP. (Tip: Messa in Latino)

The quiet life

The Washington Post published a long article on Saturday on Vatileaks and the inner workings of the Holy See - nothing new. But it contained a wonderful portrayal of what we could call "a day in the life of Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca", current Secretary of the Governatorate of Vatican City State, a gifted Latinist and a friend of the Traditional Mass. He is Sicilian, so perhaps the reporter was expecting something spicy, or mysterious, from the man who is the budget director of a large and wide-ranging global corporation. Instead...

On a rainy December day, Benedict clapped along with jugglers, lion tamers and puppeteers in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall as the church opened its arms to the world of itinerant circus performers. While a woman wearing a cat mask twirled four hula hoops in the hall, Monsignor Giuseppe Sciacca was chauffeured across a piazza behind Vatican walls to greet a visitor.

“Good morning, dottore!” Sciacca called from the passenger seat of a small blue Volkswagen. Sciacca, the successor of Viganò, the central player in the leaks scandal, is a sprightly and gregarious Sicilian who walks around Rome doffing his hat to the waiters and storekeepers. He tends to stop walking when he has something to say, with the expectation that his audience will stop to listen.

Sciacca, who will play a principal role in organizing the papal transition, has a reputation for intelligence and honesty, but unlike his reform-minded predecessor, he is considered loyal to Tarcisio Bertone, Benedict’s No. 2. When asked for an interview as he window-shopped for vestments on Via dei Cestari, behind the Pantheon, he said he first needed to see the questions and get permission to talk. He shrugged off the suggestion that an official request should go through the Vatican press office.

He would need permission, he said, from Bertone.

As the Volkswagen rolled to his Vatican apartment, Sciacca claimed that he had overruled Bertone and his lieutenants in agreeing to an interview. “They told me not to talk to you!” he said, jokingly comparing himself to a “shepherd who invites in the wolf.”

The driver pulled up to Palazzo San Carlo, a centuries-old apartment building opposite the Vatican’s private gas station. Above the few steps, renovated with wheelchair access for the aged prelates, a polished gold plate held the names of the building’s residents. On a lower floor were offices belonging to one of the Vatican’s financial institutions. On the top floor lived one of the cardinals Gabriele had named as a sympathizer to his concerns about the Vatican.

Sciacca’s home is a spacious L-shaped apartment warmed by thousands of books broken into sections reflecting his years as a Latinist, high school teacher of literature and philosophy, canonist and judge on the church court. He pointed out a portrait of Benedict overlooking the hallway that he had commissioned.

“Economics, the budget, transparency! This is what I think about,” he said. “It cost a couple hundred of euros. It’s not necessary to spend more. Plus Michelangelo’s not around anymore.”

Sciacca had his good-governance talking points down. In the corner of his bedroom, opposite a purple clerical robe hung on the outside of a wooden armoire, a single bed lay under a modest comforter. (“I’m single” he joked.) In the study was a faux-marble statue of the Good Shepherd with a sheep draped over his shoulders that he had picked up “at a good price in the Vatican museums,” he said.

Pontifical Mass in Rome for Trinity Sunday

Bp. Sciacca to celebrate Pontifical Mass tomorrow - Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome

The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity is also the patronal feast of the personal parish  entrusted to the Fraternity of St. Peter in Rome: Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini. It will host Bp. Giuseppe Sciacca, Secretary of the Governatorate of Vatican City State, who will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the faldstool at 10:30 am (Music by Perosi, the famous choirmaster of St. Pius X), confer the Sacrament of Confirmation, and preside over pontifical vespers at 5:30 pm.

Messa in latino