Catholic Schism Likely as SSPX Confirms Episcopal Consecrations without Papal Permission

The announcement

Latin Mass supporters say SSPX controversy has ‘thrown a hand grenade’ into TLM debate

Did Pope Francis Lie?

Something of a scandal is brewing in Rome. Leaked documents from the Vatican seem to indicate that the late pope misrepresented the results of a survey of Catholic bishops, which he cited as grounds for the severe restrictions he placed on the traditional (pre-Vatican II) liturgical rites. The story has been all over the Catholic press and blogosphere. Now it has been picked up by the Associated Press. 

Damian Thompson on the rumors from Rome

A month ago, 18,000 young people walked on pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres Cathedral in order to demonstrate their love of the Traditional Latin Mass — an intricate and solemn ceremony which, to the horror of Pope Francis, is attracting an unlikely following among Generation Z Catholics.

Inside the 800-year-old cathedral, the Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, once Pope Francis’s doctrinal chief and now one of his leading critics. His meticulous ritual actions were followed with rapt attention by the congregation.

Very few of them were born when this rite of Mass was mothballed after the Second Vatican Council in 1970. Even the 76-year-old Müller was ordained priest long after it had disappeared from parish life. He has only recently learned to say it, in response to an unprecedented demand created by Pope Benedict XVI’s bold decision in 2007 to make the Traditional Latin Mass or TLM available to Catholics everywhere.

But will the annual Chartres pilgrimage ever happen again? This week Rome is buzzing with rumours that Pope Francis — a veteran opponent of the old liturgy, which he regards as reactionary and effeminate — is planning to ban the Latin Mass from almost every Catholic church in the world.

Three years ago Francis instituted a partial ban that ejected TLM faithful from churches that, in some cases, they had paid to restore. The retired Benedict was grief-stricken by the decision but had taken a vow of silence. In the United States, the heartland of the Generation Z renaissance, many traditionalists can now hear the old Mass only in church halls, basements or school gyms.

The Vatican official responsible for enforcing Francis’s ruling, ironically entitled Traditonis Custodes (Guardians of Tradition), is his liturgy chief Cardinal Arthur Roche, a native of Batley, West Yorkshire, who has approached his task with Cromwellian zeal.

Read the rest here.

The NY Times Discovers the Latin Mass

Old Latin Mass Finds New American Audience, Despite Pope's Diasapproval 

Well, the photos were nice.

Pope Francis' new attack on Catholic traditionalists

As predicted in a recent post, the pope has launched the next phase of his war on Catholic traditionalists. Among the new rules are draconian restrictions on the traditional rites for baptism, confession, marriage, and holy unction. The traditional rites for confirmation and ordination to holy orders are now prohibited entirely. Cleary Francis wants to drive these people out of the Catholic Church. This is a man without charity and who believes that he is the absolute master of the liturgy and the rites of his church. That is a dangerous combination. 

How could anyone who is Orthodox contemplate entering into any kind of communion with a church that holds such beliefs and wages war on its own faithful? 

Details.

ANAXIOS!

Pope Francis Restricts Use of Traditional Roman Rite (Tridentine Mass)

Pope Francis has issued a motu proprio, "Traditionis Custodes," which effectively abrogates Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum," by which the former pope had  liberated the ancient rite of the Latin Church. The new decree imposes sweeping restrictions on the use of the older liturgical rite and grants local bishops the authority to refuse to any priest the right to celebrate mass according to the old form. All priests must now secure permission to do so including those who have already been using the missal. For priests ordained after the publication of the new motu proprio (that is after today) permission to use the older rite is now reserved to the Apostolic See. 

There is no possible interpretation of this document that does not lead one to conclude it is meant as an attack on conservative Catholics and the sensus fidelium of the Roman Catholic Church as it existed for its first 1900 years or so. That a pope would attempt to effectively suppress the heart of the liturgical patrimony of the Western Church, is quite simply scandalous. What was sacred for most of two millennia is now suspect, and those attached to it are clearly not quite right.

There is no charity or love in this. Only calculated cruelty.

ANAXIOS!

The full test of the motu proprio and the accompanying letter may be found here.

Some Good News From the Other Side of the Tiber

In a moment in history where good news from the Roman Catholic Church is not altogether common...

The US Military Academy has witnessed its first solemn High Mass according to the old rite in at least 57 years.

Details.

Reports: Pope Francis to abolish office overseeing Latin Mass

Rorate Caeli has the story.

The 1965 Missal: The Real Mass of Vatican II?

There is an essay by Msgr Charles Pope that may be of interest to Roman Catholics, particularly those of a traditionalist bent. I am not going to excerpt it. Just go here and read it all.

Pope Francis Again: He restricts use of the Old Mass by some clergy

This is getting even more attention in parts of the Catholic blogosphere than his comments suggesting a greater tolerance for gay clergy. Trad Catholics have been suspicious of, if not downright hostile to, the new Pope from the announcement of his election. Thus the announcement that the Vatican has issued a directive which among other things, restricts the use of the Old Mass by clergy of a conservative Franciscan order has trad Catholics throwing a fit.

Fr. Z however has some very interesting background that adds a lot of perspective to this situation. Valid and fair points to be sure. But I am still left with the uncomfortable feeling that Summorum Pontificum has been weakened by this. It seems like Rome has used a sledgehammer to kill a fly. And other recent comments by the Pope have not helped to alleviate concerns that he is cool towards those Catholics attached to the historic rites of the Roman Church.

The Ochlophobist Dissents

Not surprisingly our favorite Catholic-Marxist took a different view than your humble blogger of the Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the newly minted Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone who is to be installed in San Francisco later this week. And I have to admit his main point was not unreasonable. The venue for this event reeked of elitism. I will be more impressed if he does this at least occasionally in his new cathedral where people won't be hit up for thousands of dollars to get in.

Some of the complaints though seemed a tad nitpicky. OK so there were some moments when it looked like not everyone knew by heart the exact rubrics of the liturgy. Come on! How long has it been since Roman Catholic clergy were trained in the traditional liturgical rites of their church? How many priests much less bishops have ever participated in or even witnessed a solemn high mass from the throne?

I didn't see anything that looked like it was being done horribly wrong. And in fact it reminded me of hierarchical liturgies celebrated at my former parish in Merced. It's not an everyday occurrence. The bishop usually brought a subdeacon to serve as the discreet master of ceremonies who made sure everyone was where they were supposed to be at the time they were supposed to be there.

Solemn High Mass By The New Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco

This bodes well for the most liberal diocese in the country. On the other hand there are some people in San Francisco who should be afraid, very afraid.

HT: Rorate

Ad Multos Annos!

This has been mentioned in other, mostly Catholic, forums. But it is worth repeating. The Archdiocese of New York, which likely has more Catholics than all of the Orthodox combined in North America, ordained only one priest this year. That's the bad news. The good news is that the newly ordained Fr. D'Arcy made a very powerful statement by offering a Solemn High Mass according to the pre-Vatican II liturgical rites as his first Mass.

See the story and photos here.

Vatican issues new directive on pre-Vatican II liturgy (Latin Mass); bishops warned not to obstruct older form of the Mass

(Reuters) - The Vatican told Catholic bishops around the world on Friday they had to obey a papal order allowing priests to say the old-style Latin mass for traditionalist Catholics, whether they liked it or not.

The Vatican issued an "instruction" to bishops as a follow-up to a 2007 papal decree authorizing the wider adoption of the Latin Mass, which was in universal use before the 1962-1965 Vatican Council introduced masses in local languages.

The re-instatement of the Latin mass was one of the demands of ultra-traditionalists whose leaders were excommunicated in 1988, prompting the first schism in modern times.

The pope, in a nod the traditionalists, satisfied many of them in 2007 when he allowed a wider use of the Latin mass, in which the priest faced east with his back to the faithful for most of the service.

But some bishops around the world said privately it was a headache because of the scarcity of priests trained in Latin, and logistical problems inserting Latin mass in their schedule.

The five-page instruction from the Vatican's doctrinal department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made it clear that the pope wants bishops to follow his orders.

"It is the task of the Diocesan bishop to undertake all necessary measures to ensure respect for the 'forma extraordinaria'," the instruction said, using a Latin term for the old liturgy.

While couched in polite, institutional language, the instruction said local parishes had to insert a Latin mass into their liturgical schedules if tradionalist faithful wanted it.

It also said pastors of parishes should show "a spirit of generous welcome" to whose who wanted the old mass and had to "permit such a celebration."

Read the rest here.

Commentary on this in the Roman Catholic corner of blogdom has been somewhat slow, I suspect in large part due to Bloggers recent problems.  Look for vocal commentary from all sides of this debate in the coming days.  For the record my prediction is that the modernist/lib Catholics (Episcopalians mostly who just haven't come to terms with their true calling) will have a fit over this.  On the other side I suspect reaction among "traddies" will be cool to hostile.  Many will feel that this does not go far enough.  And the really hard core ones (SSPX and other groups that are either overtly or de facto schismatics) are not going to be happy with one part in particular.  I have not had a chance to read the whole thing but I am told that there are elements warning against rejecting the legitimacy of the post Vatican II rites.  If true; that's not gong to fly with the Angel Queen and Rorate Caeli crowd.

Update: I just had a chance to give the document a quick read and it looks good.  I think this will be a plus for the Roman Church.  Fr. Z called it a "No Hitter" as opposed to a "Perfect Game."  That might be a tad generous.  But I would certainly say this is a strong document.  The really liberal elements in the clergy, especially bishops are NOT going to like it. One can imagine the editors of what Fr. Z calls the National Catholic Fishwrap suffering a collective seizure.  And yes, there is a paragraph mandating acceptance of the legitimacy of the post V-II rites and obedience to Rome that is going to give heartburn to your more hard core traddies.  Look for the libs to latch onto that.

SSPX: Tradition or Schism?

This is a very interesting question that is addressed and answered by Catholic blogger Brian Sudlow over at The Sensible Bond. As a former SSPXer myself who made the transition (though I obviously landed in a different place) I recommend this essay to any who have an interest in the SSPX / Lefebvrist question. It addresses a lot of issues in detail.

SSPX Rapprochement?

There are a number of reports in both the press and on the internet suggesting that the Holy See may have offered the schismatic Roman Catholic traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) a deal to restore them to full communion with the church. I caution the reader that such reports have made the rounds before only to be shown up as rumors without foundation. That said, there are some points which cause me to treat these reports as not completely lacking in credibility.

First the reports are being posted by normally reliable sources. Secondly at least some in the SSPX seem to be confirming that something big may be imminent. And thirdly, unlike with most of the false rumors, this one has a date definitive mentioned (the 28th of June). This not only gives us a date, but it also is only a very short time away. Am I skeptical? I always am skeptical whenever reports of this nature surface about the SSPX. But others whose opinions I respect are taking this seriously. So I am not dismissing it.

I recommend the coverage over at Rorate Caeli which has a long track record for reporting on all things Traditionalist that is both well sourced and accurate.

UPDATE 06-24-08 @ 1045 PST: The rumors are true. Rorate has the text of the letter.

Benedict XVI & The Liturgical Jacobins

Is Pope Benedict XVI determined to restore the Latin mass that many Roman Catholics thought had been consigned to the dustbin of history? The answer, in short, is both yes and no. But neither the "yes" nor the "no" quite fits the conventional speculations in several recent media reports following off-the-cuff remarks to a small Catholic association in Great Britain by a Vatican official. In unraveling this, it helps to begin at the beginning.

As he reminds us in his memoir, "Salt of the Earth," the young Joseph Ratzinger was deeply influenced, both spiritually and intellectually, by the mid-20th-century movement to reform the Roman Catholic Church's public worship--a movement that helped pave the way for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Father Ratzinger was a peritus, a theological expert, at the council, and like many others, he welcomed the council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: here was a ratification of the liturgical reform movement he had long supported and a blueprint for further organic development of the celebration of mass. In the immediate aftermath of Vatican II, however, Ratzinger became convinced that organic development had been jettisoned for revolution, the liturgical Jacobins being a cadre of academics determined to impose their view of a populist liturgy on the entire Catholic Church.

In the decades between Vatican II and his election as Benedict XVI, Ratzinger became a leader in what became known as "the reform of the reform": a loosely knit international network of laity, bishops, priests and scholars, committed to returning the process of liturgical development in the Catholic Church to what they understood to be the authentic blueprint of Vatican II. Seeing a Gregorian chant CD from an obscure Spanish monastery rise to the top of the pop charts in the 1990s, they wondered why much of the church had abandoned one of Catholicism's classic musical forms. Finding congregations that seemed more interested in self-affirmation than worship, and priests given to making their personalities the center of the liturgical action, they asked whether the rush to create a kind of sacred circle in which the priest faces the people over the eucharistic "table" might have something to do with the problem.

And they reminded the entire church that Vatican II had not mandated many of the things most Catholics thought it had decreed: for example, the elimination of Latin (and chant) from the liturgy and the free-standing altar behind which the priest faced the congregation.

Read the rest of this excellent article here.

Get that old time religion!

The traditional Latin Mass – effectively banned by Rome for 40 years – is to be reintroduced into every Roman Catholic parish in England and Wales, the senior Vatican cardinal in charge of Latin liturgy said at a press conference in London today.

In addition, all seminaries will be required to teach trainee priests how to say the old Mass so that they can celebrate it in all parishes.

Catholic congregations throughout the world will receive special instruction on how to appreciate the old services, formerly known as the Tridentine Rite.

Yesterday’s announcement by the senior Vatican cardinal in charge of Latin liturgy, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, speaking on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, will horrify Catholic liberals, including many bishops of England and Wales.

Read the rest here.

(update) Another article on the subject...

For 40 years, English Catholic worship has been controlled by a bossy alliance of bishops and politically correct activists known as the "Sandalistas".

Now, a Colombian-born cardinal close to the Pope effectively announced that their time has come to an end.

Read the rest here.