Thursday, January 24, 2013

A critical analysis of the Tridentine Mass by Fr Ratzinger

Way back in 1967, theologian Fr Joseph Ratzinger wrote about the Tridentine Mass. This was soon after the closing of Vatican II. Below is an excerpt in which Ratzinger analyses the Tridentine Mass as established by the Council of Trent:
Joseph Ratzinger in a photo from 1971
Fr Joseph Ratzinger in 1971

The [liturgical] additions of the late Middle Ages were eliminated, and at the same time severe measures were adopted to prevent a rebirth. .... At that time, the fate of the Western liturgy was linked to a set authority, which worked in a strictly bureaucratic way, lacking any historic vision and considering the problem of the liturgy from the sole viewpoint of rubrics and ceremonies, like a problem of etiquette in a saint's court, so to speak.

As a consequence of this link, there was a complete archeologisation of the liturgy, which from the state of a living history was changed into that of pure conservation and, therefore, condemned to an internal death. Liturgy became once and forever a closed construction, firmly petrified. The more it was concerned about the integrity of pre-existent formulas, the more it lost its connection to concrete devotions ....

In this situation, the baroque carved it [the liturgy] superimposing a people's para-liturgy over its true and proper archeologized liturgy. The solemn baroque mass, through the splendor of the orchestra's performance, became a kind of sacred opera, in which the songs of the priest had their role as did the alternating recitals. .... On the ordinary days that did not allow such a performance, devotions that followed the people's mentality were often added to the mass.

(Source: Ratzinger J., Problemi e risultati del Concilio Vaticano II, Brescia: Queriniana, 1967, pp. 25-27)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Inside the Vatican's Top Ten for 2012

"Inside the Vatican," Catholic News Magazine 
According to Inside the Vatican monthly magazine by Dr Robert Moynihan, the Top Ten people in 2012 for being "examples of great courage, fidelity to the Church and heroic Christian charity" are:
 
1. Msgr. Charles Scicluna — The Vatican’s chief prosecutor of clerical sexual abuse. On October 6, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Malta and Titular Bishop of San Leone.

2. Barbara Castro Garcia — Spanish mother dies after postponing cancer treatments to save baby.

3. Cardinal André Vingt-Trois — Archbishop of Paris and President of the French Bishops’ Conference builds coalition in opposition to the legalization of same-sex marriage.

4. Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan — Archbishop of New York and President of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference leads a defense of unborn life and Christian marriage and values in society.

5. Asia Bibi — Pakistani Christian woman arrested and sentenced to death for blaspheming against Islam in 2009. Her case received worldwide attention. The Pope called for clemency for Asia.

6. Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan — Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, he has spoken out  against military dictatorship and violence, and urged dialogue with Muslims.

7. Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai — Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, he is one of the key leaders of the Christian communities in the Middle East.

8. Archbishop Georg Gänswein — The Pope’s private secretary, named Prefect of the Papal Household and Archbishop of Urbs Salvia.

9. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares — Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has supported the faithful application of Summorum Pontificum.

10. Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin — This Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai, China, has been under house arrest since July 7, 2012, following his courageous actions at his episcopal ordination
.
 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Fifth anniversary of a symbolic gesture

Pope Benedict XVI leads a solemn Mass during which he baptised 13 babies at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican yesterday as the Church commemorated the baptism of Jesus. He celebrated parts of the Mass with his back turned on the congregation, re-introducing an old ritual that had not been used in decades.
Benedict XVI celebrating solemn Mass on 13 January 2008. Photo: Reuters

Five years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI led a solemn Mass during which he baptised 13 babies at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. He celebrated parts of the Mass with his back turned on the congregation, a gesture that did not pass unnoticed. Pope Benedict, in this way, re-introduced a visible aspect of the Tridentine Mass. He used the Sistine Chapel's ancient altar set right against the wall under Michelangelo's dramatic depiction of the Last Judgement, instead of the altar placed on a mobile platform that allowed his predecessor Blessed John Paul II to face the faithful. Benedict XVI also read his homily from an old wooden throne on the left of the altar used by Blessed Pius IX in the 19th century.

This event had been preceded a few months earlier by the promulgation of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing a wider use of the Tridentine Mass. In the same period Benedict XVI had also said he would like the centuries-old Gregorian chant to make a comeback. Communion, during Papal Masses, started being given on the mouth and kneeling too.

All these gestures by His Holiness were meant as a signal to bishops around the world on the way forward for the Catholic Church. Whether these were taken on board is another story.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Non ho mai smesso di celebrare con il rito tridentino

Il Cardinale Poggi, una vita intera al servizio della gloriosa Tradizione della Chiesa: “Non ho mai smesso di celebrare con il rito tridentino”
 
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Cardinale Luigi Poggi (1917 - 2010)

di Bruno Volpe


CITTA’ DEL VATICANO - Ha 91 anni, ma conserva la lucidità e l’entusiasmo di un ragazzino. Il Cardinale Luigi Poggi, già Archivista e Bibliotecario della Santa Sede, è uno dei pochi porporati che, dopo la riforma liturgica del Concilio Vaticano II, ha continuato a celebrare la Santa Messa con il rito tridentino in latino di San Pio V.

Eminenza, ci consenta una provocazione amichevole: perchè non si è adeguato alla riforma?

“Scusi, ma perchè mi pone questa domanda? Io ho sempre celebrato secondo il Messale di San Pio V che, è bene ricordarlo, il Concilio Vaticano II non ha mai abrogato”.

Rimoduliamo il quesito: perchè ha scelto di continuare con il rito di San Pio V?

“Così va già meglio. Allora: nessuno, e sottolineo nessuno, è autorizzato a cancellare la tradizione della Chiesa, tantomeno il Concilio Vaticano II, cui va, sia ben chiaro, tutto il mio rispetto. Ma, lo sottolineo ancora una volta, quel Concilio non ha sostituito il rito tridentino ma ne ha semplicemente aggiunto un altro. Se poi alcuni Vescovi o ‘Pastori zelanti’, hanno pensato che il Novus Ordo abrogasse il Vetus Ordo, hanno sbagliato di grosso”.

Sappiamo che della Messa di San Pio V Le piacciono i silenzi, il guardare a Dio, alla Croce…

“Come potrebbe essere altrimenti? Molti sbagliano e analizzano il problema riducendolo alla posizione del celebrante. Da nessuna parte è scritto che il sacerdote debba rivolgersi ad Oriente, ma mi sembra comunque la posizione più corretta e teologicamente convincente. Il sacerdote non è il protagonista della Celebrazione Eucaristica, ma parla a nome di Cristo, quindi guarda alla Croce e al sole che sorge, cioè al Verbo”.

Introibo ad altare Dei…

“Bellissima formula, che dà pienamente la sensazione e l’idea di una processione, di un divenire, dell’indegnità dell’uomo ad accostarsi al Sacrificio Divino; ma mi piace sottolineare maggiormente il secondo passaggio…”.

Ci dica.

Qui laetificat juventutem meam. Non è un ritornello senza idee, ma testimonia la giovinezza di Dio e la sua immensa misericordia; la misericordia del Padre che rinnova nella fede i suoi figli donando la gioventù e la freschezza di chi crede. Ecco, il rito tridentino contempla un Dio giovane ed evidenzia la bellezza di una fede spontanea. Come dire, quella Messa contiene elementi purtroppo trascurati nella visione razionalista del Novus Ordo: la capacità di stupirsi, il mistero e la trascendenza”.

Qualche studioso, religioso e persino rabbino ha parlato di rito antisemita.

“Guardi, di inesattezze ne ho sentite molte, ma questa le supera davvero tutte. Il rito tridentino non vuole offendere i giudei, ma ne invoca semplicemente la conversione. Tanto più che, con estremo buon senso, il Papa Benedetto XVI ha rivisto la preghiera del Venerdì Santo, auspicando e ribadendo la richiesta di conversione degli ebrei. A tal proposito, mi permetto di affermare che ogni cristiano è chiamato a convertire chi non crede in Cristo. D’altro canto, che c’è di male?”.

Cardinale Poggi, intanto sembra sempre più vicina la pace ufficiale tra la Chiesa di Roma e i lefebvriani.

“Auguro vivamente che ciò possa accadere quanto prima: non ha senso vivere da separati”.

Eminenza, ma Lei a 91 anni si sente giovane?
 

“Certo. Con un Dio che ‘laetificat juventutem meam’ come non potrei…?”.

(Source: Petrus - 2008)

Thursday, January 10, 2013

A Historical Interview from the first FIUV President

Interview granted by Mgr. Lefebvre to
Dr. Eric M. de Saventhem,
President of the International Federation Una Voce

Dr. de Saventhem: Excellency, it is known that you were in Rome on the 10th and 11th January for further discussions with Cardinal Seper, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Was it at Pope John Paul’s request that the Cardinal received you?

Mgr. Lefebvre: There has been some misunderstanding on this matter. It is true that an investigation has been in progress since January, 1978, and that it was to be continued by talks in Rome. Meanwhile, during the audience, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, assigned to Cardinal Seper, as to a trusted friend, the question of Ecône. It does not seem that he had in mind a procedure already in progress, hence the misunderstanding.

Dr. de Saventhem: Have you been interrogated?

Mgr. Lefebvre: Yes, twice, for three-hour periods. Seventeen series of questions by five interrogators accompanied by a secretary; but I was refused permission to bring even one witness.

Dr. de Saventhem: Early in January, a large circulation American magazine stated that, during the audience of the 18th November last, the Holy Father confronted you with an ultimatum: either you submitted to the Pope, or else you left the Church. Since then numerous papers have repeated the, burden of that report, as if your excommunication was imminent.

Mgr. Lefebvre: That is pure invention. The object of the discussions, I suppose, was to clarify the position with a view to finding a solution.

http://www.realnews247.com/marcel_lefebvre.jpgDr. de Saventhem: Nevertheless, the report that the Pope might soon lift the canonical sanctions imposed on you has not been confirmed. In fact, one wonders how the a divinis suspension could be lifted unless you agreed to refrain forever from ordaining seminarians without dimissorial letters.

Mgr. Lefebvre: This problem arises from the canonical status of our confraternity. The ordinations branded by some as "wildcat" had become necessary from the moment when the Secretariat of State, in a circular letter to all Episcopal Conferences, forbade diocesan bishops to incardinate our seminarians: and to give them dimissorial letters. This prohibition is an encroachment without precedent on one of the oldest episcopal prerogatives. Without it we would always have found resident bishops willing to regularize the canonical status of our young men. In order to solve this problem, it would be sufficient for our Society to be recognized as coming directly under pontifical authority.

Dr. de Saventhem: Would not such an official recognition imply that you had previously answered Pope Paul's priority request to you to declare publicly your sincere adherence to the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican and to all its texts?

Mgr. LefebvreIn reply to that request I had already written the following to Pope Paul VI: "I accept everything that, in the Council and its reforms, is in full agreement with Tradition." I have never been told why this declaration was considered inadequate; After all, a Catholic can adhere to the texts of a Council only in the light of the continuing constant teaching of the Church. That is a fundamental principle of the Catholic Faith, and my very clear impression is that, under Pope John Paul II, we shall see it confirmed; as much in the interpretation as in the application of conciliar texts.

Dr. de Saventhem: Did you discuss this matter with the Holy Father during your audience?

Mgr. Lefebvre: I am thinking rather about what he declared publicly in his very first message to the world after the election. Referring to the conciliar Magna Carta – the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church – the Pope said that it must be read in "the light of tradition," and that we must "integrate into it the dogmatic formulations laid down by the First Vatican Council." Only thus would the text become for all, priests and faithful, "the secret of an unerring orientation." If I were asked to declare my adherence to the conciliar texts "read in the light of tradition and integrated with the dogmatic formulations previously laid down by the Magisterium of the Church," I would sign without hesitation.

Dr. de Saventhem: Have you, in fact, signed a text of this nature, either before the audience with the Holy Father, or during your discussions with Cardinal Seper?

Mgr. Lefebvre: I can say that, in the course of the audience, the Pope accepted that declaration regarding the Council, and that it will be signed with Cardinal Seper at some time.

Dr. de Saventhem: Excellency, your confraternity now runs not only seminaries; but a dozen priories and two convents. All these institutions continue their liturgical life notwithstanding the rule of conduct promulgated by Pope Paul VI. Moreover, they refuse to conform with the "new orientations" adopted almost everywhere else. Even if Rome were willing to allow you to perform "the experiment of tradition," is there not a risk that, at diocesan government level, very serious problems would arise?

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Mgr. Lefebvre: Let us begin with liturgical norms. They should, and could be made more flexible; that is the sole responsibility of the Holy See. With regard to the Mass, Pope Paul VI certainly never officially forbade the use of the Old Rite. Indeed, Mr. President, it was thanks to your wife that we have had oral confirmation of this from Cardinal Benelli himself.

* On the other hand, it is known that a good number of cardinals and bishops have expressed the desire to see the pre-conciliar rites re-admitted everywhere. Without doubt, there would be local problems, but there would also be the immense relief of numerous priests and faithful on recovering traditional rites and the devotion that accompanies them. Bishops would straightway experience the benefit to their dioceses. I dare to hope that the new Pope, in his pastoral solicitude, will not long delay this conciliatory gesture.                        

Dr. de Saventhem: There still remain the various post-conciliar "orientations" which Your Excellency has stigmatized as incompatible with the tradition and Magisterium of the Church and which your confraternity resolutely continues to oppose. Would you say that the claim that these orientations are derived from Vatican II is exaggerated?

Mgr. Lefebvre: It is true that in many fields – ecumenism: the institutions of the Church; liturgy; reform of seminaries and of religious life - the standards set by the Council have been left far behind. In their application, the new orientations have been used as a pretext for leaping into "creativity" and continuous evolution.

Dr. de Saventhem: There are nevertheless other new orientations manifestly favored by the Council. I am thinking especially of the so-called liturgical renewal.

Mgr. Lefebvre: I think I can state that all the novel orientations were favored by the spirit of the Council, as well as by the too often ambiguous written word. The liberal spirit of the Council, by its nature, leads to compromise with the spirit of man and of the modern world-which is in opposition to the Catholic spirit. That is especially the case in documents such as those on religious liberty; on the Church in the world and on non-Christian religions. Our fidelity to the Church prompts us to labor resolutely and patiently for a return to her great traditions. Our priories might be seen as beacons to mark our way on the long road ahead of us.

Dr. de Saventhem: Have you found, in your conversations with him, Cardinal Seper open to the ideas you have just expressed?

Mgr. Lefebvre: I value the Cardinal's sincerity very highly and I hope that he will seize the opportunity given to him by the Holy Father to manifest courageously the attachment which he certainly has for Tradition; but about which he has deemed it right, in obedience, to maintain silence during the last years. Millions of Catholics await with longing the application of religious freedom to the centuries-old tradition of the Church.

Dr. de Saventhem: In thanking you, Excellency, for this interview, I take the liberty, on behalf of those millions of Catholics, of assuring you and His Eminence Cardinal Seper of our most fervent prayers.

Originally published in Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre, Vol. II (1983) by Michael Davies, who later became the second President of FIUV.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Le sofferenze di Paolo VI

http://pierostradella.it/vendite/papi/papa11.jpg«Soffre oggi la Chiesa? Figli, Figli carissimi! Sì, oggi la Chiesa è alla prova di grandi sofferenze! Ma come? Dopo il Concilio? Sì, dopo il Concilio!... Soffre per l'abbandono di tanti cattolici della fedeltà, che la tradizione secolare le meriterebbe... Soffre soprattutto per l'insorgenza inquieta, critica, indocile e demolitrice di tanti suoi figli, i prediletti - sacerdoti, maestri, laici, dedicati al servizio e alla testimonianza di Cristo vivente nella Chiesa viva -, contro la sua intima e indispensabile comunione, contro la sua istituzionale esistenza, contro la sua norma canonica, la sua tradizione, la sua interiore coesione; contro la sua autorità, insostituibile principio di verità, di unità, di carità; contro le sue stesse esigenze di santità e di sacrificio; soffre per la defezione e lo scandalo di certi ecclesiastici e religiosi, che crocifiggono oggi la Chiesa...»

Paolo VI 
2 aprile 1969

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Criteria to understand Vatican Council II according to Blessed John Paul II

Blessed John Paul II himself has indicated the criteria that should orient “the dynamics of the teaching” of the Second Vatican Council, (1) which are neither limited to a simple literal assessment of the documents, already quite delicate, nor to a static doctrine. They are:

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1. “This universal Council is a kind of milestone, an event of the utmost importance in the two thousand year history of the Church and, consequently, in the religious and cultural history of the world.” (2)

2. “The Council must be understood in its continuity with the great tradition of the Church, but at the same time we must receive from the doctrine of the Council a light for the Church of today,” (3) and “in accordance with the demands placed on it by the ‘signs of the times.’” (4)

3. “Just as the Council is not limited to the documents alone, neither is it completed by the applications that were devised in the years of its unfolding.” (5) “A new period opens to our eyes. It is the time of the profound unfolding of the conciliar teachings.” (6)

4. “It is necessary, above all, that our minds  be in harmony with the Council so that putting into practice those things that were ordered by it,  those things hidden in it – or as it is generally said, implicit in it – may become explicit in the light of the actual experiences and demands of new circumstances.” (7)

5. “It is urgent that the fertile seeds which the Fathers of the Ecumenical Council, inspired by the Word of God, sowed in the good ground (Mt 13:8-23) – that is, the important teachings and pastoral deliberations – should sprout in a dynamic and living style.” (8)

6. “The Council … has defined what the mission of the Church is in this actual stage of History.” We must “concentrate all our efforts on the correct - that is to say, authentic - interpretation of the conciliar magisterium as the indispensable foundation for the subsequent self-realization of the Church.” (9)

7. “The theological interpretation of the conciliar doctrine must take into consideration all the documents in themselves and in their relation with the others, which will allow the exposition of the proposals of the Council in their complete meaning and full context. Special attention must be given to the four major Constitutions, keys to the interpretation of the other Decrees and Declarations.” (10)

8. The Church has traced the principles of her action in the fundamental Declaration Dignitatis humanae of Vatican Council II, and it is to this document that we must always refer for a true and lasting spiritual peace within nations.” (11) 


1. John Paul II employs the term in his Closing Speech of the International Congress on the Application of Vatican Council II, Sono molto lieto (February 27, 2000, no. 5). The cited texts follow the French version given by the Vatican Information Service.
2. First radiomessage of John Paul II Urbi et OrbiUnum solummodo verbum of October 17, 1978; in the same sense, see the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei in the form of a motu proprio, of July 2, 1988, n. 5b.
3. Final speech of the Roman Synod Exeunte coetu secundo, December 7, 1985, n. 5; in the same sense, see the Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei in the form of a motu proprio, of July 2, 1988, n. 5b.
4. Speech on events of France, Dieu soit loué, June 1980.
5. Unum solummodo verbum.
6. Sono molto lieto, n. 9
7. Unum solummodo verbum.
8. Ibid. 9. Dieu soit loué.
10. Exeunte coetu secundo.
11. Ci ritroviano, speech to the sacred College of December 22, 1980, n. 8.
 
Adapted from an article first published in the magazine Catholica, Paris, Spring 2009