Quotes to reflect upon (19)

"I should like also that Rome should in fact give a good example of Liturgy celebrated devoutly and without ill-placed 'creativity'. Certain abuses in liturgical matters have succeeded, through reaction, in favouring attitudes that have led to a taking up of positions that in themselves cannot be upheld and are in contrast with the Gospel. In appealing with affection and with hope to the sense of responsibility of everyone, before God and the Church, I should like to be able to give an assurance that every liturgical irregularity will be diligently avoided."

 

Extract from the homily of Pope John Paul I at the Patriarchal Archbasilica of St John Lateran - Saturday, 23 September 1978 on the occasion of taking possession of the Chair of the Bishop of Rome.

 

The Papacy of John Paul I - a return to Tradition?

Pope John Paul I - a friend of Tradition

On the 37th anniversary of the election of Cardinal Albino Luciani as Pope (26 August 1978), we felt it is appropriate to honour the memory of this Pontiff who reigned for just 33 days by sharing the following:

In a past article the former Pro Tridentina (Malta) President, Godwin Xuereb, had indicated that Pope John Paul I was in favour of the Tridentine Mass. His article was picked up by other blogs, although some twisted it to fit their agenda.

It is interesting that, a couple of years later,  the Catholic Traditionalist Movement confirmed, in essence, what that article had claimed (without acknowledging the source). In its article dated September 2013, Father Gommar De Pauw was quoted as follows:

“Well, I tell you one thing, if he had remained Pope, you wouldn’t have me here at the Chapel because with that beautiful official letter signed by the Secretary of State, also came an unofficial message that I better start packing my suitcase, that there was a job waiting for me in Rome, in the Vatican, to help Pope John Paul I bring the Truth back to the Church. Well, it wasn’t to be and the Lord, Who knows what He does, obviously wanted me to be in this Chapel … what was I going to do in Rome? Well let’s just forget it …” 

Fr Gommar De Pauw

This implies that Pope John Paul I was not going to “tolerate”, so to speak, traditionalist Catholics, but rather change course so that the abuses in the liturgy would be stopped, and Fr De Pauw was going to be his right-hand man in achieving this.

The same article claims that Cardinal Ottaviani (famous for the "Ottaviani Intervention") considered Cardinal Luciani as the second best choice for a traditionalist candidate for the Papacy, second only to Cardinal Pericle Felici.

What the former President of Pro Tridentina (Malta) had said was proven right - albeit at the time many in traditional Catholic circles, in particular from the Veneto region, had remained perplexed at his revelation.

Malta's next Cardinal

Fr. Prospero Grech OSA with Pope Benedict XVI (Photo by courtesy of the Order of Saint Augustine)

Before the Angelus Prayer offered on the Feast of the Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI announced the creation of 22 new Cardinals. Among them was our own Fr Prospero Grech OSA, presently and for decades a member of the community of Collegio Santa Monica, Rome. Father Grech, age 86, a well-known and highly respected Scripture Scholar will become the second Maltese Cardinal.

Letter of the Augustinians' Prior General

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

It is with great joy that I send this communication, to share with you the news that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, announced today that our brother, Fr Prosper Grech, of the Province of Malta and long-time resident at the International College of St. Monica in Rome, has been chosen to become a Cardinal.

Today, January 6th, the Pope announced his decision to celebrate a Concistory on February 18th, with the intention of creating 22 new cardinals. Among the names of those chosen, is our brother Fr Grech. Fr Prosper, 86 years of age, entered the Order in Malta in 1943, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1950. He has served for many years in Rome, almost all of them as a member of the community at St. Monica’s. He is a well known professor of Sacred Scripture, and has been a professor at various universities in Rome, especially the Biblicum, but also the Lateran and Gregorian Universities. He is the co-founder and first President of our Patristic Institute, the Augustinianum. He has also collaborated with numerous dicasteries of the Holy See, especially the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In his proclamation made today, the Holy Father announced with great joy the Concistory for creating new Cardinals, among whom he has chosen outstanding churchmen who are especially distinguished for their service to the Church. Our brother Fr Prosper Grech was one of those chosen.

For this we are deeply grateful to God and to our Holy Father Pope Benedict. We express our congratulations to Fr Grech and we rejoice in this recognition of his many years of service, especially in his dedication to the study and teaching of the Word of God.

Fr Robert F. Prevost OSA
Prior General

Episcopal Ordination

Fr Grech will be ordained bishop in the Co-Cathedral of Saint John, Valletta, Malta, on Wednesday, 8 February, 2012. His episcopal coat of arms is diagonally divided into two equal parts with the Maltese cross on a red background on one side and the coat of arms of the Order of St Augustine on a dark blue background on the other. The motto chosen is In te Domine speravi.

Concistory

The Concistory during which the future Fr Prospero will become Cardinal is to be held on the morning of Saturday, 18 February, in Saint Peter's Basilica. The following day the new Cardinals will concelebrate Mass with the Holy Father also in Saint Peter's.

Highlights from his Biography

Born 1925 in Birgu, Malta, Grech studied at the Lyceum and served as gunner of the University Home Guard during the Second World War.

Grech joined the Augustinian Order in 1943 and seven years later was ordained at San Giovanni Laterano in Rome. After graduating Doctor of Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome (1953), Grech conducted research in Semitic languages at Oxford (1957-58) and Cambridge (1958-59) Universities.

Fr Prospero Grech served as professor at the Augustine Institute, Rome and founded the Istituto Patristico Augostinianum, Rome in 1970. He is a member of the Societas Studiorum Novi Testamenti (SNTS) and member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. He has lectured for over thirty years at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome on hermeneutics.

Fr Grech was professor of Biblical Theology at the Lateran University, Rome, Counsellor to the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and Secretary of the Maltese Augustinian province. He was also nominated Apostolic Visitor for seminaries in India.

Fr Grech and the Popes

During the time of the conclave that elected Paul VI in 1963, just two hours before the Pope was elected, Cardinal Montini asked Fr Grech to hear his confession.

Fr Grech was a great personal friend of Cardinal Albino Luciani when the latter was still Patriarch of Venice. The cardinal used to take up residence at the Augustinian College in Rome whenever he was in the capital to attend meetings of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. Fr Grech used to celebrate Mass and have lunch together with Cardinal Luciani.

The very first letter Pope John Paul I wrote soon after he was elected in August 1978 was one of thanks to Fr Grech for the hospitality and friendship he had always received at St Monica’s Augustinian College.

Pope John Paul II occasionally invited Cardinal Ratzinger, who was then Secretary of the Congregation of the Faith, to lunch. Fr Grech would also be invited.

Political 'involvement'

Fr Grech was also involved in negotiations between the Malta Labour Party (MLP) and the Vatican when attempts were made to solve Malta’s politico-religious dispute of the 1960s. Dom Mintoff, then Labour leader, wanted to start discussions with the Vatican about pending issues and asked Fr Grech to intervene so that negotiations could start.

Fr Grech accepted the invitation and immediately informed the Vatican’s Secretariat of State about this request. He was asked to tell Mr Mintoff to put down in writing what the MLP leader was proposing. Subsequently Fr Grech met Mr Mintoff and returned to the Vatican with the proposals.

After examining them, the Secretariat of State told Fr Grech that the proposals could be a basis for discussion. He was then instructed to inform Malta's Archbishop Michael Gonzi what had happened so that negotiations could start. However, when Fr Grech informed the Archbishop in writing and explained what had happened, Gonzi was furious.

Mr Mintoff was no less infuriated when he learned of the Maltese bishops’ reactions to his plans which had been made public. Both the Archbishop and Mr Mintoff were less than grateful to Fr Grech. According to reliable sources Fr Grech’s involvement in the whole matter could have cost the prominent Biblical scholar his chance to be nominated auxiliary bishop of Malta.

On 13 December 2011, Fr Grech received the honour of Companion of the National Order of Merit by President George Abela, in the name of the government and people of Malta. This honour and especially his nomination to the College of Cardinals more than make up for the unfair treatment he received decades ago.

Pope John Paul I and the Tridentine Mass

Albino Cardinal Luciani was elected 33 years ago (26 August 1978) and died on 28 September of the same year, amid rumours that he had been assassinated.

Pope John Paul I was also reported to have been ready to restore the Tridentine Mass, notwithstanding earlier opposition during the time he served as Patriarch of Venice. The late Fr Gommar De Pauw, the founder of the Catholic Traditionalist Movement in New York City on 15 March 1965, reported that within days after John Paul I's election, the priest was unexpectedly summoned to the Vatican to participate on a commission to restore the Tridentine Mass. Unfortunately, John Paul I died before the commission could meet.

It is interesting to note that, after John Paul I's death, the man whom he had selected to organise the restoration of the Tridentine Mass fell into obscurity. Most traditional Catholics today do not even know who the 'founder' of their movement in 1965 was, i.e. Fr Gommar De Pauw. They have also forgotten the Pope who was to be the "traditional" whom they had prayed for, John Paul I.

Godwin Xuereb
President, Pro Tridentina (Malta)

The picture above shows a holy card with the prayer that the Bishop of Belluno composed to obtain Albino Luciani's beatification. It has a small relic from the clothing of Pope John Paul I. Holy cards can be requested at Centro Papa Luciani: centro@papaluciani.it

Holy Mass in Malta since 1969: a brief history

Since July 2007, slowly but surely, a number of articles in the Maltese media appeared that showed growing intolerance towards the Tridentine Rite. Alas, a number (if not the majority) were penned by well known priests. These articles are continuing to increase, although in a more subtle form. The time has come to set the record straight as many Maltese are still unaware of the developments that are happening in Malta and elsewhere. This is the first article of a series.

In 1969 Pope Paul VI introduced a new rite of the Mass for the Latin Rite Church that was apparently binding on all Catholics – priests, bishops, religious and laypeople. It was then – and is still the case to a great extent in Malta – widely believed that it has been forbidden for a priest to say the Tridentine Mass – unless he had special permission to do so, with a document called an “Indult.”

The introduction of a new rite caused widespread confusion, discouragement, division, disillusionment and destruction – even the closure (or selling) of churches in many countries. This situation did not reach the Maltese shores except for one major common factor with the rest of the Catholic world: more than half of Catholics in Malta have stopped going to Mass altogether since the new rite of Mass was introduced, albeit the introduction of the vernacular was supposed to encourage more participation by the faithful. Not to mention the destruction, in a number of cases, of a number of church furnishings such as altar rails.

A false impression was created throughout almost all the Catholic world by very high Church officials that by virtue of holy obedience all priests after 1969 had to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Novus Ordo Missae. In Malta, the first people that approached the Archbishop of the time were asked not to pursue matters further because any concessions might lead to schisms.

At the same time, efforts were made by Catholics around the world and, notwithstanding hurdles, a number of milestones were achieved:

a) the so-called Agatha Christie Indult (the permission granted in 1971 by Pope Paul VI for the use of the Tridentine Mass in England and Wales);

b) an attempt by Pope John Paul I, within days after his election, to summon a commission to restore the Tridentine Mass. Unfortunately, John Paul I died before the commission could meet.

c) Quattuor abhunc annos (1984) - this granted an indult for bishops to authorise celebration of the Tridentine Mass according to the 1962 Missal.

d) The first President of FIUV, Dr. Eric de Saventhem was instrumental in convincing Pope John Paul II in 1986 to convoke a special Commission of Cardinals to investigate the situation concerning the celebration of the Tridentine Mass. This Commission consisted of these nine Cardinals: Ratzinger, Mayer, Oddi, Stickler, Casaroli, Gantin, Innocenti, Palazzini and Tomko. It reached the following conclusions:

1) the Tridentine Mass was never forbidden to be said by a Catholic priest in good standing; and furthermore,

2) no one – not even a religious superior, bishop or Cardinal – could forbid a priest from saying the Tridentine Mass.

e) Pope John Paul II's 1988 Ecclesia Dei adflicta established the PCED to address concerns arising from activities of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and his followers and aimed at facilitating a wider access to the Tridentine Mass.

The developments under Pope Benedict XVI have been well documented in this Blog and elsewhere so there is no need to elaborate further here.

Pro Tridentina (Malta) has been in discussion with the Church for a number of years in the hope that the current Pontiff's wishes are adhered to. We are still not yet there but we are moving in the right direction.

Let us pray so that the spiritual as well as temporal benefits of the Tridentine Mass will be available to these islands again, sooner rather than later.

Godwin Xuereb