Wow! I mean…Wow!

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf has the incredible story of His Excellency Most Reverend André Rivest, Bishop of Chicoutimi in Canada. (What is it with these Bishops in Canada?). Bishop Rivest is in open opposition to Pope Benedict XVI and his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

The bishop of Chicoutimi, André Rivest, is opposed to the Tridentine Mass and will not apply the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in his diocese, in spite of the request addressed to the parish priest of Sacred Heart Church, Msgr Jean-Roch Gaudin by 130 faithful. This latter, in his parish bulletin, gave the good reasons for not applying the Motu Proprio. Here are some of the most significant excerpts:

“… A month ago, a petition signed by 100 persons was handed to me, requesting permission for one Mass a month in the ‘extraordinary form’, in one of the three churches of the parish, preferably the church of Christ the King. According to the Motu Proprio, I was entitled to grant the request.

But as the signatories were hailing from various parishes of the diocese, and out of solidarity with the pastoral policy of the whole diocese, I thought it right to consult with Bishop André Rivest, the first Pastor of the diocese, and at the same time to give him the petition so that he may give a diocesan orientation on this issue.

Bishop Rivest consulted with his Presbyteral Council (composed of various priest of the diocese) on Monday, May 19 last, and the next day he phoned me and said he thought it good not to grant permission to celebrate Mass in the ‘extraordinary form’” in the diocese for the following reasons:

Reason A — The same ol’ Stable Group willful and ungenerous misinterpretation. (Clarifying document please!!! Soon please!!!)

Reason B — “The permission to celebrate Masses in the ‘extraordinary form’ will be a source of division among priests and faithful, and the impact of such a celebration may well be negative. ” Evidence … none. The Bishop says division to cause division and thus there is division.

Reason C — The Priest and the particpants must have been fluent in Latin sice before 1965 and a regular attendee at non-existent Latin masses since then or it is a no-go. Sorry.

“Among the criteria put forward by the Holy Father in his Motu Proprio, the bishop must examine whether the persons requesting and the priests themselves have a liturgical training and a ‘certain familiarity’ with the ‘extraordinary form’ of the Latin rite, as well as a good knowledge of the Latin language“

Yes. The attendees need liturgical training and good Latin! No problem, I am sure they could have gotten that from the seminaries lo these many years. Ridiculous.

To add insult to injury, these Papal resistence fighters warn the rejected parishioners not to waste their time going above their heads. Becuase the Bishop is in charge, not the Pope.

In order to discourage any attempt at a recourse with the Ecclesia Dei Commission, as it is foreseen by the Motu Proprio, Msgr. Gaudin answered in advance: “It is not the pope who is the first person responsible for pastoral care and the liturgy in the diocese, but the bishop. And the popes usually respect this responsibility, unless there are some very, very, very serious reasons. The pope will certainly not intervene in this affair and will certainly not oblige our bishop to have a Tridentine Mass in the diocese. He will only ask him for additional information and respect his decision. The bishop will have lost time uselessly.”

This is absolutely amazing. Disgusting, but amazing. Go read the entire thing over at WDTPRS.

Cross posted at SummorumPontificum.net