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
June 22, 2008 at 11:48 pm
The entire matter in question presumes the need for permission to begin with. The bishop’s decree is illicit, therefore it was over before it began.
The matter has already been “clarified” by the head of the pontifical commission in the press. No amount of documentation is going to dissuade some bozo who fabricates excuses out of thin air.
Perhaps a more, uh, proactive approach from Rome. Ah, a man can dream, can he not?
June 23, 2008 at 1:57 am
See all the details of this story.
Canada: Bishop Opposes Motu Proprio
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20213
June 23, 2008 at 3:29 pm
This September will mark the 40th Anniversary of the Winnipeg Statement by the CCCB absolving Canadian Catholics from following Humanae Vitae. The Vatican did not object to that statement and so the bishops are emboldened to oppose the Motu Proprio as well.
June 23, 2008 at 3:42 pm
“The Vatican did not object to that statement…”
Leaving aside the difficulty of proving a negative, the fact that the Vatican did not issue a repudiation to “that statement” does not mean there wasn’t one. Humane Vitae was an encyclical, which trumps a “non serviam” from a group of bishops any day. The denunciation would be implied.
In any case, we’ve had two popes since then, and quite a bit of turnover among the Canadian bishops. However entrenched the status quo may be, there are faint signs of change for the better with some new appointments.
At least that’s what we hear here in the States.
June 23, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Unfortunately for me and other Canadian Catholics, it is the “non serviam” that is taught in religion classes and marriage preparation courses here. Until the internet I had no idea what the true teachings of the church were. Many still don’t.
June 23, 2008 at 3:56 pm
“Until the internet I had no idea what the true teachings of the church were. Many still don’t.”
“Many” have the internet, don’t they? They didn’t have it in the fourth century, and we got past that. Christ has kept His promise to His Church, and we’re better equipped to fight heresy now than we were then.
Unless, of course, you’re waiting for a Canadian bishop to do it….