No Immemorial Mass of All Ages for the Franciscans of the Immaculate, Either

Edit: we just received another, more recent update on the Franciscans of the Immaculate.  Remember when all those people were saying that the FFI would have the option to say the Mass if they sent in requests?  All the requests have been ignored.  As the following shows, there are two hermeneutics at work here.  One which opens new religious houses and the other which closes them.

Correction from the comments section:

Actually I think there are possibly 3 (out of a former 33?) TLMs allowed in Italy. There is one in Cornwall and one allowed at a parish in New York state...as far as I know. Others have been denied through.

March 10 2014

The Stakes are High for the Franciscans of the Immaculate 

by Maurizio Grosso


Since the beginning of the external “commissioning” of the Institute of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, the new authorities have continuously repeated the same refrain: "Are you on the side of Father Stefano Manelli or on the side of the Pope?" ... "If on one side there is Fr. Stefano and on the other the Pope, whom do you choose?" It was an external commissioning which started out on the wrong foot, and it soon caused the capitulation of any undertaking for unity.

In the name of the authority enjoyed by the Commissioner, the Capuchin Father Fidenzio Volpi wished to pressure the brothers, not so that they might recognize their mistakes and thereby correct them, but so that they might embrace the new line of thought proposed by him and abandon fidelity to the Founding  Fathers. The Friars have not yet been officially notified of the infamous "reasons" for the necessity of an external commissioner. Were there serious crimes? No. This was merely a "benevolent attention that expresses the maternal care of the Church.” Such were the words of those “in the know,” who have constantly repeated the same lullaby, which at times has been extremely contradictory.

Will the Franciscans of the Immaculate Heart be Integrated into the Decadent Capuchin Order?

(Rome) Should the Franciscans of the Immaculate be dissolved as a separate order and incorporated into the Capuchin Order? This rumor is  making the rounds on the Internet.  Vigiliae Alexandrinae refers to a “reliable source in Germany.”  Accordingly, a plan in preparation should be to integrated should the Franciscans of the Immaculate be forced into the Capuchin Order and thus dissolve the Order Father Stefano Maria Manelli  founded.

The  Congregation of Religious had established, with the approval of Pope Francis,  the  Apostolic Commissar, Father Fidenzio Volpi,  in July of last year. In his first official statement, dated 31 August 2013 Commissioner Volpi wrote:

"One of the central problems is due to the danger of a certain self-centeredness, that is, the desire to underline the unique characteristic peculiarity at all costs. I think it is, however, a certain proof of maturity to overcome such an attitude by recognizing the structure of the Church as the true reference point for their own charismatic experience with a humble and the Franciscan spirit. "

The website Vigiliae Alexandrinae writes: "We entrust the salvation of the Congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception, the use of which has brought great fruits for the restoration of orthodoxy in the Church and aroused worldwide hope among Catholics,   to the prayers of our readers and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Traditio Catholica

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.coms

Link to Katholisch…

AMGD

Franciscans of the Immaculate Exonerated: Correction of Commissar Volpi After Notification by Manelli Family

Edit: now give us our Order back.  Also related is Rorate's post on their bad arithmetic. 

(Rome) The Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap has published a correction. In it, he explains that the family of the religious founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Father Stefano Maria Manelli,  has "absolutely nothing" to do with any possession or orders of transfer for  the  real estate of the Order. This had been maintained in recent months, according to which the the Order was placed under provisional commissioner, by the official Internet site of the Order  www.immacolata.com. Father Alfonso Maria Bruno, who was appointed by Commissioner Volpi after  the expulsion of the leadership of the Order, to name him as the most powerful man in the Order. The lawyer for the family Manelli had threatened criminal penalties, and requires clarification from Commissioner Volpi. This is now acknowledged that it was a libel, which was published by "someone" on the Internet platform.

To date, no reasons for the provisional administration of the Order have been announced, because the openly published reasons: maintenance of the traditional rite, numerous vocations, critical examination of the Second Vatican Council, the development in the Church since then, the unabridged explanation of the faith, and strict observance of the rules of the order, are clearly not offenses.

Instead, the claim was brought into the world from the environs of Father Alfonso Bruno, that Father Manelli had to overwrite the Order property to his family members and thus gave the impression that the superior had possibly stolen from his own religious order. Apart from the fact that the alleged transactions had taken place only after the beginning of the provisional administration, which gives more the impression of a mediated response, but could not be a reason for the provisional administration, it has now turned out to be slander, as Commissioner Volpi confirmed himself.

At the request of the prosecutor of the Manelli family, the false claim has now been deleted from the internet site of the Order managed by Father Alfonso Bruno. Instead, the complete correspondence between the Manelli family lawyer and Commissioner Volpi has been published at the request of Manelli family.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches...

AMGD

Franciscans of the Immaculate Require "Permit" to Say Mass: Life Under the Commissar

(Rome) "It takes a permit." A letter from a Franciscan of the Immaculate describes the life  subject to approval, that the brothers have to lead,  since they were placed under provisional administration.

In 1990,  the Order was   recognized  at the diocesan level and 1998  by Rome, the Orden internally moved from the Old Rite  under Pope Benedict XVI. f  to the Old Rite and  for  pastoral care it was specified by the Pope as bi-ritual, since 11 July 2013 it has been under provisional administration by the Congregation of Religious. Acting Administrator is the Capuchin Father, Fidenzio Volpi, "a skilled and proven man of power (who  is known to move  between the internal equilibria of the Superior Conference of Male Religious Communities of  Italy - CISM ), with mephistophelian smile and biting repartee, "  said Messa in Latino .

"We Are no Longer  Able to Print and Disseminate Our Own Books"

 The Franciscan of the Immaculate Conception described in his letter that he passed by   the office of Order internal publishing,  Casa Mariana, in Frigento recently. "My heart beat. I felt in me an unusual emptiness and dismay at the thought that we can no longer write for our own publishing house, and are not even allowed to distribute the books of our own publishing company in our convents.

I look at the house. In there are our books. Many of them we have written, and much more contributions to our religious journals: Fides Catholica , Annales Franciscani , Immculata Mediatrix ... Many books have been translated by us from  Latin, others we have from Italian, the language most used in the order, translated into other languages. 

That  is our life inside, years of study, sweat and sacrifice. The Apostolic Commissioner has ruled that we are no longer authorized to use them. What sin do they represent?

"But it Needs a Permit"

I took courage and rang the bell at the door. A sister opens and I ask her about the new liturgical calendar of the Order, because we didn't have one in the monastery. 

"I can not give you one Father, you know that it requires a permit," replied my sister, kind and understanding. 

What could be sinful about a liturgical calendar? 

"But it needs a permit." 

Exactly the permit. 

Whose? 

"From the Apostolic Commissioner of course!"

"Our Life is Made by Applications, Special Permits'"

Since we have been under provisional administration,  our life is governed by applications for "special permits" to the Commissioner. You are to provide  a copy in writing  and are granted permission only by expressed personal validation .

A permit is needed to use the books of the Order from the Order's  own publishing house and be able to impart them. Any "public dissemination" is prohibited. 

 A  permit is required to celebrate the Holy Mass in the traditional Rite. 

 A permit is required to use the Roman Ritual for the Old Rite. 

 A permit is required for the Liturgy of the Hours to celebrate it in the Vetus Ordo. 

A  permit is required to celebrate the Holy Mass with the Sisters of the Order, for both the Old and the New Rite. 

A permit is required to conduct a meeting of the lay community of the Order or of the Third Order. 

A permit is required  to carry out a "Day for Maria" (a day of prayer, which is performed by the Order on pilgrimage or in parish churches and is open to all). 

A  permit is required to visit our Founder. It is strongly advised not to make such a request at all, which is actually not approved anyway. 

A permit is required for any initiative in the Order. "

Even more permits are needed of the founders of religious orders: 

"Our Founder even needs explicit permission to be treated at the hospital. He needs an explicit authorization in order to move from one convent to another. He was blamed on the official website of the Order publicly for the fact that he had at first dared to visit the convent of Teramo. In reality, the Apostolic Commissioner had even given the permission to do so." A grueling guerrilla war.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: A Catholic Life / Phatmass

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches...

AMGD

Sad Christmas for Franciscans of the Immaculate -- Three More Mass Locations Closed Down Just Before Christmas

(Rome) The joy of Christmas 2013 has brought another sad note for the Franciscans of the Immaculate. Shortly before the Solemnity, the Apostolic Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap  has closed up three more branches of the Order. Many Traditional Mass locations in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite were connected to the closings. The  faithful were faced with this fact just before the holidays, that they would be without priests and  Mass locations for Christmas.

Of the convents that were closed, one held two Marian shrines, that of Our Lady della Rovere in San Bartolomeo al Mare on the Italian Riviera and that of Our Lady of Pontelungo in Albenga and at the Church of Saint Leonard of Porto Maurizio in Imperia. The reason used by  the Apostolic Commissioner was that the Franciscans of the Immaculate have a missionary charism, which is why they should also be active in the mission and is displacing the brothers to the Third World countries. The papal commissioner has already directed the closure of other convents and the exile of leading religious representatives (see separate reports After Rebuilding the Desolation Follows - Commissioner Disbands Convents of the Franciscans of the Immaculate on and The Road to Exile - Purge of Franciscans of the Immaculata ).

All three branches and Mass sites were located in the diocese of Albenga-Imperia in Liguria. The diocese is led by Bishop Mario Oliveri, a traditional diocesan bishop, like Bishop Dominique Rey in the nearby French Diocese of Frejus-Toulon on the Cote d'Azur, who promotes the establishment of old and biritual communities and gives them the task of the care of souls.

The closure of the three religious houses by the papal commissioner came after Bishop Oliveri gave permission for the brothers to live in his diocese, also supporting them in continuing to be able to celebrate in the traditional Rite. The Bishop drew particular attention to the pastoral care of the faithful at the three  Mass sites. "Messa in Latino" refers to a "retaliatory action" against the bishop, if he "had dared to defend the Franciscans of the Immaculate."

Bishop Oliveri in 2008 was the world's first diocesan bishop, after the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, of Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate a Pontifical Mass from the throne. Seven Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate took their solemn profession in the Co-Cathedral of Imperia  before the bishop.

"The Commissioner and some brothers collaborating with him, have imposed a climate of intimidation and fear  in the Order," says a Catholic from Albenga in a letter to Libertà e Persona . "In dealing with the Franciscans of the Immaculate itself, there is little sense of 'mercy' and 'justice' and  even less 'brotherly love'. And what can we  ordinary believers do? We pray. But we should also write Pope Francis write personal, because only he can put an end to this destruction of this thriving Order ".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Santuario della Rovere NS / Santuario NS di Pontelungo

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Universal Pastor Hands Keys to Sneaky Fox

Edit: got these photos sent from a German site et nunc. These photos suggest a powerful connection between a rather jovial Capuchin Father Volpi (Fox) as he appears with the Holy Father after striking a deal to initiate the process against the Franciscans of the Immaculate.  Could this be the children of Godspell's last hurrah, or is it just another in a continuance of steps in the Anschluss against Catholicism by its supposed guardians?

The decisions have been made:

The new emerging order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate , an order according to the heart of Pope Benedict XVI, is being crushed..

We must be aware that this is the decision of the Pope Francis.

He makes it clear once again what he thinks of the 2000 year old tradition of the Church, especially of the traditional theology and liturgy.

As Giuseppe Nardi's correspondent writes to Katholisches.net: "The novices and seminarians are disoriented, the brothers in perpetual vows are destroyed by agony."

Here's some coverage from Remanant's Dungeon.  Basically, they acknowledge the Pope's complicity and add their voices to calls to have Father Volpi fired from his position as Apostolic Commissioner.  Matt's right about a few  things, one being prayer:


Fox photo stolen from here...http://alex23546.deviantart.com/art/Fat-Fox-GIF-284786875

After Rebuilding the Desolation --- Commissioner Closes Friaries of the Franciscans of the Immaculata

(Rome) After the Order revived monasteries that were abandoned by other orders, the monasteries  fall now again to degradation by the Apostolic Commissioner. A Catholic layman, who was led back to the Faith by the Franciscans of the Immaculate, sent an e-mail recently. In it, he laments the closure of a monastery of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. "I want to begin by saying that I'm a nobody and I feel as last among the faithful. But I also feel a great pain, seeng the Franciscan Friarss of the Immaculate Conception given the ax by  his hand. "

The Monastery of Sassoferrato in the Marches had been abandoned by the Franciscan Order for lack of  growth. The Franciscans of the Immaculate revived the monastery a few years ago new as they are ever thus also known for taking over  abandoned monasteries of other orders because of their numerous vocations and bringing them  to new life. At last count the  convent of Sassoferrato has 60 brothers.

The  Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi being used by Rome, has now dissolved the monastery. The same fate will be met this week by the monastery of Colfano also a friary abandoned by the Franciscan Order in the Marches, which was  founded during the lifetime of St. Francis of Assisi. In July 2012, the Franciscans of the Immaculate encamped there and led the Franciscan life, which had filled the friary of Colfano for 800 years (see separate report New Monastery of the Franciscans of the Immaculate - Flowering Religious Tradition ). Now even this convent will be  dissolved by the Apostolic Commissioner. The Order of Father Stefano Maria Manelli had,  in an exceptional counter-movement to the general trend, reached vocations as  high of 800 religious  when the religious congregation intervened.

"The novices and seminarians are disoriented, the brothers in perpetual vows are being destroyed by agony,"  says the believer in his e-mail. "They are treated as if they were heretics."  It was Pope Benedict XVI., who opened access to the traditional rite of the Order as with all religious, priests and lay people. "With the arrival of a new pope,  the Order may not be as familiar to them as to  Benedict, 'someone' has gone over to the attack, with the result that is now in front of everyone to see." Now, every priest must ask permission to the to be able to celebrate the Old Rite, and if he wants to do it in front of the faithful, he must also apply for explicit permission each time. "Anyone who knows the history of the Capuchin nun Sister Veronica from Fermo or those of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, knows how strong the attack of calumny can be, to fight and brake mystics."

What can these brothers "have done that is so criminal? They pray, do penance and rebuild  abandoned monasteries again. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

"We Demand the Dismissal of Father Volpi as Commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculata"

(Rome) A group of Catholic lay associations and websites have started a petition: They demand the dismissal of Father Fidenzio Volpi from his post as authorized Apostolic Commissioner for the Franciscans of the Immaculate. Anyone who wants to support this appeal to the Congregation of Religious  and for informing  Pope Francis, this website  by well-known, traditional historian Roberto de Mattei  is available here do Corrispondenza Romana (first name, last name, e-mail app) . Below is the text for signature collection.

Petition to Demand Resignation

by Roberto de Mattei

We demand the resignation of Father Fidenzio Volpi from his job as political Commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. In the short period of just five months, Father Volpi has shattered the Order,  resulting in internal chaos and suffering,  externally causing scandal among the faithful, criticism in the media, and discomfort caused astonishment in the ecclesiastical world. It does not matter to know whether Father Volpi is the author or only the exporter of the destruction plan. One thing is certain though, if the plan is not stopped, the consequences will be devastating, and to prevent the calamity yet added to new disaster, Father Volpi must be dismissed.

According to the decree of last 11 July,  the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate was placed under provisional administration, and Father Volpi began with the help of a small band of subcommisars, among them Father Alfonso Bruno and Prof. Mario Castellano, to lay with his ax to the Order. He forbade the celebration of the Holy Mass and the Divine Office in the manner provided in the Motu proprio for the Extraordinary Form, he dismissed the whole Order leadership, starting with Father Stefano Maria Manelli, who since then is under house arrest, without then having been given to him the reasons why he dissmissed one by one the most loyal collaborators of Father Manelli and sent them every which way, personalities of intellectual and moral greatness, he transferred their duties to dissident brothers who lack  preparation and experience, he threattened and punished the brothers, who petitioned  to the Holy See and refused to withdraw them; and finally he closed the Order's own seminary on 8 December 2013, during the Solemnity of the Order,  and suspended all priests and deaconal ordinations;  he imposed an interdict against all publications of religious publishing house Editrice Casa Mariana and forbade their distribution in  the Order churches and chapels supervised by the order; he expanded his personal war to the SFO [Tertiaries] and the laity, who are connected to the Order, by forbidding all the activities of MIM (Mission Immaculate Mediatrix) and TOFI (Third Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception); he threatened the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who adhere to the traditional ERte to also have them put under provisional administration and withdrew the two female religious branches, the missionary branch of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and the contemplative branch of the Poor Clares of the Immaculate Conception from the spiritual care of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception, and now finally, he has demanded of all Franciscans of the Immaculate a "Modernist Oath" to the Novus Ordo Missae and the Second Vatican Council (see the letter of Father Fidenzio Volpi from December 8, 2013 ). ¹

Father  Volpi has accused every critic of being against the pope. who has challenged him.  But is his rather tyrannical rule, which in its hardness is unprecedented in the history of the Church and directly contradicts the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, is  it in itself not an open contradiction to Pope Francis as well, who admonished to avoid any authoritarianism towards friend and enemy, to practice mercy and gentleness?

Even the Vatican expert Marco Tosatti has noticed it and wrote on 4 December, "What these poor religious men supposed to have done?  Have  they speculated money, sexually abused minors or maintained an immoral lifestyle? None of that. "Truth is that Father Volpi, of his own accord or on behalf of third parties, wants to "normalize" the Franciscans of the Immaculate"  in which he wants to  make them equal to other declining Orders. To achieve this, it is necessary to convert their spiritual and moral charism, to destroy their internal discipline, stifling the recovery of the traditional rite, to open the Order of corruption by the world as it is - with disastrous results - which is what he and his Capuchin Order have done.

Paul VI. recalled religious with the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica testificatio of 29 June 1971, that they are committed to their superiors against obedience, except in that "something is ordered, which is contrary to God's laws or the constitutions of the institute clearly or certainly lead to a major disadvantage - in such cases the duty of obedience is void." Should Father Volpi not be dismissed, a crisis of conscience for religious men and women will inevitably open up, who want to preserve the charism of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and fidelity to the tradition of the Church.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Franciscans of the Immaculata --- Founder’s Health Situation “Serious” AVM

(Rome) A letter from the Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate laid bare last week what has been long suspected. The dismissal of the Order's founder Father Stefano Manelli, as General Minister and the entire Order’s leadership was carried out with the approval of Pope Francis for a reason,  Pope  Francis' really sharp criticism. He repeatedly admonishes that he does not to see the Church as an ideological battleground. The Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi  wrote to the daily La Stampa that the action was taken because it is “ Crypto-Lefebvrian, anyways traditionalist”. The attitude of the Commissioner can be recognized in the formulation. Obviously, they came across some curial representatives  who noticed that  the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception  sought a canonical recognition of the Society of St. Pius X.. Meanwhile,  there are suggestions  that  about150-200 brothers, who were loyal to Father Manelli and his charism, want to start a new order. A request has already been sent to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. 

Meanwhile, to the health of the 81 year old Founder, Father Stefano Maria Manelli, who was almost completely isolated from the outside world, has deteriorated dramatically. For this reason, we are publishing the following guest commentary of "Cordialiter".

.

For the Health of Father Stefano Maria Manelli

of Cordialiter

Readers have recommended prayers for Father Stefano Maria Manelli (FI) , who needs them really badly. The health status of the founder of the religious family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception is serious and it seems like the time is approaching to leave this world of misery and enter into eternity for him.

In the 90s, my grandfather gave my father a little book with the title: "The Great Promise of the Sacred Heart", whose author is Father Manelli. Also, I wanted to read it and asked my father about it. The book impressed me deeply. It addresses the key question of the eternal salvation of the soul, of mortal sin, the existence of the devil, the concrete possibility to end, because of a mortal sin, in  eternal damnation, of the apparitions of Fatima. The reading of this document caused a spiritual sensation in me because I was until then, used to the usual shallow sermons and religious instruction, which were focused on a kind of life advice entirely on people and their daily lives, which are as sweet as sugar and serve only to stun souls. Of the last things , nothing  was never spoken, because God is so infinitely merciful, that he has actually long since abolished hell,  would  not even be limited to very bad villains as Adolf Hitler, who would otherwise not be so accommodated. If minds differ about Joseph Stalin. 

For the good people who actually all go to heaven, it is completely pointless to seek a spiritual life, because at the end of both a penitent souls like St. Francis of Assisi and the souls of those who spent a lifetime wallowing in numerous vices and abominations, experience the same promotion.

At that time I was a boy, but by the writings of Father Manelli it was clear to me that this patronizing view of religion is just a scam. It is quite true that God is infinitely merciful and can forgive any sin, but he is also infinitely just,  so the forgiveness of sins requires sincere repentance.

This booklet did my soul so much good. I wanted this instruction to deepen, but was convinced that the author must be dead long ago. And anyway, that priests like him had died out long ago. Only years later did I learn that this zealous servant of God lived and worked and was the founder of a religious community, who had enjoyed a good reputation and whose brothers  thought of him as their religious father.

I sat down at the desk and wrote a letter to one of the monasteries of this order, I basically addressed it to the brothers.To my great surprise, I received a reply, not from anyone, but a handwritten letter from Father Stefano Maria Manelli personally. It was not just a courtesy reply with the usual friendly phrases. It was a letter of great spirituality with numerous spiritual references, recommendations and instructions. A letter which comparable those those which   St. Francis de Sales wrote, whom I got to know later.

Some time ago I finally had the chance to meet Father Manelli personally and exchange a few words with him.

The Franciscans of the Immaculate were thrilled with the  2007 Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, I was excited about their joy and their decision a year later,  internally to fully adopt the traditional Rite. I was then convinced then   that the faithful who came to the Masses of the brothers in the Old Rite, did not only for aesthetic reasons, but the Mass locations entrusted to the Order’s Mass\developed an intense spiritual direction themselves. Today you can see in not a few churches, the faithful after Mass stampede even before the priest has left the sanctuary. The Franciscans of the Immaculate stopped the faithful to persevere a little after Mass and give thanks to God, as the fine manual of asceticism, as well as Pope Pius XII., recommend. And so it embraced the faithful also. Much misery lies in the widespread error even  among priests  that believers of this and that "today" would no longer accept. Not infrequently,  it is concealed behind a  lack of willingness to give instruction. The fact is that the faithful may be instructed willingly and gratefully, often eagerly if this instruction attended by their shepherds.

So we pray to Mary Mediatrix Gratiarum, the Mediatrix of All Graces, to assist Father Stefano Maria Manelli  in this crucial hour of his life. The Founder understood his life as a life of penance, he offered to accelerate the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In this spirit, a loyal and faithful heart, he will sacrifice the recent adversity. The world does not like to understand. Let us pray for him and for his spiritual sons.

Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Cordialiter

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmailcom

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Attack Against Franciscans of the Immaculate Because "Crypto-Lefebvrian, Anyways Traditional"

(Rome) The Apostolic Commissioner, the Capuchin Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap from the Congregation of Religious, with the approval of Pope Francis, instead of the Order leadership, with sole decision-making power at the head of the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate set (FI),  has given the real reason for the drastic intervention in the life of the Order for the first time.

The progressive Vaticanist Mario Tosatti had published a few days ago in the daily newspaper La Stampa a letter from a member of the Third Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, in which the radical approach of the Commissioner has been criticized (see separate report "Unrestricted War" against the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception? The Unspeakable "Blemish" ). The interventions affect not only the male religious branch, but also the Third Order, which was completely paralyzed by Father Volpi.

Sint ut sunt, aut non sint -- A Franciscan Abolished the Jesuits. Will a Jesuit Abolish the Franciscans of the Immaculate?

(Rome) The well-known historian Roberto de Mattei concerns himself again in a recent essay about the tradition-bound order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception, which was made ​​by the Roman religious congregation under provisional administration and its priests since 11 August, is prohibited from the celebration of the traditional rite. De Mattei sees parallels to the suppression of the Jesuits in the second half of the 18th Century. A Franciscan Pope on the throne then abolished the Jesuit Order. Will the Jesuit Pope on the papal throne now abolish a Franciscan order? Actually, says de Mattei, then you wanted the Jesuits only "reform" in order to make them "harmless". Instead, it was abolished, which had ultimately been better for the Order. Now the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception are to be "reformed" to destroy her charism and adapt them to the "normal" order.

Sint ut sunt, aut non sint

By Roberto de Mattei

"Sint ut sunt aut non sint" (leave them as they are or not at all) is a phrase that the historian Lorenzo Ricci, the 18th Superior General of the Jesuits, uttered at the proposal submitted to the Society of Jesus to "reform" to reflect the needs of the world. He wrote that in the second half of the 18th Century, the Jesuits were the bulwark on which the attacks of the external and internal enemies of the Church were broken. The external enemies were led by enlightened Parti Philosophique, the internal were distributed under the names Gallican, regalism, Febronianism of the state church and in various heretical movements, all of which claimed the church subordinate to the absolutist states.

The Jesuits, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, vigorously defended the primacy of the Pope of Rome, with which they were bound by their fourth vow. The absolute rulers, influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, had begun with the expulsion of the Jesuits from their realms by accusing it of wanting to overthrow the social order. However, that was not enough. It was necessary to rebuild the entire Order. As the Superior General of the Jesuits, however, resisted, he should be removed by abolishing, but this only a pope could do.

The opportunity presented itself when on the second of February, 1769, Clement XIII. died. The historian Ludwig von Pastor, in his 16th Volume of the History of the Popes (Herder, 1932) described the machinations with detailed documents during and after the conclave held in the first three months over 179 rounds till the 14th of May when the Franciscan Lorenzo Ganganelli was elected with the name of Clement XIV.. The new pope was elected under the condition that he would dissolve the Society of Jesus. Although the formal promise was not written down, because that would have involved the offense of simony, which Cardinal Ganganelli had promised to the ambassadors of the Bourbon royal courts. The Holy Spirit was also at this conclave, the cardinals met but hardly the divine grace, when their choice, was a prelate, whom Pastor describes as a "weak and ambitious character", who "aspired to the tiara."

On 21 July 1773, Pope Clement XIV dissolved with the Breve Dominus ac Redemptor, the Society of Jesus, which at that time was around 23,000 members in 42 provinces. "This brief of 21 July 1773," writes Pastor, "represents the clearest victory of the Enlightenment and of monarchical absolutism over the Church and Her leader." Father Lorenzo Ricci was arrested and imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo, where at 24 he Died November 1775. Clement XIV went to him on 22 September 1774 a year after the abolition of the Order, who was already facing death. The Society of Jesus was smashed and scattered, however, but survived in Russia, where Catherine the Great refused to enact the letter of dissolution exequatur. The Jesuits of White Russia were accused of disobedience and rebellion against the Pope. They did, however, assure the continuity of the Order, while former Jesuits in other countries pushed forward the creation of new religious congregations in the Ignatian spirit.

When the French Revolution of 1789 broke out, and the Church began a dramatic era which even saw the invasion of Rome by the Jacobins and the deportation of two successors of Clement XIV., Pius VI. and Pius VII.. The resistance against the revolution was at this time carried out, especially by a secret organization, the Association "Christian friends" that Swiss Nikolaus Albert von Diesbach (especially Diesbach) founded in Turin with former Jesuits.

After 40 years, Pius VII. with the Constitution Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum Breve of the 7th of August 1814 finally withdrew the breve of the 21st of July 1773 and ordered the full restoration of the Society of Jesus in the world, since it was a "heavy burden of guilt before God," to continue to suppress such courageous and capable rowers in very stormy time the nave of the Church, as Pastor remarked.

A Pope of the Franciscan Order, Clement XIV. had abolished the Jesuits in 1773. Will the Jesuit Pope Francis in 2013 abolish a Franciscan Order or, even worse, "reform" it? The Franciscans of the Immaculate have no such glorious past, such as the Jesuits, but their case has some similarities to that of the Society of St. Ignatius. Above all, it is a symptomatic manifestation of the deep crisis in which the Catholic Church is today.

Founded in 1970 by Father Stefano Maria Manelli, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate live a life of repentance and the Gospel. They have distinguished themselves since their inception by their fidelity to the traditional faith and moral teaching. The Motu Proprio, Pope Benedict XVI. restored the traditional Roman rite again returned to the Church, they asked for the opportunity to live this love of tradition on a liturgical level. Father Manelli has never imposed the Vetus Ordo but recommended to his brothers, to make their ordinations in recent years in the Old Rite by leading church dignitaries on the line of "renewal in continuity" of Benedict XVI..

From the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSA), today presided over by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, depends on religious men and women from who have fully or partially abandoned the habit and live in moral laxity and doctrinal relativism without being called to order by the competent authority in any way. The Franciscans of the Immaculate are a cornerstone of the opposition, which explains the desire of CICLSA to "normalize" and adapt to the prevailing standards of religious life. The presence of a small group of "dissident" brothers offered an opportunity to the Congregation to intervene by sending a visitor,  Monsignor Vito Angelo Todisco,  on the 5th of July, 2012..  Bishop Todisco  arranged on 11 July 2013, with CICLSA, solely on the basis of a captious questionnaire where the brothers were not interviewed directly, the provisional government of the Order with an absolutely unlawful decree including an interdict against celebrating the traditional Mass.

In the coming days and weeks we will know the plans of the Commissioner, Fidenzio Volpi, better, but their rough lines can already be guessed: isolate the Founder Father Manelli, to isolate him from the General Council of traditional brothers loyal to him, to isolate the "traditionalist" brothers in the periphery, and hand the leadership of the order to the dissidents; entrust the novitiates to Fathers are not in suspicion of "traditionalist"; sterilization of publications and the Franciscan writings that deal with within the Church of "controversial" topics, including: avoidance of Marian "maximalism," one "covered" rigor in moral teaching and especially any criticism, be it ever so respectful, of the Second Vatican Council, plus opening of the Order to the "ecumenical dialogue" with other religions; restriction of Vetus Ordo to special exceptions in short, the destruction the identity of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception, which is even worse than their removal.

If that's the "Reform", then a separation of the two souls is desirable than that they currently coexist in the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception: on the one hand, the brothers who interpret the Second Vatican Council in the light of the Church's tradition and in this spirit have rediscovered the traditional Roman rite in all its truth and beauty, and on the other hand, those who want to reinterpret the charism of their order in the light of a conciliar progressivism. The worst thing is the confusion and identity crisis. The true guarantor of the identity of the Franciscans of the Immaculate today can therefore be none other than its founder, Father Stefano Maria Manelli, on whom falls all the responsibility of final decisions. The only one who can repeat the words, as has already happened in history: Sint ut sunt aut non sint.

Text: Corrispondenza Romana
 Introduction / Translation (From Italian to German): Giuseppe Nardi Image: Corrisdenza Romana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMGD

Link to katholisches...

Petition to Support the Franciscans of the Immaculata

Edit: this just in which we found on Messa in Latino regarding the Franciscan Friars if the Immaculata. Here's a slight google translation with some editing. You can go to the main site and send an e-mail using Corispondenza Roma. Thanks. Please let us know in the comments if you've signed it. Hopefully it will embolden others to do so.

In support of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and the traditional Mass

Dear friend,

on July 11, the Congregation for Religious has "police" the institution of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, forcing them to abandon the traditional Mass, which they celebrate freely, according to a universal law of the Church, never repealed and confirmed by the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI on 7 July 2007.

In the canon 212 of the Code of Canon Law currently in force states that the faithful "...have the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church. They have the right also to make their views known to others of Christ's faithful, but in doing so they must always respect the integrity of faith and morals, show due reverence to the Pastors and take into account both the common good and the dignity of individuals." In the light of this canon, and what forces the sensus fidei of every baptized person, I feel obliged to send an open letter to His Eminence Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. If you share my concerns, I thank you if you will join this initiative, addressing the message shown in the window below.

Pressing the button below you will be able to send its message directly to the Prefect of the Congregation [in Italian] and, for information, to the Secretary of the Congregation, Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Vice President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Archbishop Augustine Di Noia and the appointed Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi, OFM Cap.

Do not forget to sign the letter with your name, with your e-mail address.

Thank you to join this initiative, promoted for the greater good of the Church and of souls.

With esteem and friendship,

Roberto de Mattei

Link to the petition which you can send already in Italian to the concerned Prelates in authority, here.

The Letter as Follows:

A sua Eminenza Rev.ma  Card. João Braz de Aviz
Your Eminence,

The decree of July 11th 2013, signed by you, by which the Franciscans of the Immaculate have been “commissioned” and forbidden to celebrate the Mass according to the ancient Roman rite, constitutes an unjust act in regard to this religious Institute, whose honour it diminishes, but above all it represents a violation of the universal laws of the Church, in particular of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7th 2007 of Benedict XVI, which has never been abrogated and which grants, to every priest, the freedom to celebrate the Mass according to the “extraordinary” form.  This objective lesion of the right cannot but concern all those who believe and love the liturgical tradition of the Church and, also in the same spirit, who fight in defence of life, of the family, of the pontifical Magisterium and of Christian Civilisation.  

The canonical law gives me the authority to express, in a respectful manner, my sorrowful perturbation, my strong protest and my vibrant appeal so that every obstacle to the free celebration of the traditional Mass for every priest may be removed and that the Franciscans of the Immaculate may continue their precious apostolate which has done so much good and will still do so for souls.

Yours respectfully in Christ