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.

Pro Missa Tridentina: Traditional Latin Mass in Germany is Growing

Edit: here's an excerpt from an article on Regina Magazine interviewing Monika Rheinschitt of Pro Missa Tridentina.

Monika Rheinschmitt is a trained computer scientist. These days, however, she keeps a weather eye on some numbers she couldn’t have imagined in her university days — developments in Catholicism and the growth of the Latin Mass in the German-speaking world.

Monika is the Stuttgart-based Director of Pro Missa Tridentina, one of the most active organizations on the planet to practically support the Latin Mass. Since 1990 she has been the editor and publisher of a traditional newsletter, in 2010 upgraded to the magazine “Dominus vobiscum”, which is published twice a year and avidly read in Germany, Alsace, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Belgium and the Netherlands.

An Interview with Monika Rheinschmitt of Pro Missa Tridentina in Germany

Hers is not an easy job, not the least because in these countries the Latin Mass faces an unimaginable uphill battle. In Germany and its neighboring lands, secular attitudes range from indifferent to hostile about the idea of religion itself. Within the Church, both traditional teachings and the traditional rite are often suppressed, ignored or ridiculed in ways that might astonish outsiders.

Even though the numbers of Mass-goers and Catholics continue to drop precipitously in these countries, there seems to be little awareness on the part of Church leadership of the significant power of the Extraordinary Form to attract converts and indeed to bring Catholics home again. (For more about the German church see here.)

Against this background, the gains that the Latin Mass has made are a testimony to the true grit of Catholics, laity and clergy alike. In this exclusive interview withRegina Magazine, Monika gives us a view into her world.

Q. Tell us about Pro Missa Tridentina. When was it founded, and by whom?
Pro Missa Tridentina was founded in Stuttgart in Spring 1990 as an association of  laypeople dedicated to the care of the Traditional Latin Rite of the Catholic Mass. We work to promote this “Vetus Ordo” by supporting Catholic laity who wish to be able to assist at this beautiful rite. That includes the organization of trainings for priests, altar servers and choirs as well as practical help finding locations for the Mass – and from writing letters to the local bishop to preparing the first celebration of a Traditional Latin Mass.

Link to Regina Magazine...

Pennsylvania: Immemorial Mass in Honor of Blessed Charles Habsburg

Third Annual

Traditional Latin Mass in Honor of Blessed Karl

Luncheon & Conference

Sunday, 6 April 2014, 1:00 PM

Passion Sunday

(Holy Rosary & Confessions begin at 12:30 PM)

St. Titus Church

952 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa PA 15001

Celebrant:

Fr. Gregory Plow, TOR

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Luncheon & Conference Immediately After Mass

In the Church Hall

(Reservations required for luncheon & conference.  See below.)

Featured Speaker:

 Michael J. Matt
Editor of The Remnant

Cost: $30

Students: $20

For Luncheon Reservations Make Check Payable and Mail to:

Knights of Columbus 2161

2335 Concord Street, Aliquippa PA 15001

Deadline for Paid Luncheon Reservations: 31 March 2014

84 Cardinals and Bishops Who Have Celebrated Immemorial Mass of All Ages Under Pope Francis

(Rome) Since the election of Pope Francis over the past eleven months  the following Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church have participated in the Holy Mass in the traditional form of the Roman Rite (Extraordinary Form in accordance with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI.) Celebrates or attended as such.

The Spanish blog Acción LITURGICA published the following list:

Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, France
Cardinal Bartolucci, Italy (+ 2013)
Cardinal Brandmüller, Germany
Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, U.S.
Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, Colombia
Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, USA
Cardinal Sandoval, Archbishop Emeritus of Guadalajara, Mexico
Cardinal Zen, Bishop of Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
Titular Archbishop Pozzo of Bagnoregio, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia The, Italy
Archbishop Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia
archbishop Negri of Ferrara, Italy
Titular Archbishop Bacqué of Gradisca and emeritus Apostolic Nuncio, France
Archbishop Aquila of Denver, USA
Archbishop Arguelles of Lipa, Philippines
Archbishop Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the American Bishops' Conference, USA
Archbishop Leonard of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium
Archbishop Carre of Montpellier, France
Archbishop Suárez Inda of Morelia, Mexico
Archbishop McMahon of Nottingham, UK [Corr. Reader informs that HE's actually a bishop.]
Archbishop Lucas of Omaha, United States
Archbishop Prendergast of Ottawa, Canada
Archbishop Wintzer of Poitiers, France
Archbishop Sample from Portland, United States
Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco, USA
Archbishop Goh Seng Chiye of Singapore, Singapore
Archbishop Aubertin of Tours, France
Archbishop Crepaldi of Trieste, Italy
Archbishop Haas of Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Archbishop Miller from Vancouver, Canada
Archbishop Brown, Apostolic Nuncio for Ireland
Bishop of Aire y Gaschignard Dax, France
Herbreteau Bishop of Agen, France
Bishop of Germay from Ajaccio, France
Zdarsa Bishop of Augsburg, Germany
Bishop Benoit-Gonnin of Beauvois-Noyon-Senlis, France
Bishop Caggiano of Bridgeport, USA
Bishop Jugis of Charlotte, USA
Bishop Pansard of Chartres, France
Bishop Huonder of Chur, Switzerland
Bishop Livieres of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
Bishop Foys of Covington, United States
Bishop Rey of Frejus -Toulon, France
Bishop Finn of Kansas City, USA.
Delville bishop of Liege, Belgium
Kalist bishop of Limoges, France
Bishop Conley Lincoln, USA
Bishop Hying of Milwaukee, USA
Bishop Jarrett of Lismore, Australia
Bishop Casts of Luçon, France
Bishop Libaschi of Manchester, USA
Bishop Ginoux of Montauban, France
Bishop Madega of Mouila, Gabon
Bishop Serra setting of Paterson, USA
Bishop Parkes of Pensacola-Tallahassee, United States
Bishop Egan of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Bishop Lebrun of Saint Etienne, France
Bishop Administrator Áreas RIFAN the Apostolic Administrion San Juan María Vianney Brazil
Bishop Tardelli of San Miniato, Italy
Bishop Davies of Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
Bishop Bartulis of Siauliai, Lithuania
Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, USA
Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, USA
Bishop Aumonier of Versailles, France
Bishop Schneider from Astana, Kazakhstan
Bishop Perry of Chicago, U.S.
Bishop Reiss of Detroit, USA
Hanchon Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, USA
Bishop Gutierrez Valencia from Guadalajara, Mexico
Bishop González González from Guadalajara, Mexico
Bishop Gleisner Wobbe of La Serena, Chile
Bishop Martínez Camino of Madrid, Spain
Elliot Bishop of Melbourne, Australia
Beau Bishop of Paris, France
Auxiliary Bishop of Porto Pino Castillo Viejo, Ecuador
Costa Souza Bishop of Rio of Janeiro, Brazil
Bishop Lajos from Vac, Hungary
Auxiliary Bishop César Costa of Sao Sebastiao do Rio of Janeiro, Brazil
Em Military Bishop Baseotto of Argentina
Em Meeking Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand
Em Dick Bishop of Cologne, Germany
Em Giovannetti Bishop of Fiesole, Italy
Em Bishop of Funchal Faria, Portugal
Em Bishop Bruskewitz of Lincoln, USA
Em Bishop Timlin of Scranton, USA

Thanks to Katholisches...

Commemoration in Immemorial Rite for Kaiser Karl I. and Kaiserin Zita of Austria-Hungary

(Nancy) In Nancy, the capital of the ancient Duchy of Lorraine Holy Mass in the Immemorial Rite of All Ages was celebrated in the Basilica of Saint Epvre  of in commemoration of the Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria and his wife, the servant of God, Empress Zita on February 8th. The celebrant was Abbé Cyrille Debris, diocesan priest of the diocese of Rouen. Name and coat of arms of the Duchy is found in the name of the Imperial House of Habsburg-Lorraine and adjacent to the Habsburg lion and the Austrian shield .

Abbé Debris is postulator for the beatification of the Empress Zita.  At the celebration of Mass Abbé Florent Husson also took part, the chaplain of the chaplaincy to the Blessed Emperor Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen and parish administrator of the Church of Mary Immaculate of Nancy.

In Nancy, in  German Nanzig, like the Mosel in French from the nearby Luxembourg on the Saarland into the German speaking part of Lotharingia some still do call it that, Archduke Imre of Austria and his wife Archduchess Kathleen members of the Imperial House, were  present.  Archduke Imre of Habsburg-Lorraine is a great-grandson of the last Austrian emperor. Also present was a relic of Blessed Emperor, which was venerated by the faithful. 

Emperor Charles Died 35 Years Old in 1922 on Madeira - In 2004 He Was Beatified

Emperor Charles I was born in 1887 in the Lower Austrian Danube as great-nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph I.. In 1907 he married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. In 1914, he became heir to the throne upon  the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Crown Prince and heir to the throne. The assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne was the cause of the outbreak of the First World War, which was in the air for some time because of economic and political interests. After the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1916,  he acceded to the throne and tried to make a separate peace without the German Empire unsuccessfully  since the leaders of the Entente relied on a victorious peace. From the Entente driven resolution, a number of peoples of Austria-Hungary were constituted as independent states. On 11 November 1918 the Emperor declared  in the wake of military defeat and the revolutionary atmosphere of upheaval,  his renunciation of all official business in the Austrian half of the empire, then on 13 November also in the Hungarian half of the empire. However, he did not enact an official abdication.

On 24 March 1919 he withdrew his declaration of renunciation shortly before his transition into the Swiss exile his waivers and raised in protest against his dismissal. Attempts to restore the monarchy in Austria and Hungary failed. In 1921, the Emperor was exiled by the Entente to the Portuguese island of Madeira, where he at first arrived on April 1st, 1922, dying at only 35 years of age  of pneumonia. In 2004 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.  The Blessed is buried in the church of Nossa Senhora in Monte in Madeira. His heart was transferred according to the old Habsburg tradition to the Benedictine monastery of Muri in the canton of Aargau. A transfer of the body in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, where the grave of the Imperial House lays is not provided because of the devotion of the people of Madeira. In the Imperial Crypt, however, lies his deceased wife, Empress Zita who was buried there in 1989.

For the beatification particularly the Kaiser Karl Prayer League strove for world peace, whose chairman is the emeritus Archbishop, Fernand Franck of Luxembourg today. The beatification was promoted especially by the recently deceased Bishop Kurt Krenn of Sankt Pölten, who for many years was chairman of the prayer league.

The Basilica in Nancy, in which the Holy Mass was celebrated, is named after the Frankish Saint Aper, who at the beginning of the 6th Century was bishop of Toul. The saint is known in the French as Saint Epvre, to the Germans as Santa Effert.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Histoire & Patrimoine Bleurvillois

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link Katholisches...

AMGD

Cardinal Burke Will Celebrate Mass of All Ages in Colombia for Catholic Lawyers

At the Catholic University of Bogota, Colombia, there will be a celebration sponsored by the World Congress of Catholic Lawyers.  On Friday, the 7th of February, at 6:30pm, His Eminence, Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura will celebrate Holy Mass in the Immemorial Roman Rite. 

Thanks to Secretum Meum Mihi and Accion Liturgica...

Prayer Vigil in Papal Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore for Immemorial Mass of All Ages

The Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani

(Rome) Following the deletion of the monthly Mass in the Old Rite in the Patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore  the Roman Coetus Summorum Pontificum, which is located at the papal basilica, is calling a prayer vigil.The Coetus  has already turned with an appeal to Pope Francis,  to reinstate the celebration in the traditional rite of the Roman Church. This concern also applies to the prayer vigil on the 25th of January at 4 O'clock in the basilica before the miraculous image of Our Lady with the Child Jesus, Salus Populi Romani .

The faithful reaffirm not wanting to interfere in the internal affairs of religious communities and institutions. However, they are complaining of unjustified "censorship" of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and the baseless "closure" and "oppression" of Mass locations for traditional Catholics (see separate report Santa Maria Maggiore: Mass Abolished in the Old Rite - Call of the faithful to the Pope ).

They complain in particular that the souls whose salvation and rescue is the supreme task of the "holy hierarchy and at its head, the Sumus Pontifex",  who are being deprived of the necessary grace of the wellspring that nourishes them spiritually even since the foundation of the Holy Church, through Jesus Christ,  which was continuously available to the faithful and by the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum which Pope Benedict XVI reconfirmed in 2007.

Ghettoisation of  Traditional Faithful Contradicts the Papal Claim

The abolition of the Holy Mass in the Old Rite celebrated regularly for the last fourteen years and in association with the veneration of Mary at the Papal Basilica, says the Coetus,  contradicts the "benevolence" that has come the groups of the tradition through the reigning Pope's blessing  last autumn for the Second International Pilgrimage of  Tradition  that had gathered at the tomb of the Apostle Peter  in the Vatican Basilica. "Thus are  the faithful to tradition  to be sent into the ghetto, if not despised and rejected outright" said Coetus in its appeal.

This is also contrary to the message of "understanding and inclusion", that Pope Francis has made the basis of his pastoral care. "It seems incredible that  'Admission' is to be given to all except those who love the Church and the Pope, and are loyal to and represent nothing more than the Catholic faith like the Holy Church has always taught."

Appeal to Pope Francis and Prayer Vigil for Abolished Mass Locations  in the Old Rite

"For this reason we have asked the Holy Father for his intervention and to organize in anticipation of his actions on Saturday, a prayer vigil  on 25 January 4 O'clock  with rosary for the grace that the celebration in the Old Rite is restored through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani, at this church and the restoration of the now abolished Mass locations (Which were abolished to the great detriment of the faithful) ."

 Coetus turns with this invitation to "all Catholics of good will".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 

image: Messa in Latino

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to 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

"In Every Dictatorship The Past is Censured" -- From the Life of a Diocesan Priest Who Discovered the Immemorial Mass of All Ages

(Milan) Don Alberto Secci, born in 1963, ordained in 1988, is a priest of the Diocese of Novara on the border with Switzerland. Don Secci became famous when he announced with two other diocesan priests, that he was bringing the traditional form of the Roman Rite back according to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI.. The result was great resistance from the diocesan leadership, the rest of the clergy and public hostility. Today he may celebrate the Old Rite and proclaim the undiminished faith - in a tiny mountain village with a few hundred inhabitants. In an interview, he talks about the crisis in the Church and the importance of tradition.

As the three priests announced their decision according to  Summorum Pontificum,  there was massive resistance in the diocesan leadership and the rest of the clergy of the diocese who immediately stirred up  sedition  of  the parishioners against their pastor. The priests became a national news story. The entire press of Italy reported about them. They were described as "stubborn" and denounced as "agents provocateurs"."We had become a scandal overnight, for the world and the diocese," said Don Secci. The Pope generously granted the Motu Proprio "and for that, the Church can't thank him enough," said the priest. However, Rome was unable to prevail against the selfishness of some bishops who consider their diocese as a private fief. Two Priests are active today in the Southern Alps at Domodossola Verbania and close to the Swiss border, a pastors. To expand its reach, they run the Internet apostolate Radicati nella Fede (Rooted in Faith) and  seek the instruction of the faithful in the Church's teaching of all time in their parish boundaries. In January, the fourth annual "Day of the Tradition" will take place, which Don Secci organizes once a year. The theme for 2014 is: "Winter in the Church after the Second Vatican Council". The topic is taken from the book by Cristina Siccardi (see separate article The Winter of the Church after the Second Vatican Council - The new book to an open question )  who will be present as a speaker.The interview with Don Alberto Secci was conducted by Riscossa Cristiana .

1) It is becoming increasingly apparent, even in relation to the celebration of the Holy Mass (Old Rite and New Rite) that there are two different ways to live the Catholic religion: priests and faithful, are oriented to lessons that are subject to the modern revolution, and other priests and faithful who adhere to the teachings and principles of the Church's tradition. How do you think it will be possible one day to resolve this dichotomy again?

Don Alberto Secci: It is necessary that those who have the grace to recognize this terrible dichotomy, have to choose for God, to live in complete catholicity  according to Catholic tradition. This is the crucial point. In Christianity there is nothing abstract. You said: "also in relation to the celebration of the Holy Mass in the traditional rite".  I'd rather say they remain Catholic, believers hold fast to the teachings and principles of the Church's tradition.. The believers who are  held by the revolution, however, have only a vague Christian inspiration and the only in the best cases. To be precise, you said: "in reference to the Mass."  Allow me to emphasize this "also". Why? Not in the sense, as if there were just the Mass, because the Doctrine of the  Faith is inseparable from the Mass and  connected to the entire apostolate. But it is much more in the sense that the Catholic life is the continuation of grace, which comes above all through the sacraments, and thus is the center of the Holy Mass, indeed a Mass without an ambiguous rite. Therefore, If  someone had the grace to understand the dramatic situation,  he would not trade his   conscience for personal acquiescence. One must look for a traditional Mass site and make this the comprehensive place of education in the faith, in the broadest sense of the word, not just intellectually. Small centers of the normal Catholic life, quite modest and perhaps even quite poor, but largely because of the graces that they convey. This will be the solution, God willing. It is our duty to decide whether we want to tread a path of grace and therefore, tradition by loving the Church in Her suffering. God is the solution to this mystery ailment. But God has already solved everything. We are to lovingly care about the Church and not "politically."

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

Servite Prior Bans Traditional Mass to Pilgrims in Austria

(Vienna) A Liturgical scandal occurred in the Austrian Servite  Monastery of Maria Luggau. The prior of the monastery has banned a group of pilgrims, who want to celebrate Holy Mass in the Sanctuary of Mary in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages.  The Fatima initiative that undertakes a pilgrimage to Maria Luggau  annually in October wanted to celebrate the Old Rite. Prior Andreas M. Baur, said the Carinthian newspaper, Kleine Zeitung : "I am critical of the Tridentine Mass. It does not correspond to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council ".

Under Benedict XVI. permitted, prohibited under Francis

In the years 2011 and 2012 the Mass was to be celebrated even without problems and with the permission of Prior Baur in the Extraordinary Form at the request of the pilgrims the Holy Mass. At that time Pope Benedict XVI. was still the leader of the Catholic Church, now the pilgrims are harshly rejected. Benedict XVI. was the one who  with the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum had restored the Old Mass in 2007 to Its full rights of citizenship in the Church. Now, however, that Pope Francis rules in Rome and the prior of the Servite Monastery no longer feels bound to the "rights of citizenship" for the Old Rite as a papally binding arrangement.

"It is absolutely allowed to celebrate Holy Tridentine mass in Church law. To ban us is an arbitrary act," said Anna Stranner of the Fatima Initiative who will venerate the Mother of Sorrows of Mary Luggau in a special way. "A prior can not but be more Catholic than the Pope," lamented Stranner at the unfriendly treatment of the prayer community. As in previous years, a priest would come to Maria Luggau to celebrate the Holy Mass in the Old Rite with the pilgrims.  In 2013 the celebrant would have been  the Austrian military Dean, Siegfried Lochner. So the Servites would not have been so  much as "bothered" that the Fatima Initiative  group of pilgrims, more than others who have been to visit during the year at the church. Dean Lochner is surprised about the cancellation and also angry about the behavior of the monastery superintendent: "I have often celebrated Holy Mass according to the traditional Roman Rite/ But such a brusque rejection of the faithful, as by this prior is new to me."

Prior Baur: "Critical of the Tridentine Mass"

Prior Baur is struggling to justify his decision, which is in open contradiction to church law. He explained that the group of pilgrims had "not involved" him. In addition, he was "being harassed by phone", for "days" by the pilgrims because of the prohibition of the Old Mass. "I'm not going to be forced" said the Servite priest energetically to the Kleine Zeitung  and came to an idiosyncratic understanding of the law. According to Prior Baur the Ancient Mass does not correspond "to the spirit of Vatican II", from which he concludes that this "spirit" breaks the current law.

The diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt does not want to mess with the monastery and certainly not because of the Mass of Saint Pius V., the diocesan chancellor, diocesan official, and cathedral canon, Msgr. Jakob Ibounig, says of "such Masses", by which he means the traditional rite: "The prior makes the house rules." And anyway: "If he does not want that such Masses are celebrated in his church, this is the legitimate," said Msgr Ibounig.

At least   Prior Baur, whose consecration year is [groovy] 1973, hasn't closed the door completely, to the press: "The tone has to change. I also want to have a talk with the priest holding the Mass. Then we'll see,"  he is  quoted as saying by the Kleine Zeitung .

The monastery with the pilgrimage church of Maria of the Snow in Maria Luggau lies in the diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt in Upper Carinthia Lesachtal. The pilgrimage goes back to a devout woman, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in 1513 in a dream and instructed her to build a church on a wheat field. The present church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1515, has as yet no Volksaltar [Cramner Table].  Since 1639 the Servites have overseen the pilgrimage they took over from the Franciscans. Currently, three Servites live in Maria Luggau monastery after a brother from Nigeria joined the Convent.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Wikicommons

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

"Total War" Against the Franciscans of the Immaculata? The Unspeakable "Blemish"

(Rome) No other order has suffered such dramatic consequences on  the change of pontificate in late winter 2013  as  the Franciscans of the Immaculate. In July,  the Order  was placed under provisional administration by order of the Congregation for Religious  with papal approval.  Although the Order actually exactly corresponds to what Pope Francis wishes, namely evangelical poverty, missionary zeal and new evangelization, of which the  Franciscans of the Immaculate are one of  the only orders, against which the new pope has proceed with drastic measures. 

So dramatically that even a progressive Vatican expert like Marco Tosatti has now asked what should have these poor friars have only arranged, yes, done wrong, to deserve such a harsh punishment?  He could not fine an answer because he could not find a "crime", with which to  burden them. He therefore published a letter that describes the radicality with which the Order is being rebuilt. The question remains: Why did you destroy a thriving Order?

Young, Poor, Missionary and Evangelizing, but with a "Blemish" ...

The answer is in fact to look at a whole different level and observe the punished innocently. It  immediately arives at the level of intrigue. As  a cold as well as brutal coup by a minority in the Order. This was possible but only because this minority has been heard by the  Congregation for Religious  and in his  turn heard by the Pope. The Order had a major "flaw."  The "flaw" was that under the leadership and guidance of Pope Benedict XVI. they rediscovered the traditional rite and implemented it internally within the Order. The pastoral care of the Order was bi-ritual, internally it was old ritual. All in perfect accordance with the applicable rules and the canon law.

The Order is one of the few orders that have numerous vocations and can be described as a flourishing religious family in both the male and the female branches. The cons discovery of the liturgical riches of the Church makes the Franciscans of the Immaculate more to a unique phenomenon in the Catholic Church. Franciscan, missionary, flourishing and altrituell. Was unique to the Franciscans of the Immaculate, that a New Order was changing  to the Old Rite. It was a  combination that didn't only win  the Order  friends in the Vatican. With the rediscovery of the ancient liturgy,  the Order began to intensively study  the Second Vatican Council and of its examination and interpretation took place, working  in the light of the ever valid tradition.

The Order  Followed Benedict XVI. and discovered the Old Rite

A "flaw",  which was all the more serious,  because the Order had numerous vocations. A "blemish",  that certain  church circles of  little friendliness  and probably envious, did not dare to criticize under Pope Benedict XVI.. All the more uninhibited and with incredible haste they struck after his resignation. And Pope Francis gave them leave. For none of the other  orders  were effected in the change of  pontificate  more dramatically  than for the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

Let us hear so what Marco Tosatti wrote in the newspaper   La Stampa  on Wednesday:

"We received a letter from a layman who is close to the Franciscans of the Immaculate, a small Order, which is under an acting manager  (a highly debatable matter), and he complained of a special hardness posed by the new management. Based on many years of experience, we know of the cruelty in dealing with fellow brothers in church circles toward those other circles inferior to nothing. But just as Pope Francis, who signed the provisional administration, demanded in his interview with the chief editor of the Civilta  Cattolica  an attitude of Compassion 'and softness'. He was as  one of those in the Church, who entered the field hospital after a battle  and said, I see clearly that what the Church needs today is the ability to heal wounds,'  because, 'Nevertheless, there are people weary of authoritarianism '.

Each reader should decide for themselves whether in fact the  authoritarianism plays a role in the  Franciscans of the Immaculate  and arrogance among the Sisters.   What  have these  poor men done? Have they speculated in money, sexually abused minors or maintained an immoral lifestyle? So here's the letter. "

Letter from a layman who is close to the Franciscans of the Immaculate

Little is known about how things went on after the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate was placed under provisional administration. Therefore, a brief summary is necessary. 

After Father Stefano Maria Manelli, the worthy and pious founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FI) was placed under charges that he had led the brothers away from their founding charism, without explaining this to date, of which the father is said to have concretely carried anyone away; then, the priests' celebration of the old rite was prohibited, a ban that applies to this day, and has been followed in the Order with absolute and faithful obedience; after which the brothers, who are faithful to the charism of the founding fathers, were hastily charged in summary proceedings and removed, and all those brothers who support the "new" line were promoted in the various monasteries around the world,  then  without a visible reason, the General Procurator Father Apollonio, Director of the Theological Seminary and Guardian of the Cloister Roma-Boccea was dismissed and sent to Portugal, as the Order's Superior of Florence was dismissed and sent to Austria;  then Father Settimio Manelli and Father Siano, were dismissed as Rector and Vice Rector of the Order Seminary and sent to Africa; then they were replaced by  two brothers of the "new" line, one of which does not even have  a degree; then Father Budani, who was in the middle of completing his studies of the canon law to end overnight and without possibility of completing his studies was sent to Africa; then, after Founder Father Stefano Manelli was deposed as Superior General and exiled and even though he has met all instructions and guaranteed absolute obedience, even his closest relatives are forbidden to visit him, and it is forbidden to make phone or receive phone calls and any contact with the outside world is denied to him ... after all, now it's the Apostolic Commissioner, the Capuchin Father,  Fidenzio Volpi, with the assistance of Father Alfonso Bruno, who is the new powerful man in the Order, and it's all-out war against the laity who are in continuing connection to the Order. 

By a letter dated 27 November, he forbade any activity of the lay members of the Mission Immaculate Mediatrix (MIM) and the Third Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (Tofi). He refused that the Tertiaries to wear their robes. 

Is it resolving alleged internal difficulties claimed f a thriving religious community with such incredible hardness and such Stalinist purges? Or  its charisma be destroyed instead, which was not only able to arouse increasing number of vocations and to attract and expand the Order on all continents, but was, until yesterday, praised and promoted by the highest ecclesiastical authorities. Just think that the now outlawed Father Manelli and Father Lanzetta, were once welcome until a few months ago by cardinals and bishops and were welcome in the columns of the Osservatore Romano Publications were even open to them.

Text: La Stampa / Giuseppe Nardi
image: Franciscans of the Immaculate
Link to Katholisches....
AMGD

From a Sermon by Cardinal Leo Burke

(Rome) On St. Stephen's Day, the 26th of December, 2010, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke celebrated a Pontifical High Mass in the Roman parish of Santa Maria di Nazareth in the suburbs. Monsignor Gino Reali, Bishop of the diocese of Porto-Santa Rufina, had invited him. Some statements in the Cardinal's sermon ought to be recalled:

"After the Ecumenical Second Vatican Council, but not because of the council, the nature of the reform of the Rite of Mass has significantly darkened in a sense, the divine action in the Holy Mass which is the union of heaven and earth, has led some to mistakenly thinking that the Holy Liturgy is an action that we have fabricated in a certain way and with which we can therefore experiment.

The truth of the Divine Liturgy is but entirely different. The Sacred Liturgy is in fact the action of His mystical body living through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ. It is His gift to us, which we must we accept, appreciate and preserve according to the instructions of our pastors and especially the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on earth, and therefore, the shepherd of the universal Church. We are called to assume in our time in the doctrine and order which our Holy Father Benedict XVI. has given us in his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, which he wanted to restore the shape of the rite to bring to expression the complete and efficient the truth of the Divine Liturgy.

[...] By following the teaching of the Holy Father, we celebrate the Roman Rite correctly in the Extraordinary Form to help us perfectly penetrate into the knowledge of the Mystery of faith, the mystery of God's love for us, and by pure and to respond to this mystery by unselfish love for God and neighbor. "

Text: Cordialiter / Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Cordialiter

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches... AMGD

French Carmel Returns to the Immemorial Rite of All Ages

(Paris) The Carmel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception in Alençon returned to the Immemorial Rite of the Catholic Church.

Already in 2008 the Carmelites made the first step in the direction of traditional liturgy. "We prefer the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite" which the newspaper La Nef reported in 2010 on the religious. The Holy Mass on Sundays and public holidays has therefore celebrated in the traditional form of the Roman Rite for several years. The Holy Mass on weekdays initially remained the ordinary form. Now Bishop Jacques Habert Sées has allowed the complete return to the Immemorial Rite. The Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Old Rite on Sundays and holidays at 9 clock and on all working days at 8 clock in the Carmel. The Chaplain of the monastery is a diocesan priest, assisted by priests of the Fraternity of St. Peter.

The Carmel was founded in 1988 at the request of Bishop François-Marie Tregaro Sées. A first Carmel had already existed in Alençon 1780-1792. It was abolished during the French Revolution, however, which is why the bishop has sought re-foundation. When Pope Benedict XVI. issued the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontiicum in 2007, the sisters were soon agreed to return to the Old Rite. The nuns devote six to seven hours a day in choral prayer.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: French Carmel
Trans: Tancred vekron@hotmail.com
  Link to katholisches....
AMGD

Martin Mosebach: "The Only Chance For Summorum Pontificum is From the Influence of Pope Benedict XVI"

Paix Liturgique has published in  Letter 40,  an analysis of the German writer Martin Mosebach on the current situation of the Church, the efforts of Pope Benedict XVI. to have underestimated the liturgical renewal and its error, "how deeply the spirit of the anti-liturgical heresy had penetrated even into the high clergy."

The Church under Pope Francis has experienced a shift of center on the pastoral work and a new style in many ways. The liturgical advisers to the Pope have been already replaced.  For the observers of the papal liturgies the growing sacredness of the last pontificate has already experienced noticeable changes. How does  it now stand for the Benedict XVI. initiated "Reform of the Reform"? What about the Motu ProprioSummorum Pontificum? What can the followers of the Extraordinary Form expect in the future from the Pope? What about the future of the liturgy?

Martin Mosebach, award-winning German writer and renowned author (latest book: . The Ultramontane All Roads Lead to Rome ) has already,  in his book which has been translated into many languages, the "Heresy of Formlessness", addressed accurately and  with a sharp eye,  without a mincing, plumbed to the kernel of the faults of the post-Conciliar development of the liturgy and thus deeply spoken of the soul the believers who particularly suffered  from the widespread liturgical experimentation with all their loss of form of the Roman liturgy, the marginalization of the sacrificial nature and widespread reinterpretation of the Holy Mass at a community meeting. He describes his personal experiences there in different countries with literary brilliance  and his consequent turning to traditional liturgy.

Today he commented shrewdly and exclusively for Paix Liturgique  on the current situation after the change of pontificate  and his assessment of the future

What do you think is the future of the liturgical reform of Pope Ratzinger? Can they still bear fruit or will we move into a blind alley?

Mosebach: Pope Benedict's main concern  certainly has been the liturgical "reform of the reform". This project had barely begun; well you have to admit that Pope Benedict has given up with his resignation. Currently, it would have no chance to be pursued, especially as the Congregation of Rites is reportedly appointed by the new pope with the declared enemies of a "reform of the reform". The more important is the legacy that Pope Benedict has left in the form of Summorom Pontificum for the reintegration of the Old Rite in the rites of the Church.

But this should be the last positive word at least for the time of the pontificate of Pope Francis, we get to hear from Rome in general not only about the Old Rite, but about liturgy. Pope Benedict has obviously completely misjudged the situation. He obviously has not seen how deeply the spirit of the anti-liturgical heresy had penetrated even into the high clergy.

In his interview with the Jesuits, Pope Francis said that Summorum Pontificum a wise gesture by Benedict XVI. to provide some believers that were attached to the Vetus Ordo. The traditional world, however, keeps it firmly, - drawing on the statements of Cardinal Cañizares and Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos - that it is  a treasure to the universal Church that will be revealed: Who is right?

Mosebach: The only chance  Summorum Pontificum has in the future is through the influence of Pope Benedict XVI.  The  "reform of the reform" was probably  a hopeless project from the beginning. In the general liturgical ignorance and lack of understanding of the clergy it was hopeless to promote the return of some sacramental forms that received their  meaning and significance only from the entire corpus of the sacramental. Pope Benedict's failure in this matter is stated in that the maximum program for the "unrepentant" and "prepared to compromise," the most realistic was: the unconditional return to tradition.

On the 24th to 27th of October, a pilgrimage took place in Rome Summorum Pontificum Coetus. After to Cardinal Cañizares, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica this year: How important was it for the Church that the faithful who adhere to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, have testified their proximity to the traditional liturgy at this event?  Can they also get to know the new pope that he might learn a small bit of this reality?

Mosebach: We as Catholics are  experiencing the depressing spectacle of a pope, who takes  the path of least resistance is to the public and how everyone who follows the mainstream, hails him as  "brave".   We must believe Pope Benedict, when he looked at the great tradition of the liturgy as the Church's treasure. It was not a clever diplomatic gesture from him again to secure a place in the tradition of the Church. That Francis Pope might disagree, unfortunately, fits all too well into the picture.

Finally, if one thinks of the resistance to the liturgical restoration of Pope Benedict, and on the other hand the failure of the unity of Rome and Ecône is aware: Do we have fear of a new liturgical outbreak of war?

Mosebach: It is very important that the pilgrimage of Coetus Summorum Pontificum leads many people to Rome. For a populist minded Pope an impressive participation like it might contain even a small positive argument, but the adherents of the Old Rite should be quite determined now to set not to look in the years to Rome and to be fixed on Rome, but to secure the newfound freedom at each location and to expand and to set up hope  completely on a new generation of priests. Let us not forget the worst thing that is truly unimaginable is already behind us: a Roman Pope, Paul VI, who destroyed the liturgy..

Six months after the election of Pope Francis' it seems that there is not much left of  the liturgical reform of Pope Benedict: Is it so?

Mosebach: Basically this is conceivable. We see, for example, the intervention of the Vatican in the religious life of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, that every  traditional religious community in which there is not one unbroken common will uniting all members, is endangered in its existence. On the other hand, of course, we can say that the official church in Western Europe has become much weaker and therefore does not have the total strength to readily  with which they could operate in the 70s and 80s, for their work of destruction. And the tradition of groups on the other hand have become stronger, they can no longer simply be intimidated and swept away, as so many bishops were  "in the spirit of the Council".

The chances for tradition are not so bad, if it focuses on staying hard inside and not to get bogged down in arguments, especially to gain young people, young priests  for themselves. We had a short vacation, and now it needs to proceed without Rome again;  but we know that already.

Text: Paix Liturgique
Image: Paix Liturgique

Translation: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches... AMGD