The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum on the Latin Liturgy of July 7th 2007 is the fruit of a deep reflection by our Pope on the mission of the Church. It is not up to us, who wear ecclesiastical purple and red, to draw this into question, to be disobedient and make the motu proprio void by our own little, tittle rules. Even not if they were made by a bishops conference. Even bishops do not have this right. What the Holy Father says, has to be obeyed in the Church. If we do not follow this principle, we will allow ourselves to be used as instruments of the devil, and nobody else. This will lead to discord in the Church, and slows down her mission. We do not have the time to waste on this. Else we behave like emperor Nero, fiddling on his violin while Rome was burning. The churches are emptying, there are no vocations, the seminaries are empty. Priests become older and older, and young priests are scarce"
Friday, October 12, 2007
Archbishop Ranjith
The following quotation, attributed to archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary to the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome has been appearing on the blogosphere. It comes from a conference in the Netherlands he was attending and is a response to the bishops who have offered rather restrictive interpretations of what the Motu Proprio is about. Reluctance to be as generous as Pope Benedict intends is compared to doing the work of the devil. I include it here because I know that not everyone who reads this blog reads the blogs where it has been posted. It is a remarkable quotation. Coupled with the news that the Ecclesia Dei commission in Rome, which oversees the implementation of the use of the 1962 missal, is preparing a document to respond to queries that have arisen over the Motu Proprio it seems that more excitement lies ahead. Hat tip to the NLM blog.
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3 comments:
When clerical dissent started in full after Vatican II, I thought the reason the bishops' anemic action to defend the pope was for a lack of priests and that the bishops did not want to rock the boat. Now their behavior shows their real interior intentions. How can we now believe their holilies? What will they say in judgment before Christ?
The French, German, American and English bishops have acquitted themselves of their responsibilities as pastors with great integrity in their reception of the Motu Proprio and have taken very generously into account the demands of the small minority who with to celebrate the traditional Tridentine Mass. For their pains they are lambasted by bloggers worldwide, who want more uncritical alacrity and less concern with pastoral priorities and basic common sense. In addition the bishops are described as "instruments of the devil" by Archbishop Ranjith, whom the insidious schismatic bishop Bernard Fellay sees as his man in Rome (Fellay also told his followers that Cardinal Arinze was "a traitor"). It is unheard of for a Vatican official to pour scorn on Cardinals and bishops in this way, and I do not think that the Pope can afford to entertain his antics much longer. It is amazing to see schismatics calling on the world's bishops to be more obedient to the Pope! And the bad ecclesiology that regards the universal episcopate as mere pawns and errand-boys is perfectly incompatible with Vatican II.
I would beg to differ that the general response has been very generous. There have been some generous responses such as that of bishop Doyle of Northampton mentioned elsewhere on this blog. Responses such as those of bishop Roche and Cardinal Murphy O`Connor are less helpful. It is not for nothing that the MP has taken the decision to permit the TLM out of the hands of bishops as they had, in many cases, not responded generously to the indult of JPII.
Pope Benedict is well aware of the role of the bishop according to Vatican II. However he is still the Supreme Pontiff to whom bishops owe obedience. We are well aware that bishops and even vicar generals demand obedience to themselves , an obedience which even can go beyond canonical obedience. When the limits of that obedience according to canon law are brought up, it is also not unknown for a VG to say `That`s all very well but you promised obedience at your ordination`. Such a tyrannical attitude breeds contempt when they themselves are seen to be less than obedient and openly trying to restrict where the law of the universal church intends to be generous.
However I agree with you that it is odd to see schismatics complaining that the bishops are not being obedient! There seems to be reason to hope that the schism will not last much longer. The MP speaks of how these things need to be caught early to prevent divisions becoming rigid.
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