<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.5583" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV
style="MARGIN: 0px 10px; OVERFLOW: auto; WIDTH: 100%; FONT-FAMILY: sans-serif">
<H2 style="MARGIN: 0.25em 0px 0px">
<DIV class=""><A
href="http://www.summorumpontificum.net/2008/06/is-catholic-church-sliding-towards.html">Is
the Catholic Church sliding towards civil war?</A></DIV></H2>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.5em">via <A class=f
href="http://www.summorumpontificum.net/">Summorum Pontificum</A> by Brian Kopp
on 6/23/08</DIV><BR style="DISPLAY: none">Damian Thompson raises an interesting
question over at Spectator.co.uk: <BR><BR><A
href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/783371/is-the-catholic-church-sliding-towards-civil-war.thtml">Is
the Catholic Church sliding towards civil war?</A> <BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>"While Church of England bishops recoil from the prospect of gay
‘weddings’ with no precedent in Christian history, their Catholic counterparts
are wringing their hands at the growing popularity of services that are too
traditional for their tastes. <BR><BR>On Saturday 14 June Cardinal Darío
Castrillón Hoyos, one of the most senior figures in the Roman Curia and an
ally of the Holy Father, celebrated a Pontifical High Mass at Westminster
Cathedral. The bishop of the diocese, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, did not
attend; nor did any of his four auxiliary bishops. Pope Benedict is rumoured
to be furious at this display of bad manners. <BR><BR>What can explain such a
breach of protocol? The answer lies in the content and style of the liturgy
being celebrated. Cardinal Castrillón processed into the cathedral wearing the
cappa magna, a scarlet cape with a 20ft train of watered silk. It is many
years since this vestment has been seen in the cathedral — for, although it
was never abolished, it is associated with the Tridentine Mass, the ancient
Latin rite in which the celebrant faces east, reciting its main prayer in a
voice so low that the church falls silent. And that was the Mass that His
Eminence celebrated on 14 June, becoming the first cardinal to do so in
Westminster Cathedral for 40 years. <BR><BR>Last summer — to the horror of the
liberal English bishops — Pope Benedict issued an apostolic letter, Summorum
Pontificum, that granted universal permission for the old Mass, which had been
effectively banned from normal parish life after the Second Vatican Council.
England’s Latin Mass Society seized its chance. It invited Cardinal
Castrillón, head of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which is
responsible for the old liturgy worldwide, to celebrate the society’s annual
traditional Mass at Westminster Cathedral, normally a low-key affair regarded
with amused condescension by diocesan liberals. <BR><BR>He accepted, leaving
liberal bishops with only one course of action: pleading pressing engagements
elsewhere. Hence the absence of Westminster bishops at the Pontifical Mass,
though diocesan spies were spotted craning their necks to see if any local
clergy had sneaked in (thereby scuppering their chances of promotion). Walking
down the nave, I was greeted by a young priest sitting at the back dressed as
a layman. ‘I can’t really afford to be seen here, but I couldn’t resist,’ he
whispered. <BR><BR>Many Mass-goers are unaware of the fact, but the Catholic
Church in England and Wales is sliding towards civil war. A mixture of
anticipation and panic is in the air. For worshippers used to the low-calorie
ceremonial of Westminster Cathedral, the sight of a curial cardinal presiding
over the cruelly complex rubrics of the old Missal must have been thrilling or
distasteful, depending on their point of view. <BR><BR>But the evidence of
traditionalist revival is not confined to church services: it is scattered
over Facebook, of all places, where there are dozens of groups pressing for
the return of the ancient liturgy or mocking the caterwauling pseudo folk
music favoured by trendy clergy. The internet allows traditionalists in
different countries to burst out of the ghetto to which they had been banished
by ‘the spirit of Vatican II’. Conservatives hunt down video clips of
‘Sandalistas’ performing arthritic liturgical dances and upload them to
YouTube, where they become comic classics. Bloggers share photographs of
Corpus Christi processions, and publish private letters in which ‘progressive’
bishops reveal the depth of their hostility to Pope Benedict’s liturgical
reforms. These blogs are widely read in the Vatican, where the andante tempo
of the day leaves plenty of time for internet
surfing..."</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Damian does a good job of painting the conflict
in terms of the Church Militant: <BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>"In the words of one visitor to a traditionalist website, ‘This
situation is comparable to the chief of staff of the army coming down to the
101st Airborne Division as the guest of honour at a division-level parade, and
the division commander — and his brigade commanders — does not show up for the
parade. Instead, he sends a terse welcoming note to be read by a battalion
commander.’ <BR><BR>The use of military imagery is significant. In many parts
of the world, the response of liberal bishops to the Pope’s plans to revive
the traditional Mass has verged on the mutinous. And the sense of impending
conflict is particularly strong in England and Wales, which is unique among
Western Churches in that not one of its 33 serving bishops is identified with
the Benedictine reforms. Indeed, until the last conclave, ‘Ratzinger’ was a
swear word in the left-wing circles from which the bishops have been
chosen."</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>But the upcoming war doesn't end at the frontiers
of England and Wales. Pope Benedict XVI just fired a volley over the heads of
"public sinners" everywhere, especially of the political stripe, with obvious
implications for the <A
href="http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/holycom/denial.htm">application of
Canon 915 </A>here in America. As the BBC reports (with typical MSM spin -- the
Pope has not specifically addressed Berlusconi's situation): <BR><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><A
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7468860.stm">Pope denies Berlusconi
communion</A></SPAN> <BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>"Newspapers reported on Sunday that while attending a ceremony in
Sardinia Mr Berlusconi had asked a bishop when the Church planned to change
the rules. <BR><BR>But the Pope told a conference in Canada that communion can
only be received by those free of major sin. <BR><BR>"We have to do
everything... to receive [communion] in a pure heart," he said. <BR><BR>No
change <BR><BR>Mr Berlusconi has recently begun a major effort to try and get
communion granted to divorced and remarried people like himself. <BR><BR>When
he light-heartedly asked the Sardinian bishop when this would be possible, he
was told he should "turn to a higher power". <BR><BR>But speaking via
videolink to a conference in the Canadian province of Quebec, Pope Benedict
ruled out any change to the Church's stance. <BR><BR>Although he did not
directly address Mr Berlusconi's comments, he said that communion involved
"searching without end, through the sacrament of forgiveness, the purity that
sin has stained". <BR><BR>"On the other hand, those who cannot take communion
because of their situation will find, nevertheless, in the desire to
participate in the Eucharist, strength and effect of salvation," he
added."</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Patrick has reported on other recent liturgy related
skirmishes on this blog: <BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><BR><A
href="http://www.summorumpontificum.net/2008/06/zut-alors-candadian-rivest-ance.html">Zut
Alors! More Canadian Rivest-ance</A></SPAN> <BR><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><A
href="http://www.summorumpontificum.net/2008/06/for-everybody-quebec-cardinal-et-alors.html">For
Everybody? Quebec Cardinal: Et Alors?</A></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>But the
biggest battle to date will be over the <SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><A
href="http://www.summorumpontificum.net/2008/06/sspx-confirms-proposal.html">Return
of the SSPX</A></SPAN> <BR><BR>Why? <BR><BR>Because Rome's offer to the SSPX
will by necessity need to be accompanied by the much-anticipated clarification
from the PCED of Summorum Pontificum. And as much as Summorum Pontificum itself
exceeded the wildest dreams of many, and the worst fears of the modernists, the
anticipated clarification of the PCED must make concrete <A
href="http://www.summorumpontificum.net/2008/06/not-required-but-not-rare.html">the
recent comments of Cardinal Hoyos</A> that the "Gregorian Rite" must be made
available in any parish, even on the pastors' own initiative and without the
request of a stable group. And it must close the <A
href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2007/11/ranjith-speaks-episcopal-rebellion.html">"little
tittle" loopholes</A> that many bishops have tried to open by imposing their own
guidelines upon Summorum Pontificum. <BR><BR>That is the real war -- this Pope
must take back the powers of the papacy that were given away to a false sense of
collegiality over the past half century. And this Pope already made clear the
nature of that battle and the time it will take to accomplish that struggle:
<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">"How often we wish that God would
show himself stronger, that he would strike decisively, defeating evil and
creating a better world. All ideologies of power justify themselves in exactly
this way, they justify the destruction of whatever would stand in the way of
progress and the liberation of humanity. <BR><BR>We suffer on account of God’s
patience. And yet, we need his patience. <BR><BR>God, who became a lamb, tells
us that the world is saved by the Crucified One, not by those who crucified
him. <SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The world is redeemed by the patience of
God. It is destroyed by the impatience of man</SPAN>."</SPAN> <BR><BR>--From
the Homily of the Inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI, 24 April
2005</BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>We must keep this quote from the Holy Father's Homily
at his Inauguration Mass in the front of our minds as the rest of 2008 unfolds.
<BR><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>