By Ralph Di Mattia
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PLEASE NOTE: Venite Missa Est! unwittingly omitted a full page of text when pasting an article by James Spencer in our last post, Post #190. Re-posted below is the piece in it's entirety. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Spencer...please re-read this article for the complete jist of Mr. Spencer's thoughts on the subject.
Also included in this post is a response by St. Anthony parishioner and Latin Mass representative, Ralph
Di Mattia.
As an after thought I deleted Post #190 which contained the above mentioned mistake. This humbled blog is now up to date with the correct articles in their entirety.
Also included in this post is a response by St. Anthony parishioner and Latin Mass representative, Ralph
Di Mattia.
As an after thought I deleted Post #190 which contained the above mentioned mistake. This humbled blog is now up to date with the correct articles in their entirety.
...and now for the necessaries.
Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of only two churches celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est! is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita. Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.
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Response to Chris Ferrara Article
by Jim Spencer
CORRECTION - RE-POST
by Jim Spencer
CORRECTION - RE-POST
Venite Missa Est
recently reprinted an article from The
Remnant by Mr. Chris Ferrara, which article attempted to put the burden of
identifying the Society of St. Pius X’s
(SSPX) “theological issues” with the Catholic Church on the Pope rather
than on SSPX.
Mr. Ferrara is an outstanding Catholic lawyer, who has done
and continues to do much pro bono
work for the Church, especially in the Pro Life area. Nevertheless, I feel he erred in assigning
this responsibility to Rome rather than to SSPX. To understand his error, one needs to review a
little history.
In 1988 Archbishop Lefebvre ordained four bishops for his
SSPX, not only without the permission of then-Pope John Paul II but even
against the Pope’s expressed instructions.
Thereby he and his four new bishops thereby suffered automatic
excommunication. The Pope immediately
moved toward a reconciliation. In fact,
he sent then-Cardinal Ratzinger to meet with Archbishop Lefebvre and work
toward resolving these problems. This
effort failed.
In the Pope’s subsequent approaches to Archbishop Lefebvre,
the Archbishop always insisted that SSPX had certain ‘doctrinal issues’ with
Rome relative to the Vatican II Council.
(Please keep in mind that Archbishop Lefebvre participated in that
Council and signed every Council Document.)
When the Pope sought to explore those “doctrinal issues,” Archbishop
Lefebvre, without ever identifying the specific issues, responded that SSPX had
two pre-requisites before they would even discuss them: First, the Pope must
lift the five excommunications; and second that the Pope must issue a
“universal indult’ for celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missale Romanum.
Pope John Paul II demurred.
There things stood until Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope
Benedict XVI. In 2005, he lifted the
five excommunications, thereby satisfying SSPX’s first pre-requisite. In 2007 he more than satisfied their second precondition
by issuing his moto proprio titled Summorum Pontificum, which goes far
beyond the requested universal indult and allows every priest in the Latin Rite
to use the 1962 Missale Romanum
whenever he wishes. Then, to facilitate
resolving whatever “doctrinal issues” SSPX might have, Benedict XVI moved the
Ecclesia Dei Commission (EDC), which has jurisdiction over use of the 1962
missal, into the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
With all SSPX’s prerequisites more than satisfied, the Pope
has had several meetings with SSPX’s leader, Bishop Fellay, to discuss SSPX’s
“doctrinal issues.” The Pope has
remained silent about these meetings, but Bishop Fellay has gone public
multiple times, each time accusing “Rome” of being uncooperative.
Question #1: Does “uncooperative” mean that the Pope has not
agreed with SSPX positions on whatever their unspecified “theological issues”
are?
Question #2: Since Vatican II was a strictly pastoral
Council that made no new definitions of doctrine, how could SSPX have any
“doctrinal issues” resulting from Vatican II?
Pastoral issues are possible, but not doctrinal issues.
Question #3: If SSPX’s issues are strictly pastoral, who’s
in charge of the Church and who can make pastoral decisions, the Pope or
SSPX? Our Lord said to Peter,
“Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . . “ He guaranteed papal infallibility for matters
of faith and morals but not for prudential judgments in pastoral matters. But He made it clear that the Pope is to be
obeyed in pastoral matters, even if his prudential judgment is flawed. The only exception is if the Pope ordered
something sinful, which SSPX has not alleged, or even suggested.
Question #4: If SSPX has “issues” with Rome, whether
doctrinal or pastoral, who should identify those “issues,” Rome or SSPX? According to Mr. Ferrara, that
responsibility falls to Rome.
Clearly, if SSPX has any issues impeding their return to “full
communion” with the Church, SSPX is responsible for identifying those issues,
submitting them to the Pope and then abiding by his decisions, whether in matters
of faith and morals or simply in pastoral matters.
How could a brilliant Catholic lawyer like Mr. Ferrara think
otherwise?
Mr. Ferrara also suggests that since the excommunications
have been lifted, the four SSPX bishops are automatically in “full communion”
with the Church. Not so. Any bishop who is in full communion “reports
to” the pope and has an assignment (such as a diocese) from the pope. None of the four SSPX bishops have shown any
willingness to submit to the pope’s authority in all matters not sinful or to
accept an assignment from the pope.
I would like to add a very key statement recently published in the Inside The Vatican Magazine Aug - Sept issue. Page 59 and I quote: " The ordination of 20 new priests for the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X are "illegitimate, period" said the Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi. The group ordained four priests in mid-June in Winoma, MN., twelve new priests in late June at its headquarters in Econe, Switzerland, and four new priests July 3 at its seminary in Zaitzkofen, Germany."
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St. Anthony Parishioner and Latin Mass Representative Responds to SSPX Article
By Ralph Di Mattia
I would like to add a very key statement recently published in the Inside The Vatican Magazine Aug - Sept issue. Page 59 and I quote: " The ordination of 20 new priests for the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X are "illegitimate, period" said the Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi. The group ordained four priests in mid-June in Winoma, MN., twelve new priests in late June at its headquarters in Econe, Switzerland, and four new priests July 3 at its seminary in Zaitzkofen, Germany."
Ralph Di Mattia - Latin Mass Community Representative
