I understand your point Brother, and thank you, but i must wonder about the following text from S.P.
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The Oratorians are secular priests. They are not religious. They belong to the Congregation of the Oratory. They are secular priests who live in communities called Oratories. Each oratory is autonomous. They do not have a common rule like the Franciscans, Augustnians or Carmelites. They don’t have a central Superior General as we do. They are loosely connected. Each oratory is free to do as it wishes. They follow the teachings of St. Philip Neri.
On the other hand, because they are Oratorians, they do not fall under the jurisdiction of the bishop either. Their work in the parish falls under his jurisdiction, because the local bishop is the pastor of all his parishes. But he cannot command the Oratorians to celebrate the EF.
SP is very careful in its choice of words. Observe the part that you selected. It does not use words such as “Must, have to, shall”. The Holy Father avoids these terms, because he knows that he cannot demand this of secular priests, since their promise of obedience does not require that they obey in this area. He certainly cannot impose this on any priest who belongs to a religious order, because he knows that priests who belong to religious orders are religious first and they exercise their priestly ministry obedient to a tradition. They are bound to obey their superiors and their constitutions. The pope cannot ask them to disobey their superiors or their constitutions, that would be asking them to commit a sin. He does not ask them to impose their will on their brothers. That would be a sin. If the other members of the community do not want the EF, the one member who does want it may have to submit to his brothers out of obedience. The superior and the rule make that final call. Some rules require that you obey your brothers.
That’s why the pope uses the term “requested”. He is asking the bishops to work to make the EF happen when it’s requested by the laity. Just as the laity aks for the EF, it cannot demand it, the pope also asks for it, he does not demand it of the bishops.
He also says that it must be done under the guidance of the bishop and avoding conflicts. This is important. The secular clergy of a diocese may celebrate the EF without having to ask for permission. However, the Holy Father recognizes that the bishop remains the pastor. The pastor calls the shots for his parishes. A priest can celebrate the EF, but a bishop can legally say, “Not in one of my parishes.” He cannot stop the priest from celebrating the EF, but he can say where they celebrate it. Normally, bishops are not that harsh. But they have that right. The Holy Father acknowledges it and does not take it away from them.
His also very wise. He understands that this can cause conflict in some parishes. He makes it clear that it must happen without conflict. That’s going to be a judgment call made at the local level. The local pastor and the bishop will have to decide if it can happen without conflict. Remember, conflict does not have to mean a fight. It can simply be a conflict as in a shortage of priests to do this. If you have five masses and two priests, you have a problem, even without the EF. A priest should not celebrate more than two masses.
A conflict can be one of purpose. If you have a community such as Franciscans running your parish, our focus in on preaching, penance, brotherhood, poverty, obedience to Francis, serving our brothers, converting Catholics to Catholicism, running soup kitchens and monastic observances. In places where the celebration of the EF interferes with this, it’s going to be put on the back burner for future consideration.
I know very little about the Oratorians. If they feel that the EF does not contribute to their community life, they’re going to put it on the back burner, just as other religious orders would do. Communities use the means given to them in their statutes to serve the people of God. The EF may or may not fit into this big picture. Being part of a community is always going to cause a tension for the members. On the one hand, you have the laity and its requirements and on the other hand you have the community and its requirements. It’s not always easy to reconcile the two. Sometimes you can reconcile the two and sometimes you have to decide in favor of your community. You may never decide in favor of the laity. That is not allowed of religious.
That’s why the Holy Father does not command, he requests, he suggests, he recommends and he encourages. He understands the tension involved for the community man and for the diocesan priest too. He also understands the desire of the laity.
Now that you see how complicated this can be, maybe you can see why some bishops were so upset when SP was issued. For some it was like “Life just became more complicated. Where am I going to get priests who want to do this and who can do it right?”
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
