Cardinal invokes Canon Law to stop Archbishop Burke celebrating Latin Mass at Westminster

[didymus]

from The Telegraph (UK):

Cardinal invokes Canon Law to stop Archbishop Burke celebrating Latin Mass at Westminster

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has invoked Canon Law to justify banning Archbishop Raymond Burke, a senior Vatican prelate, from saying the traditional Latin Mass at Westminster Cathedral in June.

As I reported last night, the Latin Mass Society has been forced by the Cardinal to rescind its invitation to Archbishop Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura and one of Benedict XVI’s right-hand men, to celebrate its annual Mass.

A spokesman has just told me: “In accordance with Canon 838, it is the Cardinal who lays down in the church entrusted to his care the liturgical regulations which are binding on all.” Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor was keen to have one of his own auxiliaries say the Mass, and Bishop John Arnold will now do so, he added. Archbishop Burke “is welcome to attend”, but “it wasn’t really the position of the Latin Mass Society to invite him in the first place”.

My contacts in the Society are horrified by what they regard as a insult to Archbishop Burke, a former Archbishop of St Louis who is expected to be made a cardinal soon. They say they had no idea that the Cardinal’s permission for the Archbishop to celebrate would be anything other than a formality.

I’ve read that Card. Murphy-O’Connor has opposed the Holy Father on expanding the use of the EF but this is pretty damned rude.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

As much as I like Archbishop Burke, wasn’t it also a bit rude for the Latin Mass Society to go over the local ordinary’s head and invite another Bishop to say mass in his diocese? Why didn’t they clear this with the local ordinary first?

 

[eldestofvic]

… Why didn’t they clear this with the local ordinary first?

Because EF’rs have developed a sense of entitlement and think they know better than everyone else.

I say put it (EF) in a couple of “museum piece” churches around the world so that people can visit it on their holidays and say things like “Oh, how quaint?”. Otherwise get rid of it.

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

Because EF’rs have developed a sense of entitlement and think they know better than everyone else.

I say put it (EF) in a couple of “museum piece” churches around the world so that people can visit it on their holidays and say things like “Oh, how quaint?”. Otherwise get rid of it.

Excuse me??? Get rid of the Mass that was said for most of the Church’s history? How about you don’t insult the Holy Mass and those who like the the EF?

 

[Neil_Anthony]

Because EF’rs have developed a sense of entitlement and think they know better than everyone else.

I say put it (EF) in a couple of “museum piece” churches around the world so that people can visit it on their holidays and say things like “Oh, how quaint?”. Otherwise get rid of it.

Well, they are entitled to the EF. But not to just invite another bishop into their bishop’s cathedral without letting him know.

 

[bkovacs]

Because EF’rs have developed a sense of entitlement and think they know better than everyone else.

I say put it (EF) in a couple of “museum piece” churches around the world so that people can visit it on their holidays and say things like “Oh, how quaint?”. Otherwise get rid of it.

And OF’rs have done all they can to remove anything that is remotely Catholic. Go play your guitars and clap away with your Protestant brethren.

 

[pnewton]

I just can’t get over the rudeness aspect. It doesn’t bode well when Church leaders don’t play well together. I trust that at least AB Burke will show the world that one can be Catholic and Christ-like.

 

[sonofourlady]

Similar thread over here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=311976

 

[didymus]

from Fr. JohnZuhlsdorf’s blog, WDTPRS:

We are hearing that His Eminence Cormac Card. Murphy-O’Connor, the lame-duck Archbishop of Westminster has refused permission to His Excellency Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Signatura, to celebrate a Pontifical Mass organized by the Latin Mass Society.

I know Archbishop Burke personally. He would not have accepted an invitation and confirmed it had he thought formalities weren’t going to be observed. He would have wanted a “nihil obstat”, as it were, from the local bishop, in this case Card. Murphy-O’Connor. Archbp. Burke is precise. I can see him saying “Sure, that date is good. But I will need a letter from the Cardinal, just to be sure.” Heads of dicasteries also usually have to consult with the Secretariat of State when they are going to leave Rome and do something high profile… just to be sure.

Formalities are not important… until they are.

Card. Murphy-O’Connor is fully within his rights to make the determination about a visiting bishop coming to celebrate a Pontifical Mass in his cathedral or anywhere else in his diocese.

That doesn’t mean he should have exercised them now, and in this way.

Who knows if this could have been avoided? Maybe. Maybe not. Yes, the Latin Mas Society ought to have been more diligent in the formalities. Had they been, the formalities could not be an excuse for saying Archbp. Burke couldn’t sing the Mass.

The real reason would have been more obvious than it is.

Frankly, I think we are seeing here a pretty blatant smack-down from the Cardinal. I suspect he doesn’t like any of this Latin stuff. He used his power to spoil something that would have been a great event. He slammed the door on someone dear to the supporters of the TLM and close to Pope Benedict’s vision.

That is what happens when you have hostility on both sides and one side has the power.

People are genuinely and reasonably upset.

Nevertheless, though I marvel at this decision of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster to stick his thumb in the eye both of the Prefect of the Signatura and the LMS, including many of his own flock who are no doubt badly hurt, no matter that this is a brutta figura before the whole world, can I say it is a surprise?

 

[catharina]

As much as I like Archbishop Burke, wasn’t it also a bit rude for the Latin Mass Society to go over the local ordinary’s head and invite another Bishop to say mass in his diocese? Why didn’t they clear this with the local ordinary first?

Exactly - very good questions. It’s beyond rude to ignore the one in authority and forge ahead with other plans. (Sounds familiar too.)

 

[fix]

from Fr. JohnZuhlsdorf’s blog, WDTPRS:

Thanks for posting this. Folks should go there and read the rest of that post. Very well done.

 

[CradleCath]

And OF’rs have done all they can to remove anything that is remotely Catholic. Go play your guitars and clap away with your Protestant brethren.

Absolutely. We traditional Catholics do not need this. We had our Mass, our Churches, our clergy ripped from us, yet those of us who are still Catholic are getting past the frustration & anger that we felt watching many of the leaders of our faith…embrace “creative” Masses, a dumbed-down Catholicism, a totally liberal point of view about active homosexuals, divorce & remarriage, contraception, etc. ETC. Personally, all I want now is to be left alone to celebrate the Mass of the Ages, to say the rosary, to light a candle after Mass.

Yes, it would have been nice for the Latin Mass Community to seek the approval of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (& they may have, I am not sure about that yet). Still to compare a mistep of protocol, to the Cardinal’s PUBLIC humiliation of Archbishop Burke & the Pope, is like comparing a splinter to a broken leg. When a man reaches his age & has risen to the office of Cardinal, he ought to have more sense & to have, at least, developed a sense of Catholic kindness.

IMO., he used Archbishop Burke to insult the Pope & Summorum Pontificum. Will Benedict XVI do anything about that now? I don’t know. He will have to judge both the strength of his friends & his foes & strike when the time is right. Make no mistake about it, the happenings of the last few weeks, the actions of the clergy in Austria & Murphy O’connor, are pretty much a declaration of war.
I don’t think the old guard will win this one. Their day is over.

 

[piperspop]

What the pope needs is more conservatives on his side.

The Traditional Anglican Communion is ready, he just needs to say the word.

 

[Digitonomy]

I’ve read that Card. Murphy-O’Connor has opposed the Holy Father on expanding the use of the EF but this is pretty damned rude.

Do we know for certain that the mass won’t be celebrated in the extraordinary form? That didn’t seem clear from the article, merely that local Bishop John Arnold will be the celebrant.

 

[ora_pro_nobis]

This is not the whole story.

Cardinal uses canon law to stop Vatican official from saying Mass

By Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service

LONDON (CNS) – An English cardinal has used canon law to prevent a Vatican official from celebrating a Tridentine-rite Mass in Westminster Cathedral and instead has asked an auxiliary bishop to celebrate it.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster refused to grant permission for U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, head of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, to celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, called the Tridentine rite, in the London cathedral June 20. The cardinal used the Code of Canon Law to insist that the Mass be celebrated instead by Auxiliary Bishop John Arnold of Westminster.

Archbishop Burke already had accepted an invitation from the Latin Mass Society, a British Catholic group committed to promoting the Tridentine rite, but the invitation has since been rescinded.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor invoked Canon 838, which says that the diocesan bishop and the Holy See have competence over the liturgy.

A spokesman for Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor told Catholic News Service in a Feb. 17 telephone interview that “the cardinal was keen for one of the local bishops to celebrate that Mass.”

“He doesn’t want to give the impression that it is only bishops from abroad, foreign bishops, who come in and celebrate the extraordinary form, and that’s precisely why he asked Bishop Arnold to do it,” the spokesman said.

The cardinal, he said, has subsequently discussed the matter with the archbishop and has “apologized for any misunderstanding, and Archbishop Burke has understood the point.”

The spokesman added, “Clearly this is a misunderstanding down to the fact that the (Latin Mass Society) erroneously invited him in the first place – erroneously because it wasn’t their position to ask anyone to celebrate Mass in the diocese. It is for the bishop of the diocese to invite people to celebrate Mass and not the (Latin Mass Society).”

John Medlin, general manager of the Latin Mass Society, confirmed in a Feb. 17 press statement that Archbishop Burke had accepted the invitation to celebrate the Mass.

He said that after a “most friendly and useful meeting” with the cardinal in early February, the society “gratefully accepted” the idea that Bishop Arnold should instead celebrate the Mass.

Archbishop Burke was invited as the society’s guest because of his support for the traditional Mass.

The archbishop, an experienced canon lawyer, was not immediately available for comment.

END

02/17/2009 12:32 PM ET

Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Please note, this was resolved in early February, to the satisfaction of all parties (though perhaps with a little embarassment!) - I don’t know why it’s all coming out in blogs now, except for the bloggers’ own agendas.

 

[CradleCath]

This is not the whole story.

Please note, this was resolved in early February, to the satisfaction of all parties (though perhaps with a little embarassment!) - I don’t know why it’s all coming out in blogs now, except for the bloggers’ own agendas.

I don’t know. Father Z. addressed it this week. Something smells rotten in Denmark (& Austria & the United Kingdom.

 

[ora_pro_nobis]

I don’t know. Father Z. addressed it this week. Something smells rotten in Denmark (& Austria & the United Kingdom.

Bloggers often pick up something long after it’s a dead issue though.I’d trust what the LMS (who are actually involved in this) say over someone who wasn’t there

 

[Kevin42]

We traditional Catholics do not need this. We had our Mass, our Churches, our clergy ripped from us, yet those of us who are still Catholic are getting past the…

The Holy Mass, in whatever form it is said, is property of NO particular group of people. It is a gift to the entire Body of Christ, given by God Himself.

 

[pnewton]

Please note, this was resolved in early February,

Bloggers often pick up something long after it’s a dead issue though.I’d trust what the LMS (who are actually involved in this) say over someone who wasn’t there

I do not think any one else considers February “long dead.”

 

[ora_pro_nobis]

I do not think any one else considers February “long dead.”

In terms of news it is!