Italian bishop Derio Olivero in cathedral in Piedmont omits the Creed to avoid offending non believers & Protestants at Epiphany mass

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The following is a translation of an article found in the Italian online publication "La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana (The New Compass)

The translated text will be presented sequentially in subsequent posts with a link to the original article on the final page.
  1. "Italian bishop Derio Olivero in cathedral in Piedmont omits the Creed to avoid offending non believers & Protestants at Epiphany mass.
People don’t need creeds. And the bishop silences him

Pinerolo. Bewilderment among the faithful in the Cathedral for the Epiphany Mass, now renamed “Feast of peoples”. Bishop Olivero does not proclaim the Creed. In its place a moment of silence. And at The New BQ he defended the choice: “I respect the Missal all year round, but there were also Orthodox, Waldensians and non-believers…”. The Ecumenical vicissitudes of the bishop who tames the mass to the circumstances of the moment and puts the gag to the profession of faith. But faced with this you have a duty to shout: “you are not allowed”.

The Creed at Mass has become more and more an optional for many priests. There are those who do not proclaim it and those who alter it according to their own desires. This time, however, not to pronounce the profession of faith is a bishop himself and the fact acquires a decidedly more serious value. In fact, the priest who does not proclaim the Creed can be reproached by his own bishop, but what will happen if he does not say so is the bishop himself, who of the liturgy in his diocese is supreme guarantor and moderator?

The question remains unanswered when we consider what happened in Pinerolo, Piedmont’s pre-Alpine diocese, where Bishop Derio Olivero completely omitted the proclamation of the Creed during the mass of the Epiphany on Monday 6 January.

In the Cathedral of Pinerolo, for the” mass of peoples", in the late afternoon they met as well as the faithful also some representatives of other religious denominations and the usual civic authorities. All in the sign of a media ecumenism forced, of which Olivero is aware advocate.

After the homily, the Bishop announced that the Creed would not be proclaimed.

“Since there are also non – believers-Olivero said-Everyone says it in silence. He who believes can say it, and he who does not believe or has other faiths, will say in silence the reasons for his belief.” This communication was followed by a few minutes of embarrassment, then mass resumed as if nothing had happened.

This was confirmed to The New BQ by some faithless faithful, one of whom also recorded the bishop’s announcement.

But even the diocese confirmed the episode trying to justify the decision: “to internalize it better,” they tried to explain in the Curia. . . .
 
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2.Later came also the version of the bishop himself, who, through the spokesman explained to The New BQ the legitimacy of the omission of the Creed, which instead, as a fixed part of the festive mass is never omitted when it is prescribed by Missal. And above all it is never pronounced in silence or in private since the profession of faith, as the word itself says, is the most public we can manifest as Christians because it is the condensed of the truths of the Catholic faith. In short, there is no bishop who holds: the Creed cannot be omitted at will. Let alone pronounce it in silence since precisely the words profession and proclamation bring to root precisely the nature of public act.

The pastor of piedmont has basically explained that “this - in my opinion - is not a violation of anything”, but then specified to say mass in the Cathedral every Sunday of the year and never to commit liturgical abuses: “Respect the Missal 56 Sundays throughout the year and compared with the liturgy, but on the occasion of this Mass there were in the church other confesisoni and I thought that the catholics could say in silence, I Believe, and those who, like the Waldensians and Orthodox, could proclaim something in which to believe. All in silence, but I repeat my absolute fidelity to the Missal”.

The words of Bishop Olivero, considered one of the bishops more “in career” than those ordained in Italy by Pope Francis and who seems to be running – it is said – even for the chair of Turin, are also in the ears of Sunday faithful, at least daring. Perhaps instrumentalizing mass as a" game " falls within the requirements to make a career? Given a certain propensity to talk about himself, maybe.

First of all, with his gesture Olivero makes the faithful renounce their identity, due to a misunderstanding and therefore erroneous spirit of ecumenism. And it does so in the moment of maximum ecclesial and Christian identity: mass.

Secondly, it subjectivizes the faith which thus becomes neither more nor less than a personal and private fact, not to be proclaimed in public and therefore, in essence, something to be ashamed of or to keep hidden.

Thirdly, giving up proclaiming the Creed is precisely the opposite of what should be done to proclaim Christ to non-Christians or non-Catholics.

The point is not to respect the liturgy 56 Sundays a year except the day of Epiphany, as the bishop awkwardly tries to say, with a certain narcissism “in career”, but if anything it is always to respect it because the Catholic liturgy is not available to the circumstances of the moment, fashions, politics and feelings. Nor those present.

Here’s the link if you’d like to have access to the whole article, which can be translated by Google translate.

https://lanuovabq.it/it
 
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Extraordinary. A mass may not be an appropriate form of multi-faith service. But if having a mass, it should fit the prescription of a mass. The non-believers present are not compelled to say prayers. And why would they be offended, or have any justification to take offense, at hearing Catholics pray at a catholic mass? The Bishop’s judgement is poor.
 
Very strange. I could not find the same news in any other reliable Italian source. The article linked is from a page very similar to US lifesitenews so I would be a bit cautious.
 
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It’s not clear to me that it was a Mass. In some ways it sounds like an ecumenical service. Either way, Mass or service, I’ll leave it in the bishop’s annointed and capable hands, and not worry myself about it.
 
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aroosi said:
Very strange. I could not find the same news in any other reliable Italian source. The article linked is from a page very similar to US lifesitenews so I would be a bit cautious.
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This Bishop is shown as celebrating the Epiphany Mass at said cathedral on this web site.
Translation:
Epiphany: in the Cathedral of Pinerolo the feast of peoples

Jan 3, 2020 |0 /

Pinerolo. On Monday 6 January, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ, Bishop Derio presiding at 18 hours in the cathedral the “mass of Peoples”.

The faithful from other nations are invited to the celebration in a special way.

https://www.vitadiocesanapinerolese...nia-nel-duomo-di-pinerolo-la-festa-dei-popoli
 
Beryllos said:
Either way, Mass or service, I’ll leave it in the bishop’s annointed and capable hands, and not worry myself about it.
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If you mean the topic is if no interest, that’s fine. But if you mean that you are sure whatever the Bishop did was just fine, I’d suggest you owe no such respect.
 
I don’t know what the Church rules are regarding the recitation of the Creed. However, it sounds strange to me that a traditional part of the Mass would be omitted due to the potential presence of non-believers. Should the latter dictate to the beliefs of the faithful who are attending? Why have Mass altogether then?
 
Someone should have told St. Peter Martyr not to profess the Creed around those it might offend. It would have saved him a knife to the head.

Although, I don’t think you get any crowns for hiding the Creed.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

(St. Peter Martyr famously wrote the first words of the Creed in his own blood as he was being killed)
 
I don’t have the text at hand, so, correct me if I am wrong but I think the Creed may be omitted when there is a renewal of baptismal promises.
 
Beryllos said:
It’s not clear to me that it was a Mass.
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Well, the only liturgy where the Creed is used is the Mass. It’s not using during the Liturgy of the Hours. So I don’t know what else he could be talking about.

Honestly, if he wanted to do a ecumenical service, he should have used Lauds or Vespers (Liturgy of the Hours) which have prayer options on Sundays and Solemnities for ecumenical services.
 
No, I don’t think I meant either of those things. My position is that I presume the bishop is right, and at this time see insufficient evidence to override that presumption.
 
There are over 5000 bishops (of one sort or another) and about 3000 dioceses (or their near equivalents) worldwide. The Diocese of Pinerolo is neither particularly large nor significant. Granted, from time to time some bishop has a “bright” idea which he’d probably be better not to have had. However, while omission of (collective profession of) the creed isn’t great it also isn’t the sign of the apocalypse some seem to want to make it out to be. I’m pretty sure that the average Catholic in the pew has far more important things on their mind (like bills to pay or kids to feed perhaps) than what some bishop somewhere in Italy happens to have done or not done at a particular mass.
 
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aroosi said:
No mention of the ‘omitted credo’ in your new link. Only basic informations about the Epiphany Mass that he celebrated in his diocese. You can not mount a case against the bishop with data so scarce and spotty.
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You appear to direct your post to the wrong person. Perhaps delete and repost to the correct poster? [I’ve provided no links and mounted no case…]
 
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Beryllos said:
My position is that I presume the bishop is right, and at this time see insufficient evidence to override that presumption.
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Do you mean you presume it’s fine to omit the creed in a mass for the reasons asserted (given it appears a bishop did so), or are you unconvinced the events are as asserted by the OP?

[Fyi I would also presume the bishop is right in cases where the facts are unclear. ]
 
No mention of the ‘omitted credo’ in your new link. Only basic informations about the Epiphany Mass that he celebrated in his diocese. You can not mount a case against the bishop with data so scarce and spotty.
 
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