S
Stylites
Guest
Where are there Orthodox Christians calling the Pope and his bishops ‘heretics’? Or claiming that attending a parish Mass is a ‘sin’?
- Status
T
thewanderer
Guest
I’m just gonna add my own experience with the SSPX to this as well. I very nearly became an ‘SSPX layperson’ for want of a better term, when I was younger. The process that brought me back fully in union with the Church was most definately something that was similar to a ‘deprogramming’. I see nothing wrong with saying something if it is true. I am not the first person on this thread to say that from their own experience their journey away from the dangerous attitudes among the SSPX involved something like a deprogramming of sorts. To say that such a deprogramming is necessary then, at least for some, is not derogatory at all, instead it is a simple statement of fact.What speaks volumes is that this sort of attitude would not be tolerated about our fully schismatic eastern brethren. Imagine someone posting that they needed rehab and support from the eastern orthodox church. I just cannot understand the hate on both sides. People talk about how extreme the SSPX rhetoric is and then use extremities themselves.
WHEN there is a union, WHEN the SSPX come home, there will be more sadness than joy I am afraid.
J
JoeBowen7
Guest
On the Orthodox internet fora. Usually the milder word “heterodox” is used, but on occasion you may see a stronger term.
J
JoeBowen7
Guest
I am a little confused on this point. If you are not excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and you are a baptised Catholic then aren’t you in full communion with the Catholic Church?
J
JReducation
Guest
Actually, there is such a program for deprogramming former friars. There are other similar services and projects that help former friars transition into the mainstream. It’s only available to those friars who become secular. If a Franciscan transfers to the Jesuits, this is not available to him. His transition is for the Jesuits to handle. It’s up to the men to make use of these different services and activities. We don’t see the Franciscan family as a cult. However, we do understand that it shapes one’s entire worldview and that it can even be very harmful in some cases. There have been more than one wife who feels that she married a friar. This is not supposed to happen after you receive your indult secularization. You should be able to return to the secular state and resume secular life. For some people, certain practices, values and feelings are part of their personality.
Thread = over 400 post, about the SSPX, branching about communion in the hand and SSPX as a cult. thread wobbling, about to go out of orbit. send help…
See you on the next thread!
It’s an interesting thread while we wait for the official conclusion to this drama.
J
JReducation
Guest
The Catholic Church does not acknowledge the Eastern Orthodox as schismatic. That term was dropped a very long time ago by Pope Paul VI. The Eastern Orthodox Churches are in schism, but the Eastern Orthodox Christians are neither schismatics nor heretics. They were born into that faith tradition.
The term schismatic or heretic only applies to a Catholic. It is a term of Canon Law used to describe Catholics who embrace error or who break with the primacy. The term is not meant to be used with non-Catholics. Canon 1 specifically says that everything in the code of Canon Law of 1983 ONLY applies to the Latin Catholic Church. It does not apply to non Catholics and it does not apply to Eastern Catholics. Terms such as schismatic and heretic do not apply to them, because the authors of the law did not use them with these people in mind. Pope Paul VI used them only with Latin Catholics in mind. Bl. John Paul ratified it. Pope Benedict repeated that this remains the case. He has unequivocally stated that the Orthodox and the Catholics are the two lungs of the one Church. We do not refer to them as schismatics.
I believe that the hatred is easy to understand. It’s not moral, but understandable.
Let me try to help. If someone whom you trust or who is part of your family does something that makes you feel betrayed, humiliated, embarrassed, excluded, inferior or any other negative feeling, it’s going to sting more than if an outsider did it. Why? Because it’s someone whom you trust. I can even be family, which just makes it worse.
The process of responding to help has multiple stages. One of them is furious anger, not just indignation. It’s the kind of anger that wants to cause as much or more hurt than what one feels.
It’s a completely emotional response. Reason has been put on hold and emotions have been given carte blanch. That’s what you have here among some people.
I’ll tell you where I see this a lot in my ministry. I see it a lot with former Fundamentalist Protestants. Everything that looks or smells Protestant causes them morning sickness, even if it’s something good or something perfectly neutral. I know someone who can’t stand the hymn Amazing Grace. To me, as a former Jew, Amazing Grace does not have that effect on me. I know that it was written by an English poet who later became an Anglican priest, long after he has written the poem. As a theologian, there is nothing wrong with it. It’s wording is actually very Augustinian.
I once had someone complain why we sang A Mighty Fortress at Vespers. Before I responded, I asked, “What’s wrong with it?” The lady said, “Father, don’t you know that it’s Protestant?”
I played coy and said, “No I did not know that it was Protestant. I thought that it was Jewish.”
She said, “No, it was written by the heretic, Martin Luther.”
I said, “Martin Luther was a scripture scholar. A Mighty Fortress is a paraphrase of Psalm 46. It just happens that Psalm 46 is part of this evening’s Vespers. If you read Psalm 46 in Hebrew and A Mighty Fortress in German, you can actually see where Luther played with the wording to fit the cadence, but left the message of the psalmist intact.”
I later found out that she was a convert to Catholicism from one of the Fundamentalist ecclesial communities.
These things to a convert from Judaism, Islam, Anglicanism or even atheism does not trigger the same reaction. My point is that much of this hatred is not based on logic as much as it is on emotions. When man allows his emotions to take charge, he can be very cruel.
I don’t expect sadness. If the SSPX comes in as a prelature, most Catholics will have very little contact with the SSPX. Look at Opus Dei. How many Catholics really know about it? how influential is Opus Dei in the daily life of a diocese, even when they have houses in that diocese.
A prelature is governed by rules that define who it can and cannot minister to. It’s not a blank check.
If the the SSPX comes in like the Grand Inquisitors with a mission to rescue the rest of us from our “modernism”, there is going to be more resistance than sadness. I highly doubt that the SSPX leadership would choose such an approach. Why make enemies out of people who are not your enemies?
Look at the FSSP, ICRSS, St. John Cantius, Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, and some of the other Ecclesia Dei communities. No one bothers them. In the USA, the FSSP, ICRSS and the Canons of St. John Cantius are well supported by the big religious orders and bishops. There are just not enough of them to go around. Though I believe that the Canons may be a diocesan congregation. If that’s the case, they can’t leave their diocese.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate have done a great deal to serve as the bridge between the Ecclesia Dei institutes and the major religious orders. The great thing about the FI is that it is not an ED institute. It’s a Franciscan congregation with permission to use the EF, but at the same time to maintain all of the post Vatican II changes to the Franciscan constitutions, which really were a return to the 13th century anyway.
If the SSPX works up a friendship with them or with the MFVAs at EWTN or the CFRs, people will have a positive curiosity about them. These are communities that have earned the affection and trust of the majority of lay Catholics and bishops.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
J
JoeBowen7
Guest
Where did they say that this was heresy. I thought that they merely said that they disagreed with it.
J
JReducation
Guest
Not necessarily. The wording is a little tricky.
They are Catholic. They can receive the sacraments. They are not allowed to administer the sacraments unless it’s an emergency, because they are suspended. A suspension is a serious penalty for breaking a law or ticking off your superior. In either case, it’s serious.
If you’re suspended, you’re not supposed to be celebrating sacraments for the public. The more you do that, the bigger the chasm between you and the authority of the Church, in this case, the pope.
In addition, you must have a canonical place in the Church. This means that you must be a diocese, religious community, society of apostolic life, secular institute, secular order or a prelature. The Church does not grant them any of these status. If you have no status, then you are like a citizen who is homeless.
They are Catholics, but they have no place in the Church. The best way to explain this is that they are not in full communion with the Church. Full communion involves being in communion with your bishop and with the pope.
If your bishop or the pope say go left and you go right, then you’re not in full communion, unless it’s a matter of little importance to the bishop or the pope. Popes and bishops often look the other way. One learns to pick his battles when one is responsible for so much.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
C
ConstantineTG
Guest
I am starting to be confused by this term. Isn’t communion something that you are or you are not? Are there shades of grey between the black and the white?
J
Justin_Swanton
Guest
I always found the term rather woolly myself. Anyone have an authoritative definition of ‘partial communion’ and ‘full communion’?
J
JReducation
Guest
Someone from the SSPX did make such as statement.
If ByzCathCantor is like me, he probably pays no attention to who says what, when and where. I have found that after a while, extreme traditionalists and extreme liberals say so many things, much of it is not representative of their people, but it’s their own opinion or they repeat the same thing that someone already said. When that happens, I make a mental note that they said it and ignore who said it and where.
The liberals have said that the Church oppresses women, so often, that it no longer registers with me. I know that it’s true. I also know that we’re doing our best to fix it and that it’s not going to be fixed overnight or be fixed by ordaining women.
The traditionalists have used modernists, heretics, conciliarists, novus ordo and heresy so often, that it has lost its impact on me. I just read it and go “Hmmm . . . what’s new in this article?”
I already know that I’m a misogynist, anti gay, modernist, heretic who is going to burn in hell. Tell me something I don’t know.
My suggestion to people is not to even bother to go looking for who called whom a heretic or a misogynist this week. If you missed it, keep your eyes and ears open. Someone will repeat it next week.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
J
JReducation
Guest
There are degrees of communion.
*]Being a baptized Christian establishes the first degree of communion with the Catholic Church. But we know that not all baptized Christians are Catholic, such as the Protestants.
*]Then you have agreements in matters of faith, such as the scriptures. All Christians share the same scriptures. Now you have something else in communion with the Catholic Church.
*]You can have valid apostolic succession such as is the case with the Orthodox, Old Catholics and the SSPX. There is something else that binds you to Rome and to the Church. This is referred to as Communion in Sacris (Communion on the Sacred).
*]If you have agreement in doctrine/dogma, then you have communion in fides. That is,communion in matters of faith that are requried.
*]If you submit to the authority of the pope as the Vicar of Christ, the Pontiff of the Universal Church, the infallible head of Christianity and the keeper of the keys to the Kingdom, you have communion in Petris or communion with Peter.
*]If you comply with Church teachings and Church laws, then you have communion in will. In other words, you acknowledge the rights of authority and you submit to authority.
*]If you have all of the above, then you are in full communion. If you have some of the above, you are in an imperfect communion.
Those who are in an imperfect communion or an irregular status, cannot hold a canonical place in the Church or exercise any kind of ministry in the Church. You must meet all of these criteria to be earn you canonical status.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
C
ConstantineTG
Guest
There are degrees of communion.
*]Being a baptized Christian establishes the first degree of communion with the Catholic Church. But we know that not all baptized Christians are Catholic, such as the Protestants.
*]Then you have agreements in matters of faith, such as the scriptures. All Christians share the same scriptures. Now you have something else in communion with the Catholic Church.
*]You can have valid apostolic succession such as is the case with the Orthodox, Old Catholics and the SSPX. There is something else that binds you to Rome and to the Church. This is referred to as Communion in Sacris (Communion on the Sacred).
*]If you have agreement in doctrine/dogma, then you have communion in fides. That is,communion in matters of faith that are requried.
*]If you submit to the authority of the pope as the Vicar of Christ, the Pontiff of the Universal Church, the infallible head of Christianity and the keeper of the keys to the Kingdom, you have communion in Petris or communion with Peter.
*]If you comply with Church teachings and Church laws, then you have communion in will. In other words, you acknowledge the rights of authority and you submit to authority.
*]If you have all of the above, then you are in full communion. If you have some of the above, you are in an imperfect communion.
Those who are in an imperfect communion or an irregular status, cannot hold a canonical place in the Church or exercise any kind of ministry in the Church. You must meet all of these criteria to be earn you canonical status.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
Great to learn more new stuff from you, Bro. JR
But looking at this list, it seems most of us are in imperfect communion. Especially about the one on agreement with Church Laws.
J
JReducation
Guest
HEY!!! Speak for yourself.Great to learn more new stuff from you, Bro. JR
But looking at this list, it seems most of us are in imperfect communion. Especially about the one on agreement with Church Laws.
The truth is that we’re always working toward that full communion. Life is a journey, not a destination.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
D
Dee_S
Guest
It would be appreciated if Brother could help in this regard, as it is a constant theme in the SSPX to denounce all the ‘conciliar’ Popes as holding or having held heretical ideas etc. I have read countless pamphlets, newsletters etc and each one sings the same song.
As each new Pope is elected (or, in the instance of Cardinal Muller’s appointment to the CDF and Ecclesia Dei), there begins their campaign to discredit him. Why they do this is anyone’s guess - BUT - the fact that they do and the fact that it harms the laity is there to be seen,… if one does not deliberately choose to ignore the collateral damage resulting from an association with them.
I wonder if it will ever come about - the fundamental trust for the Church. Speaking for myself, I have yet to acquire it. The harm that I have done to myself and my way of thinking seems irreparable. I often think that perhaps it is part of my punishment for ever having doubted and that it is something I will have to live with until the day that I die.
If only there was some kind of former sede/SSPX rehabilitation site, or service, or help. But there isn’t.
Lormar you have my sympathy:console:and I’m sure that of the rest of us here who understand what actually is said and done and what takes place there. Most ‘outsiders’ are looking at the problem from a secure distance, and can afford to be academic about it. I would call the emotions experienced by those disillusioned by the SSPX ‘righteous’ in so far as many lay people attend their Masses because of a deep love for the Tridentine Rite and the spiritual dynamic that satisfies their souls - not for all the polemics and propoganda that go with it.
Being an ‘escapee’ myself, the best advice I can offer you is to pray - especially to St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. Ask him to strengthen your will to remained united to the Church and the Pope, no matter what storms rage in your mind and soul. Which they will due to the
confusion and error planted in a Catholic soul, being fed a diet which is constantly urging it to disobey and mistrust it’s own Mother.If it’s the Mass you love, perhaps look for a Mass Centre that is in communion with the Church in your area (which we do not have in my country at all). I’m sure they will also be able to help you, as is the design and purpose of the commission Ecclesia Dei, to ‘cross the great divide’ to peace.
C
ConstantineTG
Guest
Well Brother, that is why I said “most”HEY!!! Speak for yourself.
The truth is that we’re always working toward that full communion. Life is a journey, not a destination.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
But I agree with what you said. Life is a journey, we need to keep getting ourselves on the narrow path as it is easy to step off it.
D
Denise1957
Guest
Great post here. I would like to add, however, that I agree that Catholic converts bring with them ‘baggage’ (my term) from their previous faith, but fears about other Catholics and what they believe can, I think, come from a variety of sources. And sometimes, Catholics have fears about the EF and all that goes along with it. I’ve stated my worries about the SSPX, but there are those who have fears, as I said, about the EF and will continually try to correct Catholics who are attached to the EF, even if those Catholics are charitable.The Catholic Church does not acknowledge the Eastern Orthodox as schismatic. That term was dropped a very long time ago by Pope Paul VI. The Eastern Orthodox Churches are in schism, but the Eastern Orthodox Christians are neither schismatics nor heretics. They were born into that faith tradition.
The term schismatic or heretic only applies to a Catholic. It is a term of Canon Law used to describe Catholics who embrace error or who break with the primacy. The term is not meant to be used with non-Catholics. Canon 1 specifically says that everything in the code of Canon Law of 1983 ONLY applies to the Latin Catholic Church. It does not apply to non Catholics and it does not apply to Eastern Catholics. Terms such as schismatic and heretic do not apply to them, because the authors of the law did not use them with these people in mind. Pope Paul VI used them only with Latin Catholics in mind. Bl. John Paul ratified it. Pope Benedict repeated that this remains the case. He has unequivocally stated that the Orthodox and the Catholics are the two lungs of the one Church. We do not refer to them as schismatics.
I believe that the hatred is easy to understand. It’s not moral, but understandable.
Let me try to help. If someone whom you trust or who is part of your family does something that makes you feel betrayed, humiliated, embarrassed, excluded, inferior or any other negative feeling, it’s going to sting more than if an outsider did it. Why? Because it’s someone whom you trust. I can even be family, which just makes it worse.
The process of responding to help has multiple stages. One of them is furious anger, not just indignation. It’s the kind of anger that wants to cause as much or more hurt than what one feels.
It’s a completely emotional response. Reason has been put on hold and emotions have been given carte blanch. That’s what you have here among some people.
I’ll tell you where I see this a lot in my ministry. I see it a lot with former Fundamentalist Protestants. Everything that looks or smells Protestant causes them morning sickness, even if it’s something good or something perfectly neutral. I know someone who can’t stand the hymn Amazing Grace. To me, as a former Jew, Amazing Grace does not have that effect on me. I know that it was written by an English poet who later became an Anglican priest, long after he has written the poem. As a theologian, there is nothing wrong with it. It’s wording is actually very Augustinian.
I once had someone complain why we sang A Mighty Fortress at Vespers. Before I responded, I asked, “What’s wrong with it?” The lady said, “Father, don’t you know that it’s Protestant?”
I played coy and said, “No I did not know that it was Protestant. I thought that it was Jewish.”
She said, “No, it was written by the heretic, Martin Luther.”
I said, “Martin Luther was a scripture scholar. A Mighty Fortress is a paraphrase of Psalm 46. It just happens that Psalm 46 is part of this evening’s Vespers. If you read Psalm 46 in Hebrew and A Mighty Fortress in German, you can actually see where Luther played with the wording to fit the cadence, but left the message of the psalmist intact.”
I later found out that she was a convert to Catholicism from one of the Fundamentalist ecclesial communities.
These things to a convert from Judaism, Islam, Anglicanism or even atheism does not trigger the same reaction. My point is that much of this hatred is not based on logic as much as it is on emotions. When man allows his emotions to take charge, he can be very cruel.
I don’t expect sadness. If the SSPX comes in as a prelature, most Catholics will have very little contact with the SSPX. Look at Opus Dei. How many Catholics really know about it? how influential is Opus Dei in the daily life of a diocese, even when they have houses in that diocese.
A prelature is governed by rules that define who it can and cannot minister to. It’s not a blank check.
If the the SSPX comes in like the Grand Inquisitors with a mission to rescue the rest of us from our “modernism”, there is going to be more resistance than sadness. I highly doubt that the SSPX leadership would choose such an approach. Why make enemies out of people who are not your enemies?
Look at the FSSP, ICRSS, St. John Cantius, Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, and some of the other Ecclesia Dei communities. No one bothers them. In the USA, the FSSP, ICRSS and the Canons of St. John Cantius are well supported by the big religious orders and bishops. There are just not enough of them to go around. Though I believe that the Canons may be a diocesan congregation. If that’s the case, they can’t leave their diocese.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate have done a great deal to serve as the bridge between the Ecclesia Dei institutes and the major religious orders. The great thing about the FI is that it is not an ED institute. It’s a Franciscan congregation with permission to use the EF, but at the same time to maintain all of the post Vatican II changes to the Franciscan constitutions, which really were a return to the 13th century anyway.
If the SSPX works up a friendship with them or with the MFVAs at EWTN or the CFRs, people will have a positive curiosity about them. These are communities that have earned the affection and trust of the majority of lay Catholics and bishops.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
So what I’m trying to say is that we all have fears to a certain extent. Some seem to show their fears in an obvious or emotional manner, while others intellectualize them. Intellectualizing them can hide the fears from others, for awhile. But if we really know ourselves and how our fears are working in us, there shouldn’t be anything to hide. And if we admit to them, it may be the first step toward dealing with them, and asking God and our Blessed Mother to help us with them. Fears can manifest in different ways. Just my opinion here.
B
ByzCathCantor
Guest
Indeed, and I’ll likely be burning in hell with you, Brother, although I am sure you will have earned a somewhat cooler spot than me for all Eternity
As for the claim of heresy, it is implicit when one asserts that a bishop (or anyone for that matter) teaches something that conflicts with established Catholic dogmas. The express charge of heresy does not need to be made for it to be evident. That may make them more polite, but no less polemic. That notwithstanding, as Brother JR points out, it was already expressly made by some.
This article serves to make the case - the intent is clear by publishing such on the official website. What would Catholics in general think if such appeared, say, on the official website of a non-Catholic Church or ecclesiastical community?
As I stated, I find it interesting that the specific charge I had mentioned would, by logical extension, mean that a believe held by Eastern Catholics is heretical. In that regard, the case against the Archbishop is faulty on this point, as the analysis is incomplete and inaccurate. Catholic teaching does encompass the full spectrum of Catholicism. I’m sure the Archbishop is well read on the early Church fathers, and that has likely influenced the formation of his thought and believe on this subject.
While I pray this can and will be resolved, it is disheartening to see not even a “cease-fire” s to speak as discussions are ongoing. Even warring countries observe such rules …
M
Moore11
Guest
There are degrees of communion.
*]Being a baptized Christian establishes the first degree of communion with the Catholic Church. But we know that not all baptized Christians are Catholic, such as the Protestants.
*]Then you have agreements in matters of faith, such as the scriptures. All Christians share the same scriptures. Now you have something else in communion with the Catholic Church.
*]You can have valid apostolic succession such as is the case with the Orthodox, Old Catholics and the SSPX. There is something else that binds you to Rome and to the Church. This is referred to as Communion in Sacris (Communion on the Sacred).
*]If you have agreement in doctrine/dogma, then you have communion in fides. That is,communion in matters of faith that are requried.
*]If you submit to the authority of the pope as the Vicar of Christ, the Pontiff of the Universal Church, the infallible head of Christianity and the keeper of the keys to the Kingdom, you have communion in Petris or communion with Peter.
*]If you comply with Church teachings and Church laws, then you have communion in will. In other words, you acknowledge the rights of authority and you submit to authority.
*]If you have all of the above, then you are in full communion. If you have some of the above, you are in an imperfect communion.
Those who are in an imperfect communion or an irregular status, cannot hold a canonical place in the Church or exercise any kind of ministry in the Church. You must meet all of these criteria to be earn you canonical status.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
At what point on your seven levels of Catholics can one actually call themselves Catholic? Do you have to reach a certain level or hold a 4 out of 7 majority?
J
JReducation
Guest
I believe that you’re perfectly right. Fear that is unrecognized grows and has the potential to cripple our freedom. Whereas when we deal with fear, our freedom is safeguarded, because we are in control.
Having grown up surrounded by the EF and Catholics who attended the EF, before there was anything else, I saw both sides of the coin. There were people for whom it was an uplifting experience. There were others who were not so inspired, but it was something familiar to them. Human beings don’t take changes with grace. Changes frighten them.
Today, we’re seeing the same reaction in the other direction. People who feel comfortable in the Ordinary Form, whether they get some spiritual nurturing from it or not, are not ready to let go of that which is familiar to them.
The problem is often language. Most people whom I know who use the Extraordinary Form never talk about it. It’s not a topic of discussion. They have more important things to do and to discuss than the form of the mass that they prefer. If they speak about it, they do so in broad terms. They speak about the parish that they attend, how much they like it and why.
Religious communities and diocesan priests who use the EF are the same. We don’t make a fuss about it. A mas is a mass is a mass. In my own community we use one of three forms: the Ordinary Form, the Extraordinary Form; the Roman-Franciscan Form. If you struck up a conversation with one of our brothers about the merits of the Tridentine form, he would listen politely, but his head is wondering, “Why are we discussing this?”
To these folks, the focus is the Eucharist, not the form. They have no desire to see any of these forms become generalized throughout the Latin Church anymore than they would want to see Benedictine spirituality generalized. To us, that means spending 90 minutes praying Lauds. Franciscans have no spent 90 minutes praying Lauds since Francis and Clare banned Gregorian chant and adopted the breviary promulgated by the Lateran Council. At most, Lauds lasts 20 to 30 minutes.
This is just an example, but here is where I’m going with this. If each time we met with a Benedictine we heard a desire to see the monastic office implemented for the entire Latin Church, we would cringe. Without realizing it, what the individual is saying is that he has something better or that those of us who do not use the monastic office are lacking something. It can also come across as a threat to take away the freedom to choose how we pray the office.
This happens when some people on both sides of the aisle cannot keep their mouths shut or cannot word their statements in such a way so that it does not send a negative message to the other side of the house. When a mainstream Catholic says something ridiculous such as referring to the use of the EF as a return to the Middle Ages, as if everything from the Middle Ages is bad and everything from the present age is a perfect, it threatens the traditionalist.
On the flip side, when the Traditionalist says that every parish should have an EF or worse, that the Latin Church should revert to the Tridentine form and make that the norm, it has the same threatening effect on the mainstream Catholic. It sends the same message. Everything old is good and everything new is bad.
Part of that is due to the fact that people before 1963 did not speak Latin, did not know the rubrics and did not know that there were diverse forms of the Tridentine mass. People were not as mobile as we are today. They had no idea that the parish down the street used a different form of the Tridentine mass because the priest was a religious. Nor did they know that some priests fulfilled their obligations to celebrate a votive mass, a mass for a deceased person and the mass for the day by piling all the intentions into one mass and linking the collects. The mass was valid, but highly illicit.
People assumed that every priest knew Latin. Another false assumption. They knew enough Latin to decode the missal. Often, they did not know enough to actually interpret what they were praying. They knew the prayers that were part of the ordinary. Those prayers you use daily. As the collects changed from one day to the next and the readings changed, most priests were not fluent enough in Latin to pick it up and rattle it off in English as one would do with say Spanish and English. I can pick up a lectionary in Spanish and rattle off the readings in English, if necessary. That’s called fluency. That kind of fluency in Latin was more common in earlier years and among scholars in later years.
Many people today assume that the reform of the liturgy means that we try to be as creative as possible. That’s another false assumption. Too much creativity can lead to deviation from the original intent. However, person in the pew does not know that you don’t applaud at the end of a good homily. They’re actually being polite and being grateful. They don’t realize that the proper time would be as they’re leaving the Church and Father or the deacon are outside. People don’t know that having children’s drawings and balloons around the sanctuary is wrong, it clutters the sanctuary and distracts more than it helps.
When people from either side oft the aisle don’t know these things, they say silly things such as, “We should all do it this way.” or “This is the right way to do it.” These expressions trigger fear.
As you rightly said, fear that is not addressed can be crippling. Once our inhibitions are crippled, what comes out of our mouth can be very cruel. We must do two things. First, we must avoid making nonsense statements about what is best for everyone. We’re not God. Second, we must recognize our fears and we must address them.
I’ll add an anecdote to close here. When the matter of the EF came up in our community, as we were getting ready to become autonomous, we realized that the constitutions do not address it. There was the option of writing it into the constitutions, before submitting them to the bishop for final approval or not mentioning it at all. We opted not to write it into the constitution. Instead, we wrote into the constitution Francis’ rule that if there are more than two priests in a house, only one may celebrate mass. The other has to attend mass with the community. He may not celebrate a private mass. The superior of the house decides the form of the mass, not the priest. The superior has the authority to let the priest decide or the house can overrule the superior by bringing it up at a chapter and making it law for the house, keeping in mind the law of the Church and the particular law of the Franciscan family.
It was very helpful. I saw the look of relief on the faces of the brothers when we read the final version of the chapter on liturgical life. They didn’t feel trapped into something that neither the Church nor St. Francis required of us. At the same time, those who have an affection for the EF felt that they could ask for it. It was not banned or considered archaic. It was all in the hands of the superior, just as everything else is. I’m trying to say is that we acknowledged our fear and we dealt with it by writing the statute in a way that is not threatening to anyone. We need to do this in our daily lives. We need to write statutes for ourselves that mitigate or abolish fear.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
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