December 2010
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Church and World
Abp. Piacenza Appointed Prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Clergy
The name of Cardinal Claudio Hummes’ successor as prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy has just come out. It is the secretary of the same dicastery, Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, a 66-year-old Italian who considers himself a spiritual son of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa for more than 40 years, who ordained him priest.
Intellectually brilliant, Msgr. Piacenza is equally ultraconservative. This choice is obviously not neutral. It is question of rewarding one of the key individuals in the recently concluded Year of the Priest. But, beyond this, Msgr. Piacenza incarnates an architraditional vision of the priest. It is a detail, but his unfailing attachment to ecclesiastical garb is telling. Priests will no doubt once again be urged to wear it, especially the cassock, or the Roman collar at the very least.
This choice is certainly a cold shower for his predecessor in this charge, the Brazilian Claudio Hummes, formerly Archbishop of Fortaleza, then of Sao Paulo, a once rather progressive Franciscan of 76 years who never renounced the enthusiasms of his youth (liberation theology) despite a clear turn to spirituality, if not conservatism. In comparison with Piacenza, however, he cuts the figure of a man of the Left. It is known that he defended the priestly ordination of married men, which will obviously not be the case of Piacenza.
Archbishop Piacenza’s nomination bears the Pope’s personal stamp. Directly vertical promotions (from secretary to prefect of a congregation for instance) are rare and not advised. Except for exceptional confidence in an outstanding man. Especially when the individual has never been in direct pastoral charge of a diocese. An outstanding man as is undoubtedly Mauro Piacenza in the Pope’s eyes. In his plan of restoration.
(Source: Quoted from “Golias” on La Porte Latine)
United States: For Life, the Bishop of Fargo Keeps His Promises!
As he had announced, the Most Reverend Samuel Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, North Dakota, led a procession on Sunday, September 26, 2010, to the town’s abortion clinic. Nearly 800 of the faithful joined the procession from St. Mary’s Cathedral, where the bishop had offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for life. The bishop headed the procession carrying the Blessed Sacrament. At the abortion clinic, he remained unruffled by the pro-abortion demonstrators assembled near the abortuary, the walls of which he generously sprinkled with holy water. After the aspersion, he took up the monstrance and led his flock, reciting the Rosary, back to the Cathedral.
(Source: La Porte Latine)
Twenty-four New Cardinals at Next Consistory
On October 20, Benedict XVI announced he will hold a consistory on November 20, during which he will create 24 new cardinals, bringing to 203 the number of members of the Sacred College, of whom 121 would be electors in the conclave. This will be the third consistory of his pontificate. As of this date, the cardinal electors created by Benedict XVI will be at 50, the current cardinal electors who were created by John Paul II will be at 71.
Seven senior officials of the Roman Curia will form part of the Sacred College:
Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, recently named the head of the Congregation for the Clergy Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, major penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture Archbishop Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Archbishop Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum
Certain holders of titular cardinal seats around the world were also chosen by Benedict XVI:
Patriarch Antonios Naguib, of Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt Archbishop Reinhard Marx, of Munich and Freising, Germany Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz, of Warsaw, Poland Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo, Italy Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Archbishop Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, retired archbishop of Quito, Ecuador Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Brazil Archbishop Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, retired archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Archbishop Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don of Colombo, Sri-Lanka and retired secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and delegate of the Pope to the Legionaries of Christ Archbishop Francesco Monterisi, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls Archbishop Paolo Sardi, pro-patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
In addition, two bishops and two priests will be honorary or non-elector cardinals:
Archbishop José Manuel Estepa Llaurens, 84 years old, retired military ordinary of Spain Archbishop Elio Sgreccia, 82 years old, retired president of the Pontifical Academy for Life Archbishop Domenico Bartolucci, 93 years old, retired director of the Sistine Chapel Choir Archbishop Walter Brandmüller, 81 years old, retired president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.
While he has logically made cardinals of Archbishop Angelo Amato (Causes of the Saints), Bishop Mauro Piacenza (Clergy), Bishop Fortunato Baldelli (Major Penitentiary) and Archbishop Raymond Burke (Apostolic Signature), appointed ex officio, Benedict XVI has also chosen to confer the cardinal purple upon three of eight presidents of pontifical councils who are also bishops (of whom two were recently appointed): Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi (Culture, on the picture), Bishop Kurt Koch (Christian Unity) and Archbishop Robert Sarah (Cor Unum), thus giving more influence to these departments.
The unexpected choice of Guinean Archbishop Robert Sarah seems to have been guided by the desire to insert a little more representation of the Africans into the bosom of the College of Cardinals; likewise the choice of retired Archbishop of Lusaka (Zambia), Bishop Joseph Mazombwe Medardo. The appointment of Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa (DRC), was expected. If one adds the appointment of the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, Archbishop Antonios Naguib, all together on the African continent there will be 12 Cardinal electors. Africans will then represent 10% of voters, compared with 8% previously.
Unsurprisingly, Benedict XVI appointed some incumbent bishops of cardinal seats around the world whose predecessors have already reached 80 years. But in the absence of Latin American candidates, he chose to offer the red biretta to two prelates: retired Archbishop Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga of Quito (Ecuador) and Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida (Brazil). Interestingly, Quito and Aparecida are not traditional cardinal seats. Henceforth, North and South America together will have 36 cardinal electors.
In revealing the list of future princes of the Church, Benedict XVI has pointed out that his choices reflect “the universality of the Church.” Nevertheless, Europeans will remain as the majority among the cardinal electors (62 out of 121) and the Italians (25), as always, are well represented, as more than one elector in five are natives of the Italian peninsula.
In offering a cardinal biretta to Bishop Kurt Koch, the very recently appointed president of the Council of Christian Unity, Benedict XVI intends to show the importance he attaches to ecumenism. This has not failed to put a spotlight on the Swiss prelate in the wake of the announcement of the names of the cardinals who will be created next month: “It is probably not due to my person that the Pope has chosen for me to so quickly become a cardinal, but due to my office, so as to give a clear sign demonstrating the importance he gives to ecumenism and relations with Judaism.”
The entry into the College of Cardinals of Bishop Gianfranco Ravasi will open to him the doors to the next conclave where, according to some vaticanistas, he could be consider papabile as the head of the “anti-restorationist” block which is opposed to the course of the current Pope. This is a significant story reported by Italian journalist Sandro Magister in 2007, at the time of his appointment as head of the Council for Culture: “For years, Bishop Ravasi has been a candidate for everything” including the Archbishop of Milan, his diocese, but until now he has been passed over. In 2005 he seemed to be in line to acquire the bishopric of Assisi, the city of St. Francis—a small diocese, but a great world forum. However, on June 25th the members of the Congregation charged with the appointments of new bishops met together for the final considerations and on the table was a press clipping. It was an article about Bishop Ravasi published March 31, 2002, in the Sunday supplement of the daily financial newspaper Il Sole delle 24 Ore. The article focused on Easter and the title was: “He was not raised, he arose.”
As at each consistory, the Pope chose to offer the cardinal biretta to some prelates or bishops over the age of 80, and thus ineligible to vote, but to recognize “their generosity and dedication in service to the Church.” Among them, Bishop Domenico Bartolucci, choirmaster of the Sistine Chapel from 1956 to 1997, aged 93. Benedict XVI pays homage to this master of classical choir who is attached to the traditional liturgy and whose departure in 1997 hurt Cardinal Ratzinger. Furthermore, by raising to the cardinalate Bishop Elio Sgreccia, the retired President of Pontifical Academy for Life, the Pope acknowledges the many battles this Italian prelate has waged against abortion and euthanasia.
(Source: DICI)
“You are a monk, you must remain a monk!”
This was the advice given by Archbishop Lefebvre to the young Father Cyprian who, having left his Monastery of Sainte Madeleine du Barroux because of the Faith questioned the prelate about his future. Two years earlier, at the end of the Ordinations ceremony in Ecône, he had promised his fidelity, his hands in those of the Archbishop. It is this same fidelity that led him to found, on the other side of the world, a Benedictine monastery, on a mountain as it ought to be, in the wooded solitude of New Mexico. “We must attempt the impossible!” was the testament received from the founder of the Society of St. Pius X two months before his death. And the impossible became a reality: the foundation of the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe.1
Herculean Labors
It took 20 years of efforts, sacrifices and prayers to make it to this Saturday, October 24, when the foundation was made a conventual priory: a decisive step in the establishment of a Benedictine monastery, “school for the service of the Lord.”2 “This foundation is at the same time a final point and a beginning,” would comment Bishop de Galarreta before some 300 friends of the Monastery assembled under the large tent set up for the occasion. “It is the fruit of much work, and of many sufferings and prayers, and it is a commitment to a greater fervor and fidelity.” Indeed, who can measure the sum of work of which the monastery, with its chapel, its library, its cloister, cells and refectory, is today the splendid accomplishment. The immense reservoir of water in the wells is without a doubt one of the most spectacular, and merits a whole page all to itself. From the discovery of a simple ditch presented as a well when the property was bought, to the 2,600 feet drilling, not to mention the two years of going back and forth to and from the city, regularly, rain or shine, to fill up the water tank. Yet more mysterious and extraordinary is the transformation of the interior edifices, not only of the monks and numerous postulants, but also of the countless visitors and oblates who have passed through over the past two decades. If sufferings endured are the King’s secret, St. Paul himself authorizes us to list them as so many proofs of God’s greatness. False brothers and critics, temptations and discouragements, deceptions and abandonments, accidents and illnesses have not been wanting! And even death herself, who came to take away the novice master, Rev. Fr. John of the Cross, during the chanting of the Magnificat, the evening of June 29, 2002.
If the grain of wheat…dies, it will bear much fruit
Eight solemn profess monks are necessary to be able to make a foundation a Priory. With the third priestly Ordination last June, as well as four clerics studying at the Society’s seminary in Winona, this very young3 and fervent community numbers just under 30 monks. Stability, object of a special vow for the Benedictine, is now acquired for the entire monastery. It is a work of the Church, recognized as such and publicly offered by her to her children as a privileged way of attaining God. “This foundation, having for a long time given testimony of fidelity to the true Faith and the Holy Roman Church, as well as to the spirit of the Benedictine family…, we…decree that this monastery be established as a Priory of the Order of St. Benedict.”4 It is with these words that Bishop de Galarreta began the ceremony, “by the power that the Holy Church gives in the case of necessity, insofar as we are able, with the intention of thus helping to procure the supreme good of the Church and the salvation of souls.”5
Then the pontiff proceeded with the institution of the conventual priory “for three years, after which an election will take place, according to the Law.”6 “Remember always the souls whom you have received under your charge and for whom you will have to answer!”7 the bishop admonished the future prior kneeling before him. Then he asked him to promise his submission to the Rule of St. Benedict and that he would faithfully keep the monastic discipline in this Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe of America. The nominated prior, after having confessed the Faith and taken the oath formulated by St. Pius X, was then constituted prior and given “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” to the community, who received him with a fervent “Amen.” Then, confessing his unworthiness and his weakness, he confided himself to the prayers of his brother monks and to the intercession of Almighty God, and of the Most Holy Virgin and of St. Benedict.
Then, as a sign of the authority conferred upon him, the pontiff gave him the keys and the seal of the monastery. A written document was signed on the altar. “Confirm, O my God, what thou hast accomplished by thy hands, from thy holy temple in Jerusalem”8 sang the community. “O God, who alone hast realized great wonders, pour down upon thy servant Fr. Prior and on the community confided to his care the spirit of thy saving grace, and grant to him always the heavenly dew of thy blessing, that he may please thee in all truth.”9 Then the pontiff, with miter and crosier, installed him in his place in the choir, and to the chanting of the Te Deum, the brothers, one after another, came to give homage to the beloved Father. The Three-cord Rope Does Not Break The Pontifical Mass prolonged the thanksgiving on this feast of Our Lady of Good Hope, “our only hope in this crisis of the Church,” as Bishop de Galarreta declared. He also pointed out to the community the condition for remaining faithful in this torment, interpreting these words of Sacred Scripture
“the three-cord rope does not break.”
“These three cords whose union alone guarantees the solidity of resistance are for you today,” he said, “your Benedictine rule, the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, and the Catholic bishop that we are.” Indeed, the decree specified, “since it is morally impossible to have recourse to the competent authority and since we are acting in an auxiliary way because of the crisis in the Church and the state of necessity….”10 It is this union that the many faithful who are Third Order members and Oblates wish to share, understanding how vital it is to cling to this rope divinely woven by Providence. It is this same union that explained the presence, on this beautiful day, of the superiors of the districts of Mexico and of the United States, Frs. Trejo and Rostand, of the priors of Phoenix and of El Paso, Frs. Burfitt and Diaz, and of the assistant director of the seminary of Winona, Fr. Asher.
Finally, as a new fruit of this Benedictine restoration in Tradition, the next day, a new monk was made a cleric of the Church. Brother Justin received the tonsure from the pontiff. He will next year join his brothers at the seminary…and by then, God willing, two new priests will have been ordained ad titulum paupertatis for the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Deo Gratias! (Source: DICI)
A First: The SSPX Lourdes Pilgrimage on the Official Sanctuary Schedule!
It was from Africa that we first got the news: “Between two Masses here at Libreville (Gabon), I couldn’t resist searching for the Lourdes Sanctuary on the Internet to find the Society’s Christ the King Pilgrimage. My joy was not inconsiderable when I read on the Sanctuary’s official schedule: ‘Rosary, 11:30–Priestly Society of St. Pius X.’ “Of course, twelve years of flexibility and of unvaryingly tactful dealings [with Sanctuary officials] came back to me: such memories–the best! Thank you, Our Lady of Lourdes.”–Fr. N. Pinaud
