Dear Friends and Benefactors,
Along with this
letter, receive a modest supplement with pictures and news from the
priestly ordinations of June 19, 2004, in our American seminary at
Winona, Minnesota, as well as a translation of the latest
interesting letter of Bishop Bernard Fellay, our Superior General.
I am enclosing in some of the envelopes a copy of the
letter of April, which did not arrive to our readers in certain
areas of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe,
courtesy of the recent strike of the postal services which caused
such havoc in the distribution of the mail. By the way, if during
the strike you sent me a cheque for one million euro to buy a new
priory for Athlone, please be aware that I did not receive it, so
kindly write it again!
For some reason which still escapes me, a number of you
are suddenly asking with anxiety about the St. John's Bulletin. It
has been for some time a quarterly publication, and never a monthly
one. You must all have a copy of the latest fifty-six-page thick
issue on Ecumenism; if you have not received it, send me a note and
I will put it on the mail immediately; I have many copies left. In
the meantime, be assured of the continuity of this monthly letter,
which you may receive directly at home if you request it in writing.
The old one having been removed, a new website for
Ireland, with documents, links, history, and Mass schedules is now
available at ireland.sspx.net
And a final announcement before we get into more
serious things: do not call the priory between
9 PM and 9 AM,
unless it is to request the sacraments in danger of death. We need
our rest, and also our time of uninterrupted silence for prayer and
study.
Now some words on the Indult Mass. They need to be
written.
Twenty
years ago Pope John Paul II allowed the restricted celebration of
the Tridentine rite under the directives of what we call since "the
indult." Infallibly established near chapels of the Society of St.
Pius X, the "Indult Masses" became the refuge of disgruntled or
nostalgic faithful who do not share our understanding of the present
crisis in the Church.
It is their
privilege (or better, their indult, since this is just a temporary
relaxation of the general law by the way of a concession) to
proclaim with their support of such "Indult Masses" that they accept
without restrictions the legitimacy and doctrinal orthodoxy of the
Novus Ordo Missae.
Indeed, the
Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Divine Worship
Quattuor Abhinc Annos, October 3, 1984, considers us Traditional
Catholics nothing less than "a problem."
It
appeared –we
read in the letter establishing the indult- that the problem of
priests and faithful holding to the so-called "Tridentine" rite was
almost completely solved... Since, however, the problem continues...
an indult [can be given] under the following conditions: 1) that it
be made
publicly clear
beyond all ambiguity that such priests and faithful in no way share
the positions of those who call in question the legitimacy and
doctrinal exactitude of the Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI...
Now, some
shocked indulters whimper that their approved Latin Mass does not
fall under the 1984 Indult but under the concession given by the
Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, July 2, 1988, and that
the strict requirements for the Indult do not apply anymore. Such
sibylline interpretation crumbles under the heavy weight of the
pope's very words addressing in Rome the pilgrims celebrating the
tenth anniversary of Ecclesia Dei, October 26, 1998, when he sobered
their enthusiasm by explaining that
while confirming the good based on
the liturgical reform wished by the Second Vatican Council and
initiated by Pope Paul VI, the Church grants also a sign of
understanding to those persons "attached to certain previous
liturgical and disciplinary forms." It is in this perspective that
one must read and apply the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei. I desire that
everything may happen in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council...
It is therefore obvious
that to attend regularly the Indult Mass is tantamount to a public
declaration of acceptance of the Novus Ordo's doctrinal rectitude,
the very new rite of the Mass concocted to please the Protestants to
the point that now some ministers use it for their Supper*, the very
rite that Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci, in their letter to Pope
Paul VI, September 3, 1969, accuse of representing as a whole and
in detail, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the
Holy Mass as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of
Trent, which, by fixing definitively the canons of the rite, erected
an insurmountable barrier against heresy.
To support the Indult is
also to acknowledge that the Tridentine Rite was lawfully
suppressed, when in fact every priest can celebrate it by virtue of
an immemorial custom and also by the unabrogated Bull Quo Primum
Tempore of St. Pius V, July 13, 1570: We give and grant in
perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church
whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any
scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or
censure, and may be freely and lawfully used ....We likewise order
and declare that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into
altering this Missal; and that this present Constitution can never
be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the
force of law...
Should we also mention
the unorthodox preaching prevalent in many of those Indult Masses,
the mixing of rites, the hosts doubtfully consecrated at previous
Novus Ordo Masses, communion in the hand, bi-ritual priests
celebrating indiscriminately in both rites, pre and post conciliar,
and the restrictions concerning the other sacraments and often the
refusal of permission for a daily Mass? Yes, it is insulting. The
indult for the Mass is
too often an insult
to the Mass.
We need this Indult as we
need papal permission to say the Rosary or the government's consent
to breathe. Those among our faithful who go back and forth should
consider making up their minds once and for all, and choose between
the undefiled altar and the gilded picnic table.
I am very pleased to
announce that our General Superior has nominated Father Régis
Babinet to our Irish apostolate. With a fifth priest, the foundation
of a new priory in Athlone is closer than ever to become a happy
reality; we just need the money.... We all know and esteem Father
Babinet, and he knows all your Irish tricks and my Spanish temper;
therefore nothing can shock him! He will do a wonderful priestly
work among us.
And let us give thanks to
the Almighty for the new priests of the Society ordained these days
in Winona, Econe, and Zaitzkofen, placing them under Our Lady's
mantle.
Thank you for your
support and prayers, in Mary Most Holy,
Sincerely in Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph,
Father Ramón
Anglés
*
Dr. Max Thurian of Taize Lutheran Center in France, as quoted in
the French publication "La
Croix" of May 30, 1969, said: "It
is now theologically possible for Protestants to use the same Mass
as Catholics." It is a fact that
Protestants in England do use the New Mass as their own service. As
reported in the British "Catholic Herald"
of December 15,1972, the then Anglican Bishop of Southwark,
Dr. Mervyn Stockwood,
stated on several occasions that he greatly admired the New Mass and
used it himself.
