New French traditionalist priestly society founded

By Brian Mershon

From the Sept. 21, 2006, issue of The Wanderer

Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos announced the creation of the Institute of the Good Shepherd in a document released on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, the prefect for the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and the Congregation for the Clergy, in concert with the Congregation for Religious, wrote that this new institute has been erected as a pastoral measure for those faithful attached to the ancient liturgical traditions in Bordeaux, France. This Institute has been established ad experimentum for a period of five years as a personal parish that will include the church of St. Eloi.

The Ecclesia Dei document said that Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, president of the French Episcopal Conference, and a member of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, welcomed this new Priestly Society of Apostolic Right into his episcopal city to fulfill the desires of the Catholic faithful.

The September 8 decree stated approvingly that the Institute of Good Shepherd is offering its pastoral service to other bishops who may desire its pastoral service. The five priests of the new Institute were originally priests of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), who for various reasons over the past few years have become disassociated with it. They also have several seminarians, some of whom will be ordained soon by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, according to news reports.

The decree named Abbot Philippe Laguérie as the first superior of this institute. The abbot pulled no punches in his sermon on Sunday, September 10, according to Le Figaro.

Regarding the priests within the newly erected Institute, he reportedly said that Rome required no concessions from the priests, presumably regarding the Second Vatican Council, and in fact, insisted that they work together in harmony with the Church to re-clarify its doctrines in the current climate of confusion. "No compromise was required!" said Abbot Laguérie, in the September 11 edition.

Fr. Paul Aulagnier joins Abbot Laguérie along with three other French priests. He is a notable priest who was expelled by the SSPX in 2003 after he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with SSPX leadership for not accepting a personal apostolic administration, reportedly with worldwide jurisdiction, similar to that of the now regularized St. John Marie Vianney Campos, Brazil, priests, with Bishop Fernando Rifan as their ordinary.

Fr. Aulagnier, along with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was one of the founding members of the SSPX.

Cardinal Ricard A Key

In April 2006, at the conclusion of a meeting of the French Episcopal Conference in Lourdes, Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard told the bishops of France that "the question of relations with the Fraternity of St. Pius X merits a special treatment" when discussing traditionalism in France.

He went on to say, "We know that Pope Benedict XVI is concerned about this," and "in the weeks or months to come, he should be giving directives to facilitate a path toward a possible return to full communion."

And as a note to both the Holy See and his brother bishops, he said, "We will welcome these in good faith and put them into practice faithfully." This Institute of the Good Shepherd, made up of prominent traditionalist priests, along with a personal parish at the service of the Church, is a concrete realization of Cardinal Ricard's April address.

It has been widely reported that over the years that the French bishops have been extremely antagonistic to both priests and bishops attached to the classical Roman liturgy and sacraments, thereby making the erection of this Institute in France a surprise to many.

It should also be noted that during Bishop Bernard Fellay's 35-minute meeting in August 2005 with Pope Benedict XVI, he said the Pope acknowledged that a crisis in the Church existed most notably in France and Germany. With an increasingly growing Muslim presence in France, not only immigrants, but with numerous conversions of once French Catholics to Islam, the French bishops perhaps should be more concerned with Muslims worshiping in Catholic churches (which is happening with much more regularity) and be more welcoming and pastoral to the significantly growing number of young traditionalist faithful, many with large families.

Predictions For November

During his September 11 sermon in his Bordeaux church, with a comment that is sure to reignite the expectations of Catholics attached to the classical Roman liturgy and sacraments, Fr. Laguérie reportedly said that the Roman wind is blowing in the right direction.

"Rome is about to publish a document destined to restore the Traditional rite to its place, to liberalize its usage," he said. This story originally appeared on Le Forum Catholique, and was translated at the Rorate-Caeli blog (rorate-caeli.blogspot.com).

And further, according to this source, the abbot named a specific timetable for the publication of this document:

"One may say, I believe, that this giant step which has just been taken is not only for us, but for all of the Church, is a sign, a preparation, the instructions of this document that shall be released, certainly in November, in which the rights of the Traditional Mass shall be restored to all their dignity."

Along with the official decree erecting the Institute of Good Shepherd, according to various news sources, this decree is published with the consent of the Holy Father and is directly tied to his explicit wish. It also emphasized that the Traditional Missal of St. Pius V is not a separate missal, but rather a special form of the unique Roman rite. This leads some to believe that perhaps this is a precursor to a document stating that all Latin rite priests have the option of using either Roman Missal.

Vatican sources and members of the new Institute stressed that "this accord corresponds to the requests once made by Msgr. Lefebvre," who separated from Rome in 1988. Those responsible for the fraternity also are reportedly hopeful that the priests of the Society of St. Pius X could opt to follow them and that they can found in different dioceses, "personal parishes" with full canonical regularization with the Holy See. In Bordeaux, Paris, and other places, these priests are supported by a number of faithful attached to the Missal of St. Pius V, the liturgical rite in force before the liturgical reform of 1969.

Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf, a former collaborator with the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, said he thinks that the formation of this new Institute was significant because it used an existing canonical structure of a personal parish.

"This is a concrete word that seems to aim at some specific canonical issues," he said. Fr. Zuhlsdorf also noted the celebration of the sacraments, including Holy Orders, as well as the Divine Office, according to the 1962 missal, is not a concession or an indult, but "the proper rite of the Institute," he said.

"One of the things I learned from Cardinal Ratzinger years ago is his view that liturgy has to develop organically," Fr. Zuhlsdorf said. "The Novus Ordo constituted a break with organic development."

The "Reform Of The Reform"

"One of things the Pope is certainly thinking about is more frequent celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass alongside the Novus Ordo," Fr. Zuhlsdorf said. "This would jumpstart true organic development."

This could be viewed as a careful, systematic attempt to begin to move in the right direction organically. "This is the reform of the reform according to the writings of Cardinal Ratzinger."

Fr. Zuhlsdorf added that rumors from Rome indicate that when Pope Benedict issues his post-synodal document on the Eucharist, he believes that there might be something to free up the older form of Mass.

"There are several different forces are vectoring together here," he said.

More "Crumbs" Or A Clear Sign?

There indeed seem to be at least two distinct views on this new Institute and the potential path forward. Is this just another "crumb" thrown to traditionalists Catholics by the Holy See? Or is this the continuing process of a greater and grander plan by the Holy Father, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez, and those curial members with known sympathies toward the Traditional liturgy?

Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro believes this is a clear sign of good things to come for traditional Catholics. He currently offers one of the two regularly scheduled Traditional Latin Masses in Rome, and works for Human Life International, while also serving as a consultant for Una Voce America. He said the establishment of the Good Shepherd Institute is clearly an important development.

"It provides a juridical structure to bring in union with the Church several prestigious French priests and a substantial number of laymen," he said in an interview given from Rome. He reiterated that as an Institute of Pontifical Right, it depends directly upon the Holy See, through the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.

As Fr. Zuhlsdorf noted, Msgr. Barreiro said it was important that "the Traditional rite is not granted to this new Institute as an 'indult' or 'permission,' but as the proper rite of this Institute." In its news release issued September 8, the Institute said this first step is not an end in itself, but a beginning.

"The establishment of this Institute might mark the beginning of many other needed concessions for the Traditionalist movement," he said.

Msgr. Barreiro noted that the potential negative signal it may send out is that it could be "interpreted as a confirmation of the opinion that for the time being an agreement is not possible with the leadership of the SSPX."

Indeed, Stephen Heiner, an educator and Catholic writer who frequents chapels of the SSPX, and has published notable interviews with their bishops and priests, does not believe this recent newly erected Institute signals anything significant regarding potential SSPX regularization, nor even a broader application of permission for the classical Roman liturgy.

"This speculation has occurred since Holy Week," Heiner opined. "Why has this Institute been formed when we have 450 priests with the SSPX?" he asked.

"Why start an entire new Institute with new benefactors? A new spirituality? New paperwork?" he continued.

"Why make a bridge group to reconcile with the Society?" he asked. "Why make a new organization?"

"It seems to be aimed at France and to be aimed at disaffected SSPX priests," he added. "What makes this group of priests any different than the FSSP [Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter]?"

"It seems to me that this is it," Heiner continued. "There will be nothing else forthcoming."

Fr. Franz Schmidberger, a German SSPX priest and former superior general, has written very positively on the new secretary for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, the Sri Lankan Archbishop Ranjith, and his attitude toward the priesthood and the classical Roman liturgy. Fr. Schmidberger accompanied Bishop Fellay during his visit with Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos at the Vatican.

And recently, Bishop Fellay was interviewed by Catholic News Service, where he said there has been little movement on talks since his November 2005 meeting with Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, but he indicated that the Pope was most likely battling forces opposed to his plan within the Curia and among bishops' conferences.

Heiner said that he was certain that the SSPX leadership would do the right thing in the case of further talks with the Holy See.

"I think that Bishop Fellay has proven to be a very diplomatic superior general, and I think we can continue to expect him to be so," Heiner said. "Whether the SSPX priests and laity continue to follow along [the possible path of canonical regularization with the Holy See] remains to be seen."

Jacob Michael is a Catholic convert and writer who follows traditionalist currents closely. "We could be pessimistic about this, as no doubt, some will," he said. "The key here is for good traditional Catholics to stand up and show their support for what the Pope is doing.

"If that support is lacking, or if some even use this gesture as an opportunity to find fault, we should have no reason to think any further overtures will be made by the Pope."

Una Voce America Leaders Positive

Jason King is a board member and spokesman for Una Voce America. "My reaction is positive in terms of what we're hearing in initial reports for another Institute dedicated toward Tradition," he said. "Hopefully, this will bring forward something we've been awaiting for years, thereby satisfying our 'rightful aspirations' as Pope John Paul II requested in 1988."

King is an officer of Una Voce Western Washington, where there is but one Traditional Latin Mass offered in the entire diocese. "It is uplifting to see anything that might be published that would enable us to have the Mass more available."

King said that if indeed it is a fact that the Holy Father believes that the classical Roman liturgy is but one variation of the Roman rite, "This leads us to conclude it has never been abrogated, which of course we have been saying for years," he said. "This Holy Father certainly believes there is tremendous value in the 1962 missal in the Latin rite."

He continued: "I am hopeful that sometime in the near future, he does what he knows is the right thing to do on behalf of all of us and the universal Church. We know the difficulties and opposition he feels and we pray that he does the thing he knows that is right."

"This is what Michael Davies fought for, God rest his soul, for all of those years," King said.

"Once something is issued, it will be a new day for the old Mass."

© Brian Mershon