French clerical rebellion grows, but Pope intent on moving forward for traditionalists

By Brian Mershon

From the Nov. 9 issue of The Wanderer, the oldest Catholic weekly in the U.S.

Up to 50 French priests and 10 French bishops have publicly stated their opposition to reported plans of the Holy See to ease restrictions on the use of the Classical Roman rite of Holy Mass and sacraments. However, the Italian daily Il Giornale reported that the Pope is intent on moving forward with plans to free up the Traditional rite and attempt to shore up relations with the Society of St. Pius X. News that Dario Cardinal Castrillón will continue to head up the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei after the Pope accepted his resignation as the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy is further evidence that the Holy See will be giving added concentrated attention and focus on making amends with traditionalists, most notably the Society of St. Pius X.

The 10 French bishops issued their communiqué on October 25 at Lons-le-Saunier of the ecclesiastical Province of Besancon, and also included the dioceses of Strasbourg and Metz. The communiqué specifically addressed the "concerns" the bishops had with both the creation of the traditionalist Institute of the Good Shepherd in the archdiocese of Bordeaux and the reported pending document that will loosen restrictions on the celebration of the Mass of Pope St. Pius V.

Specifically, the bishops expressed the "confusion felt by many of the faithful, deacons and priests" in their dioceses as well as their "fear" that opening the use of the Classical Roman rite "does not match up with the orientations of the Second Vatican Council." The bishops further stated that such a decision would "likely endanger the unity between priests, as well as members of the faithful" and expressed their commitment and delight about the ongoing liturgical reforms of the past 40 years.

For the record, the following are the names of the specific French bishops with their public challenge to the Pope requesting him not to give more freedom to the Traditional Latin rite.

Msgr. André La Crampe, Archbishop of Besançon
Msgr. Claude Schockert, Bishop of Belfort-Montbéliard
Msgr. Jean-Louis Papin, Bishop of Nancy and Toul
Msgr. Jean Le Grez, Bishop of Saint-Dié
Msgr. François Maupu, Bishop of Verdun
Msgr. Joseph Dore, Apostolic Administrator of Strasbourg
Msgr. Christian Kratz, Auxiliary Bishop of Strasbourg
Msgr. Jean-Pierre Grallet, Auxiliary Bishop of Strasbourg
Msgr. Pierre Raffin, Bishop of Metz

Cardinal Arinze Decries "Banalization" at French Liturgical Conference

Meanwhile, the tensions continued as the French Le Figaro reported October 27 that at the 50th Anniversary of the Superior Liturgical Institute of Paris, Francis Cardinal Arinze, prefect for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, denounced "the banalization, the desacralization and secularization in the liturgy." Cardinal Arinze, his secretary for Divine Worship, Archbishop Ranjith, and Cardinal Castrillón, have repeatedly publicly called many celebrations of the new rite of Mass "banal" over the past several weeks in public meetings, conferences and interviews. They are perhaps purposefully echoing a theme originating from the current Pope himself, who decried "the banalization of the liturgy" (L'Osservatore Romano, Jan. 10, 1996).

Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois was quoted in an Oct. 31 Retuters article regarding his fears of continued dialogue with traditionalists: "Under the cover of a campaign to defend a certain type of liturgy, there is a radical critique of the Vatican Council, even outright rejection of some of its declarations."

The French Episcopal Conference liturgical committee chairman Bishop Robert Le Gall, OSB, Archbishop of Toulouse, added his rejoinder in defense of the French Church. He expressed his regret that Rome paid too much attention and gave too much stock to letters from laymen regarding liturgical aberrations.

Archbishop Le Gall was also quoted in the same Reuters story as saying, "We risk creating a front of sadness, discouragement and disappointment with the Holy See," he said.

Brussels Cardinal Godfried Danneels added his fears that by giving freedom to the Classical Roman rite, the result would be a rolling back of the Second Vatican Council reforms. "The (Traditional Latin) rite is only the locomotive; the issue is the carriages that are pulled behind it," he said. "Behind this locomotive are carriages that I don't want," he added.

Hermeneutics of Rupture

In a little-publicized speech to the Roman Curia last Dec. 22, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of two trends of thought on the Second Vatican Council, its documents, its "spirit" and the life of the Church today. The Pope called one camp "the hermeneutics of discontinuity and rupture," and the other one which has borne fruit, "the hermeneutics of reform."

Concisely, the "hermeneutics of discontinuity" camp sees the Second Vatican Council as a new beginning and a new starting point from which the Church views all the previous history, traditions and councils of the Church. This view lacks respect for Tradition, liturgical patrimony, Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony, as well as giving the decrees of the Second Vatican Council a more lofty status than their primarily pastoral intentions, to paraphrase the thoughts of both Pope John XXIII who commenced the Council, and Pope Paul VI, who closed the Council and promulgated its documents. The current Pope has also called the Council primarily pastoral in orientation with no statements of a dogmatic character.

Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly cautioned against this ahistorical and incorrect theological approach: "Some turn into a sort of superdogma which takes away the importance of all the rest." (1988 Address to the bishops of Chile). The Pope's address to the Chilean bishops and his comments for the plan of his pontificate summarized last Dec. 22 to the Roman Curia is perhaps summed up best and most simply by this statement, also taken from the 1988 Address to the Chilean bishops: "The one way in which Vatican II can be made plausible is to present it as it is; one part of the unbroken, the unique Tradition of the Church and of her faith."

Serious Catholics, both lay, priests and bishops, should perhaps raise the question to the 10 French bishops, 50 French priests, Cardinal Danneels and current USCCB President Bishop Skylstad, who does not allow even one Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese of Spokane, but instead is satisfied with allowing traditional Catholics to drive to a Latin Mass in another diocese 50 miles away: "Do you promote and encourage the 'hermeneutics of discontinuity and rupture' or 'the hermeneutics of reform,' which view the Second Vatican Council documents 'in light of Tradition?'"

In his recent interview with John Allen, Vaticanist at National Catholic Reporter, Bishop Skylstad said, "We are a church of unity and common worship." Of course the Church has a multiplicity of rites and even the Novus Ordo Missae is not celebrated similarly from parish to parish within a diocese, let alone the differences from diocese to diocese or country to country.

"The thrust of Vatican II calls for more active participation on the part of the faithful in the liturgy itself, and from my standpoint, trying to move further in that direction would be most helpful," Bishop Skylstad said.

Pope Benedict XVI believes that the new rite of Holy Mass is in need of serious revision to bring it back into more conformity with the historic Roman rite so that a true organic development can begin. He has written, "I was dismayed by the prohibition of the old missal, since nothing of the sort had ever happened in the entire history of the liturgy." (Milestones, Ignatius Press) He also said that a community which prohibits what was once its most sacred form of worship of God calls its own existence into question.

Hermeneutics of Reform

Two priests of the newly-erected Institute of the Good Shepherd were recently interviewed, and their comments reflect rays of light as part of Pope Benedict's plan for the Church for those who participate in the "hermeneutics of reform" which he cited as "bearing much fruit" in his Dec. 22, 2205 address.

John Grasmeier of the Catholic Angelqueen (www.angelqueen.org) website recently published an exclusive interview with Fr. Guillaume de Tanoüarn, one of the founding five priests of the Institute of the Good Shepherd in Bordeaux, France. Fr. Tanoüarn is also an author and founder of St. Paul Center in Paris. Fr. de Tanoüarn confirmed this understanding of his new institute as the basis for its full recognition and communion with the Church.

"The result was an act of adhesion, which gave us the right to constructive criticism toward the Second Vatican Council (constructive as opposed to polemical) showing full respect for those involved," Fr. de Tanoüarn said. "This in fact was always the position of Archbishop Lefebvre [Ed. Note: who personally ordained all five priests in the Institute of the Good Shepherd], who wanted to read the Second Vatican Council in light of Catholic Tradition."

In a Nov. 1 interview with Christophe Hondelatte of Le Forum Catholique (http://www.leforumcatholique.org/), Fr. Philippe Laguérie, confirmed this mission of the the Institute. He also affirmed in the interview that Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux and President of the French Episcopal Conference, was indeed his bishop, whom "he respects very much." As a member of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, Fr. Laguérie said that he had even been invited to lunch with the Archbishop, who is very sympathetic to him and the other traditionalist priests. Fr. Laguérie also reiterated that he expected the Pope to take some action soon to liberate the Classical Roman rite for all Roman-rite priests.

Indeed, the communication found on the Institute of the Good Shepherd's website explicitly states the priests are to engage in a constructive theological discourse (similar to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest and the priests of the Apostolic Administration of St. John Vianney in Campos, Brazil) with the Holy See on some of the problematical texts from the Second Vatican Council:

"In addition, each founding member personally agrees 'to respect the authentic Magisterium' of the Roman See, with 'complete fidelity to the Infallible Magisterium of the Church' (Statutes II §2). From a doctrinal point of view, in accordance with the address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia on December 22, 2005, the members of the Institute, as far as they are able, are engaged in 'a serious and constructive critique' of the Second Vatican Council, in order to bring about an authentic interpretation of the Council by the Apostolic See."

Traditionalist Catholics No Longer "Second-Class"

Fr. de Tanoüarn expressed his joy of his full canonical regularization with the Holy See. "We're no longer second-class Catholics whose fantasies are merely tolerated; we're custodians of a liturgical treasure that benefits the entire Church by manifesting the glory of Her divine Spouse," he said.

Of course, Cardinal Castrillón originally expressed this admonition against viewing traditionalist Catholics as "second class faithful" in a May 5, 2004 interview in Latin Mass Magazine. Cardinal Castrillón said, "In the Church there is a great variety of gifts placed at the service of different levels of consciousness and sensitivity, each with their own specific traits, that find a place within the abundant richness of Catholicity.

"It cannot be denied that between this variety of gifts and sensitivities we have also the faithful called 'traditionalists,' that they should not be seen as 'second class faithful,' but should be protected in their right to be able to express their faith and piety in accordance with their particular spirituality, that the Holy Father recognizes as totally legitimate," Cardinal Castrillón said.

And to emphasize the diverse spiritualities within the life of the Church, the Cardinal continued, "So it is not the case to oppose, as if they were in some ways antagonists, two different sensitivities: the one called 'traditionalist' and one so called 'modern'; it is instead the case of the freedom to proclaim the same Catholic Faith, with different emphasis and expressions that are both legitimate, in the full and reciprocal fraternal respect."

According to both French priests, the Institute's two-fold mission is to found personal parishes in France and elsewhere, dedicated to the 1962 missal and sacraments including the restoration and promotion of Catholic music, art and architecture, and to contribute to an analysis of the Second Vatican Council documents in light of Tradition.

"We want to contribute as much as we are able to the theological work and aid in renewing Catholic intelligence," Fr. de Tanoüarn said. "The time has come to definitively quit religious ideologies that were imposed in the 1960s," he said.

"Our age is once of uncertainty and fear, and we want to respond to this by proposing the traditional Roman Catholic forms of liturgy and theology," said Fr. de Tanoüarn. "Today, cultural challenges won't be met unless Catholics stop considering Vatican II as 'the new tables of the law' and enthusiastically rediscover the richness of the great Roman Catholic Tradition."

This message from these two traditionalist priests is but a reaffirmation of the thoughts expressed in the homily of Cardinal Castrillón when he offered Holy Mass according to the Traditional rite on May 24, 2003, at St. Mary Major in Rome. "The so-called rite of Saint Pius V cannot be considered to be extinct and the authority of the Holy Father has expressed his benevolent recognition of the faithful who, though recognizing the legitimacy of the Roman rite renewed according to the indications of the Second Vatican Council, remain bound to the preceding rite and find in it valid spiritual nourishment in their journey of sanctification," he said.

"On the other hand, the same Second Vatican Council declared that ' . . . holy mother church considers as having equal rights and honor the legitimate recognized rites, and she wills that in the future they be conserved and in every many increased, and desires that, where it is necessary, they come to be prudently revised in an integral manner in the spirit of holy tradition and come to be given a new vigor according to the circumstances and necessities of our time.'" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 4)

(Thanks to John Grasmeier of www.angelqueen.org, the French owner of http://qien.free.fr/ Catholic news site, Phil Lawler at CWNews and http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/ for updated news and accurate translations. Special thanks to Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M., The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for his translation of the paragraph from the Institute of the Good Shepherd's founding document.)

© Brian Mershon