Monday, June 4, 2007

A Hopeful Sign

Concerning the Motu Proprio, this comment was released today, June 4th, from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state

As for the document granting wider latitude for celebration of the Tridentine rite, Cardinal Bertone said that "one shouldn't have to wait long to see it published."The cardinal said the pope was "personally interested in making this happen" and that the pontiff had prepared an accompanying letter explaining the move and expressing the hope for a serene reception by the church.

This seems to be a good sign that we are in the final days of waiting, and from a reliable and informed source. There is also mention here of the accompanying letter, but with a new twist. Cardinal Bertone says that the Pontiff hopes for a serene reception by the church. This would imply that there may be some bracing for a not-so-serene reception going on here. Another curious wording is that the Pope was "personally interested in making this happen”. I say curious because there are a great many other things that Benedict is personally interested in making happen, and it would be a very hopeful sign that he is willing and able to “make them happen” against opposition if he feels that they are in the best interest of the Church.

I wonder also if, following the publication of the Motu Proprio, we might begin seeing a clearer articulation of reforms that are coming, or if the accompanying letter to the Bishops might lay out a plan for liturgical reform as part of the explanation for why the MP is both necessary and desirable. Cardinal Bertone, who has obviously seen the document, had previously referred to the MP as a “nuclear bomb”… quite a strong statement about a papal document. And earlier this year, Bishop Fellay, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, predicted that when the document freeing the Traditional rite is promulgated, it will be followed "by a war within the Church," resulting in a spiritual war being ignited "identical to that of an atomic bomb,"
Two nuclear bomb references relating to one papal document has to make a person wonder… What exactly is in this document? Hopefully, it will not be long now before we find out…

7 comments:

Dad29 said...

Well, a nuke will obviate the need for truncheon-based enforcement.

Chironomo said...

I was hoping for a "Crosier-based" enforcement myself...

Scelata said...

"truncheon-based enforcement."

Ahhh..... I wondered who the "club-wielding restorationists" were that Irish Elk referenced a few years back.

"I was hoping for a 'Crosier-based' enforcement myself... "

I think you mentioned a new Crosier wielder in your diocese, and the hopeful signs of a coming conference under his auspices. Lucky you.
Anything you can tell us about him?


(Save the Liturgy, Save the World!)

Chironomo said...

We actually have two (relatively) new Bishops here... Bishop Wenski in Orlando, appointed in 2004, and Bishop Dewayne in Venice appointed in 2006. Both are more conservative than their predecessors (Bishop Dorsey and Bishop Nevins) and have quickly established a stronger presence of the Bishop and the Diocese in the life of the local parishes. In my own Diocese of Venice, Bishop Dewayne has set a fine example by insisiting on the use of traditional (Gregorian) music at his Ordination and this year's Chrism Mass, and has also built up the Office of Vocations to a full-time office with adequate staffing and budget. This had been neglected for may years here... I do not know much about Bishop Wenski in Orlando except that the Orlando Liturgy Conference... usually a showcase of Progressive Liturgy, is this year offering sessions on Latin Chant for Choirs, Sacramentary Chants for Priests, Teaching the Assembly chanted propers and even a section on choosing music with "appropriate texts", which I assume is in reference to the concerns of the Directory for Music in the Liturgy. This is a whole new world for the Church in Orlando, surely an important Diocese in terms of it's exposure to the public with millions of visitors to its parishes each year...

Dad29 said...

Scelata, you'd be more sympathetic to truncheons if YOU were in Milwaukee.

Scelata said...

Dad, what gave you the impression I was unsympathetic to their use?
I'm formulating a Pastoral Letter, e'en now as we speak, on the Just Truncheon Theory and its application to dealing with the clear and present danger of the jihadists that are the modern-day LitComm.
(Come to think of it, are their any liturgy committees that aren't "modern-day?" Did they even exist 25 years ago?)

(Save the Liturgy, Save the World)

Chironomo said...

I don't think that "Liturgy Committee" needs to be modified by the adjective "modern-day" as there are no "old-time" liturgy committees. After all, how many people can say "I remember back in the days, when your Grandma used to take me along to Liturgy Committee on Thursday Nights...". Hopefully, there will be little in the way of "future" liturgy committees as well...