Philadelphia Chapter

First Friday, April 5th, A.D. 2013 Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), will be offered by Fr. Harold B. McKale of St. Bede The Venerable Parish, at the Rectory Chapel of St. Albert The Great Parish, 212 Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, PA 19006, 215-947-3500 at 7 p.m., E.D.T. preceded by Confessions at 6:30 p.m., E.D.T. The Rectory, also known as the Parish Center building, is located behind the Church.

First Saturday, April 6, A.D. 2013 TLM will likewise be offered by Fr. Dominick Finn, O.S.F.S. at 9:15 a.m., E.D.T. preceded by Confessions at 8:45 a.m., E.D.T.

Thank you for publicizing these Traditional Latin Mass availabilities.

Mark Matthews

Clarification: This article which appeared in Crisis Magazine on March 26th, (its link was posted on the site of Fisheaters.com), only reflects the opinion of its author. It in no way reflects the opinion of the LLA or its members.

Hans Kung, the dissenting European theologian, said he was “overwhelmed by joy,” in a radio interview after the elevation of Pope Francis. “There is hope in this man,” gushed Kung, who predicted that Pope Francis will conform to the progressive interpretation of Vatican II and not follow the “line of the two popes from Poland and Germany.”

Leonardo Boff, one of the fathers of liberation theology, was quoted in the German press as saying that Francis is “more liberal” than commonly supposed.

Cardinal Roger Mahony took to Twitter to proclaim that the Church would move from high church to “low” church under Francis: “So long Papal ermine and fancy lace!”

The National Catholic Reporter approvingly quoted an unnamed Vatican diplomat as saying that “the Traditional Latin Mass brigade is finished.”

Esteban Paulon, president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals, told the Washington Post that Pope Francis is “known for being moderate” and when “he came out strongly against gay marriage, he did it under pressure from the conservatives.” According to Sergio Rubin, whom the Post calls his authorized biographer, Pope Francis initially “urged his bishops to lobby for gay civil unions” as an alternative to gay marriage.

Benedict’s speech on Islam at the University of Regensburg didn’t sit well with Francis, according to the Telegraph in the United Kingdom. “These statements will serve to destroy in 20 seconds the careful construction of a relationship with Islam that Pope John Paul II built over the last twenty years,” it quotes him as saying.

Reports on his compliance with Benedict’s authorization of wider use of the Traditional Latin Mass are conflicting, but it is safe to say that he was less than thrilled by it. According to columnist E.J. Dionne, “an American bishop noted that the choice of Francis would not be greeted as a clear victory by conservatives,” since on “liturgical issues, he has opposed those who seek to roll back changes instituted by the Second Vatican Council.”

The picture that is forming of Pope Francis from all these bits and pieces is not that of a Ratzingerian restorationist but of a centrist prelate whose theological views, tone, and emphases are characteristic of the post-Vatican II period. He is no Hans Kung. He is too pro-life and Marian for that level of theological conjecture. But it is a stretch to think that he shares Benedict’s rigorous critique of the crisis within the Church and the modern world. There is a reason why the progressive bloc within the previous conclave saw him as a desirable alternative to Ratzinger.

It was telling that Pope Francis in his first address from the papal window pointed to Cardinal Walter Kasper as a theologian whom he admires. Kasper is known for his hyper-ecumenism and taste for theological novelty.

“We are on good terms with the Archbishop of Canterbury and as much as we can we are helping him to keep the Anglican community together,” Kasper said in 2010, referring to a group of disaffected conservative Anglicans that wanted to join the Catholic Church. “It’s not our policy to bring that many Anglicans to Rome.”

Apparently Kasper and Francis agreed on this issue. Greg Venable, an Anglican prelate in Latin America, has told the press that the future pope “called me to have breakfast with him one morning and told me very clearly that the Ordinariate was quite unnecessary and that the Church needs us as Anglicans.”

Francis has the benevolent and winning personality of John Paul II and the humility of Benedict (though his took a less celebrated form), but his theological views mark him out as more centrist than his two predecessors. They attributed the collapse of Catholic institutions largely to a misapplication of Vatican II. Referring to the liturgy, Benedict spoke of the need for a “reform of the reform.” Francis appears happy enough with the first reform.

Francis’s papacy may not so much move the Church into the future as back to the recent past, circa 1970. Quarrels over the proper interpretation of Vatican II are more likely to explode than end. Emboldened liberal bishops under him may seek a reform of the “reform of the reform,” and they may push for a revisiting of settled moral, theological, and disciplinary stances. None of this repositioning will take place at the level of official teaching but at the murkier levels of tone, emphasis, and appointment.

That the Catholic left considers his election a shot in the arm can’t be chalked up simply to projection. There are enough nuances here to give them hope. They believe that this is their moment to try to undo the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict and return to the casual, informal, and spontaneous liturgical spirit of the 1970s while reviving a more poll-friendly situational ethics. Tweeted Mahony: “Don’t you feel the new energy, and being shared with one another?”

Hans Kung accepts that Pope Francis can’t adapt to “everything” in the modern world, but just hopes the general trajectory of his pontificate will be progressive. In Pope Francis’s apparent emphasis on individual conscience (he dispensed with the traditional spoken papal blessing when speaking to journalists last Saturday on the grounds that some of them weren’t Catholic or believers), toned-down morality, and Seamless Garment-style prioritizing of poverty, peace, and the environment, Kung and company see a pope with whom they can at long last “dialogue.”

Palm Sunday:
Saturday, March 23:
5:00 p.m. Anticipated Mass

Sunday, March 24:
8:30 a.m. Low Mass
11:00 a.m. Solemn Procession and High Mass
(No Benediction)
(Confessions 30 minutes before each Mass)

Monday, March 25 – 8:00 a.m. Mass
Tuesday, March 26 – 8:00 a.m. Mass
(Confessions 15 minutes before and immediately following each Mass and Tuesday evening 8-9 p.m.)

Wednesday, March 27 – 7:30 p.m. Mass
(Confessions 6:30 p.m. – 7:25 p.m.)

Holy Thursday – March 28
No Morning Mass
9:00 a.m. Tenebrae of Holy Thursday
6:15 – 7:15 p.m. – Confessions
7:30 p.m. – Mass of the Lord’s Supper and Procession to the Repository;
Holy Hour for Priests at the Repository
Adoration at the Repository until 11:00 p.m.

Good Friday – March 29
No Morning Mass
9:00 a.m. Tenebrae of Good Friday
1:45 – 2:45 p.m. – Confessions
3:00 p.m. – Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday
7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross and Blessing with the Relic of the True Cross (Confessions after Stations of the Cross)

Holy Saturday – March 30
8:45 a.m. – Blessing of Easter Baskets
9:00 a.m. – Tenebrae of Holy Saturday
No 8:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. Mass
7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Confessions
8:30 p.m. – The Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday – March 31
8:30 a.m. Low Mass
11:00 a.m. – High Mass & Benediction
(Confessions 45 minutes before each Mass)

Submitted by Michael Miller, Advisory Council

To celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Bl. Virgin Mary, Confessor and Patron of the Universal Church, a Traditional Latin Mass will be offered on March 19, 2013, at 7:00 at St. Madeline Church, Penn Street and Morton Ave., Ridley Park, PA 19078. The celebrant will be Fr. Gerald Carey, pastor of St. Paul’s Church in South Philadelphia. The local parish choir, assisted by singers from traditional church choirs in the area, will sing the Missa de Angelis. The LLA encourages members of the Latin Mass community to attend this Mass, which will be the first of its kind in many years at the parish.

From Mark Matthews, Esq., Advisory Council

First Friday TLM will be offered at the Rectory Chapel of Saint Albert The Great Parish on March 1, A.D. 2013 by Fr. Gerald Carey, Pastor of St. Paul Parish, at 7 p.m., preceded by Confessions at 6:30 p.m

First Saturday TLM will likewise be offered on March 2, A.D. 2013 by Fr. Dominick Finn, O.S.F.S. at 9:15 a.m., preceded by Confessions at 8:45 a.m.

The Rectory Chapel is located behind the St. Albert The Great Church, 212 Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 19006, (T) 215-947-3500, adjacent to northeast Philadelphia.

When the priest goes to the foot of the Altar: Jesus enters the garden.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Who wast pleased voluntarily to endure mortal terror and anguish at the view of Thine approaching passion, give me grace henceforth to consecrate all my sorrows to Thee, O God of my heart! Assist me to support my trials in union with Thine agony, that through the merits of Thy Passion they may become profitable to my.

At the Beginning of Mass: Prayer of Jesus in the garden.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Who was pleased to be comforted by an angel in Thy dreadful agony, grant through the merits of Thy prayer in the garden that Thy consoling angel may ever assist me in mine.

At the Confiteor: Jesus prostrated in the garden.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who in the excess of Thine anguish, was bathed in sweat of blood while praying to Thy Father in the Garden of Olives, grant that I may participate in Thy sorrows by sympathy, and unite bitter tears of repentance with Thy tears of blood.

The Priest kisses the Altar: Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst sumbit to the embrace of Judas, preserve me by Thy grace, from misfortune of ever betraying Thee, and assist me to repay calumny and injustice with cordial charity and active kindness.

The Priest goes to the Epistle side: Jesus is dragged to prison.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst submit to be bound with ropes by the hands of wicked men, break, I beseech Thee, the chains of my sins and attach the powers of my soul and body closely to Thee by bonds of charity, that they may never escape from the salutary restraint of perfect submission to Thy Divine Will.

At the Introit: Jesus receives a blow.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast conducted as a criminal to the house of Annas, grant that I may never suffer myself to be led into sin by temptations of the evil spirit, or the evil suggestions of my fellow creatures, but that I may be securely guided by the Divine Spirit in the perfect accomplishment of Thy holy ordinances.

At the Kyrie eleison: Jesus is thrice denied by Peter.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst submit to be thrice denied in the house of Caiphas, by the head and prince of the apostles preserve me from the danger of evil company, that I may not be exposed to the misfortune of separation from Thee.

At the Dominus vobiscum: Jesus looks at Peter and touches his heart.

Lord Jesus Christ, who by one glance of love didst melt the heart of St. Peter into a fountain of penitential tears, grant by Thy mercy that I may weep for my sins and never by word or deed deny Thee, who art my Lord and my God.

At the Epistle: Jesus is conducted to the house of Pilate.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast pleased to be led before Pilate, and there falsely accused, teach me to avoid the deceits of the wicked, and to profess my faith by the constant practice of good works.

At the Munda Cor Meum: Jesus is led to Herod.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst silently endure to be again falsely accused before Herod, grant me patience under calumny, and silence under outrages.

At the Gospel: Jesus is mocked as a fool and sent back to Pilate.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst submit to be sent as a fool by Herod to Pilate, who though enemies before, then became friends, strengthen me so powerfully by Thy grace, that instead of apprehending the machinations of the wicked, I may learn to bear their malice as Thou didst and thus render their injustice profitable to my soul.

The Priest uncovers the Chalice: Jesus is stripped of His garments.
Lord Jesus Christ, Who was pleased to be despoiled of Thy garments and most inhumanly scourged for love of me, grant me grace to lay aside the burden of my sins by a good confession, and never to appear before Thee despoiled of the virtues of a Christian.

At the Offertory: Jesus is scourged.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast pleased to be fastened to the pillar and torn with stripes, grant me grace to patiently endure the scourges of Thy paternal correction and never more to grieve Thy Heart with my sins.

The Priest offers the Chalice: Jesus is crowned with thorns.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst submit, through love for me, to be crowned with thorns, grant that my heart may be so penetrated with the thorns of repentance in this world, that I may deserve to be hereafter crowned with Thee in glory.

The priest washes his fingers: Pilate washes his hands.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who, although declared innocent by Pilate was subjected to the insults and outrages of the Jews, grant me the grace to lead an irreproachable life and at the same time to maintain a holy indifference to the opinions of men.

At the Orate fratres: Pilate says to the Jews, “Behold the Man.”

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst submit to the derision of the Jews, and voluntarily wear the badges of their insolent mockery, grant that I may faithfully resist all emotions of vainglory and appear before Thee on the day of judgment clothed in the sacred garment of Thy humility.

At the Preface: Jesus is condemned to death.
Lord Jesus Christ, Who, though the God of sanctity, didst submit through love for me to a most ignominious condemnation, grant me grace to avoid rash judgments and strengthen me to bear with patience, the injustice of men.

At the Memento for the living: Jesus carries His Cross.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst carry thy heavy Cross for my salvation, grant that I may voluntarily embrace the cross of mortification and carry it daily for Thy love.

At the Communicantes: Veronica wipes with a linen cloth the Face of Jesus.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who on Thy way to Calvary, didst say to the holy women that wept for the love of Thee: “Weep not for me but for yourselves”; give me the grace to weep for my sins with tears of holy contrition and love that will render me agreeable to Thy divine Majesty.

Consecration of the Bread and Wine: Jesus is nailed to the Cross.
Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast nailed to the Cross for my redemption, attaching to it through Thy Sacred Flesh, my sins, and the eternal punishment due to them, grant me Thy saving fear, that resolutely observing Thy Holy precepts, I may ever be attached to the Cross with Thee.

At the Elevation of the Sacred Host: The Cross of Jesus is elevated between Heaven and earth.

My Lord, and My God!

Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast pleased to be elevated on the Cross and exalted above the earth for the love of me, detach my heart, I beseech Thee, from all terrestrial affections and elevate my understanding to the consideration of Heavenly things.

At the elevation of the Chalice: The Blood of Jesus flows from His wounds.

Lord have mercy on us!

Lord Jesus Christ, Thy sacred wounds are the inexhaustible source of all grace; grant then, that Thy Precious Blood may purify my soul from all evil thoughts and prove a salutary remedy for all my spiritual miseries.

At the Memento for the dead: Jesus prays for all men.

Lord Jesus Christ, who didst pray on the Cross for all men, even for Thine executioners, grant me the spirit of meekness and patience, that according to Thy precepts and example I may love my enemies and cordially return good for evil.

At the Nobis quoque peccatoribus: The conversion of the good thief, St. Dismas.

Lord Jesus Christ, who didst promise the joys of Heaven to the penitent thief, look on me with eyes of compassion and say to my soul at the last moment of my life: “This day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”

At the Pater noster: The seven words of Christ.
Lord Jesus Christ, Who from the cross didst recommend Thy Blessed Mother to the beloved disciple, and the disciple to Thy Mother, receive me, I beseech Thee, under Thy protection and grant that amidst the snares and perils of this world I may never lose the treasure of Thy friendship.

At the division of the Sacred Host: Jesus expires on the Cross.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who before expiring on the Cross didst commend Thy Soul to Thy Father, grant that I may die spiritually with You now, and so confide my eternal destiny with confidence to Thy hands at the hour of my death.

The priest puts a particle of the Sacred Host into the Chalice: The Soul of Jesus descends into the limbo of Hell.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who after overthrowing the empire of Satan didst descend into limbo to liberate the souls imprisoned there; apply, I beseech Thee, the merits of Thy Blood and Passion to the suffering souls in Purgatory, that, being absolved from their sins, they may be received into Thy bosom, and enjoy eternal peace.

At the Agnus Dei: The conversion of sinners.

Lord Jesus Christ, the contemplation of Thy torments has excited repentance in many hearts; grant me, through the efficacy of Thy painful sufferings and ignominious death, perfect contrition for my past offenses, and the grace to avoid all willful sin.

At the Communion: Jesus is buried.
Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast pleased to be buried in a new monument, give me a new heart, so that buried with Thee, I may attain to the glory of Thy resurrection.

At the Ablution: Jesus is embalmed.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who wast pleased to be embalmed and wrapped in a clean linen cloth by Joseph and Nicodemus, give me the grace to receive most worthily, Thy Precious Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, with a heart embalmed with the precious ointment of Thy virtues.

After the Communion: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst triumphantly issue from the fast sealed monument, grant that, rising from the tomb of my sins, I may walk in newness of life so that when Thou shalt appear in glory I may merit also to appear with Thee.

At the Dominus vobiscum: Jesus appears to His disciples.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst gladden the hearts of Thy Blessed Mother and Thine apostles by manifesting Thyself to them after Thy Resurrection, grant that, since I cannot be so happy as to behold Thee in this mortal life, I may hereafter enjoy the unclouded vision of Thy glory.

At the Post Communion: Jesus converses for forty days with His disciples.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who after Thy Resurrection deigned to converse for forty days with Thy disciples, instructing them in the mysteries of our faith, increase, I beseech Thee, my knowledge of those Divine Truths, and confirm my belief in them.

The last Dominus vobiscum: Jesus ascends into Heaven.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst ascend gloriously into Heaven in the presence of Thy disciples, grant me to so love Thee that I may desire none but eternal joys, and aspire to the possession of Thee as the first and best of all blessings.

At the priest’s blessing: The descent of the Holy Ghost.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst send the Holy Ghost on Thine apostles, while engaged in unanimous and persevering prayer, purify my soul, I beseech Thee, that the Paraclete, finding therein a dwelling well pleasing to Him, may adorn it with His gifts and replenish it with His consolations.

Thanksgiving after Mass.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Redeemer of men, I humbly thank Thee for having permitted me to assist today at the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I beseech Thee, through the efficacy of that adorable Sacrifice, to strengthen me against all temptations, and to grant that, having served Thee faithfully in this life, I may hereafter attain to the possession of Thy glory.

Amen.

by Roberto di Mattei
(February 13, 2013, www.conciliovaticanosecondo.it)

Translated by Michael J. Miller, LLA Advisory Council

On February 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced to the Consistory of Cardinals and to the whole world his decision to resign from the papacy. The announcement was greeted by the cardinals “almost in disbelief”, “with a sense of bewilderment”, “like a bolt from the blue”, according to the remarks addressed to the Pope immediately afterward by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals.

If the bewilderment of the cardinals was so great, one can imagine how intense the disorientation of the faithful is these days, especially those who have always regarded Benedict XVI as a reference point and now feel somehow “orphaned”, if not downright abandoned, in view of the serious difficulties that the Church faces at the present hour.

Yet the possibility that a Pope could renounce the papal throne was not entirely unexpected. The [then] President of the German Bishops’ Conference, Karl Lehmann, and the [then] Primate of Belgium, Godfried Danneels, had put forward the idea of the “resignation” of John Paul II, when his health had deteriorated. Cardinal Ratzinger, in his 2010 book-length interview Light of the World, had told the German journalist Peter Seewald that if a pope “realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign” (p. 30). In 2010, then, fifty Spanish theologians had expressed their support for the Open Letter to the bishops of the whole world by the Swiss theologian Hans Küng with these words:

We believe that the pontificate of Benedict XVI is worn out. The Pope has neither the vigor nor the intellectual acumen to respond adequately to the serious and urgent problems which the Catholic Church finds that she must face. We think therefore, with due respect for his person, that he ought to tender his resignation from his office.

And in 2011-2012, when some journalists, like Giuliano Ferrara and Antonio Socci, had written about the possible resignation of the Pope, this idea had elicited among readers more disapproval than agreement.

There is no doubt whatsoever about the right of a Pope to resign. The new Code of Canon Law regulates the possibility of a resignation by the Pope in canon 332, paragraph 2, with these words:

Should it happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns from his office, it is required for validity that the resignation be freely made and properly manifested, but it is not necessary that it be accepted by anyone.

Moreover Articles 1 and 3 of the 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominicis Gregis, on the vacancy of the Holy See, foresee the possibility that the vacancy of the Apostolic See might be brought about not only by the death of the Pope, but also by his valid resignation.

In history there are not very many documented episodes of abdication. The best known case is still that of St. Celestine V, the monk Pietro da Morrone, who was elected in Perugia on July 5, 1294, and crowned in L’Aquila the following month on August 29. After a pontificate of only five months, he thought it opportune to resign, considering himself not up to the office that he had taken. Therefore he prepared his abdication, first consulting the Cardinals and then issuing a constitution with which he reaffirmed the validity of the rules already established by Gregory X for conducting the next Conclave. On December 13 in Naples he pronounced his abdication in the presence of the College of Cardinals, relinquished the papal insignia and vestments, and resumed the habit of a hermit. On December 24, 1294, Benedetto Caetani was elected Pope in his stead, with the name of Boniface VIII.

Another case of papal resignation – the last one to date – occurred during the course of the Council of Constance (1414-1418). Gregory XII (1406-1415), the legitimate Pope, in order to mend the Great Western Schism (1378-1417), sent to Constance his plenipotentiary Carlo Malatesta to make known his intention to retire from the papal office; on July 4, 1415, his resignation was officially accepted by the conciliar assembly, which at the same time deposed the antipope Benedict XIII. Gregory XII was reinstated in the Sacred College with the title of Cardinal Bishop of Porto and ranking first after the Pope. Having abandoned his papal name and garb and taken again the name of Cardinal Angelo Correr, he retired to the Marches as papal legate and died in Recanati on October 18, 1417.

The possibility of resignation, therefore, is not scandalous per se: it is covered by canon law and has historically occurred over the centuries. It should be noted, however, that the Pope can resign, and sometimes has historically resigned from the Papacy, inasmuch as it is considered an “jurisdictional office of the Church” and is not indelibly linked to the person who occupies it. The apostolic hierarchy in fact exercises two powers that are mysteriously united in the same persons: the power of order [i.e., Holy Orders] and the power of jurisdiction (see, for example, St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-IIae, q. 39, a. 3, resp.; III, q. 6, a. 2). Both powers are ordered to achieve the particular goals of the Church, but each with its own characteristics, which distinguish it profoundly from the other: the potestas ordinis is the power to distribute the means of divine grace and pertains to the administration of the sacraments and to the conduct of official worship; the potestas iurisdictionis is the power to govern the ecclesiastical institution and the individual faithful.

The power of order is distinguished from the power of jurisdiction not only by a difference in nature and object, but also by the way in which it is conferred, inasmuch as this power is essentially given at consecration, that is, by means of a sacrament and through the impression of a sacred character. Possession of the potestas ordinis is absolutely indelible inasmuch as its degrees are not temporary offices, but rather imprint characters upon those who on whom it is conferred. According to the Code of Canon Law, once a baptized man becomes a deacon, priest or bishop, he is one forever and no human authority can erase this ontological condition. The power of jurisdiction, in contrast, is not indelible but rather temporary and revocable; its offices, for which physical persons are responsible, terminate with the cessation of the mandate.

Another important feature of the power of order is its non-territoriality, since the degrees of the hierarchy of order [i.e., Holy Orders] are absolutely independent from any territorial limitation, at least as regards the validity of their exercise. The offices of the power of jurisdiction, on the contrary, are always limited in space, and the territory is always one of their constituent elements, except that of the Supreme Pontiff, who is not subject to any spatial limitation.

In the Church the power of jurisdiction belongs jure divino, by divine right, to the Pope and to the bishops. The fullness of this power resides, however, only in the Pope who, as its foundation, supports the whole ecclesiastical edifice. In him is found all pastoral authority, and in the Church any other independent pastoral authority is inconceivable.
Liberal theology supports in contrast, in the name of the Second Vatican Council, a reform of the Church, in a sacramental and charismatic sense, which pits the power of order against the power of jurisdiction, the church of charity against the church of law, the episcopal structure against the monarchical structure. The Pope, reduced to a primus inter pares [first among equals] within the college of bishops, would have only an ethical and prophetic function, a primacy of “honor” or “love”, but not of government or jurisdiction.

From this perspective Hans Küng and others mentioned the idea of a pontificate “of limited duration” and no longer for life, as the form of government required by the swiftly changing modern world and with its endless new problems. “We cannot have an 80-year-old Pontiff who is no longer fully present from the physical and mental standpoint,” Küng said to the radio station Südwestrundfunk; the Swiss theologian sees the limitation of the papal mandate as a necessary step for the radical reform of the Church. The Pope would be reduced to the president of a board of directors, to a merely arbitrating figure, alongside an “open-ended” ecclesiastical structure, such as a permanent synod, with decision-making powers.

However, if one maintains that the essence of papacy is found in the sacramental power of order and not in the supreme power of jurisdiction, then the Pope could never resign; if he did, he would lose by his resignation only the exercise of the supreme power, but not the power itself, which would be indelible, like the sacramental ordination from which springs. Anyone who admits the possibility of resignation must admit that the Pope derives his summa potestas [supreme authority] from the jurisdiction that he exercises and not from the sacrament that he receives. Liberal theology is therefore self-contradictory when it pretends that the Papacy is founded on its sacramental nature, and then claims that a Pope can resign, which however can be admitted only if his commission is based on the power of jurisdiction. For the same reason there cannot be, after the resignation of Benedict XVI, “two popes”, one in office and one “emeritus”, as some have said improperly. Benedict XVI will go back to being His Eminence Cardinal Ratzinger and will not be able to exercise the prerogatives, such as infallibility, that are intimately connected with the power of papal jurisdiction.

The Pope, therefore, may resign. But is it opportune for him to do so? Enzo Bianchi, certainly not a “traditionalist” author, wrote in the July 1, 2002, issue of La Stampa:

According to the great tradition of the Church of the East and of the West, no Pope, no patriarch, no bishop should resign just because he has reached an age limit. It is true that for thirty-some years in the Catholic Church there has been a rule that invites bishops to offer their resignation to the pope upon completing their seventy-fifth year, and it is true that all the bishops accept this invitation in obedience and submit it, and it is also true that normally their requests are granted and their resignations are accepted. But this remains a recent rule and practice, established by Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II: there is nothing to prevent it from being revised in future, after deliberation of the advantages and problems that it has produced in these decades in which it has been applied.

The rule that bishops resign at age 75 from their dioceses is a recent phase in the history of the Church, which seems to contradict the words of St. Paul, in whose estimation the Shepherd is appointed “ad convivendum et ad commoriendum” (2 Cor 7:3), to live and to die alongside his flock. The vocation of a Pastor, like that of every baptized person, is in fact binding, not until a certain age or contingent on good health, but until death.

In this respect, the renunciation of the papacy by Benedict XVI appears as a legitimate act from the theological and canonical perspective, but on the historical level as an absolute break with the tradition and practice of the Church. From the perspective of what the consequences of it might be, this gesture is not simply “innovative”, but radically “revolutionary”, as Eugenio Scalfari described it in the pages of La Repubblica on February 12. The image of the institution of the papacy in the eyes of public opinion throughout the world is in fact being stripped of its sacredness so as to be handed over to the criteria by which modernity judges things. It is no accident that in the Corriere della Sera on the same day, Massimo Franco speaks about an “extreme, final, irrevocable symptom of the crisis of a system of government and a form of papacy.”

No comparison can be made with either Celestine V, who resigned after having been snatched by force from his hermit’s cell, or with Gregory XII, who in turn was forced to resign in order to resolve the very serious issue of the Great Western Schism. Those were exceptional cases. But what is the exception in the gesture by Benedict XVI? The official reason, enunciated clearly in his words on February 11, reflects the norm rather than the exception:

In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of St. Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity….

We are not confronted here with a serious disability, as was the case with John Paul II at the final close of his pontificate. The intellectual faculties of Benedict XVI are fully intact, as he demonstrated in one of his last and most important meditations at the Roman Seminary, and his health is “generally good”, as Fr. Federico Lombardi noted; according to the spokesman of the Holy See, however, the Pope has pointed out in recent times, “the imbalance between the tasks, the problems to be addressed and strength which he feels that he does not have at his disposal.”
Nevertheless, from the moment of his election, each pontiff experiences an understandable feeling of inadequacy, noticing the disproportion between his personal abilities and the weight of the responsibility to which he is called. Who can say that he is capable of supporting with his own strength the munus [office] of the Vicar of Christ? The Holy Ghost however assists the Pope not only at the time of his election, but until his death, at every moment, even the most difficult of his pontificate. Today the Holy Ghost is often invoked inappropriately, as when it is claimed that He vouches for every act and every word of a Pope or of a Council. These days, however, He is notably absent from the comments in the mainstream media that evaluate the gesture of Benedict XVI according to a purely human criterion, as if the Church were a multinational corporation, directed in terms of sheer efficiency, regardless of any supernatural influence.

But the question is this: in two thousand years of history, how many Popes have reigned in good health and have not noticed the decline of their strength and have not suffered from illnesses and moral trials of all sorts? Physical wellbeing has never been a criterion for governing the Church. Will it be from Benedict XVI on? A Catholic cannot help wondering about these questions, and if he does not ask them, these questions will be posed by the facts, for instance in the next conclave, when the choice of Benedict’s successor will inevitably be oriented towards a young cardinal in his prime so that he can be considered equal to the serious mission that awaits him. Unless the heart of the problem is not in these “questions of deep relevance for the life of faith” referred to by the Pope, which may be alluding to the ungovernable situation in which the Church seems be in today.

It would be unwise, in this respect, to consider the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI as already “concluded”, or to start drawing up premature assessments, without first waiting for the prophetic deadline that he announced: the evening of February 28, 2013, a date that will be engraved in the history of the Church. Before then, but even after that date, Benedict XVI could still be the protagonist of new and unexpected scenarios. The Pope indeed announced his resignation, but not his silence, and his decision restores to him a freedom that perhaps he felt deprived of. What will Benedict XVI say and do, or Cardinal Ratzinger, in the coming days, weeks and months? And most importantly, who will lead, and in what manner, the bark of Peter in the new storms that inevitably lie ahead?

Submitted by Michael Miller, Advisory Council

To celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Bl. Virgin Mary, Confessor and Patron of the Universal Church, a Traditional Latin Mass will be offered on March 19, 2013, at 7:00 at St. Madeline Church, Penn Street and Morton Ave., Ridley Park, PA 19078. The celebrant will be Fr. Gerald Carey, pastor of St. Paul’s Church in South Philadelphia. The local parish choir, assisted by singers from traditional church choirs in the area, will sing the Missa de Angelis. The LLA encourages members of the Latin Mass community to attend this Mass, which will be the first of its kind in many years at the parish.

The TLM schedule at St. Albert The Great Parish is as follows:

First Friday, February 1, A.D. 2013 TLM will be offered by Fr. Dennis Carbonaro, Pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Parish, at the Rectory Chapel of St. Albert The Great Parish, 212 Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, PA 19006.

(T) 215-947-3500 at 7 P.M., E.S.T. preceded by Confessions at 6:30 P.M., E.S.T. The Rectory is located behind the Church.

First Saturday, February 2, A.D. 2013 TLM will likewise be offered by Fr. Dominick Finn, O.S.F.S., at 9:15 A.M., E.S.T., preceded by Confessions at 8:45 A.M., E.S.T.

As you remember, these are the only canonically regular, publicly available, continuously scheduled First Friday and First Saturday TLM’s within the entire Archdiocese of Philadelphia, known to the lay faithful.

The site Real Clear Religion posted this article by George Neumayr

Liberal bishops dismissed Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic constitution authorizing wider use of the traditional Latin mass, as a bone thrown to over-the-hill conservatives. But Pope Benedict XVI probably wrote it more for the young than the old.

One of the points he stressed in his letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum was that “what earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred for us too.” He had previously written that the widespread contempt for the old mass — the treatment of it as something “forbidden” — constituted an act of self-mutilation for a religion predicated on tradition.

Among the groups interested in the traditional Latin mass were youth, he noted: “young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction, and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Sacrifice particularly suited to them.”

Left-wing Catholic publications, normally so attentive to the enthusiasms of youth, have taken no interest in this phenomenon. To the extent that they acknowledge it all, they adopt a tone of mocking. A few years back, after thousands of young people flocked to a Pontifical Solemn High Mass held in D.C.’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, US Catholic gasped, “Really? Seriously?” It treated the event as a joke.

The secular press covers youth interest in the traditional Latin mass far more respectfully. The Economist recently reported on the “traditionalist avant-garde.” The old mass, it found, isn’t petering out but picking up some speed: “The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, started in 1965, now has over 5,000 members. The weekly number of Latin masses is up from 26 in 2007 to 157 now. In America it is up from 60 in 1991 to 420. At Brompton Oratory, a hotspot of London traditionalism, 440 flock to the main Sunday Latin mass. That is twice the figure for the main English one.”

The influx of conservative Anglicans has bolstered these numbers a bit: “Dozens of Anglican priests have ‘crossed the Tiber’ from the heavily ritualistic ‘smells and bells’ high-church wing; they find a ready welcome among traditionalist Roman Catholics.”

But the principal source of growth comes from youth interest. “Like evangelical Christianity, traditional Catholicism is attracting people who were not even born when the Second Vatican Council tried to rejuvenate the church,” says The Economist. “Traditionalist groups have members in 34 countries, including Hong Kong, South Africa and Belarus. Juventutem, a movement for young Catholics who like the old ways, boasts scores of activists in a dozen countries.”

Self-consciously “relevant” Catholicism is increasingly seen by the young as irrelevant. Youth masses that try to imitate the trends of the world, often lamely, generate only sporadic attendance. Substanceless liturgies leave them bored, and they apparently deduce from the relativistic theology on display at them that the logical terminus of liberal Catholicism is to lapse.

In John Zmirak’s engaging new book, The Bad Catholic’s Guide To the Catechism, he explains the paradoxical appeal of the old mass to the young. At first, he says “he hated it,” but something about it kept him interested: “some sense that you’re peering through a window out of time, seeing through a glass not quite so darkly into another world far realer than our own.”

“You’ll feel a little alienated, maybe even offended,” he writes to the skeptical. “Who is this guy in the shiny robe to turn his back on me and talk to the crucifix instead? You’ll resent the calisthenics, the hopping up and down then falling back on your knees, and you’ll likely find the prayers archaic and strange, like a quote from the Magna Carta….Any traditional rite will be thoroughly off-putting, just like cardio, mathematics, or parenthood. But if you stick with it, you’ll learn to ‘see’ something profound and true: a sacrificial ritual enacting a solemn marriage between the fallen muck of earth and fire falling from heaven.”

The liberal architects of the post-Vatican II period find the traditionalist revival baffling. The Economist quotes liberal Dominican Timothy Radcliffe to the effect that new interest in the old mass is just a form of empty nostalgia. But the explanation is no more complicated than what Jesus Christ told his disciples: the young desire bread, not stones.