I publish the following translation as a stimulus to further reflection in these difficult times. I do not personally believe that clandestinity and open resistance are incompatible: in situations where prudential decisions must be made according to a variety of circumstances, either course of action may be defensible. Nevertheless, I agree with the author that there needs to be, in many places and from many lips, a firm “non possumus” and a public resolve to continue on, in the teeth of pseudo-sanctions. What is unacceptable is rolling over to play dead while the enemies of the Faith and of the faithful trample on intrinsic elements of the Church’s common good and of the “status ecclesiae.” To this end I highly recommend, as a parallel reading to the present post, a model letter published elsewhere, as from a priest to his bishop. ~ PAK
In a recent video Prof. Giovanni Zenone, director of the Fede&Cultura publishing house, spoke about the alleged further restrictions on the celebration of the Mass commonly called the Mass of St. Pius V, resulting from Bergoglio’s rescript following his audience with Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
In his speech, Prof. Zeno certainly describes very well and in a largely relatable way the situation in which we find ourselves: it is no mystery that the circumstances are increasingly serious, and it would be wrong to try to diminish the scandal by pretending to normalize, almost out of a sense of exhaustion, what is in fact not normal.
On the other hand, however, one cannot pretend to believe that the problems arose just yesterday: for the sake of intellectual honesty, we must all remember that the attack on the Mass of All Time by the hierarchy has been going on for over fifty years. There is no doubt that Prof. Zenone knows this, as a man of culture he is, and certainly not one of the latest arrivals within the milieu.
However, within his talk — or, rather, at what was the heart of his talk — I was particularly struck by the passage in which, after reading a letter from a faithful woman expressing her concerns about the situation of a priest dear to her, the director of the Veronese publishing house proposes some advice for priests and laity.
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