A Contrast in Two Contenders: Scherer Lets Host Fall to the Floor --Scola Shows Commitment to Hermeneutic of Continuity

(Rome) On Sunday, the papal electors celebrated  Mass  in their titular churches in Rome and surroundings. Each cardinal is assigned a church in Rome with his elevation to Cardinal, for which he is officially the pastor. Each cardinal thus has a share in the pastoral care of the diocese of Rome, while at the same time it expresses the bond to the pope.

Among the celebrants were two cardinals who enter as candidates in the conclave: Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan in his 6th of the Century titular church of Santi XII Apostoli in Rione Trevi and Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo, Cardinal in his consecrated titular church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale designed by Bernini in 1678, which served from 1870-1946 as a court orchestra for the Italian royal family. Thus, a situation may repeat itself as in the conclave of 1978 , in which  the two stood facing, the Cardinals Benelli (Florence) and Siri (Genoa) who reprsented opposing Church models. The contrast between the two camps in 2013 is not as accentuated as it was then, yet there are significant differences.

Cardinal Scherer "Eucharistic understanding"

Messa in Latino published some comments on the liturgies of the two. Cardinal Scherer was the "candidate of the Progressive chiselers and the ear of the Roman Curia." One could describe  Scherer  "modus celebrandi as just as careless and at the canonical limit for abuse."  "For example, without the Communion paten, although this could also be prescribed in the rubrics of the Novus Ordo. There is no reason to give it up, at least when a prince of the Church celebrates, because there certainly isn’t a lack of ministers. "

Failure to follow the Church's rules "has consequences: a Host consecrated by the Cardinal slipped from  from his hand and fell on the floor for lack of paten". This could happen to any priest. The consequences which were here caused by the negligent handling of the liturgical rules were serious as the Lord fell into the dust and lay on the ground.  How the celebrant reacts to this situation is in turn revealing regarding his Eucharistic understanding. "Cardinal Scherer picked up the consecrated Host and held it up and ready to go. This, picked up although in such cases any host particles and the ground should be cleaned in a special way, instead of kicking the particles of the body of Our Lord with your feet, allowing let them to easily step on them. “  [Video on Missa in Latino]

Cardinal Scola: Next Pope should (not 50) "great Popes" of the last 150 years follow

The celebration of Cardinal Scola was, however, "always looking, for the Novus Ordo, very solemn and dignified.” Only, "but pardonable negligence, that does not fault the celebrant: Is it possible that in a church in Rome there is not a pink chasuble available, although it was Laetare Sunday?", however, the celebration was similar to the "extremely sympathetic"  American Cardinal Dolan.

Cardinal Scola “captivated" especially through his preaching. In it he said: "Let us pray that the Holy Spirit gives His Church, the man who will follow the traces  of the great popes they presented in the past 150 years."

"150 years and not 50 years, which is remarkable," said Messa in Latino. The Cardinal struck  a wide berth, in which the post-conciliar period accounts for only one-third and also included the papacy of Pius IX. "A cautiously formulated, but solid commitment to the hermeneutic of continuity, which Pope Benedict XVI. taught as the way to Church renewal".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Archdiocese of Sao Paulo and Milan

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