Edit: this is Cathcon’s translation of Katholisches which picks up a lot of stuff in the Italian press and presents it for a Catholic audience in Germany. Here, they’ve quoted the very reliable blog, Missa in Latino, with one person apparently overhearing the Pope tell Msgr. Marini that "The time for carnival items is over”.
It’s also apparent that Msgr. Marini, Pope Benedict’s Master of Ceremonies, is going to be fired.
Monsignor Guido Marini, the Master of Ceremonies of Pope Benedict XVI. and all previous Masters of Ceremony face redundancy. This is reported by the tradition-orientated Messa in Latino . Pope Francis will get for his inauguration ceremony and the associated Pontifical Mass, the Franciscans of La Verna. "A further signal of the Jesuit Bergoglio to present himself as Franciscan on which the media places great value " said Messa in Latino .Link to Cathcon...
Can only panic ensue because of the nature of the statement for which no exact source can be specified? Only a form of incitement associated with traditionalists against the new Pope, as the Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi recently lamented? Traditionalist Catholics are confused by some gestures of the Pope. The return of the "plywood altar" (Paul Badde) as people's altar in the Sistine Chapel was perceived partly with horror.
The Master of Ceremonies of the Pope is associated with the Roman Curia and the leadership of the church as much as a hermit on a high mountain. He is responsible for the central part of the liturgy, from which alone can come the renewal of the Church. If Monsignor Marini should actually be dismissed and it looks like even the first to be dismissed, then the recently so vehemently demanded conversion of the Roman Curia would start with a completely wrong step.
I thought I was being loyal to the Pope and to the Church but now having pinned so much on Benedict I find I have been foolish. What he valued, and what I value are now considered useless baubles.
ReplyDeleteThese last few days have really shaken my faith, pray for me, that it recovers and the profound sorrow that is enveloping me departs.
Father, please bear in mind that this is an unsubstantiated report, but it seems to us that it’s out with the Gregorian Hymnals and in with your Collegeville Gather Hymanls.
Deleteperhaps an elixir of the wood of the cross can help with what ails you, my brother priest.
Deleteand if you are in profound sorrow over something like this, read 'He leadeth me' or 'With God in Russia' .....then tell me what true sorrow & suffering is.
Don't bring shame to the cross of Christ or to your vocation as an alter christi
Father, you are not the only one whose faith is shaken, to be sure. I know all to well that despair is one of the most potent weapons the devil has in his arsenal.
DeleteI do not wish to presume to lecture a priest, but I feel I should say that the events of the last five weeks seem now to me to be a poignant reminder that this war to reclaim the Church was never going to be won by human effort alone, even the monumental efforts of a holy pope. For my own part, I see it as a call to place our whole trust in Divine Providence and in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and not in political maneuvering and reorganizations of the Curia (which amounts to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic), nor in the cult of personality that has lately attached itself to the papacy (which preys upon our loyalty, and twists it in such a way that the pope soon becomes more like a pagan oracle than the heir of St. Peter). How many times have we seen in the lives of the saints that God waits until a situation is utterly impossible, so that there can be no doubting the miracle?
You have my prayers. And remember that you are not alone. The new pope may be hostile to tradition, but there remain bishops, and even cardinals (to say nothing of other priests and religious, and of laity like myself) who are sympathetic, and not all of them will easily be cowed. There may be a struggle, and perhaps some dark days ahead, but Benedict has let the djinni out of his bottle, and Francis will have a rather harder time putting him back in if he should try. The past eight years have strengthened us for the road ahead.
This election may have disheartened me but that served only to further my resolve to live out my Confirmation and FIGHT with all I have.
DeleteDo not let the bastards get you down. Anyone who would not know how to be Catholic, whether they be pauper or pope is to be pitied and prayed for because of the blatant lack of grace. Anathemas are not worth fretting over, Father.
Let us who are confirmed in the Faith proceed ever more boldly!
Say, I wonder if Rosetta Stone has an edition for Old Church Slavonic?...
ReplyDeleteFather I am praying for you. The abrupt abdication of Pope Benedict and the quick election of Pope Francis and further all the unknown is a shock. It will take time to recover. I am praying for you. Please Father remember us in your prayers.
ReplyDeleteThis is sad news indeed, but so typical of that generation. They cloak themselves in false humility. I call it ribbon theology. Put your little pink ribbon on today for breast cancer and tomorrow a red one for AIDS, another for solidarity with the poor...
ReplyDeleteIt is going to take a miracle.
rjh
Uh, excuse me, but are you people crazy? I haven't seen such melodramatic exaggeration since I was a wee lad, only knee-high to my father's kilt. Grow up and act like men. You're Catholics, for goodness sake!
ReplyDeleteI for one would be grateful if you could explain what you mean by "melodramatic exaggeration". I see neither melodrama nor exaggeration in any of the posts thus far.
DeleteSo much for explaining what they mean.
DeletePerhaps he meant that it is Lent, when the vestments should be less sumptuous (e.g., no lace surplices, etc.).
ReplyDeleteMmmm, maybe!
Deletelol.
Deleterjh
Considering the inane ugliness of most of the vestments which adorn your typical Novus Ordo mass I find the Pope's remarks funny...in a perverse sort of way.
ReplyDeleteIf such a statement was made by Pope Francis, he may have been referring to the absolute monarch garments that he was asked to wear as absolute monarch of the Vatican City State.
ReplyDeleteThe whole trappings of an imperial court for a shepherd of the flock is not his personality. Carnival dress-up costume time was over on the last day of February in Buenos Aires.
I would like to know what impact Pope Francis' first homily had on the clergy and the laity when he said,
"When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we proclaim Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly," he continued. "We may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, all of this, but we are not disciples of the Lord."
Was wearing the vestment (red cape) required? If not than Pope Francis had the prerogative to choose not to wear it. I understand that the Master of Ceremonies is a five year term (source WIKI) and Msgr Marini has had it since 2007 so he may be moved to bigger and better positions instead. Would like to see him elevated to Cardinal, personally.
ReplyDeleteSurely, the various departures from protocol and custom are jarring for many, and even though a lot of people are too afraid to say it, I’m sure that at some level they find these shows of egalitarianism and humility a bit jarring.
Delete