Cardinal of Guadalajara Abolishes FSSP Parish

 THE CORSET IS TIED TIGHTER

The Cathedral of Guadalajara with Archbishop Cardinal Robles Ortega: Because of Traditionis custodes, an icy wind is blowing towards the Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega is Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico.  The Archdiocese of Guadalajara is one of the most thriving strongholds of the Society of St. Peter (FSSP) in Latin America.  On Twitter, the cardinal published the decree he had issued to implement the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes.  A tough decree.

With Traditionis Custodes, issued by Pope Francis on July 16, the Immemorial Rite and the communities and associations that are committed to it are to be strangled.  Cardinal Robles is implementing papal law with great rigor.

This is surprising at first sight. In 2007, when he was still Archbishop of Monterrey, the Mexican cardinal was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI.  elevated to the rank of cardinal.  It was also he who appointed him to the Archdiocese  of Guadalajara in 2011.  However, in contrast to Francis, the German Pope followed much more traditional practices when appointing bishops and cardinals, which limited his scope for decision-making.

Decree with which the quasi-parish was established in 2010

 Roble's predecessor as Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, who headed the Archdiocese from 1994 to 2011, had established a quasi-personal parish for the Immemorial Rite on December 6, 2010 and entrusted it to the FSSP.  The church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar became its focal point.  In the twelfth year of its prosperous existence, the parish has now been eliminated with the stroke of a pen.

Hopes were placed in the FSSP in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara.  There, with the Casa Cristo Rey, a first step was taken towards the establishment of a seminary with Spanish as the language of instruction (until now there have been those with German, French and English as the language of instruction).  However, the project had stalled in recent years.  One reason for this can now be guessed at.

Cardinal Robles tolerates the appearance of the Pachamama in his episcopal city in a decidedly sacrilegious form.

As Pope Francis emphasized several times, most recently on September 12th to the Jesuits in Slovakia, the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes apodictically assumes that all priests and believers who are connected to the traditional rite are "rigid", "rigid," " Pelagian”, “ideologues”..  That, so Francis justified, he had to fight.

However, the reality is very different: It is not just about the Rite, but about a different understanding of the Church, behind which there is a different theology.  Just as Protestants are primarily based on their demarcation from the Catholic Church, so the Novus Ordo and the underlying conceptual structure are primarily based on the rejection of the Vetus Ordo, which, through its mere existence, holds up a mirror to the innovators, which is unbearable for many.

The Pope postulated a premise to justify his intervention that does not exist in this form.  Seen in this way, Traditionis Custodes is a textbook example of a distorted perception of reality.  Rather, the motu proprio suggests an ideologized thinking of the ruling head of the Church, who flatly rejects the Immemorial Rite and its representatives and shows no willingness to respond to them and their concerns.  He considers their existence superfluous and disruptive.  The encouragement that is expressed in flourishing communities, full seminaries and congregations with many young families seems even more to be seen as an unbearable thorn in the flesh of the Church.  The grotesque stories that Francis tells to justify his actions, for example on September 12th against the Jesuits in Slovakia or on September 1st for the Spanish radio station COPE, which sound extremely embarrassing as an "argument" from the mouth of the Pope, does not hide this ideologized incitement, but makes it even more visible.

Cardinal Robles does not say in his decree what should happen to the allegedly “Pelagian” and “ideologized” believers in the quasi-parish that has now been repealed.  Their pastoral care and their access to Holy Mass and the sacraments seem to be of secondary importance.  They are being demoted to second class believers.

The text of the tough decree:

Title head of the decree of Cardinal Robles Ortega of September 21, 2021

1) The Mass according to the Missal of 1962 (Art. 2 TC) is allowed to continue with the readings alone being proclaimed in the vernacular using the translation of the Holy Scriptures approved by the Mexican Bishops' Conference (Art. 3 §3  TV).

 2) No further Masses may be added.  "When the time of the pandemic is over, their number will be checked again on a case-by-case basis."

3) The celebrations have to take place daily “exclusively” in the Church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar;  one mass on weekdays in the Cristo Rey chapel;  and on Sundays and public holidays in the parish church of San Francisco Javier de las Colinas (Art 3 §2 TC).

4) “The celebrations in the formation house or other houses of the FSSP in the Archdiocese are regulated according to the guidelines of the Congregation of Religious, whereby it should be noted that this chapel and similar chapels do not have the permission of the Archdiocese for public worship, but only the members of this Society  are reserved for those  in training. "

 5) The quasi-parish of San Pedro en Cadenas is also canonically abolished (Art. 3 §2, §5 and §6 TC).

6) The person responsible for the celebration and pastoral care of the participating believers will be announced shortly (Art 3 §4 TC).

7) According to the provisions of the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes, any other celebrations, in accordance with the Missal of 1962, must “obtain the appropriate permission on a case-by-case basis” (Art. 2 TC) and may take place “only in the assigned places”.

 8) The priests who should intend to celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962 must be "authorized case by case" in accordance with the norm of the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes:

 According to Art. 5, this applies to priests "who already celebrate according to the Roman Missal of 1962".

 Art. 4 stipulates that "the Apostolic See must be consulted" for requests from priests who were ordained after the publication of the Motu Proprio.

 "In both cases, each priest presents me with the corresponding handwritten request, justifying the motives for this request and having to explain it formally along with it:

 A) that it does not exclude the validity and legitimacy of the liturgical reform, the provisions of the Second Vatican Council and the Magisterium of the Popes (Art 3 §1 TC);

B) that he also recognizes that the only expression of the Lex orandi of the Roman Rite is that of Popes Saints [sic] Paul VI.  and John Paul II are promulgated liturgical books (Art. 1 TC);

C) that he undertakes, normally according to the norms of Popes Saint Paul VI.  and John Paul II to celebrate liturgical books promulgated, be it the Holy Eucharist, except in cases where the extraordinary permission is expressly given to follow the Editio of the Roman Missal of 1962, be it in the other sacraments in all cases without exception (since the preceding norms, instructions, grants and habits, which do not correspond to what is stipulated in this Motu Proprio, have been suspended, Art 8 TC).

Signed on September 21, 2021 in the Archiepiscopal Curia in Guadalajara in the 525th year of the first baptisms in Latin America.  Drawn by José Francisco Cardenal Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, and Don Javier Magdaleno Cueva, Secretary.  Protocol number A4660 / 2021.

A seminary of the Petrine Brotherhood for the Spanish-speaking world has for the time being moved into an unreachable distance in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara.

The full decree implementing Traditionis custodes in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi

 Image: Wikicommons / MiL / Twitter (screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekeon99@hotmail.com

AMDG