Permanent Apostolate of the FSSP in South Tirol

Benedictine abbey Säben

(Innsbruck) The Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) now extends its pastoral activity and now has a permanent apostolate also in the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone.

Already 15 years ago the first contacts to South Tyrol had been made. Priests of the Society of Saint Peter were invited to their parishes by friendly priests. 300 of the faithful had asked the diocesan bishop with their signature for the erection of a Mass location in the traditional rite. However, the promising start failed because of the then Bishop of Bolzano-Bressanone. The time was obviously not ripe yet. The Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum created by Pope Benedict XVI. initially freed the Mass in September 2007.

The pilgrimage church Mariahilf near Bressanone (built around 1650)

In the diocese, within two years there were two bishop changes. Since autumn 2011, the diocese has been headed by Bishop Ivo Muser. New possibilities opened up. Since June 2013, an FSSP priest celebrates Holy Mass once a month in the German church of Bolzano in the traditional form of the Roman Rite. From the summer of 2014, a second location in Bressanone followed in the same rhythm. Since then, the two episcopal cities, the ancient episcopal city of Bressanone (since about 960) and the new episcopal city of Bolzano (since 1964) have been reached by the Priestly Society of St. Peter.

The two Mass locations were looked after at the German church in Bolzano and the Mariahilf church in Brixen by the Upper Bavarian Mittenwald, which is itself looked after by Innsbruck already.

Additionally, contacts were established with the only Tyrolean Benedictine monastery, the Abbey of the Heiligenkreuz in Säben. It's a connection that blends well with the two Mass locations. Not only because the monastery is geographically located exactly between them, but because Säben from the 6th -10th Century was the first and oldest episcopal see of the diocese of Brixen.

The old bishop's palace, today's monastery, towers like a strong fortress of God on the Säbener mountain high above the Eisacktal. At the foot of the mountain, which for early Christians had been a safe haven, lies the small town of Klausen and the castle of Branzoll. The ascent to the monastery takes place from there on foot. The high age of Christianity on this venerable "Holy Mountain of Tyrol" can be felt everywhere.

Since 1686 there is a daughter of the Abbey Nonnberg in Salzburg on the mountain. Since then, contemplative Benedictine nuns live here in strict retreat. They dedicate themselves to choral prayer, domestic work and the gardens. Fr. Sven Connrade, the first priest of the FSSP, found a friendly reception with the nuns. Thus, the FSSP has its first office in Tyrol.

The monastery is the destination of many pilgrims to the Heiligenkreuz Church, one of the three churches of the monastery. There is also a guest house that is open to people looking for more than a few days more than just a hotel. Interested women can live in the monastery community.

From Säben the FSSP has looked after the two Mass locations whereby in Bressanone it was extended by the constant presence of a priest. In the Church of Mariahilf, the Holy Mass is now celebrated on every Sunday and public holiday in the traditional rite. This is a big win for the faithful in South Tyrol, which is gratefully accepted.

P. Conrad took over in the meantime new tasks in Bettbrunn. The South Tyrolean sites are now looked after by P. Bernward van der Linden, an FSSP priest with experience of the Benedictine charism, which is why he feels at home in the Benedictine Abbey on the Säbener Berg.

So there is the hope that in future in Bolzano on all Sundays and public holidays, Holy Mass can be celebrated in the traditional form of the Roman rite.

Contact:

P. Bernward van der Linden

Säbener Aufgang 10

39043 Klausen

Mass Locations:

Brixen

Pilgrimage church Mariahilf in Zinggen

Brennerstrasse 37, 39042 Bressanone

4th Sunday of the month at 6 pm, all other Sundays and holidays at 9.30 am

Bolzano (Bozen)

German Church of St. George

Weggensteinstraße 14, 39100 Bolzano

3rd Sunday of the month at 6 pm

See also:

Priestly figures: Pastor Josef von Zieglauer and the Tridentine Mass in the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone

Text: Martha Burger

Image: Wikicommons / Information Sheet of the FSSP (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

For Salzburg's Archbishop, Christ was Not High Priest, But "A Layman"?

(Vienna) On the occasion of the re-division of the diocesan boundaries in Tirol 50 years ago, the ORF invited the bishops of the old county of Tyrol to "talk." 50 years before 1964, the Catholic Church drew  boundaries as a consequence of the    the end of World War to  divide  the former Austrian crown land at the Inn and Etsch valleys. Archbishop Lackner made Jesus a layman in the  question of the shortage of priests.

In 1964, the diocesan borders were adapted to the new international boundaries and administrative units. From the remaining portion of the Diocese of Brixen in Austria was the new diocese of Innsbruck. The old Diocese of Brixen was  extended from the so-called German share of the diocese of Trent and renamed the Diocese of Bozen-Brixen. The reduced diocese of Trent was elevated to an archdiocese. The Bishopric of Trent and the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone [Bozen-Brixen] have been subject since 1921 directly to the Pope. Trent has no suffragan dioceses and Bolzano-Bressanone belongs to  a Metropolitan Province. The new diocese of Innsbruck, however, is suffragan of Salzburg, as was the Diocese of Brixen since 798.

Bishop Discussion: 50 years of Diocesan Separation in Tirol

In the ORF regional studios in Tirol, the archbishops Franz Lackner (Salzburg) and Luigi Bressan (Trent) and Bishops Ivo Muser (Bolzano-Bressanone) and Manfred Scheuer (Innsbruck), met to look back at the past 50 years and attempt an outlook for the future.

"We are in a situation of massive radical change and transition and there arises the question: who puts his life, even his profession in the service of God and man? (...) We need pastors, priests, religious, religion teachers, pastoral assistance,"  said the Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Innsbruck, reigning since 2003  and pleaded for an "option for the youth."

"The gospel is and remains unrivaled  back then and now," said the Bishop of Brixen, Ivo Muser, reigning in his diocese since 2001. "Faith should not be imposed but must be made alive visible."

"Everyone is called to be  Church and participate in the pastoral care" said Bishop Muser to Orf again: "For all the importance of the priestly ministry, it is important that we do not just fix pastoral care on the priest alone. We are all called to be Church, to do our part. Each with their own skills, each with their own skills and potential."

Lackner: "We have Forgotten that Jesus was a Layman."

Archbishop Franz Lackner

A topic of conversation was the shortage of priests. The responses of the bishops remained superficial and concentrated to emphasize the role of the laity. With the devaluation of the priesthood and appreciation of the laity, the new Archbishop of Salzburg went the furthest.

The new archbishop of Salzburg, the Franciscan Franz Lackner, reigning since January 12, 2014,  said, "The Future of the Church" will include fewer priests, but that "the laity can take on important and responsible positions in the Church." These tasks should not belittle you, Lackner said. "We have forgotten that Jesus was a layman."

The statement of the Archbishop is on the website of the Archdiocese of Salzburg was taken and distributed without supplementing and amending. Even Martin Luther was clear that Jesus Christ is the true High Priest who knew him as it was known in the Old Testament for the Temple of Jerusalem.  More recent Protestant splits like the New Apostolic Church, emphasize the position of Christ as High Priest. However, the Catholic Archbishop of Salzburg and Primas Germaniae holds Jesus Christ for a layman?

An archbishop who  presents Jesus  as a layman? Son of God, who is under the priesthood? Jesus Christ is not just a high priest par excellence, who gave the Eucharist and the priesthood?  Is Jesus not as God incarnate, from whom all ordination offices pass through the setting up of Peter and his primacy? No succession, which ranges from Christ to Peter to every bishop since then, until the last priest? What would  this succession be  if Jesus Christ had been merely a "layman"?

Salzburg, like all old diocese, selects three candidates from its  chapter for new archbishop to be chosen by the Holy See.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: ORF Tirol / Archdiocese of Vienna (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
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