Is an Apostolic Commissar Ready to Destroy the Next "Too Pious" Order?

Seminarians Pray in the Church of the Brazilian Mother House of the "Heralds of the Gospel": Are they the next target of the Congregation of Religious? Too many vocations, too rapid growth, too pious, too friendly to tradition, too Marian?


(Rome) Has Pope Francis already assigned an apostolic commissioner for the next, "too pious" order?

The fate of the Franciscans of the Immaculate could soon befall the Heralds of the Gospel (Evangelii Praecones, EP). This lay community was founded as a youth movement by the Third Order Carmelite João Scognamiglio Clá Dias in Brazil. The inspiration for the name came from the encyclical Evangelii Praecones, which Pope Pius XII. published in1951 about mission.

The Heralds of the Gospel

João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, born in 1939, son of a Spaniard and an Italian, was a member of the Marian Congregation in Sao Paulo and in 1956 a member of the Third Order of Carmelites. He studied law and did his military service in the Airborne Ranger. Subsequently, he turned to the study of philosophy, theology and the right of the Church. At the university, he became a leader of the Catholic student body, which opposed the 1968 student protests.

Heralds in the Basilica of Our Lady of the
Rosary

The real development of the Heralds of the Gospel began at the same time in the 1960s, when João Scognamiglio Clá Días, Pedro Paulo de Figueiredo and Carlos Alberto Soares Corrêa gathered a group of young Catholics in Sao Paulo to pray in silence, deepen their spiritual life, and to discuss current questions in the Church and in the world. The goal was missioning and evangelization.

In the seventies the desire for a common life arose. The founder and two companions retired to a former Benedictine abbey to deepen their spiritual life in silence and prayer. Of the first companions, no one left, but new ones were added. They first arranged a Marian consecration, began to pray liturgy of the hours together and finally gave themselves a first rule. This resulted in the development of a community life for men and, in 1996, of women. The foundation stone was laid for a flowering male branch, the Societas Clericalis Vitae Apostolicae Iuris Pontificii Virgo Flos Carmeli, and a female feminine branch, Societas Vitae Apostolicae Iuris Pontificii Regina Virginum.

The Heralds of the Gospel were recognized in 2001 by Pope John Paul II as an International Private Association of Believers. They are thus the first ecclesial community to receive this recognition in the third millennium. The two societies of Apostolic Life were consecrated in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. canonically established with papal law.

The laity movement also led to the vocation of the priesthood. In 2005, the first priests were consecrated, including the founder of the Heralds himself at the age of 64 .

The Community is now active in about 80 countries, and only 12 years after the first consecration, has already 120 priests and about 20 deacons. The two societies of consecrated life have, after 20 years, more than 4,000 members, two thirds of whom are men, one third of women. Heralds of the Gospel are around 40,000 worldwide. Anyone who reads the figures of the past ten years sees the massive growth of the movement, which was begun under the pontificate of Benedict XVI. João Scognamiglio Clá Días is Superior General of the Heralds and the Society of Consecrated Life. Since 2008 he has also been an honorary fellow at the patriarchal basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

"Under Francis They Are Already Suspicious of Those Who Had Contact with Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira"

According to "an intimate, internal source",  says Tosatti, a "task force" from the Congregation of Religious, headed by the Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz and the Spanish Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, was being assembled to investigate the Heralds. The group is to consist of a bishop, a religious and a church lawyer. "Nothing is known about the reasons for this initiative," says Tosatti, which recalls the Franciscans of Immaculata. Even after four years of the provisional administration, the Vatican has not yet given any reason for the drastic intervention of this traditional order, which had been flourishing until 2013.

It is obvious, according to Tosatti, that the founder of the Heralds of the Gospel, João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, was in touch with Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira to make him "suspicious". Corrêa de Oliveira, who died in 1995, was a mastermind and leader of the Catholic tradition in Brazil. Clá Dias worked for many years in the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Private Property (TFP) founded by Corrêa de Oliveira. On Corrêa de Oliveira's initiative, the Knights of the Gospel emerged, which Clá Dias led after his death, but led away from the social-political struggle and intensified religious life. This is a development expressed by the founding of the Societies of Consecrated Life and its own priestly members. Nevertheless, he calls Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira the "prophet of our time".

The community consists primarily of young people who are distinguished by their discipline. The members of consecrated life do not make vows, but commit themselves to celibacy and devote themselves entirely to the apostolate. They live in houses separated by sex. Their daily routine alternates between Liturgy (Holy Mass, Liturgy of Hours), Prayer (Rosary), study and especially evangelization. To this end they are called in dioceses and parishes, they are missionaries in the streets and go to prisons. The emphasis is on youth work. The religious dress, which is modeled on medieval heralds, is striking. It is equal for men and women, and represents the most visible continuity between the Knights of Corrêa de Oliveiras and the Heralds of Clá Dias.

The two societies of consecrated life are active in the field of art, culture and youth education, which is due to the fact that the founder Clá Dias sees a particularly suitable means of evangelization in music. In addition to activities in schools and universities, they are concerned with communities of elderly care, and they are mainly active in marginal areas, which is also to be understood geographically, for example, in the case of Feuerland.

Cardinal Braz de Aviz: "Throwing a watchful eye on new ecclesiastical realities"

"It is unclear for what reason this apostolic visitation will take place," says Tosatti. Cardinal Prefect Braz de Aviz had recently indicated that it was "appropriate" to raise a watchful eye on this "new ecclesial reality". Why? Because founders sometimes turn out to be "unsuitable," the Cardinal says, "to deal with the many vocations. In the case of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Heart, the Congregation of Religious, with the approval of Pope Francis, radically intervened, dismissed the whole order's leadership, and appointed Commissioners without mentioning any reason. The decision of the Order, founded in 1990, to return from the Novus Ordo to the traditional form of the Roman Rite in 2008, was the bone of contention.

Priests of the Order

After the Congregation of Religious failed to lay hands on the real estate of the Order with the help of the secular jurisdiction, the pressure on Father Stefano Maria Manelli, who had been deposed and held under house arrest, was recently increased to induce the lay associations to surrender the assets. At the same time, the Congregation of Religious does not shrink from threatening canonical sanctions against the implacable former Superior General, now 84 years old.

The Franciscans of Immaculata have been under the tutelage of the Papal Commissioner for four years. The Commissioner has just recently finished with the Institute of the Word of Flesh (IVE), an Order founded in 1984 in Argentina, which also attracts numerous vocations. Currently, the order includes around 800 priests, 2,000 religious women and more than 700 seminarians. It operates on all five continents, including the ballyhooed geographical and Catholic "periphery" such as Tajikistan, Papua New Guinea, Iceland, Palestine, Russia, Tunisia, Ukraine, Albania, Taiwan and Egypt. The order is divided into ten provinces, one vice-province and three delegations. In the Federal Republic of Germany, there has been a center of faith in the Archdiocese of Berlin since 2010, and since 2016, a branch with support of the pilgrimage church on the Mariahilfberg near Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate (Diocese of Eichstätt). The branch of the Order of the Virgin Mary, Door of the Sunrise, which includes parts of Central and Northern Europe, also has branches in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The Heralds of the Gospel do not yet have branches in the German-speaking world.

Tosatti's summary:

"Apart from more or less real problems and more or less justified accusations against the founders, these communities have three essential similarities: they are committed to the tradition of the Church (therefore, the more Thomas than Rahner supporters, are characterized by a strong worship of Our Lady of Fatima and are active in the right to life of unborn children), many vocations (which are more suspicious nowadays in church hierarchies and bishops) and have considerable financial resources. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Arautos do Evangelho (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Highest Court Confirms Judgment in the Case of the Franciscans of the Immaculata

Franciscans of he Immaculata Before the Commissar Came:
Ordination of Nine Deacons in 2010

(Rome) The Supreme Court in Rome has confirmed that the founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and the lay organizations related to the Order are guilty of doing nothing wrong.  The confiscated real estate property must be returned to the lay organizations.

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In late June, the rumored reason for the provisional administration of the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate had dissolved into nothingness."Rumored" because was no reason was named for appointing an apostolic commissioner by the Vatican until today. Behind closed doors rumors were spread that it had allegedly been an irregular shifts of assets, including the suggestion that it might be someone who was enriched. It was a slander  which was directed against Founder Manelli to discredit him. A court sentenced Commissioner Volpi to pay 20,000 euros compensation for the false claims.

When the Commissioner Came with the Prosecutor

After the first Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi from the Capuchin Order, could not lay his hands on the real estate owned by the lay organizations affiliated with the Order, he  summarily confiscated the real estate ownership by the public prosecutor. In June  the competent Judicial Senate of Avellino  established that no irregularities were present and ordered the release of the seized property.

Shortly before the verdict of Avellino, Commissioner Volpi had died and been replaced by the canon lawyer Fr Sabino Ardito from the Salesian Order. It  had been hoped there would be a relaxation. But Father Alfonso Bruno was still a driving force in the conflict applies Father Alfonso Bruno in the Franciscans of the Immaculate, who had rebelled against Founder Father Stefano Maria Manelli. After the dismissal of the General Government under the Superior General, Father Manelli,  Pater Bruno then became the Secretary-General and therefore became the right hand of the Commissioner.

Return of property ownership is legally binding

In any case an appeal was filed against the judgment of Avellino, on behalf of the Commissioner. The Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court in Rome has rejected the appeal, thus confirming the judgment of Avellino. The release and return of the seized property ownership to the lay organizations of the Order is now final.

Part of this property is also that of the religious house in Rome, where Father Alfonso Bruno is domiciled. "With the decision of the Supreme Court the last word in the matter,"  said Alfonso Rocco, the legal counsel of the Lay Association Mission of the Immaculate Heart.

A thriving religious order of tradition was unbearable to the Congregation of Religious

The order launched in 1970 by Father Stefano Maria Manelli  is committed to tradition. Under Benedict XVI. the Order became, according to the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum was pastorally birituell and internally old ritual. Since the Order was not under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei for old rite communities, the Congregation of Religious  made it ​​an exception in the Church. Under Benedict XVI. it was regarded as an attractive model, which aroused the interest of young members of other religious orders, since the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, despite their strict habit, had a large following.

This combination of factors is thought to be in close religious circles  as the real reason for the provisional administration.  A thriving, tradition related Order, which grew in the midst of widespread vocations crisis,  had become unbearable for many.  But Pope Benedict XVI. held his protective hand over the young religious. Under Pope Francis and his declared aversion to tradition,  the conditions were established to take action against the Order. Four months after taking office, the Order was placed under provisional administration.

The parents of the Founder are recognized as a servants of God. The beatification process is running.The Order was gagged by the provisional government, but not the lay organizations related to the Order.  They continue to see in Founder Manelli their reference point. With the court ruling, their position relative to the Commissioner has been significantly strengthened.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Mil

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Animus Delendi Against the Franciscans of the Immaculate Continues -- Obsessive Micromanaging by Bergoglian Bureaucracy

(Rome) The battle against the  Franciscans of the Immaculata continues. Hardly had Pope Francis mounted the throne of Peter, than the opponents of the traditional rite in the Order felt themselves strong enough, with his agreement, to place the once thriving men's branch of the order under a provisional administration.  The women's branch "only" received an apostolic delegate as an overseer, but was still drawn in sympathy with the men's Order because of its close spiritual and institutional connectedness. With a confidential decree of 19. October 2015, the Roman Congregation for Religious reinforced its resolve to proceed further against the men's and women's branches of the Order. In his decree Pope Francis is obliging the women's order to avoid a "special vow" or "solemn promise." What this involves can be read herein.  

The New Decree

"Because of credible information about a private vow (or promise) of special obedience, which is reserved to some male and female religious to the founder, which has been placed above the general vows of obedience owed to the superior, has prompted this dicastry to bring this problem to the attention of the Holy Father, who has given a special mandate to deal specifically with this problem.

Therefore, the Congregation for the Institute of Consecrated Life and for the Societies of Apostolic Life in enforcing this mandate for the good of the souls of all members of the Franciscans of the Immaculata, and all eventually bound to these institutions, by private vows (or promises) of a special nature to founders or foundresses.

In consequence it will be necessary that in future this vow or promise in future is not practiced either in its current or any future form.

With that this annuls any document, should such exist,  in its value, such that it involves in any way the vow (or promise) named here.  

It is the obligation of responsible authority in both institutes to make these stipulations known in a measured and discrete way to all members belonging currently to the institutes so that they can know how they are to respond if any have been placed under such a vow.

Superiors will be instructed by the Dicastry about the times and modalities for the introduction of this decree.

Released against anything to the contrary, from the Vatican, on 19th of October 2015.

Joao Braz Card. de Aviz

Prefect

+ José Rodriguez Carballo OFM

Erzbischof Sekretär

The Accompanying Music by  Corriere della Sera

Decree From the Congregation of Religious on  vom 19. Oktober 2015

The desired musical accompaniment by the Corriere della Sera

Decree of the Congregation of the Order of 19 October 2015

The Corriere della Sera gave on  a backgroundn report Thursday for   for the unusual decree. It  took great pains  to make the desired background music in support of the Decree. The Order is made ​​by blending diverse elements under general suspicion. But telling signs can be seen Interspersed between.  

The article refers back to a Franciscan  of the Immaculate, who wanted neither to be named  or photographed. He had stated:  without giving any reasons, that there are new efforts around the deposed Founder  Fr Stefano Maria Manelli and the Vatican in 2013,  to establish a new  Old Rite Order. "They do not want to acknowledge the Modern",  the anonymous brother  who is against these efforts, allegedly told Corriere della Sera. The special vow (or promise) was linked to these aspirations for a new foundation and concerns those men and women religious, who have remained faithful to the Founder.

Aspirations for a New Old Rite Establishment

The Decree by the Congregation of Religious which was in turn adopted with papal approval, says at the outset that there were "credible" reports. The decree itself reveals, however, that the Vatican has adopted it on the basis of conjecture, without having any concrete evidence. The decree thus sounds like a new shot across the bow, which clarifies that the religious congregation remains determined to disrupt  order from recognition and to subject it to re-education.  Anyway, nothing should be remain of  the actual charisma of the Order.

The fact is that there are, since the Autumn of 2013, efforts of monks and nuns to found a new religious in which the true charism lives. That charism of fidelity to tradition and the rediscovery of the traditional rite, which had led the Order to its heyday and was shattered by the raging, appointed in 2013 and now deceased Apostolic Commissar, the Capuchin Fidenzio Volpi.  So far, however, nothing is known about a "special vow." 

Congregation of Religious Unwilling to Allow Reestablishment

The Congregation appointed a new Commissar last June with  Salesians Sabino Ardito, and there was hope that he would lead the Order with a calmer hand. However, the Congregation of Religious does not seem willing to grant such a rest. Above all, it seems to want to prevent the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate from carrying out a new religious foundation. Commissar Volpi had warned  Italian Bishops during the General Assembly of the Italian Bishops' Conference not to take Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in their dioceses.

As early as autumn 2013. dozens brothers had applied to the Congregation of Religious to be released from their religious vows. The canonically compliant departure from  the altered Order should have given them the opportunity to ask for incardination in dioceses and free them up for the path to reestablishment of an Order. The Congregation has refused until today, however, such a dispensation. Cardinal Braz de Aviz and Pope Francis do not want the Order of Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate 2, since the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate 1 have placed under provisional control ​​and broken. 

Thus, the brothers are forced by the Congregation to remain in the Order, although this is no longer the same Oder since the provisional administration than the one which they were originally committed to.  Should they leave without a dispensation of the Order, which have a number of well done, this puts them canonically in the wrong.  Each Bishop, or superior of another order, and especially by the Vatican could go against them in the field, since they are not in a canonically regular position. In short their lives would be  on end of a  rope indefinitely. It's a situation that brings brothers and sisters into a fitful moral dilemma. Above all, one does not change an order like a shirt.

What is at stake in the matter: A brief review

The ordeal of  Father Manelli's order, who was ousted from the Order until the summer of 2013, so continues. Reminder: The Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate was created after the Second Vatican Council. While other orders over abruptly "modernized", Father Manelli went the opposite way and wanted to return to the roots of the Minorite Order, to which he belonged at the time. He joined an increasing number of young men and women, so in 1990 a new foundation was necessary for religious revival of the Order of Friars Minor of St. Francis of Assisi.

Under Pope Benedict XVI.   the young discovered, with the blessing of numerous vocations,  the traditional rite. The priests concelebrated in for reasons of pastoral care in both forms of the Roman Rite. Internally the Order underwent the change from the new rite to the traditional rite. The result was an even more rapid growth of the Order, which would then set up a number of new monasteries and take over  pastoral care in parishes and sanctuaries.

The Order did not belong, because of its development, to the old ritual Ecclesia Dei -communities but was under the Congregation of Religious like all new rite communities.  That made ​​it an anomaly that was before 2013, an example to all th other new rite orders.

Thus arose also a violent resistance within the Order. The resistance of a small internal minority, who would not  tolerate the traditional rite. For the same reason there was also resistance from among other church circles who believed they recognized a hazard in the Order. The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate had a thriving community, and were viewed enviously by the other orders. Above all, it seemed to be the living proof that the often prostrate  nature of religious orders can be revived even in Europe through the stern austerity, tradition and the traditional rite. The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate were on the way under Pope Benedict XVI. to becoming a potential model for other orders. It was an idea that came not with undivided joy.

With the papal election of 2013, the problems started

Under Pope Benedict XVI. no one dared openly to oppose the Order. The German Pope had returned the traditional rite with the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum to the universal Church. In implementation of this Motu Proprio, the Order had returned to the traditional rite. The German pope was especially closely connected with the Franciscans of the Immaculate, too closely, so that the envious and chief opponents of the traditional rite would never have dared to lay hands.

With the unexpected resignation of Benedict and the election of Pope Francis, the situation had changed radically in one fell swoop. The Argentinian Pope was soon repeatedly recognized for his dislike of the representatives of tradition and also that he retained the traditional rite as  a passing "fad." Now it happened in quick succession.Citing and in cooperation with the small band of five brothers who complained to the Congregation of Religious, Father Manelli and the entire Order leadership were deposed and replaced by an Apostolic Commissar, the said Father Volpi, and he also no friend of the traditional rite. The Order now lacked the protection afforded by the Ecclesia Dei 's own communities.

The Imposition of the "new Mercy"

To this day, the Vatican has offered no reasons for this serious interference. Only unofficial hints by Commissioner Volpi and the Curial Archbishop Carballo, who has been appointed by Pope Francis secretary of the Congregation for Religious could show that it comes to an ideological struggle against tradition and the traditional rite. This is suggested, since celebration of the old rite was banned for all  priests  by decree of the provisional administration. In open opposition to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum every priest of the Order had to individually apply for a special permission to celebrate the old rite again. It was a demonstrative act of reducing and downgrading of the traditional rite, with which the Order members  were   shown what is now required under the new conditions in the Vatican and what is not.

Pope Francis withdrew the possibility from the astonished friars the right to appeal against the decree in opposition to the Congregation of Religious. The case would have ultimately landed before the judgment seat of Cardinal Raymond Burke, the then Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, an incorruptible Canon Law expert and declared friend of the traditional rite. This should be avoided. Basically, as well as the  aforementioned rejection of dispensation, shows that Order members should be compelled for re-education.

Pope Francis has dedicated his pontificate to the theme of mercy. Yet he has showed the Franciscans of the Immaculate anything but mercy.

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi 

Image: Mil

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches...

AMDG

Franciscans of the Immaculate: Will the New Commissar Also Bring the New Spirit?

(Rome) Since last June, the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate have been assigned  the Salesian priest Sabino Ardito, a canon lawyer, as the new Apostolic Commissioner. Yet there is still a demon in the Order, says Messa in Latino.  Father Alfonso Bruno was responsible and  the ultimate beneficiary of the palace coup against Founder Manelli.

Alfonso Bruno, the father with a penchant for self-expression, already belonged to the old leadership the order, where he was responsible for its media presence. At that time he was only one among several. Then came the dismissal of Minister General Father Stefano Maria Manelli and the whole Order leadership by the Vatican. Alfonso Bruno was the one who made the news public through his media contacts and thus - at least initially - of the urgency  of a  radical intervention.

Press Releases, Legal Letters and Ads

Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi was then appointed, who was ran like a bulldozer over the Order. The first official act of the Commissioner was the appointment of Father Alfonso Bruno as Secretary General of the Order and thus his right hand.  Excepting the Commissioner, who belongs to the Capuchin Order, Father Alfonso Bruno has since been at the top of the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, and completely alone.

The decisions by which the clear-cutting was done were signed by Commissioner Volpi. Partially also by the Secretary General, in part he remained in the background, as he had done well in advance of the palace coup against the Founder, who embodied the Order's charism  and the Old Rite. But his handwriting appears on the endless flood of corrections, warnings, notifications, which were all issued  since the coup in July 2013,  against those who expressed criticism  of the actions of the Holy See and the Commissioner.

"Disinformation on the Internet"

The most recent example is the correspondence of a lawyer, which the Catholic website  Riscossa Cristiana received by electronic mail on August 4th. In the letter, the editor  and writer are required to   delete  two articles. The lawyer acts in the name of Father Giulio Maria Scozzaro. Both articles dealt with the issue, as well as the title of the second article: "The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and the Disinformation on the Internet".

The items were manifestly defamatory and would severely damage the honor of his clients.

The first article reported the facts about the dismissal of Giulio Maria Scozzaro on 4 October 2007 from the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate by the then General Superior Father Manelli. It was a decision that was confirmed by the Congregation of Religious on 8 April 2008 after Scozzaro raised opposition  against it. "Facts can not be libelous," said Cristiana Riscossa in response to the lawyer.

In the same article, Scozzaro's publication on his internet blog was criticized, which  can also be read there as before. Therein Scozzaro vehemently attacked Order's founder and his now deposed Superior General, Manelli.

Volpi's Reintroduction of Dismissed Manelli Brother

However there is something now new that has became public, it was at the time of publication unknown.   Initially in the context of the contested articles the lawyer submitted, was a decision of 11 February 2015 where the late Commissioner Volpi annulled  the  Scozzaro's dismissal from the Order and has readmitted him into the Order.

Volpi's amazing justification, which made Manelli's decision null and void  from formal legal reasons, is that  the dismissal is supposed to have  never been legal. Amazing because Scozzaro had lodged an appeal against his dismissal to the Congregation of Religious and  confirmed this after examining the case of   dismissal. Volpi's decision bears his signature and that of Alfonso Bruno. "Does  Commissioner Volpi, have the right or the authority to annul an order  whose validity has been confirmed by the religious congregation?" Asked Riscossa Cristiana .

As an aside  it should be recalled that Father Scozzaro could appeal against his dismissal appeal to the Congregation of Religious. Founder Manelli and the deposed general leadership could not have prevented it by  objecting to the provisional administration. Pope Francis had approved the drastic intervention in a form that made any appeal impossible.

The second article referred to the  collected signatures at that time in support of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and of the Roman Rite. "A report on a petition is also hardly libelous," said Cristiana Riscossa.  Also in this article, the facts of the early dismissal of Father Scozzaro was also reported.

"What can you say about the behavior of a priest and religious who don't directly seek contact and  admonishes  by using worldly means and threatening legal action? For this I will ask the new Apostolic Commissioner for clarification, as well as the bishop of the diocese where  P. Scozzaro is still incardinated. "

The corresponding letter was sent on August 10 to the Apostolic Commissioner and to the Congregation of Religious. The Commissioner immediately acknowledged receipt.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Corrispondenza Romana

Rome's Conduct With Traditional Communities -- Society of St. Peter and Franciscans of the Immaculata

(Rome)  The conduct of Rome with traditional communities is completely varied.   A significant aspect of this whether one  is under an Order or the Institute. What difference does it matter whether it's an Old Ritual community of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei established in 1988, or religious congregation, depends on a comparison of the visitations of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception and the Fraternity of St. Peter. In the North American District of the Fraternity of St. Peter, a proper Apostolic Visitation will be held. The routine operation has been arranged by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, to which the Society belongs. As Rorate Caeli reported, a three-member visitor delegation  was appointed. The main visitor is Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur, co-visitators are Abbot Hervé Courau from the Benedictine Abbey of Notre-Dame de Triors in France and the Bishop Emeritus Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln in the United States.

Huonder Bishop, Bishop Bruskewitz and Abbot Courau as Visitors

Both Bishop Huonder  and Bishop Bruskewitz are  closely linked to the FSSP. They  have already presided over ordinations of the Society more than once and have celebrated in the old rite.  Bishop Huonder established the first traditional parish in the German-speaking world the and appointed a  Society of St. Peter priest as  the pastor. In the diocese of Lincoln, the Society erected their seminary in 1994 during the episcopate of Bishop Bruskewitz (1992-2012) in North America. Abott Courau heads  a traditional  Benedictine abbey in France. Notre-Dame de Triors is a subsidiary foundation Fontgombault. Abbot Courau visited the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz near Vienna in the Autumn of 2013, where he celebrated in the traditional rite with the monks of the monastery who served at the altar.

In the case of the Fraternity of St. Peter it is an ordinary visitation. When the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception extraordinary visitation was arranged in 2012 by the Congregation of Religious, is where the differences in treatment begin. The Fraternity of St. Peter is under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei for Orders and Communities of the Old Rite. The appointed visitators are connected to the traditional rite. The starting point of the visit is supported by brotherly love and basically benevolent, as expected by the canon law.

Hostile Attitude of the Congregation of Religious Against Franciscans of the Immaculate

The situation was quite different with the Franciscans of the Immaculate. They are under the Congregation for Religious  because they were established in 1990 as  new rite Order. Following a gradual development under Pope Benedict XVI they had returned to the Immemorial Rite. The Congregation of Religious appointed a Visitor with Monsignor Vito Angelo Todisco   who was openly hostile to  the Order. He himself had briefly belonged to the Order at a young age, but  had left and since repeatedly remarked disparagingly upon the Franciscan community of Father Stefano Maria Manelli. The basic intention of the Congregation of Religious was obviously directed from a bias in the very beginning  against the Order.  They culminated after July 2013, since with  the abdication of Benedict XVI,  the biggest obstacle had been removed to a radical intervention and the provisional administration of the Order. The Apostolic Commissioner, the Capuchin Fidenzio Volpi has since been working systematically towards the eradication of the traditional charism of the Order, to beat it back into a new ritual Order and thus to be "normalized".

The Franciscans of the Immaculate sought contact with the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, but they were not under it. The request, in the fall of last year, the request to establish a new old ritual Order under the supervision of Ecclesia Dei after the establishment of the provisional administration and the banning of the old rite was not previously considered by the Congregation of Religious. The open revelation of these brothers  was followed instead by the Commissar making more purges. 

"Keep all  institutes  and communities of Ecclesia Dei in your prayers"  this call ends Rorate Caeli the report on the appointment of the Visitors of the Fraternity of St. Peter.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: Rorate Caeli

Link to Katholisches...

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Franciscans of the Immaculate Exonerated: Correction of Commissar Volpi After Notification by Manelli Family

Edit: now give us our Order back.  Also related is Rorate's post on their bad arithmetic. 

(Rome) The Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi OFM Cap has published a correction. In it, he explains that the family of the religious founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Father Stefano Maria Manelli,  has "absolutely nothing" to do with any possession or orders of transfer for  the  real estate of the Order. This had been maintained in recent months, according to which the the Order was placed under provisional commissioner, by the official Internet site of the Order  www.immacolata.com. Father Alfonso Maria Bruno, who was appointed by Commissioner Volpi after  the expulsion of the leadership of the Order, to name him as the most powerful man in the Order. The lawyer for the family Manelli had threatened criminal penalties, and requires clarification from Commissioner Volpi. This is now acknowledged that it was a libel, which was published by "someone" on the Internet platform.

To date, no reasons for the provisional administration of the Order have been announced, because the openly published reasons: maintenance of the traditional rite, numerous vocations, critical examination of the Second Vatican Council, the development in the Church since then, the unabridged explanation of the faith, and strict observance of the rules of the order, are clearly not offenses.

Instead, the claim was brought into the world from the environs of Father Alfonso Bruno, that Father Manelli had to overwrite the Order property to his family members and thus gave the impression that the superior had possibly stolen from his own religious order. Apart from the fact that the alleged transactions had taken place only after the beginning of the provisional administration, which gives more the impression of a mediated response, but could not be a reason for the provisional administration, it has now turned out to be slander, as Commissioner Volpi confirmed himself.

At the request of the prosecutor of the Manelli family, the false claim has now been deleted from the internet site of the Order managed by Father Alfonso Bruno. Instead, the complete correspondence between the Manelli family lawyer and Commissioner Volpi has been published at the request of Manelli family.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches...

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Franciscans of the Immaculate Require "Permit" to Say Mass: Life Under the Commissar

(Rome) "It takes a permit." A letter from a Franciscan of the Immaculate describes the life  subject to approval, that the brothers have to lead,  since they were placed under provisional administration.

In 1990,  the Order was   recognized  at the diocesan level and 1998  by Rome, the Orden internally moved from the Old Rite  under Pope Benedict XVI. f  to the Old Rite and  for  pastoral care it was specified by the Pope as bi-ritual, since 11 July 2013 it has been under provisional administration by the Congregation of Religious. Acting Administrator is the Capuchin Father, Fidenzio Volpi, "a skilled and proven man of power (who  is known to move  between the internal equilibria of the Superior Conference of Male Religious Communities of  Italy - CISM ), with mephistophelian smile and biting repartee, "  said Messa in Latino .

"We Are no Longer  Able to Print and Disseminate Our Own Books"

 The Franciscan of the Immaculate Conception described in his letter that he passed by   the office of Order internal publishing,  Casa Mariana, in Frigento recently. "My heart beat. I felt in me an unusual emptiness and dismay at the thought that we can no longer write for our own publishing house, and are not even allowed to distribute the books of our own publishing company in our convents.

I look at the house. In there are our books. Many of them we have written, and much more contributions to our religious journals: Fides Catholica , Annales Franciscani , Immculata Mediatrix ... Many books have been translated by us from  Latin, others we have from Italian, the language most used in the order, translated into other languages. 

That  is our life inside, years of study, sweat and sacrifice. The Apostolic Commissioner has ruled that we are no longer authorized to use them. What sin do they represent?

"But it Needs a Permit"

I took courage and rang the bell at the door. A sister opens and I ask her about the new liturgical calendar of the Order, because we didn't have one in the monastery. 

"I can not give you one Father, you know that it requires a permit," replied my sister, kind and understanding. 

What could be sinful about a liturgical calendar? 

"But it needs a permit." 

Exactly the permit. 

Whose? 

"From the Apostolic Commissioner of course!"

"Our Life is Made by Applications, Special Permits'"

Since we have been under provisional administration,  our life is governed by applications for "special permits" to the Commissioner. You are to provide  a copy in writing  and are granted permission only by expressed personal validation .

A permit is needed to use the books of the Order from the Order's  own publishing house and be able to impart them. Any "public dissemination" is prohibited. 

 A  permit is required to celebrate the Holy Mass in the traditional Rite. 

 A permit is required to use the Roman Ritual for the Old Rite. 

 A permit is required for the Liturgy of the Hours to celebrate it in the Vetus Ordo. 

A  permit is required to celebrate the Holy Mass with the Sisters of the Order, for both the Old and the New Rite. 

A permit is required to conduct a meeting of the lay community of the Order or of the Third Order. 

A permit is required  to carry out a "Day for Maria" (a day of prayer, which is performed by the Order on pilgrimage or in parish churches and is open to all). 

A  permit is required to visit our Founder. It is strongly advised not to make such a request at all, which is actually not approved anyway. 

A permit is required for any initiative in the Order. "

Even more permits are needed of the founders of religious orders: 

"Our Founder even needs explicit permission to be treated at the hospital. He needs an explicit authorization in order to move from one convent to another. He was blamed on the official website of the Order publicly for the fact that he had at first dared to visit the convent of Teramo. In reality, the Apostolic Commissioner had even given the permission to do so." A grueling guerrilla war.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: A Catholic Life / Phatmass

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches...

AMGD

After Rebuilding the Desolation --- Commissioner Closes Friaries of the Franciscans of the Immaculata

(Rome) After the Order revived monasteries that were abandoned by other orders, the monasteries  fall now again to degradation by the Apostolic Commissioner. A Catholic layman, who was led back to the Faith by the Franciscans of the Immaculate, sent an e-mail recently. In it, he laments the closure of a monastery of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. "I want to begin by saying that I'm a nobody and I feel as last among the faithful. But I also feel a great pain, seeng the Franciscan Friarss of the Immaculate Conception given the ax by  his hand. "

The Monastery of Sassoferrato in the Marches had been abandoned by the Franciscan Order for lack of  growth. The Franciscans of the Immaculate revived the monastery a few years ago new as they are ever thus also known for taking over  abandoned monasteries of other orders because of their numerous vocations and bringing them  to new life. At last count the  convent of Sassoferrato has 60 brothers.

The  Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi being used by Rome, has now dissolved the monastery. The same fate will be met this week by the monastery of Colfano also a friary abandoned by the Franciscan Order in the Marches, which was  founded during the lifetime of St. Francis of Assisi. In July 2012, the Franciscans of the Immaculate encamped there and led the Franciscan life, which had filled the friary of Colfano for 800 years (see separate report New Monastery of the Franciscans of the Immaculate - Flowering Religious Tradition ). Now even this convent will be  dissolved by the Apostolic Commissioner. The Order of Father Stefano Maria Manelli had,  in an exceptional counter-movement to the general trend, reached vocations as  high of 800 religious  when the religious congregation intervened.

"The novices and seminarians are disoriented, the brothers in perpetual vows are being destroyed by agony,"  says the believer in his e-mail. "They are treated as if they were heretics."  It was Pope Benedict XVI., who opened access to the traditional rite of the Order as with all religious, priests and lay people. "With the arrival of a new pope,  the Order may not be as familiar to them as to  Benedict, 'someone' has gone over to the attack, with the result that is now in front of everyone to see." Now, every priest must ask permission to the to be able to celebrate the Old Rite, and if he wants to do it in front of the faithful, he must also apply for explicit permission each time. "Anyone who knows the history of the Capuchin nun Sister Veronica from Fermo or those of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, knows how strong the attack of calumny can be, to fight and brake mystics."

What can these brothers "have done that is so criminal? They pray, do penance and rebuild  abandoned monasteries again. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD