Pope Francis and the Roman Corpus Christi Procession -- A Difficult Relationship

(Rome) The Roman Eucharistic procession, does not seem particularly appealing to Pope Francis. At no other feast besides Holy Thursday does he engage in more and more revolutionary interventions.

750 years of Corpus Christi in Rome with Some Interruptions

After the celebration of the Holy Mass in front of the Lateran Basilica, the Eucharistic procession, the Eucharistic procession takes place on the evening of the Thursday after Holy Trinity Sunday to the papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Archbishop Lori Doesn't Give a Damn for His Flock: Cares More About "Human Dignity"

Edit: it's not like he really cares about the Catholics living in the countries being targeted by Islamists, despite his claims to the contrary, which include Rome. Did you see the story about the Muslims who attacked soldiers at St. Mary Major screaming "Allah Akbar"? All of this fits nicely with a story previously put here on the increasingly menacing presence of Muslims in St. Peter's and Rome itself, where Muslims proselytize. Well, if the Pope won't do it, who will?

We wonder if there were any clerics of his stature in the Church who advocated this kind of accommodation when the Crusades were being preached. It's a good thing we had St. Lawrence of Brindisi instead of him.

(Vatican Radio) The Chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ ad hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, has added his voice to a growing chorus of Catholic Church leaders appalled by the suggestion – which came from a candidate for the nomination of the Republican Party in the United States in the 2016 presidential election – of using a religious test to exclude people seeking to immigrate to the United States.

In an exclusive interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Lori reiteratedsentiments first expressed while he was attending a conference at thePontifical Urbaniana University in Rome earlier in December - a conference specifically focused on the persecution of Christian religious minorities. “Certainly we have to guard our borders," Archbishop Lori told Vatican Radio, "certainly the government has to see to the security and the safety of its citizens – no one doubts that – but it raises the greatest of alarms when we do so on the basis of a whole religion.”

“To say, ‘You can’t come in because you are a Muslim,’ – that certainly is a denial of human dignity, it’s a denial of religious freedom,” Archbishop Lori continued, adding, “and it is, I think, very unfair in its characterization of Islam.”

Pope Francis Unexpectedly Meets Franciscans of the Immaculate

Edit: one might say providentially.  See Rorate report too.

(Rome) A surprising encounter witnessed Pope Francis last 6 April. This Sunday he attended the  Roman city parish of San Gregorio Magno in the suburbs Magliana and came across the Franciscans of the Immaculate, whose until recently blossoming order's suppression has been overshadowed by the Argentine pontificate.

The Salus Populi Romani icon  is particularly dear to Pope Francis. On the morning after his election, he left the   the Vatican unannounced to head down to the Patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and to venerate the Mother of God before the holy image.

Pope Given a Copy of the Icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani

Pope Francis is expected but certainly not  an exact  copy of the miraculous image he'd been given last Sunday. At the end of  Holy Mass in the Magliana, the Pope was presented with a copy of the icon. Still less did the Church leader expect  to encounter in his parish visit  the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception,or at least the family of Father Stefano Maria Manelli, the founder of   this extraordinary order, that was like  a beacon of hope in the Catholic religious landscape of the West until the summer of the previous year. Since then, the Order has experienced dark times.

Family of Founder Manelli Presented to the Pope

After the Holy Mass members of the Manelli family most notably  the couple Pio and Anna Maria Manelli,  presented the Pope the icon in memory of the parents or grandparents Settimio and Licia Manelli.  Settimio (1886-1978) and Licia Manelli (1907-2004) are the parents of 21 children. A son, Father Stefano Maria Manelli,  is the founder of the religious family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, he was the Superior General  until the summer of 2013.  His younger brother Pio, named after Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, who was the spiritual father of his parents, lives with his large family in the parish which Pope Francis visited. Pio and Anna Maria Manelli have nine children. Six of them belong to the Order founded by her uncle Stefano Maria. Two sons are in the Franciscans of the Immaculate, four daughters Franciscans of the Immaculate. The parents or grandparents Settimio and Licia Manelli were recognized by the Church as a servants of God. Their beatification process is underway.

The Manelli family is firmly rooted in the Roman suburban parish, which the Pope visited. Last  October 30th    Father Stefano Manelli offered a Mass of Thanksgiving for his ordination 58 years ago in the parish church of San Gregorio Magno along with many brothers and sisters of his Order. It was a celebration that had to be expressly approved by the Apostolic Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi.   After the dismissal of Father Manelli as Superior General and the entire Order.   Line Father Volpi was used by the Congregation of Religious as a delegate of the Holy See. He has since been alone under the management of the whole Order.

Traditional Rite and Love of Tradition Were Young Religious  Order's Undoing

The radical intervention against  the flowering,  pastorally bi-ritual, with the old rite internally within the Order with a strong inclination to the Catholic tradition,  is a central feature of the current pontificate.  The  current  prohibition against celebrating the traditional rite and to be able to act according to  tradition, was has disturbed its relationship with the reigning Pope  in the Order promoted  by Pope Benedict  with the benevolence of the Church. 

It is still unclear why the young religious with many vocations were placed under provisional administration. The Congregation of Religious clearly despised  the Order for  the sole reason because it had changed from the new rite to the old rite,  and unlike most religious in the West could attract many vocations.

Daughter in Law of the Servant of God Painted Icon for the Pope

It was the parish priest of San Gregorio Magno,   who presented  the family Manelli to the Pope  and drew attention to the servants of God Settimio and Licia Manelli.  Literally,  he said  when he introduced  Pio and Anna Maria Manelli: "Having a large family in the parish, is a special gift nowadays. In addition, this family has produced many priests and religious. A blessing that should not remain hidden."

Anna Maria Manelli, the daughter in law of the Servant of God and sister in law of the Founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, had made ​​the copy of the icon of Mary herself. Together with her ​​husband,  Pio,  she handed the Pope a copy of the icon Salus Populi Romani.

Appeal  to  the Pope to Get  the Order of St. Francis of Immaculate  "out From the Crypt"

In  the ensuing  personal conversation they begged Pope Francis, if  the Franciscans of the Immaculate could again be "taken  from the crypt", to which the Order has been exiled by the actions of the Congregation of Religious. It was an allusion to the preaching of the Pope, who had previously spoken in his Homily on the Raising of Lazarus from the dead, the Lord commanded, rise out of the grave.

"Soon, Soon"

Pope Francis smiled visibly surprised at the unexpected confrontation with the question of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, patted the hands of the couple in thanks for the icon, and  the cheek of the icon painter and said, "Soon, soon".

"What exactly this 'soon' means, one does not know," said Sandro Magister the Vaticanist.  At least the most optimistic now hope for an early and peaceful end to the provisional administration of the Order.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: Settimo Cielo

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Prayer Vigil in Papal Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore for Immemorial Mass of All Ages

The Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani

(Rome) Following the deletion of the monthly Mass in the Old Rite in the Patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore  the Roman Coetus Summorum Pontificum, which is located at the papal basilica, is calling a prayer vigil.The Coetus  has already turned with an appeal to Pope Francis,  to reinstate the celebration in the traditional rite of the Roman Church. This concern also applies to the prayer vigil on the 25th of January at 4 O'clock in the basilica before the miraculous image of Our Lady with the Child Jesus, Salus Populi Romani .

The faithful reaffirm not wanting to interfere in the internal affairs of religious communities and institutions. However, they are complaining of unjustified "censorship" of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and the baseless "closure" and "oppression" of Mass locations for traditional Catholics (see separate report Santa Maria Maggiore: Mass Abolished in the Old Rite - Call of the faithful to the Pope ).

They complain in particular that the souls whose salvation and rescue is the supreme task of the "holy hierarchy and at its head, the Sumus Pontifex",  who are being deprived of the necessary grace of the wellspring that nourishes them spiritually even since the foundation of the Holy Church, through Jesus Christ,  which was continuously available to the faithful and by the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum which Pope Benedict XVI reconfirmed in 2007.

Ghettoisation of  Traditional Faithful Contradicts the Papal Claim

The abolition of the Holy Mass in the Old Rite celebrated regularly for the last fourteen years and in association with the veneration of Mary at the Papal Basilica, says the Coetus,  contradicts the "benevolence" that has come the groups of the tradition through the reigning Pope's blessing  last autumn for the Second International Pilgrimage of  Tradition  that had gathered at the tomb of the Apostle Peter  in the Vatican Basilica. "Thus are  the faithful to tradition  to be sent into the ghetto, if not despised and rejected outright" said Coetus in its appeal.

This is also contrary to the message of "understanding and inclusion", that Pope Francis has made the basis of his pastoral care. "It seems incredible that  'Admission' is to be given to all except those who love the Church and the Pope, and are loyal to and represent nothing more than the Catholic faith like the Holy Church has always taught."

Appeal to Pope Francis and Prayer Vigil for Abolished Mass Locations  in the Old Rite

"For this reason we have asked the Holy Father for his intervention and to organize in anticipation of his actions on Saturday, a prayer vigil  on 25 January 4 O'clock  with rosary for the grace that the celebration in the Old Rite is restored through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani, at this church and the restoration of the now abolished Mass locations (Which were abolished to the great detriment of the faithful) ."

 Coetus turns with this invitation to "all Catholics of good will".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 

image: Messa in Latino

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...
AMGD

Pope Offers Beach Ball to Our Lady at Santa Maria Maggiore Before WYD

Here's the Report from News.va:

After his arrival at Ciampino airport, the Holy Father chose to stop at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to offer a brief prayer to the Blessed Virgin for World Youth Day. 

Seeing the Pope as he entered the Basilica, a group of young people approached him and offered him a T-shirt and a ball. Pope Francis later offered the gifts to the Madonna.

This is one of the great churches of Christendom, and recalls a time when it snowed in the summer as a sign of Our Lady's favor.  It was commemorated by the command of St. Pius V in connection with Trent.  Taken from wikipedia's article:

"During the pontificate of Liberius, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary. They prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esquiline Hill. In obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow."