New Archbishop of Paris Administers Confirmation to the Faithful in the Immemorial Rite

Archbishop Ulrich of Lille administered Confirmation in the Immemorial Rite last Saturday in his archdiocese

(Paris) The appointed new archbishop of Paris administered Confirmation in the Immemorial Rite of All Ages in his previous diocese. The change to the Bishop's Chair on the Seine could be a stroke of luck.

Monsignor Laurent Bernard Marie Ulrich, originally from Burgundy, was appointed the new Archbishop of Paris by Pope Francis on April 26. The inauguration will take place next Monday.

Last Saturday, May 14, he administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to a group of 55 faithful in Lille, his previous diocese. A real boost in the atmosphere of Traditionis Custodes.

On May 23, Msgr. Ulrich will succeed Archbishop Michel Aupetit, who retired on December 2, 2021 at his own request by Pope Francis. Aupetit may have fallen victim to an orchestrated intrigue, but his retirement seems to have unexpectedly turned out to be a stroke of luck.

Laurent Ulrich was born in 1951 in Dijon, Burgundy. He studied at the Universities of Burgundy and Lyon and was ordained a priest for his home diocese in 1979. He worked in parish pastoral care, from 1985 also as Bishop's Vicar and from 1990 as Vicar General. In 2000, Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Chambéry in Savoy. Pope Benedict XVI then promoted him to Archbishop of Lille in French Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of France, in 2008. As such, offered confirmation in the traditional Rite a few days ago in his cathedral.

Archbishop Ulrich's decision to personally confirm the faithful in the traditional Rite contrasts surprisingly well with the repressive climate created by Pope Francis with the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes on July 16, 2021 and tightened by the Congregation for Divine Worship with its answers to Dubia on Traditionis Custodes.

These tightenings have it all. The new Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Archbishop Arthur Roche, announced on December 4, 2021 in the answers to the Dubia that only the Sacrifice of the Mass may be celebrated in the traditional form, while all other sacraments are to be administered in the Bugnine Liturgy of Paul VI. However, Archbishop Lille ignored this Roman repression and offered – perhaps for that very reason, personally – 55 faithful in the church of Saint-Étienne in Lille to be confirmed in the traditional Rite. He was assisted by priests of the traditional institute Christ the King and Sovereign Priest.

It is unlikely that this would endear the new Archbishop of Paris to Santa Marta, where any movement of the traditional liturgy that occurs outside of narrow confines is viewed with great suspicion. However, his appointment has already been made and his inauguration is imminent. In any case, Pope Francis no longer links cardinalatial dignity to specific bishoprics. The last Archbishop of Paris to receive purple was André Vingt-Trois, who was then admitted by Pope Benedict XVI to the College of Cardinals.

Even bishops, who have a reputation for being very close to Pope Francis, fall from grace when they show a gesture of benevolence to the traditional Rite. An example of this is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and senior cleric in the ranks of the Community of Sant'Egidio. He implemented the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes in his Archdiocese to the letter, not being more generous than the Pope would allow, but using all the possibilities contained therein for the benefit of the traditional Rite. Until then, Cardinal Zuppi was considered a possible crown prince by Pope Francis, which changed abruptly. In Santa Martha, Zuppi's concessions to traditional circles were interpreted as a "gambit" to make himself popular in a future conclave.

What Pope Francis wanted was demonstrated by his protégé and ghostwriter, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández, Archbishop of La Plata and perhaps soon Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Cardinal. Msgr. Fernández eliminated the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in the Archdiocese of La Plata at Christmas 2018. In doing so, he anticipated by two and a half years what Pope Francis was to achieve with his Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. 

It will be seen how the relationship between Monsignor Ulrich and Santa Marta will develop. First of all, it is to be hoped that the new archbishop of Paris will take his benevolent attitude towards the traditional Rite with him to the Seine, where his predecessor Aupetit imposed restrictions, and exert an influence on the French episcopacy as a whole.

The 55 confirmands with Archbishop Ulrich and the priests and assistants of the Institute of Christ the King and High Priest.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image : Facebook/ICRSS (Screenshots)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Traditional Rite Codified for the First time in the Constitution by the Roman Curia

"AMAZEMENT" AMONG JOURNALISTS ACCREDITED TO THE HOLY SEE 

March 22, 2022 

Yesterday was the presentation of the new Constitution of the Roman Curia, which had already been published last Saturday, much to the annoyance of accredited journalists.  

(Rome) The Association of Journalists Accredited to the Holy See expressed their "amazement" at the manner in which the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium "on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church in the world" was published.

The association complained that the new constitution was promulgated "without prior notice".

The new constitution regulates the work of the Roman Curia. It will come into force next June 5th, Whit Sunday. Up until now, Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus from 1988 has been in force. The new constitution Praedicate Evangelium will replace the previous one in June. The new constitution incorporates a number of changes made by Pope Francis over the past nine years.

Traditional Rite Anchored in the New Constitution

For the first time, the traditional form of the Roman Rite, and thus indirectly tradition, was codified in a constitution of the Roman Curia. Specifically, this happened in Article 93, which regulates the tasks of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments:

"Art. 93 The Dicastery is concerned with the regulation and discipline of the sacred liturgy as regards the use, according to the norms in force, of the liturgical books of the period before the reform of the Second Vatican Council.”

The previous Constitution, Pastor Bonus contained no such codification. It was promulgated by John Paul on June 28, 1988, while the establishment of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei by the motu proprio of the same name did not take place until four days later, on July 2, 1988. It showed that the granting of Ecclesia Dei was improvised on the one hand due to the events (consecration of bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on June 30th, which the Pope did not allow) and that the Holy See at the same time had not yet wanted to commit to anchoring the traditional Rite in the Constitution for the Roman Curia.

This is what Pope Francis did now, almost 34 years later, at a moment when he was severely affecting tradition, the traditional Rite and the communities connected to it with the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. In Traditionis Custodes he determined the transfer of responsibilities to the Congregation of Worship, which are enshrined in the new constitution. The English Archbishop Arthur Roche, who is openly hostile to the traditional Rite, leads the congregation as Prefect.

In the original version, which had already been published on Saturday, the "extraordinary form of the Roman Rite" was expressly mentioned, as Pope Benedict XVI. in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of 2007.

"Art. 93 The Dicastery deals with the regulation and discipline of the sacred liturgy in relation to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.”

The existence of such an extraordinary form is denied by Pope Francis with the motu poprio Traditionis Custodes. The new constitution was thus in open contradiction to Traditionis Custodes. On Monday, therefore, Article 93 was amended by Msgr. Marco Mellino, the secretary of the Council of Cardinals, who advises Francis on curial reform. The unofficial reason given was that a typographical error had to be corrected. An official notification that a change has been made has not yet been made. In Monday's press conference, Monsignor Mellino stated:

"In the Editio Typica, which will be the original and fundamental text, you will find the wording as it is. Also because of the whole question of the Society of Peter. We have to find the best formulation so that everything is well taken into account".

The first version of March 19 and the corrected version of March 22 on the Holy See website. On the other hand, there is no specific reference to the institutes of tradition, the so-called former Ecclesia Dei communities, in the articles of the new Constitution which regulate the work of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life. With Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis had transfered all competences not related to the liturgy for the former Ecclesia Dei communities of the Congregation of  Religious.  It follows that the communities of tradition are treated in the same way as any other religious community. The top leadership of this congregation, under the leadership of Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, is also not considered to be tradition-friendly.

Excitement among the Vaticanists

The excitement among the Vaticanists is understandable: Yesterday (March 22nd) the press conference to present the new Apostolic Constitution took place. Loup Besmond, a correspondent for La Croix, was the first journalist to address it, and expressed the "surprise" of the Association of Journalists Accredited by the Holy See at the communication policy of the Holy See. The press conference on a document that had already been published on Saturday and took place on Monday. The publication took place without prior notice and only in Italian. Normally, the Vatican documents are made available to journalists in advance but are subject to a blocking period. This gives journalists the opportunity to prepare themselves, read the document and possibly translate parts before they are supposed to report on it at the time of publication.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, justified the unusual procedure with reference to the "reason of state" and the feast of St. Joseph, which the Church celebrated last Saturday. This is an important date for Pope Francis, Bruni said, as it marks the anniversary of his pontificate.

Of course, this is not an explanation for the actions of the Vatican press office.

A number of journalists took to Twitter to echo Besmond's expression of astonishment to send a signal of disapproval.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image : MiL/vatican.va (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Does the Congregation of Divine Worship Really Regret the Harshness of Traditionis Custodes?

 Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz: Poland's bishops also spoke about Traditionis Custodes in Rome.

(Rome) Poland's bishops are on ad limina visit to Rome. They discussed with the implementation of the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes with the Congregation of Divine Worship. The Archbishop of Warsaw thinks that he heard regrets about the harshness of the Motu Proprio.

The Polish bishops were divided into four groups for the prescribed visit, of which the third group had just finished their visit to Rome. During their visit to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacrments they discussed there and the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. The interlocutor of the bishops had also conceded the harshness of Traditionis Custodes. This was reported by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, the Archbishop of Warsaw, in an interview with the Polish Catholic press agency KAI, which was published yesterday. In addition, it was confirmed to the bishops that Rome had instructions published for the application of Traditionis Custodes.

The Cardinal said when asked about what was discussed when visiting the Congregation of Divine Worship, stressed that "the discussion very interesting about the Tridentine liturgy. The bishops asked the representatives of the congregation "questions, in particular about whether the parish churches in which this liturgy could possibly be continued, as well as expanding the possibility of celebrating it according to the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, should such a need arise in Poland in the future."

“On the one hand, the Congregation acknowledged that the matter had been handled too harshly and, in individual cases, could lead to abandonment of the Church because his needs were not being met instead of serving unity. On the other hand, a willingness was expressed to interpret the motu proprio broadly, more in the spirit than in the wording of the enacted law. We are waiting for the promised guidelines on this topic. "

Cardinal Nycz added that the Holy See wanted to place the matter with the celebration of the traditional Rite "under control", but "not say 'no' to the Tridentine liturgy as such." The Holy See is "careful because in some countries of the world it is linked to an anti-Conciliar ideology that the Second Vatican Council rejects."

The general suspicion of “ideologizing”, under which Pope Francis placed the traditional Rite, is spreading, as Cardinal Nycz's statements show. According to Traditionis Custodes, anyone who wants to celebrate in the traditional Rite, priests who have not yet done so, or new priests, must undergo an attitude test. In its history, the Church has only known such things in connection with heresies. This accusation does not, however, apply to tradition.

Whether there are guilty feelings at the Congregation of Divine Worship is indeed in doubt, because while the contrast with Traditionis Custodes contrast is so hard,  especially in view of the new congregation leadership. Ultimately this just points out the insistence that there is an alleged "problem" that the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum by Benedict XVI. had been used in an “ideological way”.

That sounds more like crocodile tears.

Text: Giuseppe di Nar-
image: MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG