What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

There is fun video crafted by Fr. Jay Toborowsky of Young Fogeys in honor of the Motu Proprio and thanking Pope Benedict on YouTube.  

There are a couple connections in the video with WDTPRS.  First, there is a shot of Cafeteria Gerald’s  Save the Liturgy  Save the World graphic.  That phrase was minted here.  Also, there is a photo from a Mass celebrated at St. Agnes some years back, and yours truly is one of the sacred ministers.

Check it out!

 

The online site of Lakeland, FLorida’s paper The Ledger mentions this blog, but describes it inaccurately, calling it "a traditionalist Web site". 

While I clearly have great sympathy with many of the aspirations of some liturgical traditionalists, this is not a traditionalist site and I am not a traditionalist, as most well-informed people understand the term.

WDTPRS is simply a Catholic site. 

Unfortunately, some writers don’t know how to make distinctions or seek clarifications.

Our PODCAzT today comes after a long break.  I has some technical problems.

This is the first PODCAzT since Pope Benedict XVI issued the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.  On 14 September the use of the older form of Mass will be derestricted.

there are many opponents of the Motu Proprio.  They ofte express themselves through cliches such as "the priest mumbles in Latin, a language nobody understands" or also "the priest has his back to the people".

We need to examine these cliches.

Put in a more positive way, these are things about the older form of Mass which people find rather strange.  They are puzzled at what looks like the priest having his "back to the people".

In this PODCAzT we will drill into the issue of the position of the altar at the wall, and the priest having his "back to the people" with our guest Joseph Ratzinger from the pages of his book The Spirit of the Liturgy.

Is a train wreck in the making?  Perhaps not!

The death of Bishop Michele Fu Tieshan, the late Archbishop of Beijing for the Patriotic Association (in league with the government) left a vacancy.  Fr. Joseph Li Shan has been elected by the government to fill that post. 

In his Letter to Chinese Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI forcefully restated the Church’s right to nominate and approve bishops.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – The “community” of the Beijing diocese has chosen Fr. Joseph Li Shan, 43, as their new bishop.  The news was gathered from Chinese Catholic sources, who clarify that his nomination took place on July 16th.

His election will be confirmed by the “Council of bishops”, taking over the post left vacant by the death of Michele Fu Tieshan, Patriotic Archbishop of Beijing, who died on April 20th or maybe even earlier.  As president of the Patriotic Association, the organism by which the Communist Party controls the Catholic Church in the country, Msgr. Fu Tieshan always sided with the government and against the Holy See.  On his death he was given a state burial, attended by numerous political figures and few faithful.

Fr. Li Shan’s election is the first to take place in China following the publication of Benedict XVI’s Letter to the Catholics of China.  The procedure for his appointment was formally “independent”, in so far as he was elected by an assembly comprising priests, nuns and lay people and not nominated by the Pope.  He will similarly be confirmed by the Council of Bishops, a group which the Pope wrote in his Letter, “cannot be recognised as an Episcopal conference of the Apostolic See”.

Regarding the choice of Fr. Li Shan, officially, the Vatican has limited itself to following the situation “with great attention” but without any comment.  Instead, according to Chinese Catholic sources, the name of Fr. Li Shan was among those put forward for the post of Beijing archbishop which did not raise objections in Rome, even in the absence an “accord”.

Fr. Giuseppe Li Shan, in fact, is considered across the board as a good and true pastor.  A man of faith, capable of relating to both the faithful and the political authorities.  He is a native of Beijing; his family has a deep rooted Catholic tradition, giving him an advantage over someone not from the area.  He has never travelled abroad, not even for study.  If this creates some difficulties regarding international relations, on the other hand it makes him to a “national product” in the eyes of the faithful and the authorities.

In his relations with the Patriotic Association he has been most succinct, rejecting the power of the AP.  In recent years he has fought against the forced expropriation of Church property in his parish (Dong Tang) by members of the AP and the “secretary” of Fu Tieshan, Chen Maoju. This is why the faithful of Beijing admire him.  His opposition to the AP and Fu’s gang also put him in a good light with the local and national government.

Currently he is the parish priest of St Joseph’s (Dong Tang), in Beijing’s shopping area of Wangfujin.

Yes, I know that sounds like an NFL football lead…

You perhaps remember the Memorandum from the Diocese of Pittsburgh about the Motu Proprio.  It was less than warm.   Of course, that diocese was without a bishop since His Excellency Most Rev. Donald Wuerl was moved to Washington, D.C.

There is today a new apppointment of a bishop for Pittsburgh: His Excellency Most Rev. David A. Zubik, at present Bishop of Green Bay.

Bishop Zubik has been very cordial toward the Institute of Christ the King.  I understand that he once reminded a group (I believe of priests) that Communion in the hand was not in fact the norm, but rather the exception to the normal practice of receiving on the tongue.  My impression has always been that he is very friendly toward traditional liturgy.

What does this move mean for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum in Pittsburgh?

Here is Bp. Zubik’s statement from the website of the Diocese of Green Bay.  That applied to Green Bay, of course, not Pittsburgh. It is suggestive of an attitude.  My emphases and comments.

July 7, 2007

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

This weekend, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI released his much anticipated Apostolic Letter entitled Summorum Pontificum on the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. While the Holy Father does in fact give permission for the broader use of the Roman Missal published by Pope Blessed John XXIII in 1962, he makes clear that the continued use of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970 is the ordinary and normative order of celebration throughout the world.

Most importantly, I wish to state emphatically that the Mass is not changing. The normal way that we have been celebrating the Mass for the past 40 years remains. What you and I are asked to do is to open our hearts and be more aware of and attentive to those who have a spiritual need for the extraordinary form of celebrating the Mass.  [Nice approach!]

In his important role as Shepherd of the Universal Church, Pope Benedict XVI expresses his concerns about the centrality and sacrality of the liturgy and makes provisions additionally to support the spiritual life of people who have left the church following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council as well as those who desire “to recover the form of the sacred liturgy that was dear to them.”  [Good.  He doesn’t limit this to an issue of unity for people who are separated.]

In my own read of the Holy Father’s letter, it appears that his letter is in response to serious concerns that have been expressed in countries other than our own. Nevertheless, it is imperative that we as a Church in the United States and especially we in the Church of Green Bay be particularly attentive to our Holy Father’s letter.  [Nice.]

As you are well aware, in 1998, at the invitation of Bishop Banks, priests from the Institute for Christ the King began to serve in our diocese. I have graciously extended that invitation. Those who have a particular appreciation of the Missal of 1962 have been given and have found a place to worship suitably in our own diocese. As you also are aware, splinter groups, not united with our church, have also arisen. It is those people whom the Holy Father and myself wish to have rejoined to the Church.  [Real shepherds try to heal schisms and breaks.]

Given that the Holy Father’s letter was released and that its provisions become effective on Friday, September 14, 2007, the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross, it is important that we be careful not to arrive at early and false conclusions. In the next two and a half months before the Holy Father’s letter becomes effective, I ask that you work with me so that we can have a respectful understanding of its contents. Very shortly I will be inviting the priests of the diocese to a meeting where we can come to discuss the Pope’s Letter and its implementation in our local church.

In the meantime, I ask you to both pray for and to secure that unity which is one of the four marks of the Church.  [May I ask when was the last time you heard a bishop talk about the four marks of the Church?]

Finally, I also direct your attention to the USCCB website www.usccb.org for access to the entire letter and additional materials.

Grateful for our belief that “Nothing is Impossible with God,” I am

Your brother in Christ,
Most Reverend David A. Zubik
Bishop of Green Bay

This was very nice.  It bodes very well for Pittsburgh.

In a story in the Green Bay Gazette today, Bp. Zubik stated how surprised he was at this appointment back to his native Pittsburgh, where he had been an auxilliary bishop.  He thought he was going to be bishop of Green Bay until his retirement. 

This whole thing leaves me with a very good feeling about the future for Pittsburgh and a sense of loss for Green Bay.