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Poland - TLM report
From a reader:
I am happy to inform you that for the first time after liturgical reform in Poland, polish ordinary celebrated Traditional Latin Mass. Bishop Wac?aw Depo (55), ordinary of Zamo?? – Lubaczów diocese, celebrated the Mass on the first Sunday of Advent in St. Catherine Church in Zamo??. The pontifical Mass gathered traditional catholics from polish TLM communities as well as local faithfuls who actually just started building their TLM community. Bishop Wac?aw managed to learn the Mass and celebrate the pontiifical Mass without mistakes, although it was his absolutely first time. After the Mass bishop was given as a gift usus antiquior hand missal and special edition of Ratzinger’s "The Spirit of Liturgy" with pictures from Fontgombault Abbey.
Brick by brick!
I know that I just woke up, but are those blue copes that I spy?
Comment by Thom — 1 December 2008 @ 10:26 am1. An interesting assortment of copes there.
2. Zamosc-Lubascow is a new diocese, established in 1992, located in southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border. The bishop, Waclaw (pronounced roughly “Voswov”) is a new one, a Benedict pick, from 2006.
I’ve spent the better part of two summers in Poland over the last few years, and I must say I have been struck by just how much has changed there in terms of openness to the traditional liturgy. When Benedict came to the throne it was very hard to find anything at all. Now it seems to be spreading like wildfire. In a way I’m surprised because it’s been my belief that much of the attraction to the usus antiquior is by Catholics simply frustrated with the unavailability of a reverent N.O. mass. Well: In Poland, the liturgical practice of the N.O. is much more reverent on average than in the states. Yet the interest in the traditional liturgy is there and growing just the same.
I hope – and expect – this won’t be the last TLM in Bishop Waclaw’s diocese. The warm enocuragement by the local TLM community is a good way to respond and encourage and support the good bishop. Brick by brick, indeed.
Comment by Richard — 1 December 2008 @ 11:02 amOops – I left out the last name of the bishop: Waclaw Depo. Sans special characters.
Comment by Richard — 1 December 2008 @ 11:03 amthis video describes the situation pretty well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARpoBPAUdgk
Comment by jon — 1 December 2008 @ 4:54 pmthis video describes the situation pretty well.
Comment by jon — 1 December 2008 @ 4:57 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARpoBPAUdgk
This is good news indeed. If the Church in Poland, due to Her strength, allowed only a fraction of Her priests to say the Latin Mass, TLM communities worldwide would gain a large pool of priests to draw on.
This one seminary (link below) in a medium sized town, averages 30 to 50 ordinations a year (total enrollment of well over 200). To rephrase it, this is 30 to 50 potential priests able to say the TLM per year from just one seminary, their Bishop willing. This seminary is not unique.
http://www.wsd.diecezja.tarnow.pl/galeria.php
Comment by Mark — 1 December 2008 @ 8:11 pmInterestingly,the Liturgical Institute of the German Bishops claimed in late October that the introduction of Novus Ordo into Poland was done so well that there was today no interest in Old Rite in this country (http://www.liturgie.de/liturgie/index.php?bereich=publikationen&datei=pub/zgd/gd20-2008). Maybe someone could send them some photos.
Comment by Berthold — 1 December 2008 @ 8:26 pmBerthold:
The Liturgical Institute of the German Bishops may be partially right – the Novus Ordo in Poland, to my knowledge, is done very well. However, I don’t see why this should preclude the re-emergence of the TLM there, as this Liturgical Institute seems to be implying. I think people of all ages would be very interested in re-learning their spiritual heritage, even if the new Mass is celebrated with dignity. I think such thinking misses the point that the attraction towards the TLM is not always dependent on how the Novus Ordo Mass is celebrated. Perhaps it’s a bit of wishful thinking on their part.
Comment by Mark — 1 December 2008 @ 9:00 pmAs Pole I can confirme – interest for TLM in all over Poland grows day by day.
Comment by porys — 2 December 2008 @ 3:16 pmPorys:
Nice website – by the way, what’s going on with Ikea – “no thank you, I’m Catholic”?
Comment by Mark — 2 December 2008 @ 6:06 pm1. IKEA presents gay couple in their polish edition of their catalogue targeted for families. For some reasons they don’t do that in Saudi Arabia edition :)
2. The copes are not blue, it is just a poor quality camera. [It might be a poor quality monitor, too.] The guys had hard times to gather all the stuff needed for the pontifical mass. The bishop’s gloves came from the dicoese from other part of Poland.
3. There are currently about 20 places in Poland where TLM is celebrated. In about half of the places – monthly, in 2 places – daily. There is a stable growth quarter by quarter.
4. http://www.nowyruchliturgiczny.blogspot.com is polish new liturgical movement webpage. When you use translate.google.com you may actually understand a bit :)
5. Polish liturgical reform was indeed very slow and priests are still very conservative. On the other hand, it is changing when new inventions from the West (with all the respect) are coming: Neocatechumenate, Comunion on hand (still extremely rare but legal), girls as altar servants, lay people diistributing Comunion etc. This year it was the first year when vocations dropped slighlty. On the other hhand number of priests in Poland is extremely high. My parish for example in Warsaw – about 15 000 catholics. 15-20 % of them show up on on Sunday Masses. Priests staff: 1 Pastor , 3 vicars, 1 former pastor (emeritus), 2 residents (student priests), 1 transitional deacon assigned for this year. Such staffing of parish in Warsaw is not an exception.
Comment by Marcin — 3 December 2008 @ 5:13 am