Have priests of Malta been threatened with suspension if they resist The Maltese Fiasco?

UPDATE 20 Jan:

The Catholic Herald says:

Maltese bishop denies he will suspend priests who don’t give Communion to the remarried

Bishop Mario Grech has denied that he will suspend priests who abide by traditional Church teaching on the Eucharist.

Several websites had reported rumours that the Maltese bishop had threatened to suspend priests from saying Mass unless they give Communion to the remarried.

[…]

But the bishops have denied the rumours. A statement on the Facebook page of the Diocese of Gozo said: “What is being stated by certain sections of the (international) media with reference to Bishop Mario Grech, namely that he ‘threatens priests will be suspended a divinis for refusing Communion to divorced/remarried’, is absolutely false.”

___ ORIGINAL Published on: Jan 19, 2017 ___

The Italian language site Messa in Latino has written.. mind you, this is rumor, rumor, mind you…

Ci è stato riferito da persone affidabili ed attendili, di cui conosciamo l’identità ma che per ovvi motivi non possiamo rilevare, che in questi recentissimi giorni mons. Mario Grech (vescovo di Gozo, nella foto) di ritorno da Roma ha MINACCIATO i preti della propria diocesi di Malta di “proibire loro la Messa se non supportano le direttive su Amoris Laetitia scritte con il vescovo Sciucluna”. … Quindi: minaccia di sospensione a divinis (o comunque interdetto di celebrare pubblicamente) per i preti maltesi che non daranno la comunione ai divorziati risposati

We were told by reliable and trustworthy people, whose identity we know but for obvious reasons we cannot reveal, that in these last few days, Bp. Mario Grech (Bishop of Gozo, in the photo) on his return from Rome THREATENED priest of his diocese in Malta to “prohibit them from saying Mass if they don’t support the directives about Amoris laetitia written with Bishop Scicluna.  … Hence, he threads suspension a divinis (or rather interdict to celebrate publicly) for Maltese priests who do not give Communion to the divorced and remarried.

You know that these Bishops put out what can only be judged a dreadful document, a mockery, which we call The Maltese Fiasco.  What’s worse is that it was also published in L’Osservatore Romano.

Has this been confirmed yet by other sources?  So far, I haven’t seen it.  However, if bishops are capable of putting out The Maltese Fiascothis sort of treatment of priests would follow.   It’s all about the mercy, right?

The restrictive moderation queue is ON.

17_01_18_maltesefiasco3

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20 Comments

  1. Prayerful says:

    I can only hope this is untrue. Malta has beautiful churches, but the Mass of All Time is barely available. It seems to be connected to an aggressive Conciliarism, as is the AL interpretation. Again, I hope this sort of infamous threat is untrue

  2. LarryW2LJ says:

    I’ve seen this reported elsewhere on the Web. Seems to me that a priest had to say true to Jesus, and if they can’t make use of their faculties in Malta, maybe a US Bishop might be willing to sponsor them here?

    All in all, though, this kind of behavior seems a bit rigid, no?

  3. msouth85 says:

    I first read about this on EWTN via FreeRepublic. So there may be some truth to it…

  4. CalvinistConvert says:

    As part of solution ,could faithful priests choose not to distribute Communion at all ?

  5. Chris Garton-Zavesky says:

    I don’t know how (or if it’s even possible) to post the relevant document here, but since Bishop Schneider is calling for the daily praying of a prayer for His Holiness, a kind gentleman at the Church Music Association of America (musicasacra.com/forum) has posted a chanted version of this prayer. There is, also, a prayer for (y)our local ordinary available in many chant resources.

    If the bishops wish to compel others to cooperate with evil (and if, please God, this particular incident is not factual, surely others will arise) we must respond by praying for them, perhaps even publicly?

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  7. sea the stars says:

    Bishop Mario Grech replied to a facebook comment I sent him asking if the reports are correct.
    He said “False.”

  8. Hilda says:

    Just a reminder : suspension is a penal decision in the Church and such a decision could only be taken after a long penal process or after an extrajudicial administrative procedure which rules are very strict. At least one canon lawyer advocate for the defending priest is required to be part of the process or procedure. Therefore all the arguments could and probably will be publicly exposed. This will lead the bishop to think twice before such an action. Threatening is one thing, doing it is another.
    Wait and see.

  9. catholictrad says:

    Our beloved priest has said many times, “I love you, but I won’t go Hell for you for any reason.”

    There is no doubt that if a priest truly believe the Faith, he would rather take the suspension that cooperate in sending other souls to Hell.

  10. ronconte says:

    Communion discipline should forbid persons guilty of any objectively grave sin from reception, until they repent and confess. Why is it only the sins of the divorced and remarried? Other grave sins are common, including contraception and various sexual sins.

  11. arga says:

    It was published in L ‘OR because the pope’s men (and therefore the pope) approve it. And since they approve it, the threats will stand. Other dioceses, reading the handwriting on the wall, will soon follow suit.

  12. Supertradmum says:

    There are now four sources online, including the German source, which are stating that Bishop Grech of Gozo stated this. I was looking for more and a priest tweeted the bishop asking him if this were the case, last night, with no answer up to about eleven p.m. Have not checked since then.

  13. Supertradmum says:

    Update: a commentator on the Voris piece on this stated this morning that the Bishop’ Office in Gozo has denied this statement—I asked the commentator for a link to this denial…nothing posted, yet.

  14. Supertradmum says:

    Update: a commentator on the Voris piece on this stated this morning that the Bishop’ Office in Gozo has denied this statement—I asked the commentator for a link to this denial…nothing posted, yet.

  15. Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick says:

    So what is a mortal sin will vary from parish to parish as well as from diocese to diocese.

  16. chantgirl says:

    Whether or not this threat was actually made, let it be a warning to other bishops who might be tempted to suspend priests for upholding Christ’ teaching:

    The faithful will not take actions like these lying down. We will defend our faithful priests, whether by prayer, fasting, Holy hours, offered Communions, rosaries, withheld donations, or social media.

  17. Traductora says:

    This has already happened elsewhere. A priest was suspended by his bishop in Colombia on January 16 for “disagreeing with the Holy Father’s teachings” on Matrimony and the Eucharist, specifically as they were expressed in AL. So I see no reason to doubt that it happened in Malta as well.

  18. Imrahil says:

    Dear Traductora,

    so… has he filed recourse to Rome to get an official answer?

    If memory serves, his suspension would lack any effect until the answer from Rome is given.

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