Vienna: Another sacrilegious “Western Mass”

Yet again, a sacrilegious “Western Mass” was celebrated in Austria with the approval of Card. Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna.

This happened again, in pretty much the same way. despite the fact that it happened last year.

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66 Comments

  1. jasoncpetty says:

    Texan here. Sorry, Austrians/Germans—no one like to be patronized. I feel as sad for you as you must feel when I am forced to endure a polka/oompah Mass every year when Wurstfest rolls around and these people fill the entire sanctuary and the EMHCs are wearing some form of dirndl.

    How long, O Lord?

  2. May I suggest the outrage of not providing kneelers for those in Western regalia on the front rows. Surely they would have wished to kneel in reverence, at least after Holy Communion when Michael Jackson’s classic western ballad “We Are the World” was played.

  3. Athelstan says:

    The battle for “relevance” and keeping up with the popular culture is one the Church will never win. It’s a fruitless task – but even more importantly, it actually undermines the Church’s mission.

    I hate to play “temple police” here, but really – Rome needs to call Cardinal Schoenborn in for a correction on this, quickly.

  4. skull kid says:

    When I was at World Youth Day in Germany in 2005 PZ (pre-Z =p), I was attending a mega-Mass in a football stadium. I felt very hungry and so I got up during the Mass and purchased a Twix and Coca-Cola. I got back to my seat and thought, ”Wait a minute – you’re at Mass!” I asked the girl next to me if it would be a sin to eat and drink during Mass. She said if you are hungry it would be fine. So I did just that.

    These things happen when Mass is held in inappropriate venues and all these scandalous options are made available. People need to be instructed and we need to make it easy for people to be holy.

  5. Charivari Rob says:

    A Confederate flag? Really?

  6. Joseph-Mary says:

    Is this for real?

  7. wanda says:

    These folks seem so hell-bent on throwing this nonsense each year. Why couldn’t they at least have Mass first and then let the smoking, eating, drinking, sun-bathing follow afterward? This is awful.

  8. digdigby says:

    Feed my sheep – barbecue?

  9. Deacon Nathan Allen says:

    Far less tasteful than the idea for a “Missa Bonanza” that some friends of mine came up with at a party once (purely a joke folks!): “Kyrie” to the theme from “Rawhide”, “Gloria” to the theme from “The Magnificent Seven”, “Credo” to the theme from “Bonanza”… and ours was at least in Latin!

  10. John Nolan says:

    And this is the land of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Bruckner. I will not despair for the future of Europe as long as we have a Pontiff like Benedict XVI. Can I ask everyone on 29 June, the 60th anniversary of Joseph Ratzinger’s ordination to the priesthood, to sing Cardinal Wiseman’s hymn “Full in the Panting Heart of Rome”?

    God bless our Pope, the great, the good!

  11. Andrew says:

    Unde in Ecclesiam pestis hujusmodi introiit?

  12. James Joseph says:

    There’s nothing like a man eatting a pretzel and another fella selling Che Guevara t-shirts during the Canon of the Mass.

    At the St. Anthony Festival in the Boston sausage carts and canoli carts are literally a hop, skip, and jump away from the altar they use for the outdoor Mass (celebrated by an auxillary bishop). The carts aren’t shut down nor will they ever be. Every year it goes on. According to the old folks, it’s been going on like this since the Council. They used to hold the holy Mass in a Church around the corner, but I believe it was sold to a developer. I can’t get a straight answer on this.

    Now, there’s an abuse that needs to be stopped.

  13. BaedaBenedictus says:

    Cardinal Schönborn, say it ain’t so! He is exercising Weiner-level prudence here.

  14. Rob: “A Confederate flag? Really?”

    Actually, one of the more honorable and reverent symbols I spotted in this video.

  15. Pachomius says:

    Sorry, but what is a “Western Mass”? I assume Fr. hasn’t converted overnight to Mt Athos-style Orthodoxy…

  16. JKnott says:

    This is another good reminder to me that the Blessed Virgin did not appear to professionals of any kind, to the multi-talented, multi-tasking of any kind, to those of us with great schools behind us or terrific accomplishments, either secular or orthodox Catholic with endless streams of brilliant opinions, to the bad or the good. No. She confided to simple, unlettered children to ask all to pray simply:
    Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.

    “Let this prayer be echoed all over the world.” – Mary

    “Pray constantly and don’t lose heart.” Luke 18:1

  17. Centristian says:

    “A Confederate flag? Really?”

    This was in Germany…where they don’t understand the concept of offensive historical flags.

  18. JohnE says:

    “If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that your meetings may not result in judgment. ”
    1 Cor. 11:34

  19. sejoga says:

    Fr. Z, according to the folks at Rorate the “Western mass” this year isn’t scheduled to be held until 26 June and so there’s still time to write to Cardinal Schoenborn to convince him to put a stop to the nonsense. The video is from last year’s festival (or whatever you’d call it), as I understand it.

  20. Anchorite says:

    My concern, aside from the obvious abuse, is that it all happens with permission of Cardinal Schoenborn who often participates in similar “masses” himself. This is the man who is one of Benedict XVI’s students, one of the writers of the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, and one of the cardinals who supposedly got a vote in the last conclave. Really disturbing.

  21. AvantiBev says:

    On my trips to guest and working ranches in Arizona and my beloved Wyoming, I found that next to the Brits, the German speaking peoples are the ones most likely to be found enthusiastically embracing every moment of riding, roping and other cowboy activities. I get odd looks from some of my Chi town colleagues over my enthusiasm for the West and especially my hopes to soon relocate to Wyoming but the Brits and the Germans, Swiss and Austrians would understand in a heart beat.
    But I must say that I never found this kind of lax attitude even in the Novus Ordo Masses that I had to attend while out there. (Thanks to Pope Benny 16 and the new Bishop of Cheyenne, I think I can look forward to more Extraordinary Form Masses on my next trip.) I never found the people of working ranches or guest ranches to blend profane with the sacred on Sunday morning. For example, a real cowpoke would remove his hat at Mass or when saying any kind of prayer. So don’t blame the real West, but rather the image these Austrians and their priest have of our West and the beer hall atmosphere in which they were seated.
    By the way, the most earnest time of prayer in my entire life was on the back of an Appaloossa at 9,000 feet coming down a series of steep switchbacks in the Shoshone National Forest. I prayed fervently for sure-footed Duke and told our Lord, “Take care of Duke and the other horses and I’ll just hold on and sit tight.” I can truly see why the Mystic Monks located outside of Cody. Some of the Lord’s finest work is the great State of Wyoming.

  22. RCGuerilla says:

    How long till fishwrap starts supporting the implementation of this “mass” at “churches” in the US?

  23. Theodore says:

    Germans and Austrians (viz, Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler) have had this thing about the Old West since the late 1800s and the publication of Karl Mays’ novels about Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. It has been said that Mays’ novel have the same old on the Germanic mentality that the Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels have on ours.

    I guess we in the States should be good that there are no Tarzan themed Masses.

  24. amenamen says:

    What is both amusing and painful for Americans is to see what Austrians think the American “Old West” must be like.

    A few rodeo (?) costumes, Southern Gospel music (on a banjo and an electric bass guitar?), a Michael Jackson/fundraising song, and picnic tables. All vaguely “American” but not very convincing.

    Has anybody ever attended an actual rodeo where the crowd would want to sing, or even listen to, a Michael Jackson song? Has anyone ever been to a rodeo where they also had a priest say Mass on the infield? (At least the band got to stand on the stage, where the people could see them).

    I can imagine what the Austrians would think if they saw an American tourist in poorly fitting lederhosen trying to sing “Edelweiss” with an imitation German accent. Ouch.

  25. So much for the one hour fast before receiving Our Lord!

    This is totally putrid. I have never seen so much disrespect for Our Lord than this. I am sure there have been more vile instances than this, but I haven’t seen them. Prayers are in order for those being led down the road to perdition, and double prayers for those leading them there.

    My Jesus, MERCY!

  26. ipadre: Tacitus… as in “They create a (liturgical) wasteland, and they call it peace.”

  27. amenamen says:

    I was noticing the advertisements all over the picnic area / sanctuary. (Sorry, I was distracted).

    The umbrellae over the tables had the logo for Pago, an Austrian fruit juice.
    http://www.austrianfood.net/2008/01/21/pago-fruit-juice-ace/

    The ashtray at 01:35 advertises Zwettler, an Austrian beer
    http://www.zwettler.at/

    The ashtray at 01:38 advertises Volksbank, an Austrian bank
    http://www.volksbank.com/

    Behind the priest and the three young ladies in albs, (and behind what is supposed to be a miniature teepee?) at 02:25, it looked like an adveritisement for an Austrian power company (Wien Energie)
    http://www.wienenergie.at/we/ep/channelView.do/channelId/-27927/pageTypeId/11986

    At least the cigarettes were American. Pall Mall.

  28. Dug says:

    While sharing the grave concerns over these prior liturgical offenses, I just wanted to make sure that the information is accurate (charity toward the Cardinal requires no less of us): The information I’ve seen online is that this even isn’t scheduled to happen for another 11 days (on June 26th). The video linked above is from 2010. If that is true, then it is incorrect to say “This happened again, in pretty much the same way.”

    We need to take care to avoid calumny of Cardinal Schoenborn, while also praying that he may be granted the wisdom and resolve to deter such abuses in the future.

  29. uptoncp says:

    There are only three ways in which the words ‘Western’ and ‘Mass’ should be connected.

    1) In comparison with the Eastern Liturgy.

    2) The (inaccurate) term ‘Western rite’ used to be used by Anglo-Papalists to promote Roman use over Sarum.

    3) John Tavener: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6SqfdSEIXg

  30. FloridaJoan says:

    I feel so very sorry for those people who have obviously lost the awe for Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Come Holy Spirit , fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be re-created and You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen

  31. Father G says:

    Is this for real??!!!
    I have become so disappointed in Cardinal Schönborn.

    A copy of this video should be sent to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This kind of stuff should not continue any longer!!

  32. AnAmericanMother says:

    As somebody who shoots Cowboy Action (a group of people who pay a lot of attention to historical detail and accuracy), I can tell you that any resemblance between these unfortunates and actual cowboys is purely accidental. Poor souls! it’s like people who show up at the Highland Games thinking they are dressed in Authentic Scottish Attire.
    We have had “Cowboy Church” at the shoots (what amounts to a lay-led prayer service), and even for the prayer before the shoot begins, everybody takes their hats off in a respectful manner. Nobody’s ever suggested an outdoor Mass (!)
    And take it easy on the Confederate Battle Flag. Three of my GG grandfathers fought bravely under it.

    Furl that Banner, for ’tis weary;
    Round its staff ’tis drooping dreary;
    Furl it, fold it, it is best;
    For there’s not a man to wave it,
    And there’s not a sword to save it,
    And there’s no one left to lave it
    In the blood that heroes gave it;
    And its foes now scorn and brave it;
    Furl it, hide it–let it rest!

  33. AnAmericanMother said, “I can tell you that any resemblance between these unfortunates and actual cowboys is purely accidental.”

    And, any resemblance between these unfortunates and actual Catholics is purely accidental as well!

  34. AnAmericanMother says:

    Well, there ya go.
    Lazy fakery attracts more lazy fakery. Such a shame.
    I can understand not caring about being in historically authentic costume (some folks just aren’t interested) . . . but you’d think they’d be a little more careful about their souls . . . . ?!?!?!

  35. digdigby says:

    Father G says –
    “A copy of this video should be sent to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This kind of stuff should not continue any longer!!”
    Yeah! That should shock them.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gf8NK1WAOc

  36. Maria says:

    Mein Gott, Das is schlecht!

    Makes me almost ashamed to be half Austrian I’m afraid.

  37. Andreas says:

    Happily, this type of Mass is an anomaly here in Austria. The vast majority of those held out of doors, whether on mountaintops or during various festivals, are celebrated with deep reverence. Here in Pinswang, there is a wonderful annual Summer outdoor Earschbach festival that begins early on a Sunday morning with a Holy Mass conducted for all in attendance. All festival activities cease as the Mass begins. The music is appropriate and lovely. There is the quiet solemnity one would expect on such an occasion and those attending show the greatest respect. It is with this in mind that such instances described above prove all the more disturbing.

  38. MichaelJ says:

    AnAmericanMother,
    They removed their hats!?! What subversive, mean-spirited throwback of a tradition compelled them to do this? I mean, wearing hats is part of a Cowboy’s identity and it was probably very sunny outside.

    How dare anyone have the temerity to suggest that these men would be showing more respect if they wore chapel… ermm removed their hats

  39. Stu says:

    More and more, I simply question what seems to occur around Cardinal Schoenborn. I’m at the point now that when I see Ignatius Press highlighting his writings, I cringe.

  40. shane says:

    Stu, I agree. I don’t know why Ignatius Press publish his works.

  41. Father G says:

    @ digdigby,
    LOL, but seriously I do hope that something is done.

    @Stu,
    I wonder what Fr. Fessio must think of Cardinal Schönborn in light of the liturgical abuses happening within his archdiocese.

  42. AnAmericanMother says:

    Michael,
    I know you’re kidding, but here’s a picture of a poor cowboy’s funeral from 1891:
    http://www.bburg.com/Springfield/acowboys.htm
    Not a covered head in the bunch, and there were some bad men among them, if you read the notes.

  43. Fr. W says:

    ‘Have you not houses for your eating and drinking? Or do you despise the church of God? Am I to commend you? In this I do not commend you.’ – 1 Cor 11:22

  44. Peggy R says:

    An French colonial era fort is in our diocese along the Mississippi. The fort hosts an annual “Rendezvous” in which folks come dressed in period clothing, including Indians of the area, and many demonstrations are held. Food stands too, most trying to offer food of the 17-18C eras. Many cool wooden carved guns and swords for boys too! We have gone down to the Rendezvous on nice afternoons. The schedule of events indicates an 8 am Catholic mass and “protestant service” later in the morning. I understand a nearby diocesan priest will usually celebrate the mass for them. They are held on one of the “stages” which are not near the food and wares stands. Those are outside the walls of the fort. Attendees at the mass may very well be in their colonial gear, but at least it’s early in the morning when it is quiet, before things get hopping and out of the range of the commercial activities. I haven’t attended the mass there. I’d have to say the reverence may depend on the priest who’s present as well. He sets the tone and demeanor. The availability of a protestant service should also minimize any abuses of non-Catholics taking Our Lord. Again, it would depend on what the priest allows (and whether the bishop’s aware of any abuses). I have never heard that any occur. It’s probably a fairly small crowd though, certainly in comparison to the Austrian cowboy mass.

  45. flyfree432 says:

    That’s the tough thing Father G, it is often hard to believe the Church is going to do anything about it when the abuse is so in your face. When the Church is silent, it makes defending orthodoxy and right worship even more difficult to most Catholics.

  46. meunke says:

    Am I perhaps the only one that noticed that the lady doing the report is, well, kinda FINE!? Off topic, I know, but she does seem really pretty.

  47. Mike Morrow says:

    Well…this *is* truely horrible. But…

    As has been pointed out, this video is EXACTLY the same as the one in Fr. Z’s 6 July 2010 post, which depicted this “event” that was held on 30 June 2010. Even the comments of the reporter are identical, except the one in Fr. Z’s 6 July 2010 post is in German, while the one for today’s post is in English.

    Maybe this is just a little out of date, no?

  48. MichaelJ says:

    Good point about this being last years event. But… is there any indication that this year’s, ummm, festivities, will be any different? Has Cardinal Schönborn expressed any regret or stated that this year will be different?

  49. KevinSymonds says:

    I have to laugh. Isn’t this the same Cardinal who goes around touting Medjugorje and has the people drooling over his endorsement of the alleged apparitions?

    -Kevin J. Symonds
    Desiderium

  50. K_Suzanne says:

    It is even more disheartening to come home to news reports like this after a long day of liturgical and musical heaven at the CMAA Colloquium.

  51. RobertK says:

    Quote : 19. The faithful who ask for the celebration of the forma extraordinaria must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria or against the Roman Pontiff as Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church.

    So, since this Mass is of the forma ordinaria, those who who request the Mass in the forma extraordinaria must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria.

    So stop complaining and questioning the validity of this Mass!!. This is a valid Mass whether you like it or not. (This statement I made is just an example that will be used by liberals).

    This is how the liberals can attack the forma extraordinaria, and those who support it.

  52. Prof. Basto says:

    I have watched the video, until the bitter end. It is excruciatingly painful and scandalous. Having watched it, and in view of the evidence presented, I will say this:

    The Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna MUST BE DEPRIVED OF HIS RED HAT.

    The situation also warrants an invitation for the Cardinal of Vienna to resign from his See or be REMOVED FROM IT.

    The fact that none of the above will happen is part of the reason why the Church is and remains in this huge crisis and mess. The Holy Father NEEDS to act decisively! Cardinals should once again be deposed from the Sacred College! Starting by the Cardinal from Vienna!

  53. uptoncp says:

    RobertK – I don’t think I’ve noticed anyone in this thread expressing any doubt as to the validity of the Mass, just its appropriateness.

  54. Ezra says:

    It’s not that awful. Remember what the fella says: in Vienna for 25 years under Groër and Schönborn they had liturgical abuse, heresy, sodomy, and schism, but they produced Jörg Haider, the Leopold Museum, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission. In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

    Actually, on reflection, it is that awful. I’ll go with the cuckoo clock.

  55. robtbrown says:

    Mike Morrow,

    Of course, it’s the same video. The point of the video is to try to prevent last year’s debacle from being replicated. The English text was sent to me to be edited.

  56. Aquinas says:

    Only 378 signatures so far. Why happens to the petition, does it go to Rome?

  57. Aquinas says:

    Sorry, I meant , What happens to the petition, does it go to Rome?

  58. Mike Morrow says:

    bobtbrown writes: “Of course, it’s the same video…”

    The original posting, introducing the “recent” event video, states: “This happened again, in pretty much the same way. despite the fact that it happened last year [link to 2010 video].” That is strong implication that this report is…er…*recent*, with an invitation to review the event of “last year”. Nicht wahr?

    It would be more to the point to have referenced, say, the 2009 and the 2010 event (apparently gloria-tv has video of earlier “events”), rather than the 2010 event twice. It should be clearly stated that this event has NOT yet happened again…it’s scheduled for 26 June 2011.

    “The point of the video is to try to prevent last year’s debacle from being replicated.”

    Does anyone *really* think that reader responses to a blog or a website petition somewhere, a few days before the event, will have an effect one way or another? Write these Donauinselfest people off…they are a dead loss. This type of event is simply the natural evolution of newchurch since it separated from the Roman Catholic Church to follow lemming-like the Piper of Bug-nini after Vatican II.

  59. Centristian says:

    “So, since this Mass is of the forma ordinaria, those who who request the Mass in the forma extraordinaria must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria.

    So stop complaining and questioning the validity of this Mass!!. This is a valid Mass whether you like it or not. (This statement I made is just an example that will be used by liberals). ”

    Well, if any liberals are silly enough to cite the Mass shown in the video as an example of the approved ordinary form of Mass that all Catholics must recognize as legitimate, let them flaunt their silliness. If they cannot see that this sacrilegous mockery does not, in fact, authentically represent the Mass of the Roman Rite in the ordinary form any more than does a black Mass, then they are blind, indeed.

    What we see in this video is not an example of the approved Mass of the Roman Rite in its ordinary form, what we see is the extreme abuse of the ordinary form of Mass. Violations of what is actually approved and prescribed abound. The idiotic stole-clad liturgical barbecuer, here, could just as easily have used the 1962 Missal (every priest can now, without permission) and hosted an American barbecue in the extraordinary form (an idea no more ridiculous than what we see here, really), complete with ribs, brisket, cigarettes, beer, cowboy hats, and American pop music. That is to say, priests like this are just as able to defy all the rules and to abuse the extraordinary form of Mass (or any other form of Mass) as they do the ordinary form of Mass.

    The form of the Mass doesn’t cause itself to be abused any more than an abused child causes his or her own abuse. Like the child, the form is the victim, not the criminal. The abuser is the criminal.

  60. MichaelJ says:

    Absolutely. Since it is also possible to die if you are in an accident while driving a Volvo, it is a logical fallacy to conclude that a Corvair is less safe, despite what Ralph Nader says. Its not the car that is unsafe. Nor is there a design flaw that fails to protect drivers from their human fallibility. The car too is a victim of abusive drivers.

  61. Father G says:

    Rorate Caeli is reporting that the scheduled “Western Mass” for this year has been CANCELLED!!!

  62. pelerin says:

    Father G has beaten me to it! I have just read about the cancellation of the Western Mass on the French site Osservatore Vaticano. Let’s hope it does not happen again.

  63. robtbrown says:

    Ezra says:

    It’s not that awful. Remember what the fella says: in Vienna for 25 years under Groër and Schönborn they had liturgical abuse, heresy, sodomy, and schism, but they produced Jörg Haider, the Leopold Museum, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission. In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

    Cue the Third Man Theme.

  64. robtbrown says:

    Mike Morrow says,

    The original posting, introducing the “recent” event video, states: “This happened again, in pretty much the same way.

    I realize Fr Z wrote that, but it was premature.

    Does anyone *really* think that reader responses to a blog or a website petition somewhere, a few days before the event, will have an effect one way or another? Write these Donauinselfest people off…they are a dead loss.

    NB: The comment above says that the mass has been cancelled.

  65. robtbrown says:

    Centristian says:

    The (Ordinary) form of the Mass doesn’t cause itself to be abused any more than an abused child causes his or her own abuse. Like the child, the form is the victim, not the criminal. The abuser is the criminal.

    Once again, the distinction has to be made between Latin ad orientem and vernacular versus populum Novus Ordo masses. I don’t think the former could be used in the aforementioned Vienna debacle. The latter could–and was.

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