In July I wrote about a group in Ferrara (HERE) which, having great success, is being treated rather curiously by the local bishop. The Priestly Brotherhood of the Family of Christ (FSFC) seems to be doing great things.
I read at Fr. Hunwicke’s place that the Holy See has imposed yet another commissar on the FSFC. That doesn’t bode well.
Fr. H has some sharp comments. Including…
Readers will remember the regulations according to which diocesan bishops were peremptorily deprived of the right to set up religious communities of diocesan right within their jurisdictions without interference from the Congregation for Religious. I imagine that wise bishops will refrain from canonically erecting any new and orthodox groups, but will instead protect and foster them in an informal uncanonical state until the days of joy and freedom return. Is it a sign of health in an ecclesial body that pastoral and prudent hierarchs will feel the necessity to operate beneath the canonical radar?
It is hardly surprising that, when an orthodox Shepherd dies or retires, there should be such anxieties about what might happen to his diocese. There must be quite a few seedy would-be misthotoi slouching impatiently behind Roman pillars puffing away at their fags while eagerly awaiting the rewards of sycophancy and networking.
And you should see what follows.
Hard times for traditional religious, my friends. All the want to be is Catholic, and, as their groups are being born, those who ought to parent them to maturity are strangling them in their cradles.
It seems that in the Church today, only the bishops and the laity have freedom of speech, and I’m not so sure about the bishops.
Some of the displaced Franciscans of the Immaculate fled to this group. Well! That is not to be borne by the modernists in the Vatican, all the way to the top. Holiness of life with much prayer is not to be tolerated! Only modernists in many forms are to be allowed.
All Herods eventually meet death, and have to answer for their crimes. More and more I am convinced that St. Joseph’ intercession needs to be sought more incessantly for the Church.
Looks like Pat Archbold’s assessment of the eee-vil grand-master plan is unfolding apace. (Squash the little guys, coral the Trads into two or three big orders – ICK,SP FSSP, SSPX – Give them lots of properties so they get too big to fail, mandate some arbitrary ‘improvements’ to the ’62 Missal, sit back and watch Big Trad duke it out and self-destruct. Blame the victim. Bwa-hahaha.)
What are we to do? I mean, what are we to do besides GO TO CONFESSION?
Pat Archbold is on to something. Post WWII the Communists grabbed power but in stages due to a lack of public support and some Yalta pressure.
In Poland four pre-war Free Poland parties were allowed to contest elections and operate openly. New groupings were banned or only allowed regionally. Communists took positions in the pre War groups. True leaders were legally karrassed and jailed
Long/short by 1950 all democratically minded groups were limited to four, before being forced to merge with Communist aligned parties. Even the explicitly Catholic ones like Pax.