Reaction to the cruel suppression in Guadalajara

I recently shared the sad news about the cold suppression of the faithful in Guadalajara by Francisco Card. Robles Ortega following the cruel and unnecessary Traditionis custodes.

I warmly invite you to resist this cruelty on the part of bishops and Rome by uniting yourself to an informal group committed to daily prayers and acts of mortification in defense of and for the preservation of traditional sacred liturgical worship.  From beneath the jackboot of Traditionis custodes rise up as a Custos TraditionisHERE

I received this press release.

Faithful Ask To Be Heard by Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega
Monday, September 27, 2021

Press Release

More than 150 families left in distress

In view of the decree issued by Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega in which he suppresses the quasi-parish of San Pedro en Cadenas in Guadalajara, Mexico, the parishioners who were once part of it are asking to be heard and for the mandate to be reversed.

Without previous dialogue on the part of the Archdiocese with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) nor with the parishioners, the quasi-parish that had as its seat the Church of Our Lady of Pilar in the Historic Center of Guadalajara was eradicated, leaving the parishioners without a series of canonical rights and thus more than 150 families in distress who used to be part of it.

The mandate was issued with the justification of putting into effect the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition) issued by Pope Francis in July of this year, where he points out a list of measures to be implemented regarding the Eucharistic celebrations under the Roman Missal of 1962, and leaving to the diocesan bishops the exclusive competence to authorize, in their dioceses, the use of that Missal. It should be noted that nowhere in the pontifical document does it suggest or mandate the suppression of parishes or quasi-parishes already erected under the previous motu proprio
Summorum Pontificum issued by Pope Benedict XVI or before.

For ex- parishioners, who received the news with great surprise, this measure has the forebodes an eventual extinction of the celebration of the Mass according to the Missal of St. John XXIII in the Archdiocese of Guadalajara especially because, despite an announcement in a press conference last July by Cardinal Robles Ortega indicating he would first dialogue with the FSSP, there were no conversations on the subject prior to the declaration.

The edict destroys the work of more than a decade of a devout and vibrant community and leaves the faithful with the uncertainty of who will be responsible in the long term for the celebrations of the Traditional Mass, since it does not ratify the priests of the FSSP in their pastoral responsibility for the faithful with whom they have labored since 2009. This is unfortunate since the priests of this society of apostolic life are experts in these celebrations and their charisma and reason for existing is to attend the parishioners who desire to attend so called Tridentine Mass.

Although the Eucharistic celebrations will continue, they will be limited to the existing ones without being able to celebrate masses for weddings, funerals, or first communions without seeking permission. Meanwhile the documents fails to specify from whom such permissions must now be sought. In addition, they will only be able to be held in the Church of Our Lady of the Pilar, San Javier de las Colinas and in the chapel of Casa Cristo Rey, where the priests of the FSSP in Guadalajara are located.

The parishioners are afraid of being left without the ancient rite that was used by the Catholic Church for more than 1,500 years and that was changed to the so-called Novus Ordo after the Second Vatican Council. The worry stems from that fact that around the world some bishops have eradicated these celebrations completely, such as in the Diocese of Alajuela, Costa Rica where they suddenly cancelled the only Latin Mass in the country and suspended the diocesan priest who celebrated it for deciding, in response, to celebrate the Novus Ordo in Latin.

Despite these measures, which the parishioners point out as cruel and unjust, they have reaffirmed their unwavering fidelity and service to the Catholic Church and the successor of St. Peter, hoping to be heard by Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega.

FRUITS

In the little more than twelve years that the FSSP has been in Guadalajara, many people have returned to the Catholic Church and to the practice of their faith thanks to its apostolic work. During this time, the community has given the Church four priests, one religious sister, conversions and baptisms of non-Christian adults who are following an authentic spiritual growth. Parishioners participate in a variety of groups, catechesis, and apostolic work such as feeding the poor at hospitals, working in an orphanage, evangelizing in the street, conducting door to door missions, and attending the sick and dying in the hospitals at night and when people come to them because their own priests can’t be found.

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About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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13 Comments

  1. So basically, Ecclesia Dei adflicta is turning out to be the bait-and-switch the SSPX has always said it is.

  2. SeelDad says:

    @Anita Moore – except that no one would have been able to say that with certainty 20+ years ago. Further, just because Ecclesia Dei is being abused now doesn’t mean it was designed as a bait and switch at the time.

  3. Geoffrey says:

    “I warmly invite you to resist this cruelty on the part of bishops and Rome by uniting yourself to an informal group committed to daily prayers and acts of mortification in defense of and for the preservation of traditional sacred liturgical worship…”

    Has anyone composed a suitable prayer for such an intention? It would be nice if one prayer could be composed and translated into several languages (including Latin!) and distributed online. I am thinking something along the lines of the internet prayer that Fr Z promotes. Finding a bishop who would grant such a prayer his imprimatur would also be a good thing. Just an idea…

    [You might take a look at the post to see what prayer I suggested. Just an idea…]

  4. pscruz says:

    I know only God knows hearts, but…..if I was a pope who wanted to destroy the TLM, could my next move be to declare SSPX in schism and forbid FSSP and others from new seminarians? Then, when FSSP and others die out, Catholics who prefer TLM would have to go to a schismatic TLM at SSPX. Reminds me of the Soviets who forbade youngsters from Church. They assumed once the elderly died, the faith would be gone forever.

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  6. Danteewoo says:

    I live in an archdiocese which is a legal Latin Mass Heaven, but I would attend the SSPX in a heartbeat if that’s all there was available…and the CMRI church is so convenient.

  7. kurtmasur says:

    Christianity was not even legal during the first three and a half centuries of the Church. It wasn’t pretty and many lost their lives. If the Church could survive that persecution, then for sure it will survive this, even if the present persecution is an attack coming from within itself much akin to an auto-immune disorder. However, just as those first generations of Christians did what they had to do by taking refuge in the catacombs, so too must we got to do what we got to do.

    In a way, the Church’s life resembles that of Jesus’ life. Jesus’ life began literally in some humble stable, instead of in a proper house. So too the Church, rather than begin worshipping in proper temples, it began underground using the catacombs. Jesus’ time on Earth was brought to an end literally from within His closest circle: one of the apostles. So too, the Church is being brought to an end from her own closest circle. I’m not saying these are the end times, as nobody knows the day nor the hour, but at least the signs seem to be there.

  8. Kathleen10 says:

    I dunno, do appeals for mercy or understanding from the autocrats in the church work on people who have rocks where hearts are supposed to be? Someone please make sure to post even one time this worked and compassion was demonstrated. As far as I’ve seen, appeals for consideration result in nada, unless you count being ignored as something.

  9. TonyO says:

    It should be noted that nowhere in the pontifical document does it suggest or mandate the suppression of parishes or quasi-parishes already erected under the previous motu proprio Summorum Pontificum issued by Pope Benedict XVI or before.

    This is an important point, and one much neglected around the Church. If a bishop wanted to, and if he had even a moderately receptive diocese, he could follow every single step in TC, and in 5 years time have every single Catholic in his diocese going to a TLM much of the time. The core requirements (on bishops) are two: (1) work to ensure all people who go to the TLM recognize and affirm the validity and liceity of the NO mass; (2) forbidding TLM masses be said in parish churches. A bishop could take all places that CURRENTLY say the TLM and switch them from parishes to shrines, and designate that 3 other local parishes have new boundaries that take in 1/3 of the former TLM parish. But leave the priests to celebrate the TLM at the new shrine. And then take steps to make sure all priests carefully explain how the NO mass is valid and licit – in the course of which also teach how the TLM mass is the mass of the ages and carries with it immense value and benefit to the Church, and strongly encourage ALL Catholics to at least sometimes visit one of the TLM shrines to assist at mass there so they can learn their heritage. If necessary, the bishop could increase the number of TLM shrines to accommodate the increased numbers going to TLM masses. The bishop can not only give blanket permission to all priests who have ALREADY been saying TLM masses to continue, but also give the same permission to all priests who had not yet, and to extend it to all newly ordained priests (after he consults with Rome, hears that Rome doesn’t like that, and does it anyway because all TC requires is that he consult with Rome, does not require that he takes the Vatican’s suggestions.) Indeed, I would be encouraging all the seminarians to learn Latin and the TLM. (TC does not forbid ANY of this.)

    TC requires the bishop to designate which days the TLM will be said at these non-parish shrines. But nothing in TC tells the bishop to DIMINISH the number of such masses, only that he is in charge of saying when they will be said. The Universal Church has always held it to be best, ideal, if people go to mass daily: the Our Father, after all, speaks of our receiving “our daily bread”. As long as the TLM mass is contributing to authentic growth in spirituality, the bishop would (and should) firmly encourage people to assist at daily mass at the TLM, and therefore would determine that the TLM shrines should say the TLM daily. TC does NOT forbid this.

    Bishops who insist on using TC to diminish the number of places and times of TLM are choosing to go beyond the letter of the law, and doing so based on a (correct) guess that although Francis didn’t tell them to, he really wants them to suppress the TLM wherever possible. It is also probable that these bishops are (correctly) guessing that they will be graded on this: no advancement in their careers to bishops who are out of step with Francis on this. No bigger sees, no move to an archbishopric, no cardinal’s hats, if you don’t GO BEYOND the bare minimum in suppressing TLM. This, I think, is why you get some bishops seemingly gladly going BEYOND the demands of TC in suppressing the TLM – not because they actually think TLM needs to be diminished for the good of the Church, but because they think this is what their future careers are based on. (Yes, there probably are a few bishops who think TLM needs to be diminished for the good of the Church, but they cannot plausibly think so merely because Francis described it so in his letter, given how patently transparent that was.)

    I am glad I am not a bishop in these times. Not only would I be wondering just HOW FAR to push back by following the letter but not the spirit of TC (as outlined above), but I would also be wracking my soul over the more difficult question of whether now is the time to defy the pope DIRECTLY.

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  11. The Astronomer says:

    I’m not surprised by any of this; saddened perhaps but not surprised. Just read Marco Tosatti’s “NEOVATICAN GALLERY: Modernism, Unmentionable Vices and Corruption in the Time of Bergoglio.

    Love of vice that cries to Heaven for vengeance goes hand in hand with hatred of holiness and tradition. Sodomy infests the Holy See like termites in a condemned house. And they HATE the Tradional Roman Mass of Trent. I fear it will get worse before it gets better.

  12. Fr. Kelly says:

    @danteewoo
    …and the CMRI church is so convenient.

    Be careful there. The SSPX is one thing, but it is at least doubtful that the CMRI has the ability to offer valid sacraments.

    The CMRI is _not_ an Ecclesia Dei community.
    Their founding bishop claims ordination in the Thuc line, stemming from what the CDF judged to be an invalid ordination at best.

    As I recall, under Cardinal Ratzinger, the CDF declared that the “bishops” (and subsequently any “priests” ordained by them) who claimed ordination by Bishop Thuc in that final ceremony after his dementia was clear would never be recognized by the Church as validly ordained.

    The CMRI is founded and led by one such man.

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