A tale of two Archbishops

It is the best of times, in that God has called us into existence now, to be His team according to His plan.

It is the worst of times, in that God has called us into existence now, when from our limited perspective things are flying apart at the seams.

At National Catholic Register (never to be confused with the National catholic Reporter (aka Fishwrap aka National Schismatic Distorter), there is a piece regarding the implementation of Traditionis custodes – the Plessy v. Ferguson legacy document of the Francis Regime – that contrasts the cruel, clerical rigidity of one midwestern Archbishop with the pastoral and flexible application made by another.

The piece tells about how, after the auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who handled most of the pontifical ceremonies of the Vetus Ordo was translated to Crookston, Archbp. Hebda stepped in to administer Confirmation using the Traditional Roman Rite… after a snow storm typical of my native place, Minnesota.

The peroration:

Archbishop Hebda’s approach to both forms is one that would be preferable to see coming from Rome — an openminded, tolerant approach that does not see the two forms of the Roman Rite as a source of division. I truly hope that those in Rome see the pain they are causing so many devout Catholics so that the Church can move forward in unity embracing both forms of the Roman Rite.

Rather than hunting down priests, one after one, to unperson them for voicing doubleplus ungood Oldthink, Archbp. Hebda acted like a bishop interested in his flocks true good (charity) rather than make a harsh display of rigidity to impress clerical climbers elsewhere.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

  1. Pingback: A tale of two Archbishops – Via Nova Media

  2. Gaetano says:

    It’s heartening to see some good news on this issue.

  3. Gerard Plourde says:

    I see from the article that the Confirmation apparently occurred on December 12, prior to the December 18 letter abrogating use of the 1952 Pontificale Romanum, which contains the Tridentine rites for Confirmation and Ordination.

  4. Semper Gumby says:

    “As it turned out, our own archbishop, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, decided to learn how to confer the sacrament in the Extraordinary Form.”

    God bless Abp. Hebda.

  5. rdowhower says:

    Our daughters were confirmed by Archbishop Hebda and his Latin was excellent! If he had just learned the Traditional Roman Rite you couldn’t tell. Sadly, just a few weeks later he informed our pastor at St. Agnes that no other sacraments would be allowed using this rite. Our pastor said he was hopeful the TLM would be allowed to continue but said we shouldn’t take anything he said “to the bank”.

  6. Katherine says:

    As an aside, I figured out a quick trick to know the difference between the National Catholic Reporter and the National Catholic Register. I just say the rhyme “Reporter-Distorter,” then I know whether it’s the goody or the baddy.

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