A little break but the injustice just never stops

I have had a little break from blogging to recharge the batteries.

So much seems to be happening around the world but so little here.  Indeed, as with so many country dioceses, the drawbridge remains firmly and permanently up.

A certain dispair, at least regarding the situation in the Wollongong Diocese has set in, this was primarily due to the annual cycle of diocesan spending on useless, fruitless and pointless projects.  It doesn't get easier to take as the years go on - less people in the pews, less religious, critical shortage of priests, what's the solution throw a couple of hundred thousand at the same kind of programme that we have been pursuing for the last 40 odd years, no matter that nothing really substantial ever results.

Let us spend the capital of the past and throw caution to the wind...it never occurs to the authorities to be self reflective, perhaps these things have not really worked - could we, should we go back, NO! Never! that would be regression.  What you call regression was once known as humility, when you look for something you have lost, most people retrace their steps.  Who will be accountable for these failures for this expense - not our good bishop surelly?

Yet since the release of Summorum Pontificum a group of more than 60 people in the Macarthur (western) region of the diocese attempted to organise the celebration of the Classical Latin rite (Usus antiquior).

The Macarthur Community had a priest lined up servers sacred vessels and vestments all they needed was a key with access to a Church.  Their request to use the Parish Church at Picton/Tahmoor was refused by the Parish Priest the Rev. Fr. John Ho*.

Not surprisingly these people now largely travel an hour on Sundays to attend the Extraordinary form of the Mass (UA) outside the Diocese (mosty in the Parramatta and Sydney Dioceses).  They have given up on this diocese for now, at least until the next bishop. Does anyone really care?  What ever your view it remains a grave injustice.

One often hears it said "But there is already a Mass in diocese celebrated every second Sunday at 3pm in the afternoon why can't they attend that?"  -

• How many people do you know, that go to Mass at 3pm in the afternoon on Sundays?
• How many Catholic Priests do you know who regularly attend and assist inappropriately at noncatholic liturgies  - and are surprised that Catholic families will not attend their's or have doubts about their doctrinal orthodoxy.
• How many communities do you know where a cup of tea or (fellowship) is forbidden for fear that people might begin to organise or associate with each other.
• How many catholics do you know who are forced to attend a rite they do not like every second week. (It would not be so bad if it went both ways).
• Charity does not permit all the aspects of this situation to be raised here.

This is just the tip of the Iceberg in terms of the issues and the complexities surrounding this matter, suffice it to say that travelling out of the diocese on sundays ensures both a higher level orthodoxy and orthopraxis.

Summorum Pontificum was meant to remedy this situation;

• For pities sake let them have the Mass in their region -
• Let the doors of the Church of St Anthony in Picton, be opened to them.

If Fr Ho will not them, then let Bishop Ingham  intervene and do what is required. Is there really no room at the Inn?  No was never an option here - must the matter go to Rome?

___________________________

*Reverend Fr John Ho, Parish Priest of St Anthony's Parish, TAHMOOR has 3 Churches Mass times follow;( No question of a shortage of Churches or time slots so Fr Ho what is the problem?)

TAHMOOR
Sat Vigil 6.00pm
Sun 7.30am, 9.30am


MENAGLE
St Patrick's Church
(119 Menangle Road, Menangle)
Sun 6.00pm


PICTON
Sheil Memorial Church
(Menangle Street, Picton)
6.00pm


WEEKDAY MASSES

Tuesday: 7pm (Tahmoor)
Wednesday: 8am (Tahmoor)
Thursday: 8am (Tahmoor)
Friday: 9.30am (Picton)

The Sibyl wonders?

The Sibyl wonders why the recent Wollongong Diocesan survey did not include questions about the the Traditional Latin Mass in response to Summorum Pontificum?  Perhaps the answer is that the Diocese does not want to know or is not interested.  The Sibyl also wonders what the report at the end of three years of the bishops to the Pope will contain?  Will it contain information about the aggitation by a large number of people in the western part of the diocese for the Usus Antiquior, will it also contain statistics as to how many people leave the diocese each Sunday to attend the Usus Antiquior because they are not adequately provided for in the diocese.  Might it also mention the failed attempts of a local group who have approached a willing religious priest to celebrate the mass only to be denied use of a church for the purpose.  The Sibyl suspects not.

Shrine Disappears!

Recently the shrine which had been erected in the former baptistry to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour at St Brigid's church Gwynneville, under the former Dean of the Cathedral, Fr. G Schmidtzer has mysteriously disappeared.

The shrine had consisted of a baroque style altar and a print of the Our Lady of perpetual help. Drapes were behind the framed print and a votive lamp hung before it. One of the more tasteful shrines of this kind in the diocese some parishoners have expressed surprise at it's dismatling.

The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is now on the floor against the side wall but what has become of the altar? The former baptistry is now home to two plaster statues one of the Sacred Heart and the other of Our Lady, poorer representations than the ones now prominently placed in the main body of the church (they could very well be the original statues).

In any event there placement in the chapel is a pointless duplication and certainly raises some questions - :

1. Has the new Dean arbitrarly removed the shrine?
2. Or after wide consultation found that so great was devotion to the images now replicated in the chapel that it was necessary to have two lots?
3. Has Fr. Schmitzer decided to retrieve the baroque altar for some other use?

If anyone know's the back ground to the shrine's dismanteling, Wollongonensis would be very happy to hear from you.

Gwynnville Patronal Feast

The Patronal Feast of St Brigid was observed last Sunday at Gwynnville (in the Wollongong Diocese) with a Missa Cantata at 3pm.

A Choir made up of local and imported (from Sydney) members under the direction of Stephen Smith rendered beautifully the proper and ordinary chants of the Mass (Missa XI - Orbis Factor). Additionally two motets were sung; Alma Redemptoris Mater of Palestrina at the Offertory and Ave Verum of Byrd at communion. The concluding hymn was "For all the saints" by R. Vaughan Williams - all the verses were sung at the instance of the celebrant Fr J. Stork!

The fledgling choir is scheduled to sing again on the first sunday of March and on every first Sunday thereafter.

The choir master is looking for new members - so if you are interested please contact;

Stephen Smith on Mobile No. 0423099131
or email: primicerius@gmail.com

Shellharbour church design out of step

Shellharbour Parish was reported in yesterday's Illawarra Mercury as about to commence construction on what it described as a new church. The accompanying photographs revealled an extremely ugly and dated design. A multi-function building which it seems will double as a hall. This type of pragmatism has been the hall mark (excuse the pun) of catholic church building for the last 30 or so years, a trend which is happily fast dying in favour of traditional and classical church designs whose purpose is to create a truly sacred space for worship rather than a building subordinate to functionality. Happily the old church will remain in "occasional" use.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE "USUS ANTIQUIOR" IN WOLLONGONG (PART I)

A brief history of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the Diocese of Wollongong since 1970.

Wollongongensis understands that the TLM has had a presence in the Diocese of Wollongong (DOW) for a number of years. We are uncertain exactly when, and under what provisions the first TLM was offered, but certainly not under the limited provisions of Quattor abhinc annos in 1984. It is more likely that because of the lack of response to the previously named document and indeed the excommunication of Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, the TLM probably re-emerged in the diocese, after an absence of nearly twenty years or so, under the provisions of the decree Ecclesia Dei adflicta issued in 1988.

Rebuild build my church
Shortly after the decree Eccelsia Dei in the late 1980's the new parish church of St Francis of Assisi at Warrawong was built. Its design had taken into account the possibility of ad orientem celebrations at the behest of the young Conventual Franciscan friar Fr. Terence Mary Naughtin. Within weeks of its opening a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated according to the 1962 Missal. The TLM was then offered at regular intervals under a celebret which the young priest had received from the Ecclesia Dei Commission in Rome, the terms of which did not require permission from either local ordinary or superior. Needless to say the young priest was subjected to considerable pressure not to celebrate the TLM, particularly within his own Order.

Lion of the tribe of Judah
With Fr Terrence's departure in the early 1990's, Fr Leo Stevens celebrated the TLM at Villa Maria and then latter in Bulli, attracting up to a hundred people. It seems that Fr Stevens was a willing celebrant but plagued with ill health. The masses were not publicly advertised, and certainly not encouraged at a diocesan level and they were frequently cancelled at short notice due to illness. After his death there was a hiaties, and indeed a type of despair must fallen upon those who preferred the TLM.

In Exitu Israel...The wandering tribe
The DOW made no provision for what was effectively a stable community. A number were courted by the Society of St Pius X, and where indeed lost to them. Others travelled to attend approved masses in Sydney both at St Michael's College, Chapel of the Resurrection in Darlington and the Chapel of the Maternal Heart at Lewisham.

Benedictus qui venit...
With the coming of the new pope, Benedict the XVI and his desire to re-establish a "hermeneutic of continuity" the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" has given both to the clergy and the laity the opportunity to request and celebrate the TLM with impunity. Due, perhaps to episcopal obfuscation, in regard the previous provisions, reference to the local ordinary is no longer necessary, and organisation may occur at a grass roots level.

BISHOP OF WOLLONGONG, PASTORAL REFLECTION ON SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM

The pastoral letter below is an extaordinary document, which clearly states the way in which the Bishop of Wollongong has read not only 'Summorum Pontificum" but the adjoining document which was sent to all bishops. It ignores many of the points which the Pope has clearly made in both documents. It also explains why to date the diocese has not made adequate pastoral provision for those who wish to attend the usus antiquior exclusively.

_______________________

DIOCESE OF WOLLONGONG

DIOCESAN CURIA

Catholic Church Offices

PO Box 1239

Wollongong NSW 2500

Australia86-88

Market Street

Tel: +61 2 4253 0900

Fax: + 61 2 4253 0977

BISHOP PETER'S PASTORAL REFLECTION ON POPE BENEDICT'S APOSTOLIC LETTER MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

Pope Benedict's motu proprio of 7 July 2007, which allows a freer use of what he rightly calls the "extraordinary" form of the liturgy according to the Missal of St Pius V reformed by Bl. John XXIII 1962, comes into force today, 14 September 2007.

"The "ordinary" form of the Mass embodies the reform of the Second Vatican Council in the 1970 Missal of Pope Paul VI. This remains the usual liturgical expression for the celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice and may be celebrated in English or Latin.

Both these expressions of the Latin Rite are united as one, because which ever form of the liturgy i being used, the same mystery is being celebrated. So, speaking, writing or thinking in terms of two rites (Tridentine and Post Vatican II) should be avoided.

The Mass in the sacrament of our unity in Christ and must not provoke division.The Tridentine expression of the Mass nurtured my young faith until after I was ordained, as it nurtured the faith of countless millions.Yet the Second Vatican Council in fact crystallised and made official the rich fruit of the biblical, theological and liturgical development of doctrine in the decades that preceded the Council.

Personally I have always felt that Pope Pius XII was quite prophetic with his encyclicals in the 1940s on the Mystical Body of Christ (Mystici Corporis), Scripture (Divino Afflante Spiritu) and the Liturgy (Mediator Dei). The seeds of Vatican II are there. It is also worth remembering that it was Pius XII in the 1950s who effected changes in the Missal of St Pius V by restoring the Holy Week Rites, especially the Triduum, including their proper hours of celebration: Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper; the Good Friday afternoon celebration of the Passion; and the Easter Vigil being a Holy Saturday night celebration.

The very first document the Vatican Council promulgated was on the Sacred Liturgy. This expressed in our liturgical celebrations, the central axiom that underpinned the major new emphasis of Vatican II: to mirror the full and active participation in the governance and pastoral life of the Church, at a diocesan and parish level, through finance and pastoral councils and the laity's witness to Christ in secular society.

Hindsight, of course, is a wonderful thing. I have personally felt that if the freedom to celebrate the Tridentine form of Mass had not been proscribed in 1970, and the clergy and faithful had been better educated to understand the theology of Vatican II, possibly the Missal of Pope Paul VI may have been more reverently and adequately accepted, appreciated and celebrated. This may have lessened resistance to misunderstood change which, in some cases, resulted in a hardening of attitudes.

The intention of Pope Benedict's motu proprio is to facilitate reconciliation for people who felt ostracised or marginalised or had joined schismatic groups in response to the Missal of Pope Paul VI.

The Holy Father is seeking to restore unity within the Church. He wants to assist those still attached to the Tridentine expression of Mass. I do not see that the Pope is intending his legislation to attract new recruits to what he now calls the "extraordinary" form of the Mass.

The "extraordinary" form of the Mass cannot be imposed on a congregation by a celebrant. In Art 5§1 the Pope sets out the limits for its celebration.

In the Diocese of Wollongong, for some years now, the Tridentine "extraordinary" form of the Latin Rite has been celebrated. It is currently celebrated by Fr John Stork at St Brigid's, Gwynneville at 3.00pm on alternate Sundays of the month. It would be good to advertise this in your parish bulletin. Please contact the Cathedral Parish Office for dates.

I also believe there is still much more work to be done at parish level on the "ordinary" form of Mass to improve the sense of reverence for the mystery being celebrated with the full and active participation of the faithful and to bring out the spiritual richness and theological depth of the Missal of Pope Paul VI.

The Vatican Council restored to our 1970 Liturgy of the Mass treasures from more ancient sources for Catholic worship that had been lost over the centuries; eg, a wider inclusion of Scripture, the general intercessions, greeting of peace.

With one legislative act, Pope Benedict has now shown that to reject our liturgical inheritance is an unacceptable as to deny the possibility of liturgical development.The Pope imposes tolerance on all of us. There is only one Latin Rite and the 1970 and 1962 Roman Missals are both expressions of it in an "ordinary" and "extraordinary" form.

The Pope has laid to rest any kind o suggestion that the 1970 Missal of Pope Paul VI is not a valid expression of the Liturgy of the Mass. By honouring the past, Pope Benedict seeks to achieve healing now and maintain unity in the future by making the extraordinary expression of the Mass available to those who have traditionally used it.

In his letter to Bishops that accompanied his motu proprio Benedict XVI explains the positive reason that motivated his decision.

"It is a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church. Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church's leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden. This glance at the past imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to enable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew."

Whether we pray the Mass according to either the "ordinary" form or the "extraordinary" form, we all are confronted with this same prayer before Communion:

"Lord Jesus, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of you Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever."

"St Augustine said:
In what is essential, let there be unity,
In what is non-essential,
let there be freedom;
But in all things, let there be charity."

+ Most Rev Peter W Ingham DD
BISHOP OF WOLLONGONG
14 September 2007

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