by Br Gerard McManus
IN years to come July 6, 2000 may go down as the most significant date for traditional Catholics around the world since Pope John Paul II's Ecclesia Dei decree of 1988 which granted permission for widespread use of the old Mass.
The former date marked the decisive intervention in the troubled Fraternity of St Peter by Rome in the person of Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, the new president of the Papal Ecclesia Dei Commission.
The Cardinal's intervention was an attempt, through a series of new appointments and rulings, to put an end to the divisions and problems which have plagued the Fraternity.
But the intervention had far greater ramifications for traditional Catholics and the Church in general than simply the pulling into line of a troubled clerical institute.
Cardinal Castrillon has stated in the most precise and unambiguous language to date, the Holy See's position on the traditional movement, its attitude to the old Mass, and its declaration of unequivocal support for those priests and laity who remain attached to it.
Rome has also urged traditional Catholics to play a role in the much talked about ‘new evangalisation’ and in reconciling Catholics divided from one another. Most significantly, Rome has identified the traditional movement, and how Rome deals with it, as having an important role in building bridges with the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches.
It would be a mistake to think that conflict over the liturgy in the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter was the only, or even the central problem, it had been experiencing in recent times.
Sadly, there has been a high casualty rate of seminarians due largely to shortcomings in the leadership, and internal management, of the seminaries in the United States and Germany.
Problems include inadequate spiritual formation, low academic standards, an authoritarian style, and an uncritical adoption of some of the most corrosive aspects of pre-Vatican II seminary training.
Nevertheless, in the midst of its other disorders the Fraternity was also locked in a complex and, at times, bitter struggle over its own identity centering on the specific issue of a traditional priest's right to say the Novus Ordo. The issue had become so difficult and painful for Fraternity priests that it threatened to split the young institute apart.
Some priests wanted to say the new Mass in exceptional circumstances such as the funeral of a relative, others wanted to concelebrate the new Mass with their local bishop at the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursdays as a sign of communion with the church, others refused to say the new Mass under any circumstances. Others again never had any desire to say the new Mass, but supported the right of their brother Fraternity priests to do so.
The then Superior General of the Fraternity, Father Joseph Bisig, had struck a hard line even ready to discipline priests and seminarians who had argued, merely theoretically, for a Fraternity priest's right to say the new Mass.
However, in July last year the Vatican issued Protocol 1411 which spelt out the Holy See's position, unchanged from the formation of the Fraternity in 1988, and which rejected any claim of exclusivity regarding the old Mass.
The Protocol stated that Pope Paul VI's new Mass became the normative rite of the whole Catholic Church in 1970, and as a result no Catholic priest could be denied the right to say it.
The Protocol alarmed some traditionalists, including a number of Fraternity priests, who had been under the impression that they had a right to say the old Mass exclusively.
Some priests and laity feared the Protocol was an attack on the identity of the Fraternity, would result in bi-ritualism, and would be used as a weapon of subversion for bishops opposed to the traditionalist movement.
Fr Bisig then attempted to come up with a compromise solution whereby all priests of the Fraternity would seek permission from Rome to relinquish their collective right to say the new Mass.
This only papered over the fierce divisions in the Fraternity in the lead-up to its General Chapter at the mother house in Wigratzbad in Germany in July. The General Chapter was being held to elect the superior general and his council, to vote on the constitution which is to be submitted to Rome, and to discuss the future of the Fraternity.
In the midst of the turmoil Pope John Paul appointed Columbian-born Cardinal Castrillon to the commission in April, replacing the ailing Cardinal Angelo Felici. (See “An Unexpected Appointment”)
Cardinal Castrillon also holds the very senior curial position of Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, and while his appointment was an indication of the seriousness of Vatican concern about sections of the traditionalist movement, there was little to indicate his attitude and policy.
The only hint of the new president's attitude to traditional movement came in an interview with the Austrian magazine Profil in the month before the General Chapter when he stated: ``I believe that people who take pleasure in the old rite have a sense for the holy and for the mystery of the Mass and a respect for custom. Why not, therefore, give the people the freedom to celebrate the Mass?''
After three months of deliberation and consultation, Cardinal Castrillon made his move.
Instead of allowing the General Chapter to proceed as planned, the Cardinal declined to give Fr Bisig a third term as superior general, and appointed instead his own candidate, Fr Arnaud Devillers.
The Cardinal's decisions were communicated in the form of a letter signed on June 29 and read to delegates of the General Chapter by the Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, Archbishop Camille Perl.
The Cardinal, who stated that the institute was in “an undeniable state of severe crisis”, also made the extraordinary move of directing the new Superior General to appoint new rectors at the two seminaries in the United States and Germany.
The sacking of the seminary professors underlined the Vatican's concerns about the formation of the seminarians, but ironically was a sign of long-term support.
Certainly, if it was Rome's ultimate aim to stifle the training of traditionalist priests it could simply have left the Fraternity seminaries to continue haemorrhaging.
The chapter, which would almost certainly have re-elected Fr Bisig, released a statement declaring that they greeted the Cardinal's intervention with “stupefaction and concern”, but there has been virtually no public recriminations since.
The Cardinal's legal position was buttressed by a 1991 precedent when a previous commission president (Cardinal Innocenti) over-ruled a vote of the Fraternity's General Chapter - on that occasion Rome re-instated Fr Bisig who had been voted out by the Chapter.
Cardinal Castrillon said the first assignment of Fr Devillers, who was formally installed two days later, would be to “re-establish peace in your Fraternity”.
Cardinal Castrillon also rejected the proposed Bisig compromise declaring that no superior (apart from the Pope) could hinder any priest from saying the new Mass.
Furthermore, Cardinal Castrillon, ruled that while individual priests may forgo their right to say the new Mass, it is impossible for a whole clerical institute to do so.
On the other hand he also reiterated that no priest would be forced to say the new Mass.
In his statement outlining the intervention Cardinal Castrillon vowed to defend the place of Catholics in the church with a traditional sensibility.
However, he also had strong warnings against a ghetto mentality among traditionalists, against criticising the new rite, and what he called “liturgical extremism”.
``I encourage you to concelebrate with the diocesan bishop, particularly on Maundy Thursday...in this way you will visibly demonstrate your unity with the Pastor of the local church,'' he wrote.
``On the other hand, it is clear that no priest is obliged to make use of this rite.''
``In this way, an atmosphere of freedom and trust can arise in this area, which stands in opposition to every exclusivity and every liturgical extremism,'' he wrote.
For traditional Catholics the most extraordinary sentence in the whole dramatic letter then followed:
``The Fraternity of St Peter ... can only be a family of brethren, who mutually accept each other with fraternal love, and who are united wholly into the great family of the Roman Catholic Church, where there is a legitimate place for Catholics with a traditional sensibility, which I will defend with all my power.''
The efforts of Cardinal Castrillon to solve the crisis in the Fraternity comes at the same time Rome is reported to be seeking to heal the Lefebvre schism. (See “Rome’s New Game Plan”)
That the traditionalist movement agenda has always been a great deal bigger than most acknowledge was underscored by the Ecclesia Dei Commission which now says the movement has a role to play in helping mend not only the Lefebvre schism, but in reuniting the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches with Rome. Commission secretary Archbishop Camille Perl was earlier reported stating that the Orthodox were closely watching how the Church of Rome was dealing with the traditionalists within its own ranks.
On September 4 Cardinal Castrillon met with members of the International Una Voce Federation and Pro Missa Tridentina. The delegation, which included representatives from nine countries, expressed some concerns about the recent handling of the Fraternity.
However, Cardinal Castrillon told the delegation that his intervention had been done to ``preserve and strengthen'' the Fraternity, and, after a period of stability normal elections would resume.
The Cardinal described the Missal of Pius V was a great treasure of the church, and, revealing a remarkable acuity for someone so new to the job, said the old Mass attracted young people not primarily for the use of Latin language but for the sense of mystery it imparts.
The Cardinal also assured the delegation that he would contact bishops who refused to permit the old Mass in their diocese - a source of much frustration and heartache for traditional Catholics around the world.
