Friday 28 February 2014

Fr. Thomas Rosica claims that Cardinal Bergoglio banned the Tridentine Mass in Buenos Aires

From Fr. Thomas Rosica's speech, "An inside Look into the Papal Transition" recently broadcast on Salt and Light TV[the following, beginning at 29:35]:  


The final ideological temptation, that the Pope has been speaking about; he refers to it as the Pelagian solution. The Pelagians, this group at the time of St. Augustine, believed that sanctity was the result of human effort without any assistance from God or the Spirit. This is the temptation of conservative Catholicism to a form of restorationism. "We gotta get back to what things were; the Council was wrong, this shouldn't have happened. We're gonna take you back to the real thing'"!

They seek a purely disciplinary solution to all of the Church's problems; through the restoration of outdated forms and manners, the usage of English [Latin?] language, incomprehensible to most of us who speak English. On a cultural level, it is no longer meaningful. We can see why Francis rejected the  grandiose Papal apparel. One of the things I felt very badly about (and I loved Pope Benedict), is the way that they dressed him up in these past years, and put vestments and things on him. And looking at some of the pictures; saying: this is not Pope Benedict. This is not this great theologian. And how many of us - hopefully not a lot of us here - loved Pope Benedict for the wrong reasons. And there's nothing worse than loving someone for the wrong reasons. 

I asked some of my friends who are very upset with the simplicity of Pope Francis; I said: what were you upset about; what are you upset about? "We loved Benedict! We loved the clothes, we loved the fanon". We loved all these exotic things from museum cupboards"! But I said: did you remember Pope Benedict's homily on Christmas Midnight Mass, do you remember what he said on Holy Thursday, do you remember what he said at the Stations of the Cross at the colosseum? "No! I liked the clothing". 

As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Maria Bergoglio was never a fan of the Tridentine Mass, and he only allowed it when it was mandated by Pope Benedict for the entire Church. There is nothing wrong with the Tridentine Mass; it was a very beautiful attempt of Pope Benedict to make peace in the Church. But for adherents of that Mass who wish to use it as a weapon of division, as a denial of the Council, as a mean spirited force; no liturgy in the name of Jesus Christ is meant to do that. Whether one celebrates the New Rite, the Extraordinary Form, the Rite of Paul VI, or whatever, it is ultimately about Jesus Christ and his life giving action in that celebration. 

UPDATE: Vox Cantoris has published a commentary on Fr. Rosica's speech, "Rosicanism". 

My own commentary may be read here. 

1 comment:

albert cooper said...

Well its your view ,for me and for millions of other Roman Catholics we seek Orthodoxy ,with a reverent liturgy,the defeat of modernism,and the seeking of excuses for sin,true reverence to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.Its obvious the church has withered on the vine since the 2nd Vatican Council.but with seemingly blindness so many clergy including the Holy Father carry on with the experiment,allowing abuses in the Mass,as though all is fine and dandy !