I've finally found two posts that present the issue over the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate who have been placed under apostolic supervision by the Vatican and expressly forbidden to say the Extraordinary Form of the Mass without permission from 'competent authorities' (unnamed).
The Vatican crackdown on the FFI
with the Pope's OK is troubling
by Donald R. McClarey
July 31, 2013
I have not been among those who have had concerns about Pope Francis. This, however, gives me pause:
The decree installs an apostolic commissioner – in the person of the Capuchin Fidenzio Volpi – at the head of all the communities of the congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.
And this in itself is cause for astonishment. Because the Franciscans of the Immaculate are one of the most flourishing religious communities born in the Catholic Church in recent decades, with male and female branches, with many young vocations, spread over several continents and with a mission in Argentina as well.
They want to be faithful to tradition, in full respect for the magisterium of the Church. So much so that in their communities they celebrate Masses both in the ancient rite and in the modern rite, as moreover do hundreds of religious communities around the world – the Benedictines of Norcia, to give just one example – applying the spirit and the letter of the motu proprio
Summorum Pontificum of Benedict XVI.
But precisely this was contested by a core group of internal dissidents
[said to be about six FFI members in the United States, where this order started], who appealed to the Vatican authorities complaining of the excessive propensity of their congregation to celebrate the Mass in the ancient rite, with the effect of creating exclusion and opposition within the communities, of undermining internal unity and, worse, of weakening the more general “sentire cum Ecclesia.”
The Vatican authorities [the Congregation for Religious, specifically] responded by sending an apostolic visitor one year ago. And now comes the appointment of the commissioner.
But what is most astonishing are the last five lines of the decree of July 11:
In addition to the above, the Holy Father Francis has directed that every religious of the congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate is required to celebrate the liturgy according to the ordinary rite and that, if the occasion should arise, the use of the extraordinary form (Vetus Ordo) must be explicitly authorized by the competent authorities, for every religious and/or community that makes the request.
The astonishment stems from the fact that what is decreed contradicts the dispositions given by Benedict XVI, which for the celebration of the Mass in the ancient rite “sine populo” demand no previous request for authorization whatsoever.
Of all the orders that Pope Francis could crack down on, he chose one of the most orthodox and flourishing? The attitude towards the ancient rite of the Mass that seems to be contained in the decree is vastly disheartening.
McClarey updated the post on August 8, as follows:
The decision to appoint a commissioner to oversee the Congregation of Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and the need for the order to obtain authorisation before it can celebrate Mass according to the Old Rite has sparked a heated debate. Traditionalist blogs and websites have voiced disagreements over this.
Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi says the decision does not go against Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio but is exclusively to do with existing tensions within the Institute. Vatican Insider asked Fr. Alessandro Apollonio, the Procurator General of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate to answer some questions regarding the decision.
Why did the Vatican decide to send an apostolic visitor to your Institute?
Because a few of the friars who don’t agree with the founding Father and Minister general’s style asked for it. They also disagree with his eagerness to promote the Vetus Ordo within the Institute, alongside the Novus Ordo, in accordance with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae.”
To what extent did the issue of the use of the old missal influence the decision to send an apostolic visitor?
It had a big influence on the decision because the group of friars I mentioned before accused the founding Father of imposing the Vetus Ordo on the whole Institute. Although the accusation is completely unfounded, people believed it and our attempts to prove it was false proved futile. This false accusation has spread like an oil slick, with various newspapers and news agencies passing it on. This has seriously harmed the good name of the Institute’s founding Father.”
Traditionalist blogs and websites have reacted to this news – and to the decision that prior authorisation will have to be obtained before the Institute can celebrate Mass according to the Old Rite – by saying that these decisions disavow Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio. Do you agree with this interpretation? What can you say about these decisions?
Fr. Lombardi has clearly stated that the decisions taken regarding our Institute are not a disavowal of the Motu Proprio. However, we are still waiting for an authentic interpretation of the Holy See’s liturgical provisions for our Institute.
For example, it is still unclear who exactly the “competent authorities” who will give the aforementioned authorization, are. Will it be the commissioner, the Congregation for Religious, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the local ordinary, one of these or all of these?
We hope this is just a temporary disciplinary provision and that we will soon be given authorisation to celebrate according to the Vetus Ordo also, as we have always done. Without all the current restrictions which – unless a better reason can be given – deprive us of the universal right granted to us in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae.”
I think this has been handled in an incredibly ham-fisted manner, and I hope that Pope Francis will act to correct what appears to be a manifest injustice to one of the orders that is a light to the Church.
What the posts do not mention is that the decree against the FFI was issued by the Prefect and Secretary of the Congregation for the Religious - Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz and Fr. Francisco Carballo, respectively.
Since March 13, 2013, Braz de Aviz has not even tried to mask his hostility to Benedict XVI, who appointed him to his job, and whom he has indirectly attacked for the CDF judgment against the dissident LCWR sisters - even if this has been sustained by Pope Francis - and against whom he has now taken another indirect blow by openly contradicting a key provision of Summorum Pontificum.
What Fr. Lombardi failed to address - and what no one bothered to even bring up - was that a papal motu proprio, or any provision thereof, cannot be rescinded (even if only for a particular case) unless by another papal act. As I understand it, Pope Francis would have had to issue a motu proprio amending the SP provision that the Congregation for the Religious has unilaterally violated in order to make the latter action valid.
Sandro Magister promptly commented on the Vatican crackdown against the FFI in this article
chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350567?eng=y
in which he called the development "Francis's first direct contradiction of Benedict".
For more about the FFI, visit their website
www.marymediatrix.com/
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/08/2013 18:16]