NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

CHINA - VATICAN
Subdued but predictable reactions
in China to Pope's letter


Rome, July 2 (AsiaNews) - The Chinese government is embarrassed and unhappy about the Pope's letter to Chinese Catholics. Among the faithful in both the official and underground Church the letter caused a great deal of enthusiasm. Official bishops have not yet made any comment however.

In China, reactions among Catholics and non-Catholics to Benedict XVI's letter to the clergy and the faithful have varied but were more or less as expected.

There was much enthusiasm and a renewed sense of fidelity to the Holy See among official and underground Catholics. But official bishops have been careful because of the tight controls under which they operate.

A few hours after the publication of the Pope's letter about 'truth and love', Church unity and the need for religious freedom protection, the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Beijing released a terse communiqué that, without taking into account what is, for many, one of the most beautiful letters ever sent by a Pope to the faithful in China, expressed hope that the letter would not create any more obstacles in the Sino-Vatican dialogue.

The statement reiterated China's two pre-conditions to the restoration of diplomatic relations, namely the "Vatican must sever its so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognize the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China", and that it will "never interfere in China's internal affairs, not even in the name of religion."

This in itself for some experts is a sign of modest progress. In the past Chinese reactions to Vatican initiatives were much harsher.

The canonisation in 2000 of Chinese martyrs is one example. At that time Beijing launched a violent campaign against the Vatican, including personal attacks against the Pope, arrests of underground bishops and forcing official bishops to toe the line.

The subdued albeit predictable response (the two pre-conditions have been repeated for the past 20 years) shows at least a certain government embarrassment vis-à-vis the Pontiff's inalienable demands on Episcopal appointments and real religious freedom.

As a token of courtesy, the Holy See provided the Chinese government with a copy of the letter ten days before its publication.

For some observers a subdued reaction is evidence that the country's leadership is divided between those who want to modernise it and those who want to maintain a Stalinist hold, including over the Church. In fact, China's Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs Ministries have already expressed different points of view in the past.

Whilst the government responded last Thursday and Friday to the publication of the papal letter in mild tones, the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China met most official bishops in Huairou, near Beijing, instructing them to keep calm about what the letter said.

Ye Xiaowen, director of the state council's State Administration for Religious Affairs, was there. He supposedly addressed the participants telling them that "we have served you with maotai, the best liquor in China. After drinking it, you no longer need foreign wine", which is one way of reasserting the plan to set up an independent Chinese Catholic Church, something that the Pope cannot countenance since it is contrary to Catholic doctrine.

By contrast, there is a lot of rejoicing among believers in both the official and underground Church.

"They don't want us to show our enthusiasm and our unity with the Pope," a Beijing Catholic told AsiaNews, "but we are happy about the letter and the Pope's condemnation of the Patriotic Association."

Formally known as the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), this entity was created by Mao Tse-tung with the explicit goal of controlling China's Catholic community. Many of its officials are not even Catholic.

Among the faithful, issues like the family are important. Removing special prerogatives from (underground) bishops and priests is another, and so is the suggestion to all bishops that they set up all the necessary diocesan structures that are typical of the Catholic Church, like diocesan administrations and pastoral councils, etc.

Conversely, Liu Bainian, CPCA deputy chairman, said that his organisation would not distribute the letter. This would make it difficult for the Church to do it on its own because religious publications need government authorisation. Liu noted that Catholics can download the text from the Internet but in recent days the Vatican website has not been easily accessible in China.

So far official bishops have not made any public comments about the letter, fearful perhaps of what the Popes categorical refusal to accept CPCA's control of the Church might do.

Here's a translation of an AsiaNews story in its Italian service that has not yet appeared on their English service.


Beijing eliminates the Pope's letter
from the Internet

BEIJING, July 3 (AsiaNews) - Pope Benedict XVI's letter to the clergy and faithful of the People's Republic of China has disappeared from the Catholic sites on which it had been posted since its publication.

At the same time, it is impossible to open the Vatican site from inside China.

Chinese priests and faithful who administer the sites have protested. Some who had posted the letter in the simplified text version as soon as it was published were reportedly visited by government representatives who 'convinced' them to take the post offline.

One priest said the prohibition "proves the truth of what the Pope wrote about government influence in religious affairs" and "it shows that the Church in China does not in fact enjoy full religious freedom."

And yet in an interview prior to the text publication, the vice president of the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, Liu Bainian had said that the PA "will not be distributing the letter to the faithful, which they can easily download from the Internet."

AsiaNews sources say nevertheless that the papal text is reaching Catholics by fax or hand-delivered, and that it may still be downloaded from the Internet from 'wildcat' sites that have managed to elude government notice.


There was an earlier story, actually, in ZENIT, which I missed, as they were late posting their Monday stories, and I didn't get back to their site after 5 pm. New York time (11 pm in Rome):


Beijing Suppresses Pope's China Letter:
Web Sites Told to Remove Full Text



HONG KONG, JULY 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a news report published today by the Union of Asian Catholic News on China's suppression of Benedict XVI's letter written to the Catholics in that country.

* * *

Mainland Catholic Websites Told To Remove Full Text Of Papal Letter

HONG KONG (UCAN) -- Some Catholic websites in mainland China that uploaded Pope Benedict XVI's letter to Catholics in the mainland shortly after it was released were ordered hours later to remove it.

UCA News observed that a few hours after the Vatican issued the letter on June 30 at 6:00 p.m. Beijing time (12:00 noon in Rome), several mainland Catholic websites uploaded the simplified Chinese version of the letter.

However, most of those websites, which usually carry news on the Universal Church, the China Church and the pope, had removed the text by the next day.

A priest in charge of such a website registered with the government told UCA News on July 2 he felt helpless because he strongly believes that "China Church websites should publish the pope's letter."

The priest, who asked not to be named, said some government officials who came to his office on June 29 asked about the letter but did not explicitly say he could not carry it. The next evening, he uploaded the letter to his site, but he was told on July 1 morning he was not allowed to upload the text.

By July 2, UCA News found five such websites, mostly run by "underground" Catholics, still had the full text, 19,763 Chinese characters, including the footnotes.

"Actually, this is not the first time we were told not to put certain news reports and articles on the Internet, particularly concerning China-Vatican relations and what Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong says," the priest pointed out. He added that since he had no choice, he removed the pope's letter, lest his website face forced closure or other possible troubles.

As Pope Benedict mentioned in the letter, there are "increased opportunities and facilities in communications" in the mainland (No. 18), so the priest said he thinks China's Catholics can get the papal letter through other channels.

The priest also said that forbidding Catholic websites in China from carrying the letter proves what the pope said about governmental interference in religious affairs and that the Church cannot enjoy full religious freedom.

Other popular Catholic websites in China were warned to remove or not upload the letter. Some of them informed their readers on June 29 that the long-awaited papal letter would be released the next evening, and they urged their readers to watch for it and related reports. But since then, such websites have carried Vatican news but not about the papal letter.

A Catholic layman told UCA News on July 2 that after browsing the Internet, very few Catholic websites in mainland seem to have the papal letter, so he concluded that government authorities have acted against the webmasters.

Even so, most mainland Catholic news websites did carry a June 30 news report from China's Foreign Ministry. In it, Qin Gang, a Foreign Ministry official, responded to a question about the papal letter.

"We have taken note of the letter released by the Pope. China has always stood for the improvement of China-Vatican relationship and made positive efforts for that. China is willing to continue candid and constructive dialogue with Vatican so as to resolve our differences," Qin said.

He also reiterated China's position that improving China-Vatican ties still has two conditions: the Vatican must sever its so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognize the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing all of China, and it shall never interfere in China's internal affairs, including in the name of religion. "We hope the Vatican side takes concrete actions and does not create new barriers," he added.

La Repubblica today has a mini-special on the traditional Mass, with a contribution from French philosopher Rene Girard. This is a translation of La Repubblica's Italian text.


'It was ridiculous to prohibit its use':
1960s changes fostered the illusion
of 'improving communication'
By RENÉ GIRARD


The news about the probable restoration of the Latin Mass by the Pope is not surprising at all: for quite some time, it had been expected that Ratzinger, who has always been a great admirer of Latin, would change the present situation by re-establishing a certain degree of liberty about the celebration of the Mass.

I always found it rather absurd and ridiculous - besides being totalitarian on the part of the Church - to have virtually prohibited the Latin Mass, an opposition to a rite that had been used for an extraordinarily long time.

There was a time when, thanks to the progressive clergy, it was very difficult to get permission to say the traditional Mass here in America, where I live. But all this started to change in the past few years. Now there are parts of the Mass which can be said always in Latin in non-obligatory Masses (therefore not at Sunday Mass).

Personally, I definitely prefer the Mass in Latin. It's a question of habit. Moreover, for French and Italians, translation has never been a problem.

I have also always regretted that some parts of the Mass, like the opening "Introibo ad altare Dei" [I shall enter the house of the Lord], were entirely suppressed in the new Mass.

There is something profoundly beautiful and evocative in the original language of the Mass, and in France, French writers like Francois Mauriac and Jacques Maritain were always nostalgic for the Latin prayer formulations, and in some ways helped to propagandize in favor of the traditional Mass.

The change in the 1960s was obviously carried out in the illusion that it would improve communicating - it was thought it was a way to promote the Mass, to spread it, to make it more accessible to all.

Now it is not a question of trying to understand if the changes resulted in bring in more faithful or not, but to understand that in such matters, there must be a freedom to follow what one believes [if it is not something that violates Church doctrine, obviously].

The idea that a Mass [that was the norm for centuries] could be prohibited at all not only does not make any sense, but it becomes counter-productive for the Church.

I believe Benedict XVI understood this very well and therefore he is seeking to minimize some senseless conflicts. Absolute rules will always generate conflict. But if the rules on the New Mass had not become so rigid to the virtual exclusion of the older rite, there would have been no conflicts because there would have been nothing to discuss. And the Mass is one of those matters that should not be subject to administrative rules!

Pope Benedict XVI has now acted quite calmly, showing wisdom and a conscious effort to placate the passions generated by insignificant quarrels which have been going on to the enjoyment of non-believers - who rejoice in seeing Catholics so worked up over 'details' which they believe are distractions from real problems which are much more important.

I think this is a general attitude by this Pope - to avoid controversies as much as possible by allowing a freedom of choice where this is possible. He knows things will work out better the less they are talked about in heat.

I see in his attitude a strong and clear political will, in the best sense of the term. A relatively minor problem can become unduly significant if the Church tries to control everything with fanatically minutious regulation, thereby adopting a totalitarian attitude in some way.

The same thing happens in any administration, including that of schools. People get polarized on significant details, making mountains out of molehills, and deflect attention from the truly important things.

Fortunately, this Pope understands that one must do away with such pettiness. For example - in the USA right now, much heated discussion is taking place about whether the priest should face the people or face the altar. They can do as they please, really - it's not a matter for debate. [Priests who celebrate the traditional Mass will simply face the altar, since that's the way it is. But will most priests used to the table-altar even think of using the Church's high altar instead for the Novus Ordo? Though I've had numerous occasions to hear the New Mass celebrated at side chapels without a table-altar!]

And the Pope's restoration of the traditional Mass should not be seen as evidence of his 'traditionalism.' His supposed 'conservatism' is an exaggeration [the Italian word used is 'forzatura', i.e., something 'forced'],a grotesque stereotype.

What has Ratzinger done that is 'conservative' since he became Pope? Nothing! All he has shown so far is lucidity, wisdom and mental agility in lightening up many of the problems that afflict the Church. [Er.... Mr. Girard, the dissidents consider sticking to Church doctrine on life, the family and sexuality as being objectionably 'conservative'!]

Finally, I wish to point out another perspective for my predilection in favor of the Latin Mass. We know that the idea of ritual implies stability, an absence of change. We must think about the positive creative aspect of habit! For instance, if one does work which is primarily intellectual, it is better - or even outright necessary - to stick to a routine because this facilitates concentration and more profound thought.

Ritual, which can sometimes be performed automatically, can be invaluably liberating, if it allows us to attend to more pressing concerns.

Finally, the idea of ritual cannot be separated from that of continuity, because if changes are continually made to it, then one ends up by destroying the ritual itself!


Repubblica, 3 luglio 2007


==================================================================

A biographical note on Girard (adapted from Wikipedia):

René Girard (born December 25, 1923, Avignon, France) is a world-renowned French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science. Girard is considered by many as one of the most important thinkers of our times. Yet, his work also tends to be very controversial due to his harsh criticisms of modern philosophy and his outspoken Christian views. He is considered among the foremost authorities on myth and mythology.

In 1947, Girard went to Indiana University on a one-year fellowship, and the majority of his career has been pursued in the United States. Moving back and forth between Byrn Mawr and Johns Hopkins, he finished his academic career at Stanford University where he taught between 1981 and his retirement in 1995.

He is Honorary Chair of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion and was elected to the Académie française, the highest rank for French intellectuals, on March 17, 2005. [NB: Cardinal Ratzinger was elected to the Academie in 1992.]

The Pope, China and Church Unity-
Interview With Religious Freedom Expert


ROME, JULY 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The reception of Benedict XVI's letter to Chinese Catholics will say as much about the status of the Church there as the letter itself, says an expert on China-Vatican relations.

In this interview with ZENIT, Raphaela Schmid spoke of the Pope's letter, what it means for the Church in China and for the Chinese government.

Schmid, director of the Becket Institute for Religious Liberty, recently wrote and directed the TV documentary "God in China. The Struggle for Religious Freedom."

What prompted Benedict XVI to write the letter to China in the first place?

The prime mover behind the letter was Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun: Since his elevation by Benedict XVI to the rank of cardinal, he has been a tireless advocate for Chinese Catholics before the Roman Curia.

When Beijing illegally ordained bishops in 2006, after a period of diplomatic rapprochement, the Vatican was caught off guard, and Cardinal Zen felt that there had to be a reconsideration and clear restatement of China policy in order not to be wrong-footed again.

So this is why a meeting was held in January 2007 in Rome to discuss matters and out of this discussion the Pope's letter came.

What is the most important element of the letter?

The most significant thing about this letter is that it exists at all - that there is a letter to Chinese Catholics from the Pope. And it will serve as a test case for the much-trumpeted new openness toward Rome of the official Church.

It is all very well for reconciled bishops - 90% of the illegitimately ordained bishops in China have subsequently reconciled with Rome - to encourage the faithful to pray for the Pope at Sunday Mass. But when the Holy Father writes an actual letter to them, what will they do?

Distribute it to the faithful and take it as a fundamental reference point for the future - or ignore it and carry on as if it had never been written?

To be sure, the reception of this letter will say as much as the text itself about the current situation of the Church in China.

Is there any indication of how the letter been received so far?

Already, before the letter appeared, government officials had summoned 'open Church' bishops to a meeting in order to coordinate the response - which appears to be: do nothing.

News reports today indicate that the letter was not mentioned at open Church Sunday Masses and the vice chairman of the Patriotic Association has indicated that there are no plans to distribute the letter.

He did, however, state that people were free to download it from the Internet if they wanted. And this seems to be happening: I've been in contact with underground Catholics who have already read it.

There is a strong grassroots movement in the open Church community in favor of communion with Rome, even to the extent that the open Church auxiliary bishop of Shanghai could admit: "Without mandate from Rome, the people will not accept a bishop."

I imagine that independent of the directives of the Church hierarchy, they are going online too.

It remains to be seen whether and to what extent the Chinese government will try to restrict access: There have been some reports that Catholic Web sites based in China had originally been allowed to upload the letter but were subsequently forced to take it down.

Does the Pope's letter represent a dramatic change in Vatican policy? What exactly has the letter changed?

There has been some confusion on this matter in the initial press reactions.

The letter revokes the special faculties granted in 1981 through a letter of Cardinal Agnelo Rossi, the then prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

At that time, the Holy See found it impossible to directly provide legitimate bishops loyal to the Holy See and therefore granted the loyal bishops within China the "very special faculties" to ordain bishops without previously informing the Holy See, because of the danger incurred in communicating with Rome.

Clearly in an age of e-mail and cell phones, communication with Rome no longer presents an insurmountable problem, and so these special faculties are no longer necessary.

The revocation of these faculties is not the same as the revocation of the Tomko points of 1988, which have been superseded by this letter. As the letter explicitly says, the fundamental principles remain the same: Illegitimate ordination still incurs excommunication latae sententiae according to canon 1382.

Bishops appointed by, or reconciled with, Rome are still fully valid and legitimate.

Bishops appointed without papal mandate and not reconciled with Rome are still illegitimate: They administer the sacraments validly, but not legitimately.

As has always been the case, Catholics may receive sacraments from them where they have no other option, just as they can from valid yet illegitimate Greek Orthodox clergy.

Does the letter criticize or condemn anyone?

In the letter, Benedict XVI shows extraordinary sympathy and understanding for difficult situations of individual priests or bishops - and that the lack of religious freedom in China is a mitigating factor in the decision-making process. So there are no blanket condemnations or criticism.

But, at the same time, the Pope is tough on the specific institutions such as the bishops' conference of the open Church which "cannot be recognized by the Holy See" because of its exclusion of underground bishops and inclusion of bishops not recognized by the Holy See, as well as the Catholic Patriotic Association whose statutes are 'incompatible with Church doctrine.'

What is the Catholic Patriotic Association?

The Patriotic Association is not the same as the open or official Church, although there is a good deal of overlap between the two; the Pope refers to it as an 'external entity' which sometimes 'interferes' in the running of the official Church.

The Patriotic Association is a collective that was set up by the government in 1957, with the stated purpose of implementing 'the principles of independence and autonomy, self-management, and democratic administration of the Church.'

These are the principles that the Pope's letter unequivocally calls 'incompatible with Catholic doctrine.'

Are Catholics in China required to join the Catholic Patriotic Association?

In the past, priests and bishops were required to join this organization if they wished to practice their faith in the open and with government approval.

This is no longer the case everywhere: Bishop Lucas Li of Fenxiang, for example, has received government approval without being a member of the Patriotic Association.

But still enormous pressure is sometimes brought to bear on bishops and clerics to join the Patriotic Association: In 2001, Bishop Li and his secretary were arrested by the police and disappeared for about a month, while 12 priests of his diocese were detained and forced to attend re-education courses in order to force them to join the Patriotic Association.

The campaign was unsuccessful, but the episode shows the enduring power of the Patriotic Association.

One of the reasons for this power is money: The Religious Affairs Bureau and the Patriotic Association are in charge of confiscated Church properties and investments across the country.

According to Anthony Lam of the Holy Spirit Study Center in Hong Kong, the total value of confiscated properties and goods amounts to at least 130 billion Yuan, that is about $17 billion. Only a fraction of the income of these properties is redirected to the government-approved official Church.

The document does not speak of a 'patriotic' or 'official Church', nor does it mention an 'underground Church' - what is the significance of this?

It is perfectly true that the document does this, and it is not a new departure. Rome has always avoided speaking of schism - of the 'official' or 'patriotic' Church in China having split off from the Roman Catholic Church.

The facts on the ground, however, had made it necessary to distinguish between two groups of Catholics - those whose collaboration with the government gained them the privilege of open exercise of their religion, though at the cost of accepting illegitimate bishops - and those whose refusal to compromise resulted in them being driven underground.

Ultimately, however, the future of this distinction depends on the Chinese government and the advancement of religious freedom in China.

Thanks to Lella's blog, this interview with a historian specializing in China affairs, published today in the Florence-based newspaper Toscana oggi, and translated here:


Pope's letter:
a historic first
By Gigliola Alfaro

"Historically, the Letter is a great novelty. It is the first Papal letter ever addressed specifically to the Catholics of the People's Republic of China. Moreover, the presentation - which is broad and detailed - does not refer to any positions taken by the Church before the Second Vatican Council.

"All this indicates how much the Pope wished to show that the Catholic Church is not looking to the past but at today and above all, the future, with great openness - which I think is the keynote of this Letter. It is very open to profound dialog, to looking at problems directly 'in the face', and shows a willingness to consider the position of others."

This was the judgment of historian Agostino Giovagnoli, a scholar on Chinese issues, whom Toscana Oggi interviewed about the Papal letter to China.

This was a very important letter, then....

Yes, because it closes a very long period [almost 50 years - since 1949, the year of the Chinese Communist takeover) during which the Catholics of China have lived in a state of emergency because of the grave difficulties placed in their way.

Related to this, as far as the Church and the Holy See are concerned, is the idea of China as a special case, unlike any other.

Both of those conditions are dealt with by the Pope, who calls on Chinese Catholics to face their problems as do Catholics elsewhere - that means emerging from conditions which resulted in a highly unusual canonical profile, with certain special privileges granted to the clergy.

The fact that the Pope, in effect, treats the Church in China 'normally' is truly a surprising and great novelty, something that could not absolutely be foreseen because since the Communists took power, things have been very bad.

Do you think it is possible to start a dialog?

The Pope has called on the Chinese Catholics to reconcile. We know they have been split for quite some time, and even among themselves, there are a lot of internal divisions. But the Pope is asking them to unite, in the Christian way, through love, forgiveness and reconciliation.

The Letter is quite clear on this point, very paternal and encouraging, trusting in the value of unity which is the value of love.

Then, there's the dialog with those who are not in the Church, including the government in Beijing, and here too, the Pope asks for a dialog that is respectful, above all, of each other's identity. His letter contains no prejudicial positions, and is open to the exigencies of others, as for example, that of the Chinese government - exigencies about which the Pope says some could be accepted but others must be rejected because they are against the fundamental doctrine of the Church and are therefore non-negotiable. But he says all this in a spirit of great cordiality, which is an important prerequisite for dialog.

How do you think the Letter will be received in China? Will they understand its spiritual character or will they see it as an interference by the Vatican in Chinese affairs?

I hope that Catholics will welcome the letter in its most profound essence which is spiritual. The government will have a political reaction, but that is to be expected because governments are not interested in religious matters. This is not in itself bad, provided it takes into account that its interlocutor in this case is a religious institution.

Benedict XVI has made a gesture of great sincerity and even of great sensitivity in writing this Letter. I can only hope that the Chinese government credits this and will respond in a diplomatic way, based on a climate of mutual trust. This is indispensable for dealing with such sensitive issues, but it has been lacking so far because there have never been satisfactory relations between the Vatican and the government in Beijing.

How do you interpret the revocation of all the concessions that were given to the Chinese clergy in order to face particular exigencies that may emerge in difficult times?

It's a sign that Benedict XVI wants to close the era of a clandestine or underground Church alongside an official or patriotic Catholicism. So he is revoking the extraordinary concessions that allowed, for example, archbishops to ordain bishops without the consensus of Rome - which presumed a total absence of relations.

But now, that situation has been overcome. Direct relations between Rome and Chinese Catholics is possible even if still somewhat difficult. But the underground Church should now emerge, do everything in the open, be united in a spirit of autonomy as well as respect for the government.

That seems to be Benedict's plan even if it's something that will take time. The sense is very clear: it no longer makes sense to have an underground Church in China.

The Labor of Benedict

BY The Editors
July 8-14, 2007
National Catholic Register

The Holy Father has taken on a Herculean labor  and has called on Chinese Catholics to help.

For the sake of the Church worldwide, which looks to the millions of Chinese Catholics as a source of hope, we pray that they will answer his call.

If Pope Benedict XVIs letter to China is like any of the 12 Labors of Hercules, its most like the fifth one, the cleaning of King Augeas stables.

It was perhaps the most difficult challenge Hercules faced. The stables had never been cleaned even though they held an enormous number of cattle that had added for years to a mythically gigantic mess. Realizing he could never do the job in the conventional way, Hercules diverted a river that swept through channels he dug into the stables.

Pope Benedict has a similar challenge  and much the same answer. What happened to the Church in most communist countries was bad enough. In places like Albania, the government relentlessly persecuted Church leaders. In places such as Poland, they kept the hierarchy in a decades-long chokehold.

In China it was worse. The Catholic Church was first persecuted, then split. One group of Catholics was co-opted by the government in its Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Another was driven underground.

Now, a few decades later, many in the Patriotic Association have pledged allegiance to Rome  and those who stayed true in the underground Church are modern-day Christian heroes, martyrs in death or bloodless martyrs who have lived out a monumental sacrifice.

The mess that needs to be sorted out has many components. Chief among them:

" Ecclesial disputes. Most Patriotic bishops are legitimate. A few arent. Of those who are, some have made capitulations to the state that, while not ideal, are not illegitimate. Others capitulations were inappropriate.

" Two realities. On the one hand, there are many Catholics who are, by circumstance and history, part of the Patriotic Church, but whose hearts are with Rome. On the other is a whole group of Catholics whose heroic fidelity to Rome make them like a Church of Thomas Mores. How to properly honor the faith of the first group without slighting the witness of the second?

Pope Benedict has to define exactly where and when a violation of Petrine authority crossed the line and where it was simply an unfortunate capitulation in extreme circumstances. He has to honor the faith of two groups of Catholics who have arrived at the year 2007 from two different histories.

Pope Benedicts solution is to do what Hercules did: Carefully divert a river. He has to know where the Church can yield and where it must stand firm. And he has to do it in such a way that the whole point of the exercise  the flock  is preserved intact.

Then he has to marshal the only force strong enough to clean the mess: the river of divine love. As the Pope put it to Chinese Catholics, Christs love enables human beings to enter into a new dimension, where mercy and love shown even to enemies can bear witness to the victory of the Cross over all weakness and human wretchedness.

The bottom-line function of the Church is to deliver the sacraments to souls. Any other goal pales to insignificance if it contravenes that one.

The Church in China is entering a new era, one that can only begin with the painful choice Christians have faced after every wave of martyrdom in history. It can step forward only by leaving the painful past behind. And it can do that only through heroic love and mercy  toward both persecutors and those who buckled under pressure.

The effort will be worth it.

A missionary priest tells the story of asking a Chinese Catholic if he wishes his Church were more like Americas.

No, I wish Americas was more like ours, he said. In the West, Catholics have grown complacent  here, we know the value of the faith.

Hes right.

A united Catholic Church in China wont just change the history of the Church  it will change the history of the world. The Church can feed the spiritual hunger of the East, and start a revolution of love in one of the worlds largest and most powerful nations. But only if the Catholics of China follow Pope Benedict XVI with courage and generosity.

We can pray to the martyrs of Chinas underground Church for the grace to make that so. After all, they know what it takes to follow the Pope, no matter how hard it gets.

Has anyone seen anything by George Weigel lately? John Allen announced today he will not resume writing his daily column till August 1st as he finishes his new book for a September printing deadline - and he 'copped out' last Friday by running what is probably a sub-chapter in his book on mega-trends in the Church about the role of female lay ecclesial ministers in tne USA.

So the two most reliable and competent Vatican commentators in the English MSM have been 'missing in action' on a week that cannot have had quite a parallel in Papal history, at least in the past century.

Let me presume, then, to note down my comments for the record:

- On June 25, the Holy Father named one of the Vatican's most experienced diplomats, Cardinal Jean Tauran, who had been John Paul II's 'foreign minister' for 10 years, to head the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialog (CIRD.)

Until the Pope reassigned its former head, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald last year, this Council had never been under a cardinal. He placed it temporarily under the presidency of Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Instead of seeing this positively - Poupard, after all, has excellent credentials - all of MSM saw this as a 'demotion' of the CIRD, because they assumed it meant it was being incorporated into the Council of Culture. It was not.

The Pope's assignment of another cardinal to head it now clearly shows the importance he gives to the CIRD.

On June 26, Pope Benedict XVI issued a most unexpected Motu Proprio reversing a decision by John Paul II who allowed for the possibility of a Pope being elected with only a simple majority, instead of the millennium-old requirement for two-thirds of the cardinals voting in Conclave.

It's a measure of how, possibly, the late Pope had been ill-advised about the matter, that Benedict's decision was universally welcomed - so welcome that no one pointed out the obvious thing: Benedict, of his own accord - motu proprio, in the literal sense - had reversed a John Paul decree! If MSM had found Benedict's decision in any way objectionable, they would have raised a big fuss about - who knows, maybe his 'gross disrespect' for his predecessor, or something.

On June 27, the Pope himself, in person, unexpectedly presented his next Motu Proprio - this one long-awaited - to key cardinals and bishops representing the universal Church: he is restoring the pre-Conciliar Mass to the liturgy as an extraordinary eucharistic rite side by side with the Novus Ordo as the ordinary eucharistic rite of the Roman Church.

The MP itself will be made public this week as soon as all bishops around the world have received their copy, so they do not learn about it first from the media.

With this Motu Proprio, Benedict corrects a historic 'wrong' unwittingly inflicted by Paul VI's legislation of the Novus Ordo in 1967. Joseph Ratzinger was probably the only member of the Church hierarchy who consistently denounced the prohibition overnight of the old Missal which had been in use for centuries, the imposition of an artificial liturgy constructed by committee in its place, and the subsequent abuses that it gave rise to.

True, John Paul II lightened up the situation somehow by the special indults he granted in 1984 and 1988, but the indults were still a far cry from restoring a legitimacy that was arbitrarily denied the Old Mass overnight - unprecedented in the history of the Church, as Ratzinger would often say.

So with this MP, Benedict both corrects one predecessor (Paul VI) and goes way beyond what a second predecessor (JP-II) was prepared to do to make the correction, while at the same time illustrating concretely the proper interpretation of Vatican-II. The progressives who have co-opted the 'spirit of Vatican II' for their purposes will never forgive him for this - not that he is overruling two predecessors, but that he is singlehandedly depriving them of their battle-standard! [P.S. on 7/7/07 - And launching that much talked-about 'reform of the reform'!]

And so, by Motu Proprio, he is leaving his mark on two of the institutions most unique to the Church - the Papal Conclave and the Mass.

On June 28, Benedict presided at the traditional Vespers to mark the eve of the feast of saints Peter and Paul, at which he made the official announcement of a Pauline Jubilee Year on the bimillenial anniversary of the great Apostle's birth.

Unofficially, it was learned he has also authorized a scientific examination of the interior of Paul's sarcophagus - an event with the same potential historic impact as the discovery and authentication of Peter's bones beneath the Vatican basilica many years ago.

On June 29, the Pope conferred the pallium on 46 out of 51 metropolitan archbishops he had named in the past year - which is very likely a record number for a 12-month period.

On June 30, another historic first: the Pope's letter to the Catholics of China, a decision he had announced in January after he convened the College of Cardinals to discuss the China issue. The significance and the implications of what the Pope conveyed both to the Chinese faithful as well as to their government have been variously discussed in the preceding commentaries.

John Paul II saw in Asia the Church's hope for the Third Millennium, and in this context, Asia really means China, largest nation on earth and obvious object of evangelization. But it falls to his successor to actually lay the groundwork for that apostolate, and he is doing it by sweeping aside half a century of conventional wisdom to begin with a clean slate.

Just the simple recitation of the days and what marked each day is already mind-boggling because of the far-reaching nature of the events that happened.

What's even more stunning is the courage of Benedict XVI to make the hard but necessary decisions that had to do with the Conclave rule, the restoration of the traditional mass, and the letter to Chinese Catholics.

This is the Papacy that MSM thought would be nothing better than transitional, a Papacy that they thought would be dull and boring because Joseph Ratzinger is supposedly unendowed with all the gifts of charisma and mediagenicity that his predecessor had.

It must be partly wounded self-esteem that keeps them now from acknowledging the very obvious historicity and significance of the week that was for Pope Benedict XVI and the Church he leads. This is not at all the scenario they had in mind for God's Rottweiler.

But in many ways, the smiling Pope, the Pope of love and joy, the Pope of 'friendship with God' as the RAI tribute calls him, has shown he can be the Panzer-Pope, unafraid of forging ahead when he has to, because he is armored with 'truth and love', veritas et caritas.

The Holy Father is a most humble man, but let us render unto Benedict what is his due!


Addendum:

Let us review the highlights of Benedict's first two years.
By consensus, the most significant, historic and unforgettable Papal texts - true distillations of 'veritas et caritas' - have been:

2005 (as Cardinal Ratzinger and as Pope Benedict)-
- The Via Crucis meditations and prayers
- The pre-Conclave homily
- The brief but very emblematic Urbi et Orbi as the new Pope
- His inaugural homily
- His homily to the youth at the Mariensfeld Mass in Cologne
- His December 22, 2005, address to the Roman Curia on the correct interpretation of Vatican II

2006:
- The encyclical Deus caritas est
- The discourse at Auschwitz-Birkenau
- The homilies in Munich and Regensburg
- The Regensburg lecture
- The Verona address to the Italian church

2007:
- The apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis
- JESUS OF NAZARETH
- Addresses to the youth of Latin America and the Brazilian clergy
- The homily on Augustine in Pavia
- The homily and the address to the youth in Assisi
- The Letter to Chinese Catholics

His apostolic voyages:
- WYD 2005 in Cologne
- Poland, his ultimate tribute to John Paul II and the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau
- Valencia, his tribute to the family
- Bavaria, tribute to his homeland, appeal to his fellow Germans,
and the Regensburg lecture
- Turkey, the ecumenical visit to Bartholomew I
and the prayer at the Blue Mosque,a silence that spoke louder than words
- His pilgrimages to Mannopello, Pavia and Assisi

The Benedict Q&As, unprecedented in the history of the Papacy:
- With the children of the First Communion
- With the clergy of Aosta
- With the clergy of Rome (twice)
- With the youth of Rome
- With the seminarians of Rome

The Wednesday catecheses:
- Winding up John Paul's cycle on the Psalms
- The Apostles and outstanding figures of the early Church
- The current series on the Fathers of the Church

Collegiality:
He has convened the College of CArdinals at least 3 times to discuss Church issues, and introduced the daily open-discussion hour to the Bishops Synod.

The faithful:
He has attracted record-setting crowds at the audiences, Angelus and liturgical celebrations

His writings:
- The encyclical and JESUS OF NAZARETH are multi-million sellers in multiple languages
- The Vatican publishing house reports steady sales of booklets on the Pope's individual homilies and unprecedented demand for an apostolic exhortation

[It's 3 a.m., so if I missed anything, please forgive me!]

====================================================================

P.S. I found out from an item I posted in REMEMBERING JOHN PAUL II that George Weigel is currently in Krakow busy with the annual summer seminar for young people on the teachings of John Paul II.

This was a double post of the above.

VATICAN CITY, JULY 3, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will make a pastoral visit to Naples as that city hosts an annual interreligious meeting to promote dialogue and peace.

The Pope announced June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, that he will attend the annual International Encounters of Peoples and Religions, promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio, to be held Oct. 21-23. [NB: Just for the sake of accuracy, he announced he was making a pastoral visit to Naples in response to the invitation of Cardinal Sepe, Archbishop of Naples. But he did not mention the inter-religious meeting in his announcement.]

During his address before praying the Angelus on Sunday, the Holy Father said: "I greet today, in advance, the dear Neapolitan community, who I invite to prepare for this meeting in prayer and with works of charity."

Naples will host some 300 people from over 70 countries who will take place in round table discussions and other activities.

The International Encounters of Peoples and Religions was inspired by the World Day of Prayer for Peace convoked by Pope John Paul II in 1986. The event was held in Assisi.

These meetings have progressed, year after year, across Italy's main cities and European capitals - and also Washington, D.C. - offering an opportunity for dialogue and for religious differences to be surmounted.

Cardinal Zen points out translation errors
in the Chinese version of the Letter and its Explanatory Note


Father Z shares this distressing information on his blog today:



Translations are the plague of the modern Church. We know that several documents have been delayed because of translation problems. Some have been amended. Many people study and quote documents without knowing what they really say because of the discontinuity between the original and the translation, and then when they emerge in the Acta Apostolica Sedis between Latin and... everything else.

Now Joseph Card. Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong says mistakes have been made in Chinese translations of two recently released documents, the Pope's Letter to Catholics in China and the Explanatory Note accompanying the letter.

The Hong Kong Catholic Diocese released the Cardinal's statement on July 3, The Cardinal's own Chinese version of the papal letter is available at: www.ucanews.com/

The English version of Cardinal Zen's release follows:



Some mistakes in the Chinese translation
of the Pope's letter and in the "explanatory notes"

(1) From a cursory reading of the Pope's letter some serious mistake has been found: in the last second section of paragraph 7 (Chinese translation) after the words "In not a few particular instances, however" the following words are missing "indeed almost always"

(2) In the "explanatory notes" (A) last fourth paragraph, last section, instead of the original "some sectors of the Catholic community were disorientated by the legitimizing of numerous Bishops who had been illicitly consecrated" the Chinese version reads: "disorientated by the numerous illicit ordinations of bishops.

(3) In the explanatory notes, which do not constitute part of the Pope's letter and which bear no signature of the author, some expression is found which is at considerable variance from what is said in the Pope's letter and is very inappropriate:

About the Bishops who, many years ago, accepted illicit ordination, the Pope's letter says (section 11 of paragraph 8): "other pastors, however, under the pressure of particular circumstances, have consented..." This is a neutral expression which avoids judgment. But the "explanatory notes" say (section 6 of A): "others, who were especially concerned with the good of the faithful and with an eye to the future, have consented ... "

Such expression, praising the bishops who accepted the illicit ordination, puts the others, who refused to surrender to pressure, in a very bad light, as if they neglected the good of the faithful and were short sighted!? I dare to protest in the name of the latter.

Cardinal Joseph ZEN

====================================================================

The 'judgment' interposed in the Explanatory Note by the translator into a clearly neutral statement in the Letter itself is truly outrageous! It is obviously not an error of translation but a deliberate misrepresentation of the original text. The worst thing is that the errors are in the Chinese translations!

Cardinal Zen notes rightly that the Explanatory Note does not carry a signature - one presumes it was prepared by the Secretariat of State and/or the Vatican Press Office. What will they do to correct this situation?

Remember the similar misrepresentations done in the English translation of Sacramentum caritatis, notably about the use of Latin! How easy it is for saboteurs at the Vatican to work in their personal views into Papal texts - and I mean saboteurs here in the sense of those who do not share the Pope's views and wish to project their own to his when they can.

It's scary enough as a mere possibility. The fact that it is actually happening is even scarier. Surely those responsible for having the translations done can trace back and find out who the culprits are - and not trust them again with translating a Papal text or its explanatory notes.

Imagine what a 'progressive' saboteur can do to the translations of the Mass MP - if only to sow unnecessary confusion and misplaced dissent!

There has to be some mechanism for checks-and-balances in the translation process at the Vatican. A simple matter like one translation must be checked by another one who knows the language just as well, and if they disagree, the opinion of a third translator should be sought.



===================================================================

CHINA - VATICAN
Cardinal Zen:
'No hidden politics in Papal Letter;
Beijing's reaction cause for hope'


Hong Kong, July 4 (AsiaNews) - The Papal Letter to the Chinese Church, 'a marvellous equilibrium between clarity of principles and courtesy of expression', has no hidden political agenda. And this is why, "with the strength of the Holy Spirit, it should be welcomed by the faithful and by the Chinese authorities as an invitation to normalize the situation of the Church, the only path towards the improvement of society."

This is the view of the bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, shared with AsiaNews, about the Letter written by the Pope to bishops, priests, to consecrated people and to the lay faithful of the Catholic Church of the People's Republic of China, published on 30 June.

The cardinal emphasized his admiration for the letter, a "marvellous equilibrium between clarity of principles and courtesy of expression. The Holy Father has truly produced a masterpiece: the entire address is pervaded by a lofty tone of religious discourse, practically a theological contemplation. No one should suspect that there are hidden political motives: it is purely a very dignified depiction of the traditional doctrine of the Church, accepted and lived throughout the world."

The call to unity of the Chinese Church contained in the letter is "necessary and well explained. If unity means a nearness of hearts and union of spirits, this has already been going on for some time. Certainly, now it may be seen that there is much more understanding and mutual respect between the two parts of the Church [the official one, recognized by the government and by the Patriotic Association, and the unofficial one, which refuses to adhere to governmental religious institutions]."

This is because "on the one hand, the people of the official Church understand more and more that the position of the so-called clandestine Church is the objectively right one, and on the other hand, those of the clandestine Church know that nearly all the official bishops are in communion with the Pope. Thus, they know they should reciprocally respect and love each other."

Certainly, now "it is difficult to foresee what the reaction of China will be. I am not a prophet, but I have strong hopes about the reactions of the government and the official Church, not least because the initial signals appeared to augur well for the future. The document was delivered to the Chinese authorities beforehand, and so their reaction was a considered and not an unprepared one. From my point of view, Beijing reacted in a composed and moderate way, which is a positive sign."

As for the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, considered by many to be the real obstacle in the way of Sino-Vatican dialogue, Cardinal Zen stressed that it "must understand that the present is an abnormal situation. They must accept to return within the parameters of normality, otherwise the whole world will know that the Chinese Church is not a free one."

The concluding message of the bishop of Hong Kong was positive: "We believers are unrepentant optimists, and so we hope that the right time for change has come. We know that after many years, it is difficult to change: this is why much courage and the strength of the Holy Spirit are needed, both for the bishops and priests as well as for the leaders of the Chinese state. Everyone must make an effort to reach normality, and thus to do good. That under way now is a battle which leads to a waste of energy, which could instead be used for the improvement of society. We must change things."

A translation of the Holy Father's catechesis today on St. Basil has been posted in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS, along with the English appeal he delivered in preparation for World Youth Day 2008, which he will be attending in Sydney one year from now.






The following account is based on the AsiaNews report:

'Spread love to contribute
to a more just and fraternal world'


"Each of us, by spreading divine charity, should contribute to building a world that is more just and fraternal," Benedict XVI said today at the weekly general audience, citing the example of St Basil, bishop, "a luminary of the Church, who was admired by both the Churches of the East and the West."

Again, because of the summer heat, the audience was held indoors and was held in two parts. The Pope first went to St. Peter's Basilica to greet the overflow crowd who could not be accommodated at Aula Paolo VI.

The Pope continued with the catechetical cycle on the Fathers of the Church by speaking of St. Basil, who was a Bishop of Cappadocia (present-day Turkey) in the late 4th century, stressing the 'excellence' of both is life and his doctrine.

"He was a man of love for his neighbour and a man full of hope, joy and faith: he shows us how to be truly Christian" as well as a defender of the faith who, "with wisdom and courage, knew how to oppose heretics", and was "one of the great fathers who founded the doctrine of the Trinity."

He described how Basil "With wise equilibrium, (he) knew how to join the service to souls with dedication to prayer and meditation in solitude". Bishop and pastor, "he was constantly concerned about the difficult material conditions of his faithful, he committed himself to the poor and marginalized, even lobbying with the authorities to alleviate the suffering of the people" while and looking after the "freedom of the Church, opposing the powerful to affirm the right to proclaim one's faith."

At the end, the Pope had a special message for those now preparing for the next World Youth Day in Sydney, which he called "not just an event, but a time of profound spiritual renewal, which will be of benefit to all society".

He added: "I have noted that against the wave of secularism, many young people are rediscovering the satisfying quest for authentic beauty, goodness and truth. Through your testimony, help them in their search for the Spirit of God. Be courageous in this witness; commit yourselves to spreading the light of Christ, who makes an invitation for all of life, making it possible for each one to have permanent joy and happiness."

The Italian papers today all note from yesterday's preliminary 2006 financial report for the Vatican that worldwide contributions to the Pope's charities in 2006 doubled compared to 2005 and the last full year of John Paul's Pontificate. Here is the report in La Repubblica:


Boom in contributions
for Papal charities

ROME - In Papa Ratzinger's Pontificate, the contributions to Peter's Pence have doubled. Donations in 2006 reached $109,900,000 for the fund which the Pope uses at his discretion in the service of the Universal Church. In 2005, the sum collected was $59,441,000, which was a slight increase of $7,731,000 from collections in 2004, the last full year of John Paul's Pontificate.

Peter's Pence is the total of all worldwide contributions made specifically for the Pope's apostolic and charitable missions.

I am replacing the previous report from PETRUS posted here with a translation of the original story on which it was based - a report in Il Giornale today.

New cardinals for Papa Ratzinger
By Andrea Tornielli


Benedict XVI is said to have decided to call the second consistory of his Pontificate at the end of November, on the eve of the Feast of Christ the King.

But before then, the Pope will be announcing other nominations, two of them involving changes in his immediate staff - Archbishop Piero Marini, liturgical master of ceremonies, and Mons. Miecyslaw Mokrzycki (Mietek), the Pope's second private secretary.

Marini, who was named to his current position by John Paul II, will be named president of the Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, replacing Cardinal Tomko. Marini's position in the Papal staff will reportedly be filled by his current deputy, Mons. Enrico Vigano.

Mietek, whom Benedict XVI retained from similar service with John Paul II, will be named coadjutor to the Polish Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Archbishop of Lviv, giving him right to succession. In which case, both secretaries of John Paul II will once again be close by - Cardinal Stanislaw Dsizwisz in Cracow, and Mietek in Lviv.

The next consistory would be on November 23, when Cardinal Angelo Sodano turns 80. [Will he then be replaced as Dean of the College of Cardinals???] On that day, there will be 17 'vacancies' available among the cardinal electors to reach the maximum of 120 maximum decreed by Paul VI by decree (although exceeded several times by John Paul II). The vacancies represent the number of cardinals who have turned 80 since Benedict's first consistory.

The list of new cardinals is expected to include: Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, newly named Prefect of the Congregation of Oriental Churches; Giovanni Lajolo, Governor of Vatican State; Angelo Comastri, arch-priest of St. Peter's Basilica; Raffaele Farina, newly named Librarian-Archivist of the Holy Roman Church; John Patrick Foley, newly named pro-Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher; Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa and president of the Italian bishops conference; Paolo Romeo, archbishop of Palermo; and the archbishops of Paris, Sao Paolo, Warsaw and Washington, D.C.


====================================================================

GOOD NEWS -
CHINESE CAN ACCESS THE VATICAN SITE
THROUGH ANY LINK PROVIDED ON ANY SITE OR POST!

P.S. About the report that the Chinese government has blocked access to the Vatican site from inside China, Sandro Magister reports in his blog that one of his readers in China has informed him he was able to get to the Vatican site through the link in Magister's post about the letter.

It's a good thing most Catholic sites and blogs usually post the link to the Vatican site, so Beijing may have only caused a minor inconvenience, thank God. (Even if I still don't underrstand how they could block direct access to a site). The net isn't a 'net' for nothing!!!

From Lella's blog, we have an Apcom item about a report by the French online news agency I.Media, which has accurately reported on all things concerning the Mass MP in the past. Here is a translation:


'SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM':
Motu Proprio out on Saturday


ROME, July 4 (Apcom) - The authoritative French online news agency I.media confirmed today that the long-awaited Papal Motu Proprio liberalizing the use of the pre-Conciliar Mass will be released on Saturday, July 7, and is entitled 'Summorum Pontificum' (Of the Supreme Pontiffs).

The report then goes on to say that Pope Benedict's Motu Proprio starts with the words "Summorum Pontificum cura.." [In the absence of other qualifying words, one could translate it as 'A concern of the Supreme Pontiffs' - let's see what a Latinist like Fr. Z will say. Also I don't understand why the whole phrase can't be used instead of just the first two words.]

The report further confirms that the MP will refer to a 'single Roman rite' with an ordinary form (the Novus Ordo or Paul VI Mass dating from 1967) and an extraordinary form (the Pius V Mass as updated by John XXIII in 1962).

The report contains other details, including some previously divulged:

- A group of parishioners wishing to attend the extraordinary form need no longer seek authorization from the local bishop, but simply request it from the parish priest.

- However, only one 'extraordinary' Mass may be celebrated in the parish on Sundays or religious holidays. [Presumably, more than one Mass a day may be allowed on other days? But more than one Mass on a regular weekday may not be necessary at all!]

- The MP also reportedly encourages the formation of 'personal parishes' [where membership is based on shared practice, not geographical location] for those who wish to use the traditional form only.

- The Pope's explanatory letter with the MP reportedly makes clear that his decision is not a 'return to the past' but a gesture to make available to the faithful the spiritual, cultural and esthetic treasures of Catholic tradition.

- Besides the Mass, the MP will also spell out provisions for the use of pre-Conciliar rites for baptism, confirmation, extreme unction and funerals.

- Although Latin will be used for the bulk of the pre-conciliar Mass, Scriptural readings may be done in the vernacular. [This is not very clear. An earlier report said users of the traditional Mass may choose to use the yearly lectionary as it was in 1962 or adopt the three-year-cycle lectionary of the Novus Ordo, which is also available in Latin, the language of the so-called 'typical version' of the Roman Missal, traditional or new.]

====================================================================
.
Anyway, it's only three days till Saturday, 7/7/07, by which time we will all know what's really what.



P.S. I see Fr. Z is also stumped if we only have two words to work with. Here's how he put it on his blog just now:

---

So we know the title.

Summorum Pontificum

... (Something or other) of the Supreme Pontiffs (something or other)...

Anyone care to speculate about the way the rest of the sentence continues?

---

Too bad he did not get the 3-word phrase, with the word 'cura' - which could mean care, concern, worry, attention, responsibility, management, charge - in the nominative form or the ablative (used with a preposition)...

From Curt Jester, this item from FIDES - belated post but welcome nevertheless, and news not available elsewhere.

Beijing, July 2 (Agenzia Fides) - No less than 262 catechumens received the sacraments of Baptism, first Holy Communion and Confirmation at Immaculate Conception parish in Beijing on Sunday 1 July the day after the Papal Letter addressed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholic of China was made public.

Local sources told Fides, "It was a moving event. The 262 new members of the Catholic family were welcomed by all the parishioners on the most important day of their lives. Some were young workers, others adult intellectuals, whole families including parents and grandparents&. The Mass lasted several hours and despite the heat everyone was attentive and took an active part in the celebration. The people who came for the next Mass at 11am, celebrated in English, had to wait for a long time but they participated in the spiritual rejoicing".

The newly baptised were overjoyed at becoming members of the Catholic family the day after the publication of Pope Benedict XVI Papal Letter to the bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in China, a most important event in the history of the Church in China and in the spiritual journey of each individual Chinese Catholic. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 02/7/2007)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It would be nice to be able to post items regularly from FIDES, which is the news service of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. But I have been unable to because the site requires one to be a subscriber to see its items! Why can't it be open as AsiaNews is - which is a service of the Pontifical Council for Foreign Missions?

By the way, the Yahoo newsphoto service has pictures of Cardinal Zen giving a news conference in Hongkong today, but I have not yet seen an accompanying story.

Here's a translation of an item from the French service of Agence France Presse. The news is not that the MP will come out Saturday as everyone knows by now - but that the president of the French bishops conference, which has been the most militant opponent of the Pope's decision, announced it at a major event....Plus, look at the next-to-the-last sentence of the report....

Papal decree on the mass
to be issued Saturday


PARIS, July 4 (AFP) - The Papal decree (motu proprio) liberalizing the use of the traditional Mass in Latin will be published Saturday,
the president of the French episcopal conference (CEF from the French acronym), Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard annnounced Wednesday at the inauguration of the new CEF headquarters in the Invalides section of Paris.


St. Francis de Sales chapel,
new CEF house. Photo from
Le Forum Catholique

He said bishops around the world would now be receiving the text, accompanied by an explanatory letter by Pope Benedict XVI, so that in turn they will inform the priests of heir diocese.

Cardinal Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux, said that the Pope gives his reasons for his decision in the explanatory letter: on the one hand, he asks Catholics who have followed the changes initiated by the Second Vatican Council to 'understand' a faithfulness to the traditional rite; on the other hand, he asks the traditionalists to acknowledge and accept the evolutions in the Church, including ecumenism and inter-religious dialog.

The Motu proprio would allow parish priests,rather than the local bishop, to authorize the traditional Mass. However, several bishops at the inauguration said they would continue to be in charge themselves. [Already defying the MP????]

On this occasion, the French minister in charge of religious groups, Michele Alliott-Marie, said she wished to pursue the matter of relations between religions and the state and will be submitting her proposals to the Prime Minister.

Today, at least two of the Italian national dailies - Il Giornale and Corriere della Sera - saw fit to react to a scurrilous and totally misinformed report that came out in the British newspaper Independent yesterday. Here first is the story from Il Giornale, because it is more thorough in its explanation than Luigi Accatoli's in Corsera.


The 'perfidious' English crusade
against Papa Ratzinger's Mass
By Andrea Tornielli


Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio liberalizing the use of the Tridentine Mass in the latest version approved before Vatican-II will be published Saturday and will allow a 'stable group' of faithful (no number specified) to request the celebration of the old rite - which was never officially abolished - directly from the parish priest.

But even before the text has been released and its actual details known, criticism has started. The British newspaper Independent claimed yesterday that Catholics in the United Kingdom are objecting because they fear negative repercussions on the dialog with the Jewish community by restoring a liturgy that refers to Jews as 'perfidious.'

Actually, the Mass version to be liberalized by Pope Benedict is that of 1962, as promulgated by John XXIII, who took out the prayer «pro perfidis judaeis» that was part of the Good Friday liturgy. Therefore, it will never be heard again in Catholic churches.
[This is a fact that any newspaper could have easily researched, but obviously the Independent chose not to. One cannot blame them if even the primate of the English Catholic Church, Cardinal Murphy O'Connor did not know enough - or probably preferred not to - to explain this to the Jews who had complained to him about it. Instead of which, like Cardinal Lehmann of Germany (inexlicably), he chose to use it as a basis for objecting to the MP. Did they really think Ratzinger would have been oblivious of this issue???]

But a further explanation is necessary. The term 'perfidis' in liturgical Latin had the etymological meaning of 'lacking in faith' or 'non-believer' to refer to those who do not accept the Christian faith. With the introduction of missals for Catholics wishing to follow the Mass, and therefore containing a translation of the Latin into the local language, the term 'perfidis' was translated in Italian and most other languages as 'perfidious' (i.e., treacherous).

Therefore, from being a simple statement of fact - that Jews belong among the 'non-believers' - it was transformed into a moral condemnation.

Shortly after the Second World War, the former chief rabbi of Rome, Eugenio Zolli - who had converted to Catholicism, taking the baptismal name of Pius XII - requested the Pope to annul the expression. Papa Pacelli explained to him that the Latin word implied no moral judgment. So he had the Sacred Congregation of Rites publish a note on June 10, 1948, explaining that 'perfidis judaeis' only meant non-believing, not perfidious.

John XXIII took out the expression altogether in 1959.

So, the Tridentine Missal that will be liberalized no longer has the phrase objected to. In place of the original Good Friday prayer for the Jews, the prayer now asks God to "lift the veil that covers the hearts" of Jews "so that they may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ" - which makes it clear that the original sense of the word 'perfidis' was that of 'lacking the faith.'

The confusion, of course, fed by available versions of the old Missals for the faithful. For instance, it was reported yesterday that a traditionalist group in Verona has just published the old Missal containing the old abolished version - which it makes clear can no longer be used - as well as all the changes that had been introduced up to 1962.

The publishers of the missal, called 'Messale Festivo Tradizionale Latino e Italiano' said they included both versions "for historical reasons - to allow an understanding of why the text was changed."

However, the Missal published by Fraternity of St. Pius V (the Lefebvrians) contains only the John XXIII version of the Good Friday prayer for the Jews which does not contain the contested phrase.

Il Giornale, 5 luglio 2007



The British say
Ratzinger's Mass is anti-Semitic!
The Vatican answers
By Luigi Accattoli


VATICAN CITY - When the Old Missal rite is 'restored', will the Good Friday prayer for 'perfidious Jews'? The question was posed rather sensationally by the British newspaper Independent yesterday, but the immediate answer at the Vatican states two things:

1) The Missal to be liberalized by Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio is the 1962 version which no longer contains the phrase; and 2) the liberalized use of the rite covers the entire liturgical year "with the exception of the Paschal Triduum", namely, the rites of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Saturday in Holy Week.

The Independent headline read: "Church split feared as Pope backs return of 'anti-Semitic' Latin Mass". The news item described a rift between obedient Catholics and critical ones - who are said to have the support of the Primate of England, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor - who 'fear' an anti-Semitic resurgence because of a return to the old Mass.

According to a report yesterday by the French news agency I-media, the Motu Proprio would authorize only one pre-Conciliar Mass in a parish on Sundays and religious solemnities, with the explicit exclusion of the Paschal Triduum rites.

Journalists asking for a response from official Vatican sources who said they could not comment on it because the Papal text has not yet been officially released. But there was no pre-publication reticence about the statement that the rite to be 'liberalized' (in the sense of no longer being allowed only at the discretion of the local bishop) is the Missal as published by John XXIII in 1962, which no longer contains the adjective 'perfidious.'

However, the revised prayer for the Jews by the 'good Pope' may still be found objectionable by Jews - it was still entitled 'Prayer for the conversion of the Jews' and asks that they be relieved of their 'blindness' and 'be led out of the shadows'.

[There's a factual difference in Accattoli's report here, from what Tornielli says about the 1962 version of this prayer which appears in the new Verona edition of the Old Missal:"So, the Tridentine Missal that will be liberalized no longer has the phrase objected to. In place of the original Good Friday prayer for the Jews, the prayer now asks God to "lift the veil that covers the hearts" of Jews "so that they may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ" - which makes it clear that the original sense of the word 'perfidis' was that of 'lacking the faith.'"]

Paul VI's Missal in 1969 that made the latest change. The prayer is simply entitled "For the Jews" and asks the Lord to "help them progress in love in your name and in faith to your alliance."



Corriere della sera, 5 luglio 2007


=====================================================================

THE 'INDEPENDENT' SHOULD AT LEAST
HAVE CHECKED ITS OWN ARCHIVES:
Was the 'anti-Semitic' charge
ever raised before?

In any case, an appropriate footnote to the Independent news item is this item from British Catholic traditionalists who circulated this through UNA VOCE, an international foundation founded in 1964 for the promotion and support of "the Tridentine/Gregorian Rite Mass within the Church, in union with the Holy See and the bishops united with the Supreme Pontiff of the Church as permitted through the 1988 indult, Ecclesia Dei adflicta.



January 2007
Catholics in the U.K. Appeal
to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
in Support of the Traditional Latin Mass

There has been much speculation in the media in recent months about the expectation from Rome of a document that will grant greater freedom for the celebration of the traditional ('Tridentine') Roman rite of Mass.

There have been some highly critical comments from certain quarters, especially from the French and German bishops, who do not agree with the prospect of loosening the very tight restrictions imposed by most bishops around the world.

It is a fact, for whatever reason, that these bishops oppose greater freedom for the celebration of the traditional Mass and have no interest in the opinions of the laity or even of many of their own priests who long to celebrate this ancient rite; a rite that has never been abolished and is still valid.

In an effort to counter the negative and uninformed attitudes of the bishops a number of public manifestos have been published by lay people in France, Italy, Poland, Germany, and including one from English-speaking people from around the world. A number of people in the UK wish to publicly declare their support for Pope Benedict XVI and his intention to grant greater freedom for the celebration of the ancient classical Roman rite of Mass.

Leo Darroch
Secretary, Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce

This the text of the appeal:

In 1971 many leading British and international figures, among whose number were Yehudi Menuhin, Agatha Christie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nancy Mitford, Graham Greene, Joan Sutherland, and Ralph Richardson, presented a petition to His Holiness Pope Paul VI asking for the survival of the traditional Roman Catholic Mass on the grounds that it would be a serious loss to western culture. The then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Heenan, himself appealed to Pope Paul for the continued celebration of the traditional Mass. The full text of this appeal in 1971 was:

---

If some senseless decree were to order the total or partial destruction of basilicas or cathedrals, then obviously it would be the educated - whatever their personal beliefs - who would rise up in horror to oppose such a possibility.

Now the fact is that basilicas and cathedrals were built so as to celebrate a rite which, until a few months ago, constituted a living tradition. We are referring to the Roman Catholic Mass. Yet, according to the latest information in Rome, there is a plan to obliterate that Mass by the end of the current year.

One of the axioms of contemporary publicity, religious as well as secular, is that modern man in general, and intellectuals in particular, have become intolerant of all forms of tradition and are anxious to suppress them and put something else in their place. But, like many other affirmations of our publicity machines, this axiom is false.

Today, as in times gone by, educated people are in the vanguard where recognition of the value of tradition in concerned, and are the first to raise the alarm when it is threatened. We are not at this moment considering the religious or spiritual experience of millions of individuals.

The rite in question, in its magnificent Latin text, has also inspired a host of priceless achievements in the arts - not only mystical works, but works by poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors in all countries and epochs.
Thus, it belongs to universal culture as well as to churchmen and formal Christians.

In the materialistic and technocratic civilisation that is increasingly threatening the life of mind and spirit in its original creative expression - the word - it seems particularly inhuman to deprive man of word-forms in one of their most grandiose manifestations.

The signatories of this appeal, which is entirely ecumenical and non-political, have been drawn from every branch of modern culture in Europe and elsewhere.

They wish to call to the attention of the Holy See, the appalling responsibility it would incur in the history of the human spirit were it to refuse to allow the Traditional Mass to survive, even though this survival took place side by side with other liturgical reforms.

---

This appeal in 1971 came at a crucial time in the history of civilisation when the future of the traditional Latin 'Tridentine' Mass was in jeopardy. Pope Paul VI graciously acknowledged this appeal and the traditional Mass was saved, at least in England and Wales.

Since this momentous appeal in 1971 the traditional Latin Mass has prospered once again among the faithful worldwide and is now celebrated in almost every country in the world.

Now, in 2007, there is great hope and expectation that this treasure of civilisation will be freed from its current restrictions. We, the signatories of this petition, wish to associate ourselves to the sentiments expressed in the petition of 1971 which, perhaps, are even more valid today, and appeal to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 to allow the free celebration of the traditional Roman rite of Mass, the Mass of Ages, the Mass of Antiquity, on the altars of the Church.

Signed:
Rt. Hon. Michael Ancram, QC MP.
Miss Madeleine Beard, M.Litt. (Cantab).
Dr. Mary Berry CBE, Founder of the Schola Gregoriana in Cambridge.
James Bogle, TD, MA, ACIarb, Barrister, Chairman of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.
Count Neri Capponi, Judge of the Tuscan Ecclesiastical Matrimonial Court.
Fr. Antony F.M. Conlon, Chaplain to the Latin Mass Society.
Julian Chadwick, Chairman  The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.
Rev. Fr. Ronald Creighton-Jobe, The Oratory, London.
Fra Fredrik Crichton-Stuart, Chairman CIEL UK.
Leo Darroch, Secretary  International Federation Una Voce.
Adrian Davies, Barrister.
R.P. Davis, B.Phil., M.A., D.Phil (Oxon), retired senior lecturer in Ancient History, Queen's University of Belfast; translator/commentator on the Liber Pontificalis of the Roman Church.
John Eidinow, Bodley Fellow and Dean, Merton College, Oxford.
Jonathan Evans MEP, Vice Chairman Catholic Union of Great Britain.
Fra' Matthew Festing, OBE, TD, DL. Grand Prior of England, Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta.
The Right Honourable Lord Gill, Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland.
Dr. Sheridan Gilley, Emeritus Reader, University of Durham.
Dr. Christopher Gillibrand, MA (Oxon).
Rev. Dr. Laurence Paul Hemming, Heythrop College, University of London.
Stephen Hough, Concert Pianist and Composer.
Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director, Aid to the Church in Need UK
Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein, President of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. KCSG.
James MacMillan, CBE, Composer and Conductor.
Anthony McCarthy, Research Fellow, Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics.
Mrs. Daphne McLeod, Chairman, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.
Anthony Ozimic, MA (bioethics).
Dr. Susan Frank Parsons, President, Society for the Study of Christian Ethics (UK) and Co-Founder of the Society of St. Catherine of Siena.
Dr. Catherine Pickstock, Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion; Fellow  Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Dr. Thomas Pink, Reader in Philosophy and Director of Philosophical Studies, Kings College, London.
Piers Paul Read, Novelist and Playwright; Vice-President of the Catholic Writers' Guild of England and Wales.
The Rev. Dr. Alcuin Reid, Liturgical Scholar and Author.
Nicholas Richardson, Warden of Greyfriars Hall, Oxford.
Prof. Jonathan Riley-Smith, retired Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge University.
Fr. John Saward, Lisieux Senior Research Fellow in Theology, Greyfriars, Oxford University.
Dr. Joseph Shaw. Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy, St. Benets Hall, Oxford University.
Damien Thompson, Editor-in-Chief, The Catholic Herald.

====================================================================


By way of 'bona fides', UNA VOCE's site carries this quotation from Cardinal Ratzinger:

"The International Una Voce Federation has played an important role in supporting the use of the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal in obedience to the directives of the Holy See. For this valuable service I express my gratitude to the members of the Federation and extend my blessing."

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, speaking to the Una Voce Federation,
25 July 1996

Lella on her blog has just posted this ASCA item on the Mass MP. Here is a translation. NB: As the basic background facts on the Mass and the MP are now pretty well-memorized by everyone interested, I will no longer repeat them in subsequent translations of reports pertaining to the Mass MP.


THREE-YEAR TRYOUT
FOR PRE-CONCILIAR MASS


VATICAN CITY, July 5 (ASCA) - The Vatican will publish Saturday the terms under which Benedict XVI is liberalizing the pre-conciliar Mass, allowing those who wish to do so, the possibility of attending a Tridentine rite in their parishes at least for the next three years.

....

It might seem like a nostalgic return to the past, but a complete assessment of the Pope's decision will be possible only with a complete text of the Motu Proprio and the Pope's accompanying explanatory letter that have been sent to bishops around the world.

Vatican sources say that the Pope's letter is no less important than the decree itself because he explains the pastoral reasons for a decision on a matter which has always been hotly disputed between 'conservative' and 'progressive' Catholic circles.

ASCA has ascertained that the Pope will clearly state his aim is not at all 'a return to the past' but simply to resolve an open issue that has been rankling some Catholics regarding an essential component of Catholic faith: the liturgy.

The Pope will reportedly make clear his decision does not weaken or undermine Vatican-II reforms. His letter is addressed to both sides of the dispute, calling on the faithful to accept both forms of the Mass without demonizing one or the other, in order to create the conditions for complete greater ecclesial reconciliation between those linked to the old rite and those who prefer the 'modern sensibility.'

In fact, the Pope does not replace the new Mass introduced by Paul VI in 1969 which "is and will continue to be" the 'typical rite' of the Church. The old Mass will be an 'extraordinary' rite allowed for those who prefer it, and all Catholics will be enjoined to be respectful of it.

The letter reportedly makes clear that the decision is not directed principally at the followers of the late Mons. Marcel Lefebvre, who have more fundamental reasons for their schism than objecting to the New Mass. The condition for their re-acceptance into the Roman church remains the same: a full acceptance of the teachings and changes resulting from Vatican-II, including the new Mass.

Just as the Pope calls on the 'conciliar' Catholics to respect the old Mass, the Lefebvrians are called on to renounce their hostility and accusations of heresy with respect to Vatican-II.

Even as theologian, bishop and cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger always supported the liturgical reform intended by Vatican-II but was vocal in objecting to what came to be the general interpretation of such reform as an overnight denial of the validity of the liturgical tradition which for centuries expressed the central tenets of the Catholic faith.

Now he is trying to repair the rupture, without conceding anything to those who reject Vatican-II fully. And he has done everything to show that he did not wish to decide unilaterally even on a subject that was always dear to him.

Months of listening to objections from various bishops preceded the decision to publish the Motu Proprio. And on June 27, the Pope himself attended a meeting to which some 15 key bishops were invited in order to present the Motu Proprio and his explanatory letter personally to them.

Sources said that no major objections were raised by the bishops [which included the heads of the episcopal conferences of France, Germany and the United Kingdom - said to have been the most militant among the opponents of the MP].

However, they reiterated their concern about possibly upsetting a 'fragile balance' in their parishes regarding the use of the old rite. [What 'fragile balance', if they all claim that 'very few' are really interested in the old Mass?]

They may have been reassured by the supposed provision whereby the liberalization would have a three-year tryout, at the end of which the Pope would make a final definitive decision.

As the French philosopher-sociologist Rene Girard wrote in an essay for La Repubblica last weekend [translated in full earlier on this page of this thread]: "... the Pope's restoration of the traditional Mass should not be seen as evidence of his 'traditionalism.' His supposed 'conservatism' is an exaggeration, a grotesque stereotype. What has Ratzinger done that is 'conservative' since he became Pope? Nothing! All he has shown so far is lucidity, wisdom and mental agility in lightening up many of the problems that afflict the Church..."

Very likely, the texts we shall see on Saturday will confirm Papa Ratzinger's style, a serene strength anchored with certainty on Catholic tradition but unequivocally in keeping with Vatican-II decrees as well as the decisions of the preceding Popes in applying it.


=====================================================================

I must mention here that writer and Church historian Alberto Melloni, foremost claimant to representing the 'true spirit of Vatican-II', could not contain his obvious hostility to Benedict XVI to wait until the actual MP and the explanatory letter come out, and wrote a screed published today in Corriere della Sera accusing the Pope, among other things, of issuing the Mass MP 'at the expense of his two predecessors" (Paul VI and John Paul II). I will translate if I find the time - obviously, I will give priority to articles that are not as disgusting (not principally because of their hostility to the Pope, which is an opinion and to which, as such, they have a right, but because of their objective dishonesty).

Melloni is one of those 'intellectuals' whose reason is so blinded by ideology that they prefer to ignore facts in order to twist matters according to their way of thinking. I am pretty sure there are a score of more briliant and far more objective Catholic intellectuals out there who will be answering him shortly in the Italian media.

Besides, if the ASCA article is right, the Pope's letter will definitely pull the rug out from under Melloni's feet! If only he had waited two more days, he might appear less of an a******!