FIUV XXIst General Assembly - Open Forum 10 November 2013

In the afternoon of Sunday, 10th November, the General Assembly reconvened in Open Forum.  The delegates and friends were addressed by His Eminence, Dario, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect Emeritus of the S. Cong. for the Clergy and President Emeritus of the Pont. Commission Ecclesia Dei; Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB, Abbot of the Monastery of San Benedetto, Norcia; Fr. William Barker, FSSP, Procurator of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Rome; and Fabio Barnabei, of the Cultural Center Lepanto, based in Rome.

The following pictures courtesy of Dr. Joseph Shaw:

FIUV 2011 - Three Traditional Masses in St. Peter's Basilica

On Friday and Saturday we had the privilege to attend three Traditional Latin Masses in St. Peter's Basilica. They were a private Mass at the Altar of St. Gregory Nazianzen celebrated at 7 am on Friday, another private Mass celebrated this time at the Altar of St. Gregory the Great across the body of the great Basilica, at 7 am on Saturday, and the third was the historic Pontifical Low Mass celebrated by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos for the delegates of the XXth FIUV General Assembly in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Monsignore Pablo Collino, Maestro Emeritus of the Julian Chapel Choir was in choir. In his sermon His Eminence paid tribute to the important work of the FIUV but said that our primary work was in trying to make the voice of the Holy Father heard on the question of the true value and liberty of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Low Mass (Friday)

Low Mass (Saturday)

Mass in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel (Saturday)

Latin Mass in Every Parish

The Open Door is a Catholic Magazine that is distributed in Parishes across North Kildare. This week it carried this article:

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‘LATIN MASS IN EVERY PARISH …’

Pope Benedict XVI would like every Catholic parish in the world to celebrate a regular Tridentine-rite Mass.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos told a press conference in London that the Vatican was writing to all seminaries to ask that candidates to the priesthood be trained to celebrate Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass.

The Cardinal, who was visiting London at the invitation of the Latin Mass Society, a British Catholic group committed to promoting Mass in the Tridentine rite of the 1962Roman Missal, said it was "absolute ignorance" to think that the Pope was trying to reverse the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

"The Holy Father, who is a theologian and who was involved in the preparation for the council, is acting exactly in the way of the council, offering with freedom the different kinds of celebration," he said.

Cardinal Castrillon said the Holy Father wants all parishes to celebrate Mass in the Latin rite. "All the parishes", he said, "not many, all parishes, because this is a gift of God. It is very important for new generations to know the past of the church," said Cardinal Castrillon, president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," which works to help separated traditionalist Catholics return to the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI has issued a directive allowing all Catholic priests to celebrate the Latin Mass and uses the older ritual himself for private Masses, saying ‘it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite.’

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Inside the same issue they carried this announcement:

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LATIN MASS

The Tridentine Mass will be celebrated in Celbridge parish church on the evening of Tuesday December 8th, feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at 7.00pm.

This traditional form of the Mass, which will be remembered by older parishioners, is celebrated with the priest facing the altar and using the Latin form for all the liturgical prayers.

Holy Communion is received in a kneeling position and on the tongue. The rite of the Tridentine Mass does not incorporate any of the changes and additions made in the decades after Vatican Council II.

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict is urging all parishes worldwide to use the Latin rite of Mass alongside the Novus Ordo Mass which became the norm after Vatican Council ll. This Council did not ban the older traditional Mass rite, but allowed Mass to be said in the vernacular form of language; other changes were introduced into the Novus Ordo Mass since the council.

The rite of the Tridentine Mass does not offer the use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar girls or lay readers.

* * *

This Mass is not being organised by St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association but we applaud the Parish of Celbridge and the Archdiocese of Dublin for their excellent work.

UPDATE: The Mass took place this evening with a congregation of 300+. The priest was Fr. James Larkin, P.P., who said that the decade in which the Church was built was a historic one in that the Stations of the Cross that were on the walls had been created in 1851, the Immaculate Conception had been proclaimed by Pope Pius the Ninth in 1854, Our Lady appeared in Lourdes and told St. Bernadette that she was "the Immaculate Conception" and in 1859, the Church in which they were attending Mass was opened with Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, the same form that they were celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass tonight. Well done Celbridge!

The Ecumenical Value of the Gregorian Rite

A letter to the President of the International Una Voce Federation from a representative of one of the Orthodox Churches has just been posted.

UPDATE: Another view.

China (20th) Jubilee of the FSSP

Several members of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association were in Rome to celebrate with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter the 20th Anniversary of their Foundation.


Some members of the Irish Sodality of Our Lady can be seen (above) at the top right in their blue cloaks. The ceremonies were held in the Church of the Fraternity's Personal Parish in Rome, Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini (the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Archconfraternity of Pilgrims), located near the Piazza Farnese. In the Sanctuary (seen below at Solemn Vespers), the Altarpiece is The Holy Trinity painted by Guido Reni in 1625.

A Pontifical High Mass (below) was celebrated on Saturday, 18th October, by His Eminence, Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.


It will be remembered that His Eminence, at a Press Conference in London, on 14th June, 2008, was asked by a reporter from the english Daily Telegraph newspaper: "So would the Pope like to see many ordinary parishes making provision for the Gregorian Rite?" His Eminence replied as follows:

"All the parishes. Not many - all the parishes, because this is a gift of God. He offers these riches, and it is very important for new generations to know the past of the Church. This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful - the deepest theologians’ way to express our faith. The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure. The Holy Father offers to all the people this possibility, not only the groups who demand it, but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church."

Source: Website of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

Ad multos annos, your Eminence!

Feast of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Cardinal Castrillón-Hoyos celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass in Westminster Cathedral

During his visit to England, His Eminence, who is the President of the Vatican Commission entrusted with provisions for the Traditional Latin Liturgy, made a number of important pronouncements on the future of the Traditional Latin Liturgy, or the “Gregorian Rite” as he refers to it.

In his address to the Annual General Meeting of the Latin Mass Society, His Eminence said:

“…The Holy Father is aware that in different places around the world many requests from priests and lay faithful who desired to celebrate according to the ancient rites were often not acted upon. That is why he has now authoritatively established that to celebrate according to the more ancient form of the liturgy – the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as well the sacraments and other liturgical rites – is a juridical right, and not just a privilege accorded to all.

Certainly this must be done in harmony with both ecclesiastical law and ecclesiastical superiors, but superiors also must recognise that these rights are now firmly established in the law of the Church by the Vicar of Christ himself. It is a treasure that belongs to the whole Catholic Church and which should be widely available to all of Christ’s faithful…”

The Daily Telegraph reports His Eminence replied to a question about the Traditional Latin Mass in ordinary Parishes saying: “Not many parishes – all parishes. The Holy Father is offering this not only for the few groups who demand it, but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist,” adding that “People don’t know about it, and therefore they don’t ask for it,” but saying that a stable group could consist of as few as three people, and they need not come from the same parish. Let us pray that His Eminence’s next tour date is Carlow Cathedral.

Pictures of His Eminence’s visit can be found here. His Eminence’s homily at that Mass can be found here [PDF].

God bless His Eminence, Cardinal Castrillón-Hoyos! God preserve our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI!