Friday, April 07, 2006

Unofficial English translation of Italian language Zenit report of today's meeting

Here is an unofficial English translation of what Zenit reported in Italian today which simply confirms the subject matter (vaguely) of today's interdicasterial meeting between the Pope and Curial heads. Most of the article below simply relays what has gone prior to today's meeting, and as they point out, little has been offered in the way of "details on the arguments treated."

Thanks to a faithful reader, Juan, for translating this for me, and thanks to an NLM reader, Bedwere, for indirectly directing my attention to this. The official English translation will liekly be available from Zenit tomorrow.

Here is the origina Italian source: http://zenit.org/italian/visualizza.php?sid=7636

Second meeting between Benedict XVI and the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia

This Friday morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Benedict XVI presided over a meeting with the heads of the dicateries of the Roman Curia.

The Press Office of the Holy See has confirmed that the encounter took place in the Sala Bologna, without offering details on the arguments treated.

It's the second meeting of such character called by the Pope, after the one on 13 February in which, among other questions, they discussed the topic of the reconcilition with the Fraternity of St Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Thereafter, the Pope has asked that this topic be again discussed at the meeting of all the cardinals of the world gathered on the eve of the concistory of 23 March.

After that meeting, Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Clergy and of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei", has given the conclusion, affirming that the Church "waits with open arms" the followers of Mgr Lefebvre.

"At present one is studying the best way", the Colombian prelate added in response to the question on the possibility of conceding them a "prelature" dependent on the Pope.

During that meeting, the Pope has charged Francis Cardinal Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, with presenting the question of the postconciliar liturgical reform and the use of the Missal of the St Pius V, in use before the Second Vatican Council, requested by the so-called "traditionalists".

The French Episcopal Conference published this Friday a statement at the end of their Plenary Assembly in which it reveals that "'these coming weeks or months" the Pope "should give instructions to ease the path towards a possible return to full communion".

On 2 July 1988, John Paull II stated in his apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei that the illegitimate ordinations, on the part of Mgr Lefebvre, of four bishops from the Fraternity constituted (30 June 1988) a "schismatic act".

This ordination has ruptured the attempts at an agreement between the Holy See and the Fraternity, brought forward by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in the name of John Paul II.

Mgr Lefebvre died 25 March 1991. His successor at the helm of the Fraternity is one of the ordained bishops, Mgr Bernard Fellay, whom Benedict XVI received in a private audience on 29 August 2005.

[Saying about equally as much, ie. not much at all, is this CWNews report of today's meeting.]

More recent articles:


Launching “Theological Classics”: Newman on the Virgin Mary, St Vincent on Novelty & Heresy, Guardini on Sacred Signs
At a time of turmoil, nothing could be better or more important than rooting ourselves more deeply in the Catholic tradition. One of my favorite quotations is by St. Prosper of Aquitaine (390-455), writing in his own age of chaos: “Even if the wounds of this shattered world enmesh you, and the sea in turmoil bears you along in but one surviving shi...

Low Sunday 2025
With his inquisitive right hand, Thomas searched out Thy life-bestowing side, O Christ God; for when Thou didst enter while the doors were shut, he cried out to Thee with the rest of the Apostles: Thou art my Lord and my God. (The Kontakion of St Thomas Sunday at Matins in the Byzantine Rite.)Who preserved the disciple’s hand unburnt when he drew n...

The Easter Sequence Laudes Salvatori
The traditional sequence for Easter, Victimae Paschali laudes, is rightly regarded as one of the greatest gems of medieval liturgical poetry, such that it was even accepted by the Missal of the Roman Curia, which had only four sequences, a tradition which passed into the Missal of St Pius V. But of course, sequences as a liturgical genre were extre...

The Paschal Stichera of the Byzantine Rite in English
One of the most magnificent features of the Byzantine Rite is a group of hymns known as the Paschal stichera. These are sung at Orthros and Vespers each day of Bright Week, as the Easter octave is called, and thenceforth on the Sundays of the Easter season, and on the Leave-taking of Easter, the day before the Ascension. As with all things Byzantin...

Medieval Vespers of Easter
In the Breviary of St Pius V, Vespers of Easter Sunday and the days within the octave present only one peculiarity, namely, that the Chapter and Hymn are replaced by the words of Psalm 117, “Haec dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et laetemur in ea. – This is the day that the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice therein.” In the Office, this...

Summer Graduate-Level Sacred Music Study - Tuition-free
The May 1st application deadline is approaching for summer graduate courses in sacred music at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. Graduate-level study structured for busy schedulesIn-person, intensive course formatsAffordable room & boardFree tuitionLearn more and apply here.Courses:Choral InstituteComposition SeminarOrgan ImprovisationIn...

The Last Service of Easter
Following up on Monday’s post about the service known as the Paschal Hour in Byzantine Rite, here is the text of another special rite, which is done after Vespers on Easter day itself. It is brief enough to show the whole of it with just one photograph from the Pentecostarion, the service book which contains all the proper texts of the Easter seaso...

Should Communion Sometimes Be Eliminated to Avoid Sacrilege?
In a post at his Substack entitled “Nobody is talking about this in the Catholic world,” Patrick Giroux has the courage and good sense to raise the issue of the indiscriminate reception of the Lord at weddings and funerals where many attendees are not Catholics, or, if Catholics, not practicing, not in accord with Church teaching, or not in a state...

Update on the Palestrina500 Festival in Grand Rapids
On Friday, February 14th, the feast of Saint Valentine, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Grand Rapids, MI welcomed Gesualdo Six from London to sing a choral meditation and Mass for the parish's yearlong Palestrina500 festival.The choral meditation consisted of:Palestrina: Litaniae de Beata Virgine Maria a6Antoine Brumel: Sub tuum praesidiumJosquin d...

Catholic Education Foundation Seminar 2025: The Role of the Priest in Today’s Catholic School
July 16-18, at the Athenaeum of Ohio (the seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati).Fr Peter Stravinskas of the Catholic Education Foundation is once again offering this excellent three-day seminar, intended primarily for bishops, priests, and seminarians. It is entitled The Role of the Priest in Today’s Catholic School.For further information: c...

For more articles, see the NLM archives: