UCA News
Contribute

Pope Francis not contradicting Benedict XVI over Franciscans, says Vatican

Decree requires permission to use the Extraordinary rite
Pope Francis not contradicting Benedict XVI over Franciscans, says Vatican
Published: August 08, 2013 03:43 AM GMT
Updated: August 07, 2013 04:48 PM GMT

Pope Francis’s order that the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate stop using the Extraordinary Form “do not intend to contradict the general instructions” of Pope Benedict, according to a Vatican spokesman.

The friars, who have a convent in Lanherne just outside Newquay, and a parish church in Stoke-on-Trent, have been ordered by the Vatican to stop using the Extraordinary Form from August 11.

The decree, dated July 11 and signed by Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and its secretary, Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, follows a visitation ordered by Benedict after an internal dispute.

Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi said in a statement that they respond “to specific problems and tensions created in that congregation regarding the rite for the celebration of Mass,” and provisions concern “the life and governance of the congregation as a whole and not just liturgical questions”.

A statement published on the friars’ website said that Fr Stefano Manelli, founder and superior, “together with the whole Institute of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, submits in obedience to the Holy Father and trusts that this obedience will bring forth greater graces.”

An “official note” from the friars last weekend stated that while many of the members and communities chose to give priority to the old Mass, the priests were always free to celebrate Mass using both forms and that Fr Manelli often celebrated Mass using the new rite. It acknowledged, however, there were internal differences over how the choice of liturgy was being made.

With more than 130 priests, the Franciscans are the second largest canonically regular religious congregation or society among those that primarily or exclusively offer the Traditional Latin Mass, after the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP).

Despite Vatican reassurances, there are concerns that the decree contradicts Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, under which the celebration of the traditional rite requires no authorization from the bishop.

The July 11 decree states that: “The Holy Father Francis has directed that every religious of the congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate is required to celebrate the liturgy according to the ordinary rite and that, if the occasion should arise, the use of the extraordinary form (Vetus Ordo) must be explicitly authorized by the competent authorities, for every religious and/or community that makes the request.”

Full story: Pope Francis is not contradicting Benedict XVI over order to Franciscan Friars, says Vatican

Source: Catholic Herald

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia