Bishop Martin’s moves against TLM presenting real challenge to Pope Leo

From the National Catholic Register:

Charlotte Liturgy Controversy Heats Up After Bishop’s Proposed Ban of Latin, Altar Rails Leaked

***

Outcry over proposed norms in the North Carolina diocese is rising to international attention, as it represents the first major liturgical dispute during the reign of Pope Leo XIV. Controversy in a North Carolina diocese has broadened beyond traditional Latin Mass restrictions after it was revealed that the local bishop had also planned to ban the use of Latin, altar rails, and other traditional practices in all diocesan liturgies — a development with implications far beyond the Tar Heel State.

Displaying his devotion to Novus Ordo, North Carolina Bishop Michael Martin has made a big noise in the world, presenting, intended or not, a real challenge to Pope Leo XIV who, so early in his reign, will likely have to deal with it.

If the pope takes great exception to Bishop Martin’s drastic actions and disciplines him severely, he will no doubt infuriate other bishops and clergy who prefer (hard to believe) the status quo. On the other hand, if Leo chooses to do little or nothing about Bishop Martin’s actions and allows him to go ahead with all but banning TLM in his diocese, he will greatly disappoint many of the beleaguered advocates of the Latin Mass, who are some of Holy Church’s most loyal and enthusiastic Catholics. They were hoping and praying Leo would loosen, not restrict the Latin mass even more than Pope Francis did. Bishop Martin’s orders would only be effective in the State of North Carolina, but it would set an example and provide encouragement to other bishops longing to crack down on TLM in their dioceses.

Your Tatler’s guess is, and that is all it is, Pope Leo will admonish Bishop Martin for not consulting with higher authorities first, and order him to remove his new restrictions on the Latin mass.  It seems unlikely to your Tatler, however, that Leo will take further moves against the bishop, but it should allay the fears of Latin mass proponents that Leo is a hardliner opposed to its celebration. On the other hand, by only admonishing the bishop,  supporters of Novus Ordo should not worry that Leo will force major changes upon them soon.

All your Tatler’s speculation, of course, is based on Pope Leo getting involved in this sticky situation. Yet, is is difficult to see how he can avoid it because Bishop Martin’s nominal superior, Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bishop Martin’s province, doesn’t have a say in most of its doings. Thus, the bishop answers directly to the pope. Your Tatler can’t help wondering if Bishop Martin took that into consideration when ordering his repressive acts against TLM-ers.

Egypt caves to extremist demands

[Note: There is ambiguity about the accuracy of the post below. Both the governments of Egypt and Greece, as well as the monks, are insisting it is not true. Still, reliable news sources, including The Times of London, are reporting that the Egyptian government’s liquidation of St. Catherine’s Monastery is still a possibility, although it has not yet happened. Other sources are standing by the original story, as reported here. Until there is some agreement among news sources concerning this matter, the post on this blog will remain unchanged.]

St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai

From the Greek City Times

According to orthodoxia.info, the oldest functioning Christian monastery in the world, St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, along with all its properties in Egypt, is being transferred to the Egyptian state.

Nearly fifteen centuries after its founding by Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and having survived remarkable historical challenges, the world-renowned and respected St. Catherine’s Monastery is on the verge of being converted into a museum.

If, dear reader, you suspect the putative religion of peace® had a hand in this organized thuggery, mπράβο! Macte virtute! You’re right on the mark!

This assault, which began during the era of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been carried out through judicial pressures and attacks aimed at closing the world’s oldest monastery.

Happily, unlike in the the past, when Christian organizations tended to meekly accept, or put up only token resistance to expropriations like the above, then quietly move on, the monks of St Catherine’s, perhaps learning from the tactics of radical left protesters, are planning to fight tooth and nail the confiscation of their property.

They plan to inform all Christian churches and other monotheistic religions, as they believe this action by the Egyptian state is the worst event in the monastery’s 15 centuries of existence, effectively abolishing it.

They monks plan to urge the Greek government to protest to the Egyption government. However, the monks should also take their protests where they might receive a more efficacious reaction, and that would be the White House and its present occupant. Whereas objections of the Greek government lodged with its Egyptian counterpart  likely would not carry much weight in Cairo, the chacteristic bluster and threats to trade relations, or the like, from President Trump, just might get through to Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi, the president of Egypt, giving him cause to reconsider.

Or, if the president is too involved with other businesses, he could turn the matter over to Vice Predident Vance, a practicing Catholic; not the same as Greek Orthodox, but Catholicism’s kissing cousin. Too, the actions against St Catherine’s Monastery should be of great concern to the Catholic Church and Pope Leo XIV, and Vice President Vance is in a position to bring it to the pope’s attention, as well stress the urgency of the matter, though it should hardly be necessary.

If the outright theft of St Catherine’s Monastery can rise to the level of international outrage, the situation will stand a decent chance of  satisfactory resolution, i.e., forcing the thieves to return their booty to its rightful owner.

h/t WJT

Remembering Screwtape

This on the mark birthday card, from the Hallmark division Faithfully Funny, contains an obvious reference, though with no mention of it, to C. S. Lewis’s concept of “gluttony of delicacy,” a tool of the devil, from his classic, The Screwtape Letters.

Though Screwtape was published in 1942, “gluttony of delicacy” is still very much with us, with contemporary examples of it in the card.

h/t B.S.

Saying goodbye to the priceless accessory of a bankrupt institution

Bickerstaff woke up this morning with a solemn hymn tune in his head, one he had not heard or sung in ages. The hymn was a combination of two tunes, St Patrick and Deirdre, but is better known by its first line, I bind unto myself this day (only organists and scholars refer to hymns by their tune names).

The hymn was also a sad reminder of this Episcopalian convert’s regret having to say goodbye to the glorious Anglican musical tradition. There was no other option, though, with the Episcopal Church choosing to turn its back on traditional Christian teachings, let alone the dubious beginnings of Anglicanism, making those disastrous choices possible.

Over the last 50 years, the Episcopal church has embraced every left-wing heresy, essentially as doctrine. Singing beautiful hymns cannot render heresies legitimate. Other than in Anglican Use parishes, the wretched state of music in most Catholic churches, require playing and singing those lovely hymns, composed in better times for the Anglican church, at home. That is a reasonable compromise for the gift of salvation.

Of all the unmitigated gall or, the pot calling the kettle black.

From the NY Post:

Jake Tapper admits Democratic cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline may be ‘worse than Watergate’

***

The cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s mental decline might be a bigger scandal than Watergate, CNN host Jake Tapper acknowledged Monday.

“Acknowledged.” Ha! No admission from Tapper that he led the way, not only in broadcasting the countless lies about the state of Biden’s health, but worse, savaging anyone who even gently suggested that maybe, just maybe, the President’s health wasn’t quite up to par? Tapper was the Democrats’s chief henchman for leading the attacks on those who weren’t fully supportive of the Biden propaganda machine.

Read this humble amalgam of Woodward and Bernstein’s heartfelt mea culpa to Piers Morgan:

Asked point blank by Morgan if he owed the American people an apology, Tapper responded: “I feel like I owe the American people an acknowledgment that I wish I had covered the story better.”

Gosh, Jake, what an honest and touching confession. Just one little, teeny-tiny correction, if you don’t mind, pu-lease?

“I feel like I owe the American people an acknowledgment that I wish I had covered the story better.”

There, fixed.

(Another correction would  be “as if” for “like,” but that’s a lost battle, regrettably.)

—ed.

Post-Missam Novus Ordo gripes, a continuing Sunday series

To list them all in one post would encourage the reader to click somewhere else, so only a few bight-sized bits at a time.

Primo. Ex-homiliae chit-chat: if it cannot be incorporated into the homily, we can live without it. Tace!

Secundo. Applause during Mass: few things are more irksome, especially when Father requests it.

Tertio. Inappropriate hymns or “songs:” Yes, this is Memorial Day Weekend. Yes, America the Beautiful is a lovely, unofficial national anthem–but as a communion hymn? No. It’s particularly painful when the soloist can’t sing and the accompanist, on guitar, of course, knows only three chords, tonic, dominant, and subdominate–in root position only.

To be continued.

Trump brutally contradicts SA President Ramaphosa with video

At a meeting recently with President Trump in the White House, South African President Ramaphosa vehemently denied white South Africans were being persecuted and murdered. After hearing enough, Trump ran a video that clearly showed otherwise.

Bickerstaff, despite his increasingly growing number of years, cannot recall a president so utterly lacking in timidity as President Trump. No doubt he violated a good many rules of diplomatic protocol with this brazen act, to which Bickerstaff only reaction is: Bravo, Mr President! It’s long overdue.

Policy change coming for Usus Antiquior?

William Goh Seng Chye Archbishop of Singapore

Change is likely coming to Vatican policies, including, possibly, the celebration of Usus Antiquior, the Traditional Latin Mass. That is, if Cardinal Chye of Singapore has anything to do with it.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Compass, the Cardinal spoke supportively of the new Pope, saying,  “. . . I think Pope Leone XIV is exactly the Pope the world needs right now.” And, “The new Pope will not be ambiguous and will not leave the interpretation of what he says up to each individual.”

Regarding TLM, that statement could be interpreted negatively as meaning the Latin Mass will be universally suppressed, as it is not now (for example, compare the Archdiocese of New Mexico, with its strict enforcement of the edict, with that of New York’s).

His Eminence, however, does not seem to be of that mind. When asked what will become of those who prefer the Latin Mass, his response was encouraging:

Personally, I believe there is no reason to stop people who prefer the Tridentine Mass . . . Of course, the unity of the Church must be preserved, but we already have different rites, such as the Syro-Malabar rite. We can accept different ways of celebrating the Eucharist, so I believe we should not stifle those who prefer the Tridentine rite. Ultimately, what matters is not the rite or the form in which it is celebrated, but whether one encounters God in depth. [Italics added.]

Personally, Bickerstaff believes some of the more zealous proponents of TLM could benefit reading that last sentence of his Eminence. Your mostly humble blogger must also acknowledge the opinions expressed above are those of only one cardinal. However, this one cardinal, His Eminence Cardinal Chye, is  influential among his peers and well liked. As Nico Spuntoni, his interviewer, wrote of him,

Several cardinals told us that Cardinal William Goh Seng Chye’s speech was one of the most appreciated during the general congregations. This comes as no surprise, as the archbishop is known for his doctrinal clarity, pastoral zeal, and liturgical sensitivity.

It seems a certainty to Bickerstaff that the cardinal will have influence on Pope Leo XIV, especially as the latter seems much more open to other’s opinions, as opposed to his predecessor.

We will have to wait and see, but things appear to be looking up for Catholic tradionalists.