Cardinal Maida OK's Tridentine Mass for Detroit

Crux News ^ | 3rd June 2004

[AskStPhilomena]

In his explanation for the decision, Maida cited the growing influence of schismatic groups within his archdiocese.

"We have much activity by schismatic churches in the Archdiocese. We have children in our Archdiocese attending schismatic schools and being drawn away from the Church. Some of our faithful are crossing the border to go into Windsor or other dioceses for the celebration of this Mass," the cardinal is quoted as stating.

Maida did not mention at the meeting that in addition to laity joining schismatic groups, he is also faced with a major emigration of seminarians from the archdiocese, and the crisis shows no signs of abating. In the year 2007 there is only one man scheduled to be ordained for the Archdiocese of Detroit, a native-born Filipino.

During the meeting Auxiliary Bishop Walter Hurley said the Tridentine Mass may be allowed in two parishes before the fall, but neither the parishes nor the frequency of the Masses has been decided.

Hurley is quoted as stating, "We are not looking to catechize new generations into the Tridentine Rite, but we are seeking to respond to those people who have identified this as a pastoral need In moving in this direction, there are certain things that must take place as we proceed. The first is that Vatican II, its authenticity, and its liturgical reforms have to be accepted as a legitimate work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. We do not want to set up something that would be divisive. We are not seeking to undermine or unravel the reforms of the Council."

The celebration of the Tridentine Mass will be coordinated under the auspices of the Archdiocesan Worship Office. "We do not want to see this as a work of a specific group of people, but rather an extension of Cardinal Maida's ministry as chief shepherd of the Archdiocese," Hurley is quoted as saying. "… All of our regional auxiliary bishops have indicated their willingness to celebrate this liturgy. The framework here is pastoral. We will not identify this as a "specific niche" of a parish; rather, this is simply something that would be offered at a parish."

The decision has been met with guarded optimism by those who have worked for the Tridentine Rite in the archdiocese, mainly because the rite – until now -- has been bitterly opposed by Maida and his chancery since Maida arrived as archbishop in Detroit in 1990. Additionally, the auxiliary bishop and chancery staff who are implementing his new decision are long-time chancery veterans who have no track record whatsoever of embracing traditional initiatives.

Many suspect the Tridentine Mass may be sparingly offered at small parishes in inconvenient locations, perhaps even in parishes hostile to traditional aspirations.

For at least the last 15 years there have been hundreds, if not thousands of requests to Maida to grant permission for the Tridentine Mass. A group of Catholics in the early 1990s filed a canonical lawsuit in the Signatura, the Vatican Court, to force Cardinal Maida to abide by Eccleiasia Dei, in which Pope John Paul II pleaded with the world’s bishops to allow a "generous application" of the indult for the Tridentine Mass. The St. Joseph Foundation assisted in that effort.

Maida opposed the lawsuit vigorously, and the legal effort ended when the Vatican ruled that with the death in 1994 of Thomas Marshall, the main signer of the complaint, the rest of signers of the petition to Rome had no standing to pursue the case.

It is noteworthy that the primary opponent of the Tridentine Mass at that time was Fr. Gerald Shirilla, professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and director of the Worship Department. Fr.Shirilla told a reporter for the Michigan Catholic that, regarding those who want the Tridentine Mass, "We have to fight them tooth and nail."

Fr. Shirilla was relieved of his post in 1993 when he was identified as a serial child molester, who favored young altar boys, going back more than 20 years. He never quite lost favor with Cardinal Maida, however, and was secretly re-assigned seven years later as pastor of a parish in the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan.

Meanwhile, as the cardinal and his priests argue about the merits of the Tridentine Mass, the Detroit chapter of gay organization Dignity continues to hold its weekly Masses at Marygrove College every Sunday, and openly advertises that priests of the archdiocese celebrate its Masses. Priests of the archdiocese have never been forbidden to celebrate those gay Masses.

Cardinal Maida has always had different standards for different groups throughout his tenure in Detroit.

[sinkspur]

Heck, "You guys" even "celebrate" Easter Sunday on Saturdays.

Actually, Pius XII was the Pope who allowed the celebration of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night.

[narses]

Courts will find ways around statutes of limitations, as will legislatures, things like this:

In Washington state, the applicable statute of limitations pertaining to claims brought by survivors of childhood sexual abuse is contained in RCW 4.16.340, is as follows:

(1) All claims or causes of action based on intentional conduct brought by any person for recovery of damages for injury suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse shall be commenced within the later of the following periods:

(a) Within three years of the act alleged to have caused the injury or condition,

(b) Within three years of the time the victim discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act, or

(c) Within three years of the time the victim discovered that the act caused the injury for which the claim is brought:

PROVIDED, That the time limit for commencement of an action under this section is tolled for a child until the child reaches the age of eighteen years.

(2) The victim need not establish which act in a series of continuing sexual abuse or exploitation incidents caused the injury complained of, but may compute the date of discovery from the date of discovery of the last act by the same perpetrator which is part of a common scheme or plan of sexual abuse or exploitation.

(3) The knowledge of a custodial parent or guardian shall not be imputed to a person under the age of eighteen years.

(4) For purposes of this section, "child" means a person under the age of eighteen years.

(5) As used in this section, "childhood sexual abuse" means any act committed by the defendant against a complainant who was less than eighteen years of age at the time of the act and which act would have been a violation of chapter 9A.44 RCW or RCW 9.68A.040 or prior laws of similar effect at the time the act was committed.

Commentary and Legislative History:

The purpose of this statute is to toll the statute of limitations until the survivor of childhood abuse discovers the true cause and extent of injuries. Without such a statute, abusers would escape responsibility for the damage they cause long before most survivors could file suit. The legislature made its intent explicit in the findings which accompany the statute.

The legislature finds that:

(1) Childhood sexual abuse is a pervasive problem that affects the safety and well-being of many of our citizens.

(2) Childhood sexual abuse is a traumatic experience for the victim causing long-lasting damage.

(3) The victim of childhood sexual abuse may repress the memory of the abuse or be unable to connect the abuse to any injury until after the statute of limitations has run.

(4) The victim of childhood sexual abuse may be unable to understand or make the connection between childhood sexual abuse and emotional harm or damage until many years after the abuse occurs.

(5) Even though victims may be aware of injuries related to the childhood sexual abuse, more serious injuries may be discovered many years later.

(6) The legislature enacted RCW 4.16.340 to clarify the application of the discovery rule to childhood sexual abuse cases. At that time the legislature intended to reverse the Washington supreme court decision in Tyson v. Tyson, 107 Wn.2d 72, 727 P.2d 226 (1986).

A childhood sexual abuse survivor may file suit against the abuser anytime within three years of discovering the injury caused by the abuse. In cases where the adult survivor recovers memories of childhood sexual abuse, and as a result discovers injuries caused by that abuse, there may be an easily distinguished time when the three year statute of limitations begins to run. The safest course in such a situation would be to file suit within three years of recovery of memory.

However, many adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse have always remembered some or all of the abuse, but only realize, at some later time the extent or nature of damage they have suffered as a result of the abuse. People in this category may still file suit against their abuser, so long as they sue within three years of discovery of particular injuries. For example, a child who is abused by her father may well know that the abuse is a bad thing, and that it causes shame and hurt, but she may have no idea of the role the abuse plays in problems she has with school, peers, substance abuse, sexual acting out or sexual withdrawal, intimacy issues, depression, etc., throughout her childhood, teen years, and adulthood. Often an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse will only discover the true impact the abuse has had throughout her life when she seeks help from a mental health professional for an immediate life problem, such as coping with a child reaching puberty or with difficulties in a relationship, and in the process of examining the immediate issues, begins to confront and examine her own abuse issues. Sometimes an adult survivor hits a crisis point because coping mechanisms he has used all his life begin to unravel or become themselves destructive. Many adult survivors do not recognize that dissociation is unusual ("I thought that everyone 'spaced-out' sometimes") or that their depression and emotional numbing is outside the norm, until they begin to explore issues in counseling.

Washington state also provides, at least in theory, Crime Victims Compensation benefits for abuse survivors who recover memory of abuse and then follow certain steps to qualify for benefits. The time limits are shorter and stricter than the statute of limitations for bringing suit.

[narses]

"Pay this windbag no heed, he's one of those civil lawyers who falsely assumes he also as a degree in Canon law."

Patent has always been straightfoward and honest in his posts. Insults hurt all of us and demonstrate a lack of charity that ought to cause a well formed conscience shame.

[narses]

"You object to Philomena's characterization--yet you call her a schismatic trad. I would say she is on the whole more on target than you, given your past whacky ideas about what constitutes schism."

AskStPhilomena has been clearly opposed to schism and heresy, even when s/he misidentifies such acts as being those of the SSPX. To call him/her names is as bad as calling patent names. Name calling simply is a way to avoid doing the work of Our Lord.

[NYer]

I have now read roughly 180 posts on this topic, and it still seems to me that the bottom line problem is a loss of a sense of the sacred.

Yes, that is precisely what has happened. There are some rare exceptions; the mass on EWTN, to cite one example.

Like many other Roman Catholics, it simply never occured to me to explore any of the Eastern Rites. It took a series of liturgical abuses in my NO parish to set me in search of a new parish. In compiling a list, I included two local ER churches - a Ukrainian Catholic and a Maronite Catholic Church. Both liturgies are resplendent with chant, incense and a great sense of spirituality. Ultimately, it was the Maronite Rite that captured my heart and soul and would not let go.

In a small 1000 year old chapel on the monastery grounds, lit only by 12 candles, the nuns chanted the vespers for that night. Half way through it, my son turned to me and said, "This must be what its like in heaven, Dad."

And your son would be right! As a Maronite Communion Hymn says:

O Bread of life, O food of souls
God's joy unsealed
The Son of God, now Son of man
God's love revealed
The angels stand before your face
with awe and fear;
How then shall we poor sinful men
Dare draw so near?

Institution Narrative - Ancient Maronite Catholic Church - Lebanon

[NYer]

Obviously, the Apostles heard Jesus the first time around, and He said "do this", not "do this quietly".

What they actually heard was this ....

Aramaic Consecration

Byow mo how daq dom ha sho dee leh
ma' bed hy eh
nsa bel lah mo be dow qa dee sho to.
Ou ba rekh
ou qa desh
waq so
ou ya bel tal mee dow kad o mar:
Sab a khool meh neh kul khoon:
Ho no den ee tow faghro deel
day lo fy koun wah lof sagee hey
meh tez seh ou meh tee heb
lhoo so yo dhow beh was ha yeh dal 'o lam
'ol meen.

English Translation

On the day before his life-giving passion,
Jesus took bread in his holy hands.
He blessed,
sanctified,
broke,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat it, all of you:
This is my body
which is broken and delivered for you
and for many,
for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

This is what I hear each Sunday, when at the Maronite Catholic liturgy. It is like being transported back to the Last Supper.

[broadsword]

Well, that wouldn't be true in our parish, the second largest in our diocese. There is no demand for a Tridentine Mass.

And YOU know this because you personally asked every single parishoner, yourself. Of course.

And perhaps they don't. Sometimes a sickness manifests itself so fully in the poor host that the victim no longer even wants to be healthy, not even remembering what health is.

However, all six of our Novus Ordo Masses are full, every single Sunday.

The question is: FULL OF WHAT?

[broadsword]

I attended the Tridentine High Mass at Holy Trinity in Boston. I would have been thrilled to have heard "Accípite, et manducáte ex hoc omnes: Hoc est enim Corpus Meum." in Latin. I was indeed looking forward to it. I like Latin, I like altar rails, and I like orthodoxy.

That was one of the beauties of the universal Latin rite for Catholics. A Catholic could go to mass in Germany, France, America, Austrailia, Tierra del Fuego or India and always know what to expect, and fit right in. It was truly the Universal Church.

But now there is division and backbiting in that every angry, self-centered little group wants its own mass--demanding masses in Korean, Spanish, English, inclusive feminese, Sinhalese, Tagalog, Bongo-Bongo, ugga-mugga, grunt-n-sniff, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. The NO divided us. You would think the blasted thing was written by the same group that tried to build the Tower of Babel.

[broadsword]

First, very, very, very few Catholics on this website are against the Tridentine Mass.

LOL!

[broadsword]

How wonderful. How beautiful!!!!!

[broadsword]

Well put. Something to think about, even if one disagrees--that is, for those who want to actually think rather than just screaming "schizmatic!" to silence those who disagree with them.

[broadsword]

Our priest does the Latin Mass out loud and many of the prayers we do along with him, out loud. Too much I think. some parts he should do in silence. He is the priest acting in persona Christi. We are not the priests. When the lay people think they have too big a part to play, then the divine and intervening nature of Jesus gets lost in the crowd.

We then risk making the mistake of relying on the human power of ourselves and our vaunted parish action committees rather than on the infinite grace and power of God Almighty.

The old liturgy made it very clear Who was in charge. The new one(s) throw the focus off of God, and Satan too often steps right in to place it where he wants. That's why the Church is in such dismal disarray right now.

[AskStPhilomena]

It seems my comments were a bit too close to the bone - even though I'm by no means the first to identify a link between liturgical abuse (including opposition to the traditional Latin Mass) and disordered sexuality.
Roman Catholic Faithful has been exposing this link for years. Before you throw another wild tantrum, perhaps you should taste some of your own medicine:
"Grow up, if you can’t debate without childish ad hominems like that, you have no place on an adult forum."

[Kolokotronis]

And from our usual Sunday Divine Liturgy, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostomos (I'll spare you the Greek):

Deacon:
Let us stand well. Let us stand in awe. Let us be attentive, that we may present the holy offering in peace.

People:
Mercy and peace, a sacrifice of praise.

Priest:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

People:
And with your spirit.

Priest:
Let us lift up our hearts.

People:
We lift them up to the Lord.

Priest:
Let us give thanks to the Lord.

People:
It is proper and right.

Priest (in a low voice):
It is proper and right to sing to You, bless You, praise You, thank You and worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same; You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You brought us into being out of nothing, and when we fell, You raised us up again. You did not cease doing everything until You led us to heaven and granted us Your kingdom to come. For all these things we thank You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit; for all things that we know and do not know, for blessings seen and unseen that have been bestowed upon us. We also thank You for this liturgy which You are pleased to accept from our hands, even though You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels and tens of thousands of Angels, by the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring with their wings,

Priest:
Singing the victory hymn, proclaiming, crying out, and saying:

People:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to God in the highest.

Priest (in a low voice):
Together with these blessed powers, merciful Master, we also proclaim and say: You are holy and most holy, You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You are holy and most holy, and sublime is Your glory. You so loved Your world that You gave Your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. He came and fulfilled the divine plan for us. On the night when He was delivered up, or rather when He gave Himself up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy, pure, and blameless hands, gave thanks, blessed, sanctified, broke and gave it to His holy disciples and apostles, saying:

Priest:
Take, eat, this is my Body which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins.

People:
Amen.

Priest (in a low voice):
Likewise, after supper, He took the cup, saying:

Priest:
Drink of it all of you; this is my Blood of the new Covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

People:
Amen.

Priest (in a low voice):
Remembering, therefore, this command of the Savior, and all that came to pass for our sake, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the enthronement at the right hand of the Father, and the second, glorious coming,

Priest:
We offer to You these gifts from Your own gifts in all and for all.

People:
We praise You, we bless You, we give thanks to You, and we pray to You, Lord our God.

Priest (in a low voice):
Once again we offer to You this spiritual worship without the shedding of blood, and we ask, pray, and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.

And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ.

(He blesses the holy Bread.)

Deacon (in a low voice):
Amen.

Priest (in a low voice):
And that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Your Christ.

(He blesses the holy Cup.)

Deacon (in a low voice):
Amen.

Priest (in a low voice):
Changing them by Your Holy Spirit.

(He blesses them both.)

Deacon (in a low voice):
Amen. Amen. Amen.

Priest (in a low voice):
So that they may be to those who partake of them for vigilance of soul, forgiveness of sins, communion of Your Holy Spirit, fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven, confidence before You, and not in judgment or condemnation. Again, we offer this spiritual worship for those who repose in the faith, forefathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, ascetics, and for every righteous spirit made perfect in faith.

Priest:
Especially for our most holy, pure, blessed, and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and ever virgin Mary.

People:
It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos, ever blessed, most pure, and mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Word. We magnify you, the true Theotokos.

[sinkspur]

Please. Stop posting to me. You have some sort of mental illness that you are hell-bent to manifest on this forum, and I want no part of it.

[Desdemona]

Most older types left the Church over: 1) a divorce; or 2) birth control.

Yes, but neither of the aunts of which I was thinking was ever divorced and one wasn't even married. They just had no use for religion. Both were very successful business women and the one was VERY well read and fairly smart. They just had no use for religion and the one who was well read did spout leftism to an extent.

[broadsword]

You have some sort of mental illness...

So now you are a doctor as well as a deacon? Thanks for the diagnosis/personal attack, doc, but I feel fine, and am quite happy right where I am.

It must be miserable for people who try to pull the wool over other folks' eyes when they cannot get away with it. I am not saying that's you, of course. Far from it.

[broadsword]

Beautiful! As I said, I attended one of your holy Masses once, long ago, and it was fabulous. Sure beats the heck out of a liturgical-dance bongo mass. But, then, so does a sharp stick in the eye. I live in one of the most liberal diocese in the nation. Were it not for the indult, I would move away from this apostate Amchurch hell-hole.

A friend of mine goes to a Byzantine rite Mass here. I might check that one out also. There is just nothing good about self-centered irreverence among the people and heresy from the pulpit.

When our new bishop was installed here, the ceremony began with an outright pagan American-Indian ceremony before the mass, in the cathedral! I couldn't get in, but my friend was there and said it was terrible. A representative from the Vatican witnessed the whole thing and had nothing negative to say about it. In fact, the pagan priestess/shaman/medicine woman/whatever led the procession of priests and bishops into the church. Hideous.

Well... I guess SOMEBODY has to lead them. I am glad I couldn't get in and had to wait outside.