Posted on 02/20/2005 8:48:06 PM PST by Land of the Irish
Some U. S. dioceses, such as New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., have granted priestly faculties to Patriotic Association priests, allowing them to openly offer Holy Mass and administer other Sacraments, including hearing confessions in Roman Catholic parishes. May Catholics who are the recipients of these sacraments from a Patriotic Association priest are in the dark, because they do not know the identity of these Patriotic Association priests.
According to item 5 of the Holy See’s 1988 China directives, “The Patriotic bishops and priests are not to be invited or even allowed to celebrate religious functions in public, either in the churches or in the oratories of the various religious institutes.”
We do not understand, given the above very clear guideline, how this program of giving faculties to the Patriotic Association priests and allowing them to administer the sacraments in public could be approved by the bishops in the United States.
The most recent case is the appointment of a Patriotic Association priest, Father Ruan Guozhang, to the parish of St. Joseph Church in the China Town of New York City. The written notice sent by the pastor of St. Joseph to his parishioners said simply that Father Ruan will be joining him at St Joseph Church. The pastor did not mention that Father Ruan was from the Diocese of Fuzhou of the Chinese Open (Patriotic Association) Church. He also did not mention that Father Ruan was a Patriotic Association priest who is not a Roman Catholic priest in full communion with the Pope. However, the pastor did unexplainably mention that Father Ruan was from the Diocese of Hong Kong, which he is not unless the Hong Kong diocese has recently incardinated him. By mentioning the Hong Kong diocese, the pastor had given Father Ruan some legitimacy since there is no official Patriotic Association in the Hong Kong diocese. People should have the facts in deciding from which priest they want to receive a sacrament. Without making publicly known in writing that Father Ruan is from the Chinese Open Patriotic Association Church, the faithful are deprived once again of important facts about the priest before receiving a sacrament, because they will take for granted that the priest administering sacraments in a Roman Catholic Church has to be a Roman Catholic priest without knowing that it is actually the contrary at St. Joseph Church of New York’s China Town.
In fact, Father Ruan was ordained by the Patriotic Association Bishop Aloysius Jin, with whom the Vatican has never declared to be in communion. In addition, Father Ruan reports to Bishop Zheng Chang Cheng who is a Chinese Patriotic Association bishop, with whom the Vatican has also never declared to be in communion. Yet, he will be working in the New York diocese as if he were a Roman Catholic priest, which he is not.
We did not understand such situations when they occurred in other dioceses. We understand even less that such a situation could have happened in New York diocese inasmuch as His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan is understood to be a “conservative” bishop. I, therefore, wrote a letter to Cardinal Egan on May 7, 2004, stating my abovementioned thoughts and requesting his explanations. To this date, I have not received his reply.
Unfortunately I have not at my fingertips names, numbers, nor embarrassing photos.
For a a man to be validly ordained a priest, he must affirm his beliefs in all of the truths of the Catholic faith (including the powers and priviledges of the papacy), must swear to teach them, and to be bound by the authority of the legitimate heirarchy of the church.
So if your Chinese "priest" does not believe in or intend to teach all of the truths of the faith, and does not hold any belief in the authority of Peter, nor intend to be subject to him, and to a valid and licit Bishop......he cannot be a priest, because he is lying to God.
So, he is as much a real priest as a practicing homosexual. Both have sought ordination under false pretenses.
What's even funnier, Rome is looking to SSPX to safeguard the Faith.
Bishop Fellay went on to say that an archbishop in the curia had told him, "Don't make an agreement with Rome now. The time is not right. The Pope is no longer governing the Church. We need you to stay where you are and to stand firm in defense of the Faith."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1284342/posts
Does the Chinese communist church have any valid lineage? Maybe they are coming to American dioceses for that reason?
Maybe? Not really sure. The hierarchy of the Chinese church has been a mess since Mao took over in 1948. Whatever legitimate Bishops there were then are now dead. Perhpas they consecrated other bishops in secret.......but I do not have this information.
But you may well be on to something. If the "Commie" church has no valid lineage, they may be seeking it here. BUT.....I think this stems from Cardinal Etchegary (sp?)and his overtures to the Chinese Patriotic Church in the 80s. I think it was this Cardinal - but correct me if I hae the name wrong.
And he is well known as having pink shoes.....get my drift?
>> Cardinal Egan still holds office and is in "full communion with Rome". <<
Is this really the issue you want to from the Great American Schism over, when Egan will hit 75 in just over two years? Given the choice between waiting two years until the heretic can be removed by normal means, or kicking him out of "full communion," I'm sure the Vatican will always wait two years. If he turns 76 and he's still in office, I'll concede you have a point.
As you put it, he must "affirm" his beliefs. Given that he does that, his ordination is valid. Now, if the Bishop who ordains him intends to put him under the authority of a bishop who is out of communion with Rome, there is your illicit act. But I can't imagine why the Chinese would send him to America to be educated, and then take him back to China to serve one of their bishops. It'd seem much safer to educate him themselves.
Ummmmm.....no. I have been through this already. If a man lies about his beliefs and intentions in ordination, he is not ordained, as he seesk the sarcrament insincerely. Sorry! God is not mocked.
"It'd seem much safer to educate him themselves."
Let me assure you that he wil be "safely" educated in St, Joseph's seminary. Have no fear of that.
Let he who has ears hear.
It isn't commonly known that Cardinal Kung's remains are interrèd adjacent to the Mission Santa Clara on the grounds of Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California ( for those of you who live in the nine county San Francisco Bay Area ).
thor76, before the rumor on this thread goes any further, know that the heretic priests in the US from China have already been 'ordained' by the party's commie bishops. IMO, they are more likely doing their theological doctorial studies here and assisting local area churches in exchange for their room and board.
There is no information on the net about American bishops ordaining heretic priests. Nor for that matter is there any information about underground Roman Catholic holy priests having freedom of movement in Rome or the United States, because they can't get out of the prisons in China.
Not only this--but the CPA publicly endorses the Chinese government's policy of enforced abortions and has written into its constitution a rejection of union with the papacy. In addition it has unlawfully usurped jurisdictions from officially appointed bishops.
I've been going to the local SSPX chapel, which will be dedicated in April by Bishop Williamson. No bad mouthing of the Pope or the post-conciliar Church as people warned me at the church. Instead, solid, dogmatic Catholicism. And get this - respect in the santuary! Something unheard of where I live. I only wished I would have arrived there earlier.
My own history is very similar. I always used to avoid SSPX chapels at all costs, travelling great distances to Indult Masses, or (very) reluctantly, attending the best Novus Disordo we could find. My wife and family then moved to get near an approved community, supplied by a FSSP-affiliated priest. However, the FSSP let us down badly by trying to move the priest abroad (who subsequently left the FSSP), so the whole arrangement collapsed (it was about 30 miles away, and there is now a Mass in their local Oratory). We have now effectively thrown the towel in, and attend the SSPX school chapel just 7 or 8 miles away, the other side of town.
Expecting Pope-bashing on a regular basis, we've heard nothing of the sort - just good solid sermons, reverent Masses, and a congregation half-full of children. Reading some of their material has made us much more comfortable (e.g. Bishop Fellay's recent talk last Nov). Even if an Indult did start up locally, we would find the SSPX chapel much more reliable and dependable going into the future as a family.
As for my own bad-mouthing of the SSPX in the past, I repent! Well, the SSPX isn't perfect, but at least it realises there is a crisis going on, and is doing something about it.
God bless you for recognizing and acting to meet your spiritual obligation to yourself, and your family members.
Bumpus ad summum
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