I have been wanting to post this since I saw this on the Ratzinger Forum two days ago. Not all bizarre disobedience occurs here in the Anglo World or loony areas of Europe. Even in Italy things happen that just make you shake your head. This is the two stories that were translated from Italian Papers. The Bishop as you can gleam from his past actions seems Bizarre himself
Caserta bishop prohibits traditional Mass -
Parish priest obeys but says he disagrees
By Angelo Agrippa
Corriere del Mezzogiorno NAPLES -
He is known as the bishop of tolerance. Of immigrants. Of deprived persons. He has opened diocesan structures for Muslims to say their Friday prayers, and Ukrainian/Moldavian Orthodox to use for their worship. But now he has prohibited the celebration of the 1962 Mass restored as of September 14 by Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.
With a telephone call, Mons. Raffaele Nogaro ordered the rector of the Shrine of Sant'Anna in Caserta, Don Giovanni Battista Gionti, to stop the Mass he was planning to celebrate at 8 p.m. today. "This case has nothing to do with tolerance," Nogaro said later. "The Mass in Latin is a distortion of religious fact. Not even university professors who teach Latin pray in Latin. It is not an appropriate instrument for establishing a true relationship with God. To help people to pray is an honorable effort.
That is what I try to do in allowing the Tent of Abraham to be used by Muslims and the chapel next to the Cathedral, to be used by the Orthodox. "But to assail the faithful with sacred images, theatrical choreography and esthetic embellishments does the opposite. The faithful should be offered something valid and educational, not an occasion for disorientation. In short, murmuring prayers in Latin is good for nothing."
Strong words. A clear dissociation from Pope Benedict XVI's decree regarding the traditional Mass. "The authority for the theological, liturgical and moral correctness of a diocese is the bishop," Nogaro continued, "even if the Pope has decreed an opening in favor of other rites. I am the only bishop in Campania who has asserted this so far to control the application of the Papal decree. "
Besides, the request of 30-40 persons is not sufficient in order for the traditional Mass to be celebrated. The parish priest is obliged to report it to his bishop. And I was never informed." In his sacristy, Don Gionti is surrounded by many of those who had requested him for the traditional Mass, and is visibly disconcerted: "I will obey the bishop," he said, "even if this loses us the occasion for a liturgical experience that is important for our community, many of whom requested this. I considered it an experiment, certainly not a replacement for the post-Conciliar Mass. "
I think a priest should respond to a request by his congregation. But the bishop has ordered me to suspend the scheduled Mass, telling me that this would create a dangerous precedent. Though I still do not understand what danger he means." In short, the Caserta case is everything but "Nulla veritas sine traditione" (Nothing is true outside tradition) as the followers of St. Pius V love to quote.
Fr. Louis Demornex, who studied at the Collegio Russium of Rome and has been the traditionalist parish priest of the Aulpi-Corigliani district in Sessa Auruna near Casertano, commented: "The Tridentine rite is not 'democratic' but for more than a millennium, it was the backbone of the Church. By destroying a traditional valid form of teh mass, one is tearing down the Church itself.
The Pope knows this and that is why he issued this decree." Nogaro, while protesting that he did not wish to be involved in any controversy, said further: "(Celebrating the traditional Mass) is like watching a statue passing in procession and simply admiring its artistic beauty. One cannot say that this is an act of faith or an occasion to inspire spirituality. This is what happens if we communicate in a language which no one knows at all, no one uses anymore, no one understands. The practice has nothing to do with the faith and someone must speak out on what the common thinking is about this."
OH and Check this out also from Italina Sources
Here's the account in Libero:
The bishop of Caserta blocks the traditional Mass
By CATERINA MANIACI
This bishop once said that the coffins of the Italian soldiers killed by terrorists in Nassiriyah, Iraq, should not be blessed, although he later denied saying it, but insisted that "the cult of martyrs and heroes of the nation should not be encouraged".
He also he publicly denounced the sending of Italian troops to Afghanistan. Now he will not allow the 1962 Mass to be celebrated in his diocese although it is not within his competence to do so, under Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.
The bishop of Caserta [a small city north of Naples, in the Campania region], Mons, Raffaele Nogaro, yesterday prohibited the rector of the Church of Sant'Anna from proceeding with a traditional Mass scheduled for tonight upon request of a group of faithful as provided by the Pope's decree.
The newspaper Roma reported the news yesterday based on an e-mail written by someone from Caserta to colleagues who were expecting to attend the traditional Mass today. The e-mail read: "I have arrived in Caserta and am writing from an Internet point. I went to the Church of Sant'Anna and found this notice: 'The rector of the Sanctuary, having received the request from a stable group of faithful, had scheduled a Holy Mass in Latin for 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16. The bishop, having heard of this, has ordered that such celebration be suspended in order not to create a precedent.'"
This amounts to open disobedience to the clear provisions in Summorum Pontificum which does not involve the bishop in the process unless there is a dispute with the parish priest. The aggrieved Catholics who have been denied their right to hear a traditional Mass if the parish priest agreed are planning to raise their objections to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, as provided by the Motu Proprio. Libero, 16 settembre 2007
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