Pubblicato su Vatican Insider, 13 ottobre 2011.
- A cura dello Staff
The essay “L’opposizione al Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum” (The opposition to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, Fede e Cultura, Verona 2010) by journalist Alberto Carosa was presented by Don Nicola Bux, renowned theologian and consultor to the Vatican as well as a prolific and acclaimed writer, during a conference at Centro Russia Ecumenica (CRE, Russia Ecumenical Center) in Borgo Pio, a stone's throw from St. Peter, last Friday, October 7th, 2011.
After the introduction of the CRE director Don Sergio Mercanzin, who brought to the attention of the audience how appreciative were orthodox religious leaders of the Pope’s decision to reinstate the traditional liturgy contrary to what one might have been led to believe, the floor was taken by the President of Centro Culturale Lepanto (CCL), Fabio Bernabei. In fact, the essay was published under the series "Lepanto", whose editorial director Bernabei is.
This initiative should be seen within the wider framework of the CCL activities, an association of lay Catholics active since its inception in 1982 in the propagation of the Church’s social teaching and liturgical tradition, in support of the Pope and the Papacy.
The President noted that the auspicious coincidence of this presentation with the 440th anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto, which was a little archetypical example of a coalition of Catholic forces under the direction and in defense of the Papacy. An example somehow all the more relevant today, in that Catholics are called to come together and close ranks around and under the Pope, to defend him and support him in his action for the good of the Church and the souls under such difficult circumstances.
The Motu Proprio by the Holy Father was exactly aimed at this good, Don Bux pointed out in his intervention, but regrettably there are those who are still bent on impeding its application, as clearly documented in the essay. However, he went on, while his impression was that this opposition was tapering off, he was struck by a phenomenon he noticed for the first time in France, namely that the ancient Roman or “extraordinary” rite was being overwhelmingly attended and promoted by lay and young people.
Among those who graced the event with their presence were two senior cardinals, the prefect emeritus of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” and the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, and the Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives and Librarian of the Vatican Library, Cardinal Raffaele Farina.
“It was a real nightmare putting the Summorum Pontificuminto into practice”, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos painfully recalled to the audience in his address. All the more so if one considers that opposition to the Motu Proprio is rooted in ignorance, he claimed, ignorance of what we have lost and theologically should be viewed in light of the Holy Ghost’s action through the successor of Peter. And the Holy Father wanted to give back to the world such great treasure, the enormous spiritual richness of the ancient liturgy, “a powerful tool of sanctification”.
For Cardinal Raffaele Farina it was also a matter of practical management, which ultimately proved somewhat ineffective, regarding the organised and widespread circulation of all the Magisterium documents to seminaries, parishes, convents, institutes etc., for the young generations to be informed by these documents and thus receive also “intellectual bread”.
Both prelates shared don Bux’s assumption that lay and young people are fulfilling a frontline role in terms of interest in and promotion of the “extraordinary rite”, and voiced appreciation and encouragement for them. After all, it was against this background that also the essay being presented that Friday evening was taking place.