To quote the Curé of Ars for the second time this week, “what a pity… what a pity…”*






(For those who don’t know, he would sometimes gently sigh and mutter this aloud to himself while people were recounting their sins in the confessional.)

I'm waiting to hear why this is a "good thing". It's bound to be coming.

At least they own their own property in Chicago so the diocese can't rip it from them after all that money spent.

As we would say in the South, "Cupich ain't worth killin'." And that was before this happened. One could move farther east to Washington and find another one.

I watched many of the Masses online led by Blase Cardinal Cupich!!!! I'll start watching others. Any recommendations for online Mass? I currently can't attend Mass in person due to a very difficult situation.

Something else. I'm a Texas boy, specifically in Houston, and I needed to watch Mass and his popped up. The church is VERY beautiful and I didn't hear anything persecutory except for the Deacon's irreverent salute to Chicago-based sports teams. But I'll avoid those online Mass videos. Any suggestions for Latin Mass videos?

SSPX? No... Schismatic. FSSP is appropriate.

Cantius is a wonderful parish, and their YouTube channel is well-produced. I'd say check them out for sure.

What’s the source/more details on the Chicago ICKSP? Their website says nothing.

SSPX is objectively schismatic. FSSP was a worthy remedy for those who wanted to remain with the Church while maintaining the Tridentine Mass. I'm sure there are wonderful people who are SSPX clergy and laity but a schism is still a schism.

@CharlesW I will have to check it out. I've never knew of Our Lady of Walsingham until now.

achoyce9, Walsingham is an Ordinariate parish - actually, cathedral I think - that has the Anglican Use mass. Here is their Wiki description.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Our_Lady_of_Walsingham_(Houston)

Jackson goes there and could tell you more.

Well, the Institute isn't going to publish on their website before, um, Sunday Mass, now are they. But apparently nobody read between the lines in the bulletin, in which the rector's note explicitly mentions persecution.

In re: the SSPX, if they were schismatic, Rome wouldn't bother giving them faculties for confession, marriages, etc., they wouldn't be laicized via the Holy See, and they wouldn't deal with the Roman Rota (and sometimes the CDF) to set up tribunals in order to judge clerics. Nor could we licitly attend Mass there or give to the collection, which goes to the upkeep and to the travel expenses of the priest.

(Serviam, you wrote nunciatura, but you meant Signatura, and FWIW, Cardinal Burke is not very down on the SSPX at all.)

I can understand being squeamish about attending their Masses, at least if one has a diocesan TLM or the FSSP, ICRSP, etc. but if the choices are about even or there's no TLM, I understand going to the SSPX without hesitation. Or even the dumb stuff like the ease of obtaining a baptism within a few days of the baby's birth in the lucky event that you live close by to an actual priory with a full-time priest; I've seen people turn to the SSPX even though they are otherwise attendees at the diocesan-approved TLM.

Laura, if you go to Walsingham this Sunday arrive very early for the 11.15 high mass because there will be many, many folks there for the relics of St Bernadette.
The other masses are -
8.00 - which features a Latin Gregorian ordinary sung by the people.
9.00 - which is almost as high as the high mass

I think that Walsingham has a Livestream; but I do know that they post Masses on YouTube. And Bishop Lopes, bishop of the Ordinariate, is (or will be, I don't know when terms start) the USCCB Liturgy chairman.

Right, that was what I was getting at.

Although I am Byzantine, I would drop in to Walsingham from time to time if I lived near Houston. Alas, East Tennessee is too far away.

>> In re: the SSPX, if they were schismatic, Rome wouldn't bother giving them faculties for confession, marriages, etc.

and not just for the Holy Year. It should be noted that in November 2016, Pope Francis' Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera, extended the faculties indefinitely.

Jackson,

I did go this morning! I greatly appreciated your recommendation to arrive early for the 11:15. I did not see your message until after 9:00, but I left the house 20 minutes earlier than I had originally planned and barely managed to find a seat in the very back pew.

I was moderately surprised at how small the church is, but it was lovely and of course, the choir did a magnificent job. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay anywhere near as long as I would have liked, since shortly after Mass ended an usher told everyone in my pew that we had to exit. I also seemed to be the only person within a 10-foot radius who attempted to sing the hymns, even though the church was packed (and as an alto I undoubtedly stood out like a sore thumb). However, this might have had something to do with being in the back pew along with a large number of visitors for the relics of St. Bernadette. I would like to return on a more typical Sunday to see if any of these less-positive aspects are different.

I just moved to Houston a little over a week ago and am still trying to figure out where I would like to attend regularly on Sundays. Unfortunately, I live in the Clear Lake area, and southeast Houston seems to be a wasteland with regard to reverent liturgy, unless you include the SSPX chapel in Dickinson. Walsingham is 33 miles from where I live and the drive is 40 minutes one way, assuming light traffic. As such, it is a bit farther than I would like.

Sponsa,

I don't have more facts, but if you prohibit a priest from celebrating Mass and the sacraments, his whole reason for existence is called into question, which may very well be the point of any attempt to suffocate the Institute.

How do they minister to the members of their lay association (you must mean the Society of the Sacred Heart) if they can't celebrate Mass and the Sacraments?

Legalism at it’s finest.

well, the term "private Mass" was and is a term with multiple meanings. Canonical niceties don't matter when people don't care about the law; also, the Sacred Heart Society is not open to just anyone, and being admitted as a full member happens after a period of discernment, which begins only after your commitment to the Institute, the spiritual life, and the apostolate (ideally, you live near one) is recognized by the priests. It is not too unlike other similar groups and the "third orders."

It's like a story I've heard about Richard Cardinal Cushing: He wanted to do something (I can't remember what) in a certain way; the Chancellor told him that he couldn't because it was contrary to Canon Law. Cushing said, "Show me." Msgr. Chancellor got the Code, showed him the paragraph. Cushing took the book, read it for a moment, walked to the window, opened it, threw the Code of Canon Law out the window (literally), and told the Chancellor, "We'll do it my way."

Nothing has changed, except they now couch their clericalist despotism in words like "Synodality" and "Accompaniment" and "Dialogue", rather than in watered silk and ermine.

Madame,

It's not a dumb question. I've not seen official notification at the Archdiocesan website or at the National Shrine' bulletin, but I, too, noticed what you've raised.

Indeed, that could be the situation.

Our online newsletter tells us,

There is a significant backlog on the weekend Masses, especially for the 8 am & 11 am (EF) Latin.

It is only around a month ago that we cleared the last of the Mass intensions for 2021!

N.B. Our Masses this week...
Saturday 16 July (Our Lady of Mount Carmel)
8.30 am
9.30 am (Latin)
6 pm
7.30 pm (Spanish)

Sunday 17 July
8 am
9.30 am
11 am (Latin)
12.30 pm (Latin)
6 pm

Monday 18 July
7 am (Latin)
9 am
12.15 pm (Latin)

Tuesday 19 July
7 am (Latin)
9 am
12.15 pm (Latin)

Wednesday 20 July
7 am (Latin)
9.30 am
12.15 pm (Latin)

Thursday 21 July
7 am (Latin)
9 am
12.15 pm (Latin)

Friday 22 July (St Mary Magdalene)
7 am (Latin)
9 am
12.15 pm (Latin)
7 pm (English)

Saturday 23 July (St Bridget)
8.30 am
9.30 am (Latin)
6 pm
7.30 pm (Spanish)

No. Please, I'm basically begging everyone to let the canons announce it on their own. Fr Z, when asking for prayers, did not post the intention. Other people leaked what they thought was the news, letting it come piecemeal, before the canons could announce anything, and in fact, they had nothing to announce. If something comes to people in other apostolates, the canons will tell them but will expect them not to put it on social media, not publicly, not until it's been announced from the pulpit at the Shrine or any other apostolate affected.

I think it's fine to share that the canons are signaling that the situation is very grave, that the bulletin note was about persecution, and that they want our prayers. It's not OK to want to be in the know and to get ahead of the canons in sharing the news unless you are a Shrine parishioner and are in the pews when Canon Talarico makes an announcement, or if they have to do it on social media.

“Will no one rid us of this blogging priest….”

/light purple