Mourning has broken
"I can't fight back the tears. This is the saddest moment in my life as a man, priest and bishop," Luca Brandolini, a member of the liturgy commission of the Italian bishops' conference, told Rome daily La Repubblica in an interview on Sunday.
"It's a day of mourning, not just for me but for the many people who worked for the Second Vatican Council. A reform for which many people worked, with great sacrifice and only inspired by the desire to renew the Church, has now been cancelled."
Talk about hyperbole. It is bad enough when the press gets it so wrong, but it is extra sad to see a bishop disparage the Mass used by the Church for 500 years plus. We have been use to radical traditionalists disparage the 1969 missal and not making distinctions between it and the experimental celebration of it. Now we will be having the other side do the same to the Tridentine Rite. Funny how all the talk about diversity and tolerance means that we can not celebrate two approved forms of the Mass within the Latin rite. Maybe we should advertise the Tridentine Rite as a multicultural experience.
Known as 
THis really is worthy of Pseuds Corner
According to www.catholic-hierarchy.org Bishop Brandolini is 74 years old. This guy lived through World War II and THIS is the saddest moment in his life. I was looking for anything to indicate this was a parody or satire, but after following the story link, I see it's not. Sigh.
This morning our priest compared these doomsayers to people wringing their hands over an incipient invasion of the United States by Lichtenstein, who has recently allied with Haiti to take over the world. Supposedly only (or less than?) 1% of the clergy is even trained to say this Mass.
His Excellency, along with many other Catholics, fails to realize that we already have several approved Missals, including the 1962, the 1970, the Anglican Use, and the Clown Use. Okay, the last one is not official, but it is observed in some parishes.
The word histrionic comes to mind, and I agree with EegahInc - he must get out much.
Frankly, I feel sorry for the bishop. It is possible that he believed in good faith that what he was doing was for the good of the Church. It is hard to be told that one is wrong or misled, especially in ones dotage...
I admire these words of his though:
"I will obey, because I care for the Holy Father. I have for him the same sentiment that a son has for his father. And then, as a bishop, I am bound to obedience."
Would that more of us simply obey the Holy Father!
Cry me a river. Can I say, "Luca Brandolini sleeps with the fishes?"
Fr. Erik, you're out of line. Although I sympathize; I've felt that what Christianity in the west needs to thrive is a rash of funerals...
Well, Jeff, you could rightly call it part of the peace movement--that might soothe some liberal souls.
I guess he is the "Troutperson" of Italy.
Maybe we should advertise the Tridentine Rite as a multicultural experience.
Reading this zinger I very nearly fell out of my chair laughing so hard! 8-)
Such sweet, sweet irony!
Funny how some who are screaming the loudest against the Church addressing the concerns of many traditional Catholics see no problem here in the U.S. with some parishes having Masses in two, three, or four different languages so as to address the concerns of new immigrants.
Correct me if I am wrong... but didn't Vatican II last from 1962-1965?
Wouldn't that mean that all the Masses celebrated at Vatican II were according to the 1962 missal?
So can't those of us celebrating the return of the 1962 missal justly say that we are returning to the true Mass of Vatican II?
The bishop's perspective is wrong but his decision is right. VCII has not been scrapped, and we all ought to obey the Holy Father even when we wonder why he's doing what he's doing.
To Bishop Luca Brandolini: Oh grow up, Excellency. How can a man of your age and pastoral experience say that the promulgation [sic?] of Summorum Pontificum is the saddest "momento" of your long life.
Really, now!
Jeff, you hit it right on the head. Thanks for the breath of fresh air after reading those nonsensical rags the journalists are putting out there now.
I am for one, very pleased with this decree by the Holy Father. It still takes action on the the diocese and parish-level for further implementation. Even if the decree weren't in agreement with my personal opinion, I would follow (within due reason) the Holy Father's decisions. The bishop who is "in mourning" should snap out of it (apparently he isn't forgone since he is accepting the Holy Father's decision). ...And no, I don't think the bishop should be "sleeping with the fishes..." we have far bigger "fish" to fry on that one...and it isn't even Lent again, yet! Ok, I'll leave the zingers to you, Jeff.
...Still, good one there at the end!
Another thing, get ready for this news flash:
"The Vatican will issue another text on Tuesday expected to declare Roman Catholicism the only true church of Jesus Christ, a statement that could anger Protestants."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070708/ts_nm/pope_latin_dc_5;_ylt=AvK2KmPkPAWF85GwpTLpIjdn.3QA
Oh, no... :) Here we go again! Those "crazy Catholics"...I would like to know if any other denomination wouldn't try to state that they are the "true" Faith. Well, folks I'm glad to say that the Holy Father has no qualms about laying down what the Church teaches and lets those who disagree with it go away.
I really do think that the press has something against "traditional" Catholicism. It's as if we are out to piss off the entire world. It think it's the other way around the rest of the world is trying to piss the traditional Catholics off. I say let it keep coming...it just validates that the Teaching is true.
I'll be waiting on Sept. 14th with the Latin missal. Let's go Latin! :)
His Excellency's comments seem along the same lines as the expressions of dismay upon Benedict XVI's election to the Apostolic See back in '05; I recall an article in one of the local papers in which a priest from Latin America heralded Cardinal Ratzinger's election as the worst blow dealt the Church in modern history. And guess what? The Church is still here. Hmmm...
I was just a little kid when Vatican II blew in. I do remember distinctly that there was much "neener, neener, we got our way. Sit down and shut up, you traditionalists." Now the progressives must eat a little humble pie and they are not very experienced in exercising the virtue of humility. We must not behave as they did however. As much as we'd like to give it right back to them, we need to be kind. Tough one...