Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei now under Congregation for the Doctrin of the Faith

Something rather interesting appeared in the Bollettino today. I give you the english version from the Vatican Information Service for July 8th.

- [Pope Benedict] Appointed Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to the additional office of president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei". He succeeds Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, whom the Holy Father thanked at the end of his service as president of the same commission.

I'm sure it has to do with the news reported by Fr. Z on June 10th, 2009 via an article in il Giornale by the Italian journalist, Andrea Tornielli:

In the next weeks there will be published a Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI which makes the Commission Ecclesia Dei … an organism of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Pope Ratzinger had already announced this last March, in the letter sent to all the bishops of the world dedicated to the Williamson case and the revocation of the excommunication of the prelates consecrated by Lefebvre. Next 4 July Darìo Card. Castrillòn Hoyos, present President of Ecclesia Dei, will turn 80 years of age and will leave his post for reasons of age. The Commission will then be presided over by the Prefect of the ex-Holy Office, the American William Joseph Card. Levada. The Vice-President Msgr. Perl will remain in his place while there will be named a new Secretary to replace the [recently] deceased Msgr. Mario Marini. Just this morning, the French agency I.Media revealed that in the "feria quarta" meeting the cardinal members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith put together a first platform for the beginning of dialogue with the Lefebvrites. ... Meanwhile, as Il Giornale anticipated a few days ago, this Saturday there ought to be announced the nomination of the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship [Archbp.] Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don as Archbishop of Colombo. In his place there will be designated the present Undersecretary of the ex-Holy Office the Domincan DiNoia.

There is a more extensive article on this by Gregor Kollmorgen at the New Liturgical Movement blog: Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei Attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Other related posts (may be updated so check back)

• The Next Logical Step: the Pont. Comm. “Ecclesia Dei” RESTRUCTURED (Fr. Z)
• A note bout PCED Sec. Msgr. Camille Perl (Fr. Z)
• John L. Allen of NCR on the restructuring of the PCED (Fr. Z analyzes a piece in the ultra-dissenting National Catholic Reporter......keep in mind the secular media has a propensity to seek out opinions from dissenting resources such as the NCR).

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

Vatican not taking resistance to Summorum Pontificum

This is really welcome news, folks. I have been unable to keep up with Fr. Z and all the evidence he has revealed of a resistance to Summorum Pontificum (the document in which Pope Benedict derestricted the TLM) - much of it subtle in the form of "norms" or "guidelines" issued by various bishops which are more of a deterrent than anything.

If you are hungry for news on the Tridentine, you really need to pay Fr. Z's blog a visit daily. I can guarantee, you will have your fill.

Fr. Z presents an interview of Msgr. Perl of the commission, Ecclesia Dei and sums it up as follows:

Still, the golden nuggets in this interview are these:

• the Commission is considering interpretive guidelines for Summorum Pontificum
• the Commission has competence to issue such guidelines
• that competence supersedes that of individual diocesan bishops
• the Commission interprets the Motu Proprio
• the Commission is very aware of those who are opposing the Motu Proprio ("in plain sight")

And on the level of Msgr. Perl’s opinion:

• in this day and age few people are capable of true obedience
  many bishops and priests speaking and acting against the Pope’s provisions are showing disobedience
• just because something is newer it is not therefore better

Other things are happening, such as that mentioned in my previous post in which Bishop Fisichella engages in a crackdown on bias towards seminarians at the Pontifical Lateran University who wish to assist at the older form of the Mass, and on bias towards seminarians who wear clerical garb, including the cassock (anyone who knows the state of many seminaries these days, understands that to get ordained, a man ought not wear orthodoxy or traditionalism on his sleeve, nor should he come across as too devout. In some places, there is a paid psychiatrist waiting to "de-program" such people out of their "rigidness". Thankfully, this is changing, but not fast enough in some quarters and this is the kind of thing that needs to start happening. It needs to be addressed and discussed openly by those in authority who KNOW what is happening!!!).

Then, the other day I told you about Abp Ranjith's comment that those who resiste Summorum Pontificum are allowing themselves to be used as instruments of the devil.

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