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| Bishop material on the right |
We, in Wales and England have received a flurry of new bishops and archbishops in the past few months, with more yet to come.
Some of the new appointments are of men who appear to have some connection or even sympathy with offering the Tridentine Latin Mass, others.....well....the jury's out.
But, I'm afraid I cannot go down the 'ecstatic' route with most of those appointments.
Being a good and holy priest is not enough to produce a good and holy bishop.
We need more, much more.
The Catholic world is full of good men in the form of priests but, not many of them qualify for the title alter Christus - other Christs.
Quite a few of them ignore Canon Law and do their own thing when it comes to celebrating Mass.
And quite a few of those also ignore doctrinal matters and pick and mix the Sacraments and the basic tenets of the Faith; selecting and de-selecting as they see fit.
So what is the ph test that determines whether a priest is going to make a good bishop?
It's simple.
Does he celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form on a regular basis?
And I don't mean offering the Mass of all Time once a year on a Wednesday afternoon.
I mean weekly. And on a Sunday.
That sorts out the wheat from the chaff.
Not too much wheat, I suspect.
Yes,you are right.But,having the E.F.celebrated in the Cathedral on a sunday,even if not celebrated by the Bishop is an enormous step in the right direction.I speak for my Diocese of course.I have noticed also, green shoots from this, even in my once most liberal of parishes.Over Easter,instead of the plain,wooden cross,we had a crucifix to venerateThe vigil not only had the Pange Lingua,all verses sung in Latin,a beautiful exultet sung instead of said,and we were all soaked with Holy Water.....Smallish things I know,but to me they mean a great deal.The holiness of the E.F spreads.
ReplyDeleteAh, but you have Bishop Egan Sandy!
DeleteForgot the incense!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAh yes,by the grace of God,Bishop Egan.
ReplyDeleteSo what you are saying is that 99.9% of priests/bishops are not or would not make good bishops (as well as all Popes since John XXIII, including Benedict)?
ReplyDeleteFr John, that is correct. Pope Benedict would, I believe, fall into the 0.1% figure.
DeleteI'm sorry but how exactly would Ex-Pope Benedict fall into the 0.1% figure since he never celebrated the EF regularly least of all weekly on a Sunday?
ReplyDelete