Are men with an attachment to the TLM still being denied entry to seminary? August 30, 2011
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, episcopate, Eucharist, foolishness, General Catholic, Latin Mass, Liturgy, North Deanery, Papa, priests, sadness, scandals.trackback
According to anecdotal collected by a Fr. Michael Brown, the answer is in his opinion yes:
Reports reach the Forest now and again about bishops and vocations directors quizzing seminarians about their interest in the Extraordinary Form. This could be a good thing: they might be ensuring that seminarians are at one with the mind of the Church about the Extraordinary Form regarding which Universae Ecclesiae told us a few months ago:6. The Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI and the last edition prepared under Pope John XXIII, are two forms of the Roman Liturgy, defined respectively as ordinaria and extraordinaria: they are two usages of the one Roman Rite, one alongside the other. Both are the expression of the same lex orandi of the Church. On account of its venerable and ancient use, the forma extraordinaria is to be maintained with appropriate honour.
Thus if bishops and vocations directors are expressing any concern regarding the Extraordinary Form and seminarians it would, one would think, be to ensure that all seminarians are at home in both forms of the Roman Rite and most importantly are taught how to celebrate and to love the EF.Sadly this is not what one hears. Instead seminarians are quizzed about their interest in the Extraordinary Form in such a way as to make clear to them that any interest would be considered a problem and as they used to say in my time, `a formation issue`. This is outrageous given developments in recent years. Eventually this will change but until then it is sad that people who are only following the directives of the Holy See are made to suffer.
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
How unfortunate for these young men and for the Diocese, if this is in fact true.
On the other hand, I know of a few ‘traditional’ orders that would love to train them.
This may be happening in some places, but I would expect it in places that have more watered down reputations. I recall during my own “discernment process” (I’m a revert) that I did not want to be sent to certain seminaries where the orthodoxy was not present, and after considering the diocesan priesthood, there were a few dioceses that I chose not to apply.
I know of a west coast diocese years ago that rejected some seminarians who upheld the church’s teaching’s on women’s ordination. Also, a good priest once told me that when Bishop Baker came to the diocese of Charleston (SC), he reviewed the seven rejected seminarian candidates from previous years. Six of the seven ended up entering seminary not long after Baker got involved. I’ve also heard stories of seminarians who kept their orthodoxy under the radar (particularly in the 1980’s) until they got ordained. Today, these orthodox priests have thriving congregations. I’m aware of one or two who after ordination, got a release to the military, where they could be orthodox without persecution by their home diocese or religious order.
As far as implementing the TLM, some parishes are not set up properly for it. One parish over in West Plano celebrating the TLM would be out of the question. In Dallas, St. Thomas Aquinas, Christ the King, and probably St. Monica’s could do a reverent TLM. If you have an altar that is properly set up, and a parish that looks like a church and not a bank building, that’s great. I’ve noticed more newer parishes with more “traditional” architecture.
There’s also training that needs to be done. One parish in the Lansing diocese accomplished this over time, saying it wanted to be done reverently, and not “on the fly”. Some priests do know Latin (it depends on their own education, seminary and elsewhere, self-study, and desire), while others do not know Latin.
Time to get down from my soapbox.