Convictions_15_2009.pdf

C ONVICTIONS

The Lifting of the

excommunication

Convictions, issue number 15 - February 2009

issue number 15 - February 2009

Dear readers,

This issue # 15 of Convictions marks the beginning of a new and important phase in the life

of our District magazine. Thanks to the zeal and experience of Fr. Wegner, who had been for many

years Superior of the District of Holland-Belgium and at the same time in charge of its magazine,

Convictions is receiving a new impulse, a new life, a new importance. As we said in our last issue, it

is now being published ten times a year (instead of four) and the number of copies printed will be

doubled. We are also working with Canada Post to beneﬁ t from their program assisting small pub-

lications like Convictions.

Many people asked me how I was going to be able to come out with ten issues (still in both lan-

guages) every year? I answered: I cannot! Indeed, it was already quite a challenge for me to publish

four times a year. This means we have to make drastic changes if we are to attain our new objectives.

Basically, and remaining open to future adjustments, Rev. Fr. Wegner and myself have divided the

work in two categories: The creation part (articles, pictures, lay-out, design…) will be done in To-

ronto; the publication part (ﬁ nal proof-reading, printing, mailing, subscription management…) will

stay in Winnipeg. Time permitting, I will still do some translations and write the occasional article,

but I will not be tied to the writing of a regular editorial, as was the case until now.

We will see how this will work out, but I am pretty conﬁ dent that things will go smoothly with

such a new arrangement. I would like to thank heartily everybody who has contributed to the maga-

zine and helped me out since I was given this task in November, 2002. Special thanks to Mrs. Kathy

Trithart who spent so much time helping me out and who bore with such patience my occasional

impatience! Please, continue to help us, as this is not the end, but rather a new beginning! Please

read carefully the information notice below. God bless you all!

Father Patrick Girouard

VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE

1) ALL MATERIAL TO BE PUBLISHED (articles, pictures, news reports, comments from

the readers etc.) is to be sent FROM NOW ON to Rev. Fr. Wegner at St. Michael’s Priory in

Toronto, Ontario (see address on page 24). If your material is on a computer support, please

e-mail it to Father Wegner at the following e-mail address:

j.wegner@rogers.com

2) ANY REQUEST OR QUESTION DEALING WITH SUBSCRIPTIONS AND/OR MAIL

DELIVERY must continue to be addressed to Rev. Fr. Girouard at St. Raphael’s Priory in Win-

nipeg, Manitoba (see address on page 24). You can also reach him by e-mail:

convictions@shaw.ca

C ONVICTIONS

issue number 15 - February 2009

480 McKenzie Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 5B9

Tel / Fax: 204-589-4524, convictions@shaw.ca

“Forming

Catholic

Minds”

Editorial _________________________________________________________ 2

This issue # 15 of Convictions marks the beginning

of a new and important phase in the life of our Dis-

trict magazine.

Fr. Patrick Girouard, SSPX

Have we won ? ___________________________________________ 4

So both the preconditions the Society had estab-

lished before wanting to enter into

negotiations with Rome are fullﬁ lled.

Texts compiled by Fr. Jürgen Wegner

Publisher:

Rev. Fr. Jürgen Wegner

District Superior

Editor:

Rev. Fr. Patrick Girouard

Chroniclers

Rev. Fr. Emanuel Herkel

Mr. Marc Ratusz, BA., MA.Th.

Translations:

Rev. Fr. Patrick Girouard

Printer:

Dave’s Quick Print, Winnipeg

Misconceptions about serving ________________________ 10

It is very rare that important things, truly important

tasks, are delegated to children. How is it possible

that children may serve Mass?

Fr. Todd Angele, SSPX

The Church is going to disappear ________________ 12

The path of the Church, down through the centu-

ries, has had its moments of victory. But, in making

an overall summary, we must humbly admit that

this path has not been a triumph without defeats.

Fr. Jürgen Wegner, SSPX

Subscription Rates:

Canada: $ 25.00 CND, USA: 30.00 USD

International: 35 USD or 28 Euro

Price per issue: $ 3.00 CND

Contributions:

You may contribute to this apostolate of the

Good Press by submitting articles or information,

which could foster the Restoration of Christ’s Social

Kingdom, through the enrichment of both the human

and the religious aspects of our readers’ lives. Please

mention your sources. We do not send back any

documents. Finally, money being war’s fuel, we gladly

accept any donation even though small.

Who can teach ? ________________________________________ 14

Can parents really be considered to be teachers? Can

home-schooling ever be a viable alternative? Can a

Catholic priest or scoutmaster, without a teaching

degree, really teach?

Fr. Peter Scott, SSPX

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate ________________ 17

The commemoration of the four hundredth an-

niversary of the foundation of Quebec City by

Samuel de Champlain gives to the year 2008 a

special meaning for the history of French-speaking

Canada.

Fr. Roger Guéguen, SSPX

Responsibility:

The authors of the articles presented here are solely

responsible for their judgments and opinions.

Ofﬁ cial Publication of the Priestly

Society of Saint Pius X for Canada

CONVICTIONS is a work of apostolate

done under the patronage of the

Immaculate Heart of Mary and

St. Pius X, and is published

ten times a year

What’s happening in the Chruch? ________________ 20

News from the Church

Fr. Peter Scott, SSPX

Coast to Coast __________________________________________ 25

Activities of the SSPX in Canada

Convictions, issue number 15 - February 2009

Have we won...?

On July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI liberated the Tridentine Mass by the Motu Proprio

Summorum Pontiﬁcum. Now on January 21, Cardinal Giovanni Baptista Re,

the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, signed the decree lifting the

excommunication for the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X.

So both the preconditions the Society had established before wanting to enter into

negotiations with Rome are fullﬁlled. Some say that now all is done and the ﬁnal solution is nearby

and others fear just the opposite: that the Society is trapped and condemned to disappear.

Texts compiled by father Jürgen Wegner

Why did Archbishop Lefebvre start up

the Society of St. Pius X?

Archbishop Lefebvre gives us his reason in

the ﬁrst chapter of his “Open Letter to Confused

Catholics” (published in 1985) : “Who can deny

that Catholics in the latter part of the twentieth

century are confused? A glance at what has hap-

pened in the Church over the past twenty years

is enough to convince anyone that this is a rel-

atively recent phenomenon. Only a short time

ago the path was clearly marked: either one fol-

lowed it or one did not. One had the Faith - or

perhaps had lost it - or had never had it. But

he who had it - who had entered the Church

through Baptism, who had renewed his baptis-

mal promises around the age of twelve and had

received the Holy Ghost on the day of his Con-

ﬁrmation - such a person knew what he had to

believe and what he had to do.

Many today no longer know. They hear all

sorts of astonishing statements in the churches,

they read things contrary to what was always

taught, and doubt has crept into their minds.

On June 30 th , 1968, at the close of the Year of

Faith, His Holiness Pope Paul VI made a profes-

sion of the Catholic Faith, in the presence of all

the bishops in Rome and hundreds of thousands

of the faithful. In his introductory remarks, he

put us on guard against attacks on Catholic doc-

trine which, he said, ‘give rise, as we regretful-

ly see today, to trouble and confusion in many

faithful souls.’

The same words crop up in an allocution of

His Holiness Pope John Paul II on February 6,

1981: ‘Christians today, in large part, feel lost,

perplexed, confused, and even deceived.’ The

Have we won...?

Holy Father summarized the underlying causes

of the trouble as follows:

ciological Christianity, without clear dogma or

objective morality.’

‘We see spread abroad ideas contrary to the

truth which God has revealed and which the

Church has always taught. Real heresies have

appeared in dogma and moral theology, stirring

doubt, confusion, rebellion. Even the liturgy

has been harmed. Christians have been plunged

into an intellectual and moral illuminism, a so-

This confusion is seen everywhere - in con-

versations, in books, in newspapers, in radio

and television broadcasts, in the behavior of

Catholics, which shows up as a sharp decline in

the practice of the faith as statistics reveal, a dis-

satisfaction with the Mass and the sacraments, a

general relaxation of morals.”

Prot. N. 126/2009

Congregation for Bishops

Decree

In a letter dated December 15, 2008, and addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, Presi-

dent of the Ecclesia Dei Pontiﬁ cal Commission, Bishop Bernard Fellay, on his behalf and that of the other three

Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested again the lifting of the excommunication latae sententiae for-

mally pronounced by a Decree from the Prefect of this same Congregation for Bishops dated July 1, 1988. In the

above mentioned letter, Bishop Fellay, among other things, stated: “We are still as steadfast in our determination

to remain Catholic and to place all our strength at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the

Roman Catholic Church. We ﬁ lially accept her teaching. We ﬁ rmly believe in the primacy of Peter and in its pre-

rogatives, and this is the reason why the present situation makes us suffer all the more.”

His Holiness Benedict XVI - touched with fatherly compassion over the spiritual difﬁ culty manifested by those

concerned by the sanction of excommunication and conﬁ dent that the commitment they expressed in the above

quoted letter of sparing no effort to go further in the necessary discussions with the Authorities of the Holy See con-

cerning the issues still pending, and thus of being able to reach quickly a full and satisfactory solution of the prob-

lem raised at the origin - has decided to re-consider the canonical standing of the Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard

Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta with respect to their episcopal consecrations.

This act expresses the desire to consolidate reciprocal conﬁ dence in our dealings, to intensify and give stability

to the relations of the Society of Saint Pius X with the Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas

celebrations, is also intended to be a sign for the promotion of unity in charity in the universal Church, and to

thereby remove the scandal of division.

It is wished that this step be followed without delay by the full communion with the Church of all the Society

of Saint Pius X, in testimony of a true ﬁ delity and genuine recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of

the Pope by the proof of visible unity.

According to the faculties expressly conceded to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, by virtue of the present De-

cree, I remit the censure of excommunication latae sententiae, pronounced by this Congregation on July 1, 1988,

from Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galaretta, and as of

this day, I likewise declare void of juridical effects the Decree published at the time.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, this 21 st day of January, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re

Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops

Convictions, issue number 15 - February 2009

Have we won...?

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