US Nuncio joins Pope Francis in ridiculing young priests



Personally I found it shocking that Pope Francis used his intervention at the Synod on Synodality to attack young priests who want to purchase dignified vestments to offer or assist the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

The Holy Father states: 

“It is the great defeat to which clericalism leads us. And this with a lot of shame and scandal, just go to ecclesiastical tailors in Rome to see the scandal of young priests trying on cassocks and hats or albs and surplice with lace. Clericalism is a whip, it is a scourge, it is a form of worldliness that soils and damages the face of the Lord's bride; and enslaves God's faithful holy people.”

Neither is this the first time he has invested time and energy in his papacy to attack clergy who vest in appropriate ways.

In 2022 it was lace that saw the brunt of his ire.

In 2016, he took aim at a wide range of clerical dress:


So why is he so bothered by what young priests wear?

It is easy to link his words with Matthew 23:5 where Jesus attacks the Pharisees with fancy tassels and lengthened phylacteries. Is there not at least some sort of parallel, here, that the Pope is making?

It's important to note that Jesus does not condemn the wearing of phylacteries or fringes. The objects are not wrong, neither is their use. Rather, He calls out religious leaders for making an excessive show of those objects: wearing large, broad phylacteries & extended fringes so everyone will notice them. Their intent is not primarily to honour God; it's to get credit from other men for being extra religious and good. They had lost sight of the proper motive for these religious objects: a reminder of the law.

Following the Pope's words at the Synod, the US Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre has jumped on the bandwagon and repeated the accusations in an America Magazine interview.

In this video I discuss this as well as one young priest's response:

Comments

  1. P. O'Brien12 November 2023 at 10:28

    A couple of years ago the then Archbishop Christophe Pierre was in Denver and said Mass at the Little Sisters of the Poor chapel. The nuns asked me to play the organ for the Mass, and I would never refuse them. After Mass my wife and I greeted the archbishop at the door, and I said, happy to be teasing even an apostolic nuncio, "You are the second French archbishop whose Mass I have attended." Then I told him who first archbishop was (you can guess: Marcel Lefebvre) and he responded, diplomat that he is, "There is a continuity." I'm not sure there is a great continuity between these two archbishops, but the poor nuncio must have thought that he was surrounded by crazy Latin Mass whackos. I hope so.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Edvenify12 November 2023 at 18:50

    Dear Mr Lambert

    What's the best way to contact you?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sitsio13 November 2023 at 08:19

      You could leave a message here - if it is sensitive and you don't want it to be public just let me know and I will delete it rather than publish it. All messages posted on here are seen by me before I make them public.

      Delete
    2. Edvenify13 November 2023 at 08:23

      I was hoping to send you an email.

      Delete
    3. Edvenify13 November 2023 at 12:15

      Seen! Thank you!

      Delete
  3. FRANCIS MARSDEN Rev Dr17 November 2023 at 22:36

    Is Pierre hoping for promotion by echoing his boss?
    I'm not one for lots of lace, but during PFs pontificate the number of seminarians worldwide has declined steadily from a peak of 125,000 in 2012 to 109,000 in 2021. Previously it had risen every year from JP2's inauguration in 1978. Hardly a vote of confidence in PF.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sitsio21 November 2023 at 10:27

      "Is Pierre hoping for promotion by echoing his boss?" - It would certainly appear that has been his strategy & it is one that worked, he was made cardinal in September of this year.

      Delete

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