Juventutem in Bern, Switzerland, February 21-22, 2009

Young Catholic Adults, originally uploaded by ps99ddb.

(The full report can be found at:-http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/news.htm)

For the second time, representatives from Juventutem groups in various countries have met in Bern, Switzerland, on February 21st and 22nd, 2009.

The schedule was similar to the one last year. Over twenty Juventutem members had travelled to Switzerland for the occasion. They came from France, England, Ireland, Slovakia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Spain, of course Switzerland, and even Russia. Like last year, the aim was not to have many people, but rather to ensure diversity of representation.

The gathering officially started with Holy Mass at 3pm at the Villa Maria. Juventutem Ecclesiastical Assistant Fr Armand de Malleray offered a votive Mass of Saint John Bosco, Patron of Catholic Youth. In English and in French Fr de Malleray drew a parallel between St John Bosco’s time and ours, reminding us that the great apostle of Turin had had to overcome all sorts of suspicion and of opposition as the government accused him of working for the Vatican against the new regime set up by the Piedmont-Savoy sacrilegious monarch. King Victor-Emmanuel of Piedmont-Savoy had indeed invaded the Pontifical States, putting all Catholic clergy loyal to the Sovereign Pontiff in a very delicate situation. Despite the most obvious value of St John Bosco’s apostolates for the education of the youth and of the clergy, shaping young men into good and trustworthy subjects when so many others were falling into illegality and vices, these worthy initiatives were often hindered by civil authorities. This did not prevent the saint from working wonders at the service of God. Fr de Malleray said that current anti Catholic prejudice could sometimes discourage us in the XXIst century. However he added, we should be certain that God’s almighty grace could help us bare abundant fruit and achieve great things for his Reign - if only union with God was our essential and constant goal. Thomas Balsis from Lithuania served the Low Mass, which was concluded by the singing of the Marian antiphon “Ave Regina Coelorum”.

After thanksgiving, we met in the refectory for coffee. The Juventutem Federation’s flag was hanging on the wall. Like last year, the Sisters had prepared everything for us on the tables and really made us all feel at home. There was an informal time for greeting each other. It was good to see again many members who had come last year. For instance, newlywed Damian Barker from Juventutem England (YCA) had come with his wife. Some of us had seen each other in between, either at the traditional pilgrimage to Chartres, or at WYD in Australia. Vassili came from Moscow, where he leads the Gregorian schola for the Old Rite Mass.

Juventutem Federation President Gregory Flash then opened the official session. Each member introduced himself or herself and shared update on his or her group’s activities. Gregory said it was important to keep the Federation informed of what we were doing as Juventutem groups. He asked whether we had seen any improvement in our situations as the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum was making the Roman traditions of the Church better valued and accessible. It seemed that the multiplication of Mass centers in the Extraordinary Form could make it easier for more youths to hear about these traditions and benefit from them, but on the other hand, it also meant that each Mass center had fewer people attending, thus making the traditional setting sometimes less attractive for youths. Young people like it better when they see a sufficient number of other youths interested in the same things.

Cosimo also asked for the addresses to be updated, as a fair number of the 450 Juventutem Christmas cards he had sent two months ago had been returned to him due to incorrect address.

Gregory Flash then announced his intention to have a successor elected. He added that he had talked already with Raphaël Waldis about that possibility. We then proceeded with the vote, with Raphaël being elected at the first ballot. Several groups who did not have a representative physically present had sent a proxy. Raphaël thanked the members and said he was happy to be of help. The fact he lives in Switzerland will help for collaboration with Treasurer Cosimo Marti.

We then went back into the chapel for exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and adoration, served by Damian Barker, from England. It was a wonderful moment, all of us gathered before the Lord, fulfilling a very essential dimension of Juventutem’s spirituality centered on Eucharistic devotion, both through the Mass and through adoration, as depicted in our logo. After having exposed the Blessed Sacrament, Fr de Malleray recessed in the sacristy to hear confessions while we adored. He then came back and led us in praying a decade of the Rosary asking for strength and protection for the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. He reminded us of the fact a novena was currently being prayed all over the world for the Holy Father, ending the day after, on the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. We also presented to God the intentions of all Juventutem groups and supporters all over the world.

After adoration we cleaned the refectory and tidied up the chapel and sacristy, before making our way to Il Grissino, the restaurant where we were to have dinner. It was a very merry evening in a casual and convivial atmosphere. We were glad to have among us Mr Heinz Müller, an ebenist supporting Juventutem (although not a Catholic). The night was beautiful, with snow in the streets, then quieter than last year when it was carnival.

Dinner at the restaurant was a great opportunity for all to talk casually with each other and exchange news. French and English were the most commonly spoken languages.

On Sunday morning 22 February we all met again at Holy Trinity Church for Holy Mass. Like last year the Secretary to the Papal Nunciature attended Mass in choir. Mgr Ruiz Mainardi had been assigned at the Papal Nunciature in Cuba, but his successor was equally pleased to pray with us. Unlike last year though, for want of available clerics, we had a Sung Mass and not a Solemn High Mass. It was served by male members of Juventutem from various countries, while others – boys and girls alike – joined in the schola to sing the Gregorian kyriale and proper of the Quinquagesima Sunday. Fr de Malleray offered the Mass and preached on Juventutem. He quoted Pope Benedict’s homily at Randwick on the last WYD in Sydney, and also Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos’ letter of support to the International Juventutem Federation last year.

After thanksgiving we met for breakfast at the Hôtel National where Dr and Mrs Gerd Weisensee joined us. Dr Weisensee has supported Juventutem from the beginning and had given a talk on pro-life legal issues related with health insurance at the first Juventutem gathering in Bavaria, August 2005. Breakfast was followed with a projection of pictures and films (www.juventutem.org) on Juventutem activities over the past year, mainly on the Eucharistic Congress in Québec, Canada, and at WYD in Melbourne and Sydney. We then had a time for sharing our experiences and our expectations as Juventutem members. Tomas Balsis, from Juventutem Lithuania, was presented with an ancient map of his country. It was quite unique to hear such a diversity of testimonies among a rather small group of people representing very diverse cultures and languages (with members from Spain, France, England, Ireland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Slovakia, Italy and Russia).

We then met for lunch at Il Grissino where the waiters now know our group fairly well. The Nunciature’s Secretary came for lunch as well and was able to speak with Kieran, from Juventutem Ireland, his fellow citizen. Fr Arnaud Evrat, FSSP, the chaplain to Juventutem Switzerland, attended lunch as well. Some of us started departing in order to catch their trains back home, while others stayed longer. Some were shown around Bern by Cosimo Marti. That week-end has been a blessed time of fraternal gathering and it is a pleasure to see that the Federation is getting stronger through mutual friendship and prayer. We all gave thanks to God “Who giveth joy to our youth" - ad Deum qui laetificat Juventutem nostram. Taken from (http://www.juventutem.org)

The Pope Appoints Fr. Tim Finigan as the New Archbishop of Westminster

Ooops I'm daydreaming again! H/t to Fr Z at http://wdtprs.com

Support Fr. Tim Finigan Against the Bitter Taste of the Tablet

(Editorial Note) I've just read one of the nastiest articles for a long time। Click here for the full story.It seems to me that the only reason it (the Tablet) ran the article was that Fr. Tim Finigan, celebrates one extraordinary form Mass on a Sunday morning - goodness me what a terrible thing to do!(plus 3 other English Novus Ordo Masses over the weekend). But surely this is exactly what Pope Benedict wants in his reform of the liturgy। Fr. Tim Finigan is just being a faithful Catholic Priest - nothing more and nothing less.

Have the Tablet finally lost it I ask, well I think they have. It manages to find 9 people who don't like Father Finigan - is that all they could get!! In one Parish in the South West of England (which will remain nameless) the whole Church appeared to dislike a new incoming Priest (for no apparent reason - he seemed very pleasant to me).

I have only met Fr. Finigan a couple of times and had email contact a couple of times; however, it struck me (and this is confirmed from everyone else I come into contact with) that he is one of the best, hard working and most decent of Parish Priests that I have ever come across. The Tablet should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. If anyone reads this entry and subscribes to this periodical (unlikely I know) PLEASE CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION NOW.

As Fr. Z says,

"The progressivists are terrified.They are afraid that Fr. Finigan might succeed. They are attacking him in order to discourage other priests from doing what Fr. Finigan is accomplishing.They hate what he stands for and they earnestly will work for his failure. And not just failure. They want him to fail and suffer in his failure.They will do anything and to anyone to prevent the older form of Mass from resurging."

Please keep up the great work that you are doing Fr. Tim Finigan, we're all behind you.

Fr Ray Blake - Some Good Points

I came across this today and thought it worth copying in full:-

The battle, or maybe it is a war, is ultimately about whether we can know God and trust what he has revealed. Most of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council was issued in the form of a Decree, solemn teaching meant to inform the Church and individuals. Four documents were issued as were issued as "Dogmatic Constitutions", these were intended not just to teach but to form Catholic theology, to identify what was de fide, of the faith.

It is widely known that the young Father Joseph Ratzinger was one of the major authors behind the Dogmatic Constitution on the Word of God, Dei Verbum. In it modern biblical science is examined such as text and form criticism, the examination whether a document is meant to be a story, a myth or an historic truth, it examines the authorship of scripture by God and man, and the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. It sought to answer Modernism and Literalist Fundamentalism.

Modernism: basically said that scripture was a purely human invention, which means it is powerless, and God does not touch humanity.

Literalist Fundamentalist: would have scripture dictated by God directly into the ear of its human author, which is simply nonsensical, it denies a Catholic understanding of Grace and human co-operation with it.

Practically every word the Pope has uttered or written since his election as Pope has been on God's revelation to Man. His emphasis on the Hermeneutic of Continuity says that God has been present in his Church for two thousand years and can be indeed be trusted, we have not been left orphans. His book Jesus of Nazareth is continually stressing that the Gospels can be trusted, which is so important when most theologians and most scripture scholars follow the Protestant line of the unreliability of scripture. His Wednesday catechesis on the Fathers and St Paul stress the continuity of the Church from Christ to the present day, and God's continued guidance. The Synod on the Word of God, which was a bit lack-lustre, but more importantly the eventual release of his response to it, is crucial to this Papacy and I am sure will emphasise God speaking to his people.

I really do believe that we are entering a period in the history of the Church which touches on issues as important as the Christological controversies of the first millenium. It is about the very nature of God himself. The Pope alone, and those who gather with him, stands for the continuation of the Catholic faith: God speaking directly through Tradition and Scripture, God touching directly the lives of the faithful through the sacraments, Man being saved by coming into contact with God in his Church.

The Pope's almost manic ecumenical work with the Orthodox, his inter-religious dialogue, his reconciliation of Traditionalist groups, of talks with groups of "Catholic" Anglicans are all about strengthening the position of those who believe God is "knowable". H/t to Fr. Ray Blake.

Benedict on Bede

Pope Benedict today on the venerable Bede:-

VENERABLE BEDE: SAINT AND SCHOLAR

VATICAN CITY, 18 FEB 2009 (VIS) - In the general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 15,000 people, Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to St. Bede the Venerable.

Bede was born around the year 672 in the English region of Northumbria . When he was seven years old his family entrusted his education to the abbot of a nearby Benedictine monastery and he became, the Holy Father explained, "one of the most outstanding scholars of the early Middle Ages. ... His teaching and the fame of his writings brought him many friends among the principal personages of his day, who encouraged him to continue his work, which brought benefits to so many people".

"Sacred Scripture was the constant source of Bede's theological reflections". He considered "the events of the Old and New Testaments jointly" as "a way towards Christ", a testament to the same faith, "though expressed using different signs and institutions".

As an example of this, Benedict XVI mentioned Bede's interpretation of the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem: "Just as pagans also helped to build the ancient Temple by supplying materials and the technical experience of their master builders, so the edification of the Church involved apostles and masters who came not just from the ancient Hebrew, Greek or Latin peoples, but also from the new peoples, among whom Bede mentions the Irish Celts and the Anglo-Saxons".

The Pope then dwelt upon some of the saint's written works, such as the "'Chronica Maiora' in which he establishes a chronology which would become the basis of the universal calendar 'ab incarnatione Domini', ... and his 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', for which he is known as the father of English historiography.

"The characteristic traits of the Church which Bede sought to underline are: catholicity, seen as faithfulness to tradition while remaining open to historical developments, and as the search for 'unity in diversity', ... and apostolicity and 'Romanitas'. In this context Bede considered it vitally important to convince the Churches of the Celts and the Picts to celebrate Easter together, in accordance with the Roman calendar".

"Bede was also a great master of liturgical theology, ... educating the faithful to celebrate the mysteries of the faith with joy, and to reflect those mysteries coherently in their lives while awaiting their full manifestation in the return of Christ".

"Thanks to his approach to theology - which involved a combination of the Bible, liturgy and history - Bede has a modern message for the various 'states' of Christian life", said the Pope. "He reminds scholars of two essential tasks: scrutinising the marvels of the Word of God so as to present them in a manner attractive to the faithful, and explaining dogmatic truths while avoiding heretical complications and keeping to 'Catholic simplicity', with the attitude of the meek and humble to whom it pleases God to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom".

For their part, pastors "must give priority to preaching, not only through sermons and hagiographies, but also by using icons, processions and pilgrimages". To consecrated people, "Bede recommends focus on the apostolate, both by collaborating with bishops in various kinds of pastoral activities in support of young Christian communities, and by offering themselves for evangelising missions".

The scholar saint also affirmed that Christ "wants an industrious Church, ... one intent on cultivating other fields and vineyards, .... in other words on introducing the Gospel into the social fabric and cultural institutions". He also "exhorted the lay faithful to be assiduous in their religious education, ... He taught them how to pray continuously, ... offering all their actions as a spiritual sacrifice in union with Christ".

The Venerable Bede died in May of the year 735. "It is a fact", Pope Benedict concluded, "that with his works he made an effective contribution to the construction of a Christian Europe".

AG/VENERABLE BEDE/... VIS 090218 (660)


V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.
Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

Saturday 28th February 2009, 3pm-4pm: “Art for Souls” Tour guided by Fr Armand de Malleray

Saturday 28th February 2009, 3pm-4pm:

National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London:

“Art for Souls” Tour guided by Fr Armand de Malleray: a meditation on several Catholic paintings illustrating the theme

“Christ’s saving Passion”.

Meet inside the entrance hall of the Sainsbury Wing from 2.40pm until 2.55pm.

Informal coffee at the Gallery’s cafeteria after the tour.

Free entrance, all invited.

Fraternity of St. Peter - News from England

Lent 2009 with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint 2009

Wednesday 25 th February, 11:20am and 7pm: Ash Wednesday: St William of York’s, Upper Redlands RoadRG1 5JT, Reading: Holy Mass with imposition of Ashes, Confessions will be heard.

Saturday 28 th February, 3pm-4pm: National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London: “Art for Souls” Tour guided by Fr Armand de Malleray: a meditation on several Catholic paintings illustrating the theme “Christ’s saving Passion”. Meet inside the entrance hall of the Sainsbury Wing from 2.40pm until 2.55pm. Informal coffee at the Gallery’s cafeteria after the tour. Free entrance, all invited.

March 2 nd -6 th : Lenten Retreat, Douai Abbey Upper Woolhampton RG7 5TQ, Berkshire, United Kingdom (about1 hour west from London; nearest railway station: Midgham): Starts Monday 2009 March 2009 at 2pm – ends Friday ६th March 2009 at 11am. Cost: £169 - to cover: £155 for accommodation (discount granted on request by the Abbey) + £14 for Retreat Master’s expenses. Theme: "By his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Daily Mass. Possibility of individual meeting with Fr de Malleray for confession and spiritual advice.

Monday 9 th March, 7.30pm: Newman House, Gower Street, London: conference for students on: “Evil, phenomenon or a person?”

Saturday 14 th March, 11am: Day of recollection, Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh Road,Portsmouth, PO1 3HG: Talks, Mass (at 12.15pm), Stations of the Cross, time for confessions and benediction .Ends at ४.15pm. Confessions will be heard.

Saturday 21 st March: Lenten day of recollection at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory parish Warwick Street in London: 10:45am: faithfuls arrival; 11am: Morning conference (in the church); 12 noon: Holy Mass; 1:30pm: bring and share picnic (in the basement room); 2:30pm: Afternoon conference (in the church);3:30pm: Benediction; 4pm. Confessions will be heard during the conferences.

Saturday 28 th March, 3pm : Our Lady of the Assumption and St Edward the Confessor, 14 Empress Road, Lyndhurst, Hants, SO43 7AE: Holy Mass followed with refreshments and Lenten conference, ending with Benediction. Confessions will be heard.

Sunday 5 th April, 11am: Palm Sunday: blessing of palms and procession followed with Holy Mass: St William of York’s, Upper Redlands Road RG1 5JT, Reading; confessions. And also at 5pm: Blessing, procession and

Holy Mass: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Pope Close, Flitwick MK45 1JP. Confessions.
April 9 th - 12 th : Sacred Easter Triduum in Reading (St William of York’s, Upper Redlands Road RG1 5JT):

April 9 th - 12 th : Sacred Easter Triduum in Reading (St William of York’s, Upper Redlands Road RG1 5JT):

Also, Sunday 12 th April, 5pm: Also Easter Sunday Mass at Flitwick (cf address above)

Contact : www.fssp.co.uk - Tel: 0118 987 5819 - E-mail: malleray@fssp.org
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, 179 Elgar Rd, Reading, RG2 0DH, Berkshire, England

Calling all Priests and Laymen/Women - New Traditional Catholic Groups for Young Adults Wanted

Young Catholic Adults was founded in February 2004 at Oxford in the UK। YCA are loyal to the Magisterium and faithful to Pope Benedict XVI's teaching with regard to Summorum Pontificum (2007). It is now part of the International Juventutem Federation.YCA-Juventutem organise a selection of national, international events, why not get involved and become part of this exciting new movement?

We are looking to start more local YCA-Juventutem groups. They could be rosary groups, social activities, talks, meeting together after Mass, basically anything involving the Extraordinary form of Mass or traditional Catholic devotions/practices.

It's possible to affiliate your existing group to YCA-Juventutem (we already have a successful joint group running in a large Parish), - simply email Damian Barker at juventutemcatholicam@yahoo.co.uk.

With:-

-Your name
-Contact e-mail address and telephone number
-The Groups name

See http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/news.htm for more details.

Programme of the 2nd Fœderatio Internationalis „Juventutem“ Gathering in Bern, Switzerland, on February 21st and 22nd 2009.

(Like last year, the Secretary to the Nunciature in Bern will attend our Mass)।

Saturday 21 February 2009:
· 3pm-4pm: Low Mass in chapel Pension Villa Maria, Kapellenstrasse 9, CH-3011, Bern; Tel. 031 381 33 42
· 4pm-6.30pm: Formal Juventutem meeting, with coffee (same address)
· 6.30pm-7.30pm: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the intentions of Juventutem (same address)
· 8pm: supper for Juventutem delegates (and guests) at restaurant « il Grissino »: Waisenhausplatz 28, CH-3011 Bern, Tel. 031 311 00 59

Sunday 22 February 2009:
8:00am: Preparation for Holy Mass in Holy Trinity Church Crypt, « Dreifaltigkeit Kirche », Taubenstrasse 6, CH-3011, Bern.
8.15am: Holy Mass
9.30am Thanksgiving and walk to Hôtel National (4 minute walk from church), Hirschengraben 24, CH-3011 Bern ; Tel. 031 381 19 88.
10am-11am: coffee followed with an official presentation of Juventutem to the faithful, other youths and benefactors.
11am-12noon: guided tour around historical center Bern
12:00noon (punctual please): lunch at “Il Grissino” (cf address below)
2pm about: end of official Juventutem gathering। Those who wish can of course stay longer.

Accommodation:
1) Jugenherberge (Youth hotel) in downtown Bern, 10 minutes walk from Holy Trinity Church:
http://www.youthhostel.ch/hosteldetails.html?&L=1&user_hostels_pi1%5blocation%5d=all&user_hostels_pi1%5bbez%5d=BRN&cHash=68e272af21
2) National Hotel Bern (5 minutes walk from Holy Trinity Church)
http://www.nationalbern.ch/hotel/inhalte/preise.html
3) Kreuz Hotel Bern (5 minutes walk from Holy Trinity Church)
http://www.hotelkreuz-bern.ch/E/html/rates.html

Transportation:
· Holy Trinity Church (and suggested hotels) is located in downtown Bern, 5 minutes walk from the main Bern train station.
· Directs trains run from both Geneva airport (about 90 minutes) and from Zurich airport (about 90 minutes), as well as from Basel Euroairport (50 minutes).
· Low cost airlines (e. g. Easyjet) fly to both Geneva and Zurich airports.
· Direct Flybee flights from Southampton and Birmingham (UK) to Bern airport.
· Ryanair flies to Basel Euroairport.
· Direct trains from Paris, Milan and other cities to Bern.
We are very much looking forward to meeting you here!
Please forward this message to any Juventutem supporters and kindly translate it whenever needed. You may also post it on your websites.

IMPORTANT: each group leader, please email now your proxy to the Juventutem Bureau at this address (http://us.mc265.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=federation@juventutem.org), stating the name of your proxy: Gregory Flash or David Oostveen or Cosimo Marti.
Also, please send you annual contribution of 10 Euros per person.

Infos - Adresse MARTI Cosimo Damiano Kirchbergerstrasse 42 CH-3008, Bern, Suisse
Tel/Fax +41 (0) 31 371 29 20 Courriel: http://us.mc265.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=codama@bluewin.ch

SSPX Excommunications Lifted - it's Official

DECREE OF THE CONGREGATION OF BISHOPS

By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial disposition. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and trusting in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration.

With this act, it is desired to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, is also intended to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to vanquish the scandal of division.

It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.

Based on the faculties expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit from Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that time.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops

Breaking News - SSPX Excommunications to be Lifted by Pope Benedict?

H/t to Rorate Caeli:- UPDATE (2010 GMT): French religious news agency I.Media reports the following (by way of news agency ASCA):


Citta' del Vaticano, Jan 23 - L'Osservatore Romano will publish tomorrow an "explanatory note" on the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to revoke the excommunication of the four schismatic Bishops ordained by Traditionalist Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988. ...

The act of Pope Ratzinger will be presented in the daily paper of the Holy See as "an act of mercy by the Pope".

Meanwhile, The Remnant discloses a January 21 letter in which the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, distances the FSSPX/SSPX from any specific privately held opinion (namely from Bishop Williamson of the SSPX ).

Young Catholic Adults Traditional Reteat at Douai 2009

YCA-Juventutem retreat in England: 18-20 September 2009: At Douai Abbey, Berkshire, come (whether you live in the UK or not) and pray with other young Catholic adults. Juventutem Ecclesiastical Assistant Fr de Malleray will preach the retreat. Contact: D. Barker on 07908 105787 or ps99ddb@yahoo.co.uk, more details will follow at:-

http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk.

Plus more datails will follow at http://youngcatholicadults-latestnews.blogspot.com/. To reserve your place FOR THE WEEKEND (no deposit needed if you are coming for the day on Saturday 5th July), please send a 20 pound cheque as a deposit (NON RETURNABLE) to Damian Barker, Flat 5, 12 St. Catherine Street, Kingsholm, Gloucester, Glos. GL2 9DU. The overall prices for the weekend will be similar to last year, but will be confirmed shortly.

International Youth Gathering organised in Marian Shrine of Le Puy-en-Velay, France: August 18-23, 2009

International Youth Gathering organised in Marian Shrine of Le Puy-en-Velay, France: August 18-23, 2009. Plan ahead and make sure you will be with us during this wonderful week in one among the most ancient Marian shrines in the world. Come and venerate the famous "Black Madonna", come and attend beautiful liturgies, meet young adults from various countries motivated by the Roman traditions of the Church, improve your Catholic knowledge through sound lectures and explore the breathtaking volcanos landscape of the "Massif Central". Contact: www.juventutem.org http://www.juventutem.org/.

Juventutem in Chartres: 30 May-1st June 2009

Juventutem in Chartres: 30 May-1st June 2009. A Juventutem Chapter is to attend again the great Traditional pilgrimage from Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris to Notre-Dame cathedral in Chartres: on Whit week-end 2009. Come and join the Juventutem young adults, one group among 8.000 young Catholic walking the 70-mile pilgrimage across the beautiful French countryside! Contact: email Gregory Flash, at: flash[at]gregory-f.com. For your information: www.nd-chretiente.com http://www.nd-chretiente.com.

Juventutem International Gathering in Bern, Switzerland: 20-22 February 2009

Meeting in Bern, Switzerland: 20-22 February 2009. Every group is cordially invited to contact the Bureau and send at least one delegate. Like last year, the purpose is the diversity of representatives rather than the actual number of members attending. Please do your best to support this event which is an important opportunity for the Juventutem International Federation to update and grow stronger. Of course we do not expect many members outside Europe to be able to travel to Bern, but please pray for us and with us during this important meeting. Contact: Juventutem, Kirchbergerstrasse 42, CH-3008, Bern, Switzerland; Tel./fax: +41 31 371 29 20. Email Cosimo Marti at : codama[at]bluewin.ch.