ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS SPEAK
by
Bishop Musey and bishop Vezelis
The great saint and scholar, St.Augustine of Hippo, wrote in his monumental work THE CITY OF GOD: "The peace, then, of the body lies in the ordered equilibrium of all its parts; the peace of the irrational soul, hi the balanced adjustment of Its appetites; the peace of the reasoning soul, In the harmonious correspondance of conduct and conviction; the peace of the body and soul taken together, in the wellordered life and health of the living whole. Peace between a mortal man and his Maker consists in ordered obedience, guided by faith, under God's eternal law; peace between man and man consists in regulated fellowship. The peace of a home lies in the ordered harmony of authority and obedience between the members of a family living together. The peace of the political community is an ordered harmony of authority and obedience between citizens. The peace of the heavenly City lies in a perfectly ordered and harmonious communion of those who find their joy in God and in one another in God. Peace, in its final sense, is the calm that comes from order (...pax omnium rerum tranquillitas ordinis.). Order is an arrangement of like and unlike things whereby each of them is disposed in its proper place." (City of God, Bk XIX,Chap.13).
Whoever contemplates these beautiful words of St.Augustine cannot avoid being drawn to a desire for such
peace. The world speaks of peace frequently, but is always preparing for war. The world wages war for the sole purpose of peace... and never attains it, so much so that the short periods between wars are only a surcease for more preparation.
All evil is the result of disorder. And, because our God is a God of order, He cannot be the responsible cause of evil. The very purpose of religion is to bring order where there is chaos by instruction, precept and worship. And because there is unity among these three things there cannot be one without the others. Just as there is one God in three Divine Persons, so too, the highest functions of rational creatures must reflect that image according to which they were created: created in the image and likeness of God.
The Church was founded by Jesus Christ for the purpose of bringing rational creatures back to that order
originally intended by the Creator, and which would endure not only in this transitory world but would be
perfectly acheived only in the eternal order of Heaven.
Nevertheless, it is our duty and sacred obligation to labor for the reign of that kingdom of heavenly order in this world by seeking to do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven. For this we pray, and for this we are bound to act. The consequence of this truth imposes a course of action upon everyone, but moreso upon those who have been called by special vocation to be ministers of the divine mysteries. This urgent plea is directed, therefore, in a most special way to the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
This is a call to order. This is a call to oider that has for its purpose the establishment of peace which is, as St.Augustine so poignantly defines "the calm that comes of order". There can be no right order among the people if there is no right order among their priests. And there cannot be right order among the priests unless they are properly ordered according to the will of the Supreme Priest, Jesus Christ. Just as there cannot be peace in the individual unless the lower faculties are subordinated to the higher and the higher to God, so also, there cannot be peace and progress in the supernatural society which is the Catholic Church unless each member is disposed in his proper place.
We have witnessed much disorder and disharmony; and we continue to witness it with great sadness. Deliberate confusion is sown by unscruplous and ambitious men who are the prime example of an order that militates against the order of God and His Church. The weapons of these disordered individuals are the familiar weapons of all evil men throughout time: slander, calumny, the sowing of doubts . all of which foster disharmony and destroy true charity.
The unity essential to the Catholic Church is based on a three-fold unity: unity of doctrine, unity of government and unity of worship. It has already been said that if any one of these three is absent, there can be no unity. The lack of unity in doctrine is heresy; the lack of unity in precept, or government, is schism; the lack of unity in worship expresses a breakdown in one or the other of the preceeding conditions for perfect unity. In order to ensure this essential unity for His Church, Jesus Christ established Bishops and placed St.Peter at their head as the principle of unity among them. Again, this unity embraces the trinity of' doctrine, government and worship. In doing so, Our Lord did not diminish the power -He had given to the Apostles. On the contrary, both doctrine and practice amply prove that the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, have ordinary and immediate power from the Holy Ghost, as the First Vatican Council states: "This power of the Pope in no way derogates from the ordinary and immediate power of episcopal jurisdiction by which bishops' who have been set by the Holy Ghost' to succeed and hold the place of the Apostles feed and govern each his own flock as true pastors; but rather, this authority is asserted, strengthened and vindicated by the Supreme and Universal Pastor."
'Whatever may have been the opinion in the past and howsoever impressive the title of its holder, the First Vatican Council has clearly expressed the belief of the entire Catholic Church basing itself upon the words of Sacred Scripture itself.
The Church has also defined against those who would deny that bishops are superior to priests in the Council of Trent: "If anyone says that the bishops are not superior to prtcsts;..let him be anathema." (C.? D.967). How sad a thing it is then, that those who labor for the salvation of souls would risk separating themselves and the souls of their followers from the very Church which they claim to recognize and defend. Nothing can be more tragic and destructive than to say to someone: bene curris, sed extra viam - You run well, but in the wrong direction!
It Is a matter of Catholic Faith that priests must have authorization from the bishop in whose territory they reside in order to administer the Sacraments. This is true even of those clergy who are members of what are known as exempt Orders'. During the confusion when it was possible to say that priests still had the faculties granted to them by their original bishops, no one questioned the matter. It was also urged that under such dire and emergency circumstances, the Church supplied the necessary Jurisdiction. All this is true. However, what many do not realize is that in the providence of God, there had to be at least ONE bishop who had not broken his union with the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church, and who at least Implicitly grants the necessary jurisdiction to priests otherwise duly ordained. These priests can be said to have been in moral union with such a bishop. At no time has Christ failed in His promise to be with His Church at all times. Through at least ONE bishop (and most probably by several as yet unknown) the Apostolic Succession and the unity of doctrine, authority and worship have been maintained. The subsequent appearance of bishops validly and licitly consecrated should be an occasion not of panic and disappointment, but a cause for great spiritual rejoicing. It should be a manifest proof to all the faithful, clergy and lalty,that Christ's words are true. The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church are once again visible. The enemy of Christ's Mystical Body, the Catholic Church is indeed furious with this fundamental set-back. This is so true, that the usurpers of the Vatican have sought to frighten the ignorant and the weak with false bolts of lightening, pretending to excommunicate the Successors of the Apostles. Unique indeed is the appeal to excommunication on the part of those who have been and still are directly responsible for the destruction of the Catholic Church that they direct their futile efforts only against those who have unmasked them. It is no wonder, for the anti-Christ will hurl satanic anathemas from his papal chair In the shadow of the throne of the worldly powers he serves. The great Russian philosopher, Soloviev had already predicted this would happen. (1900)
May each of us who constitute a small portion of the Mystical Body of Christ be firmly convinced that unless we do our respective duties in union with that order established by Jesus Christ, we work in vain and heap divine judgment upon our heads. It would be productive of much good and right or der if all could appreciate this truth and dedicate themselves to this purpose. Unfortunately, there are those who are led astray by false teachers preaching false faith, hopeless hope and a charity of hate. Manifestly, it would be futile to appeal to the good will of such misguided individuals. The most that can be hoped for is to protect the unwary faithful from such as these. Therefore, in a spirit of supernatural charity and for that essential unity founded on right order, it is imperative that all those validly ordained priests of the Roman Catholic Church whQ have thus far bravely resisted the heretical and schismatic actions of the self-deposed hierarchy who continue to deceive the faithful,that these same faithful clergy unite themselves in exemplary submission to the bishop in whose territory they reside. For the sake of convenience and effective good order, the territorial division in the United States has been determined by the bishops as follows:
All those clergy and laity faithful to the Roman Catholic Church and residing east of the Mississippi River (excluding Florida) are in the territory of Most Reverend Louis Vezelis, O.F.M. All clergy and laity faithful to the Roman Catholic Church and residing west of the Mississippi River and including Florida are in the territory of Most Reverend George J. Musey, D.D.
All clergy, both Regular and Diocesan, are urged to present themselves to their respective Bishops and to co-operate with them in their customary and laudable manner. A period extending to the Feast of the Queenship of Mary,May 31, 1983, (inclusive) will make it possible for each clergyman to contact the
respective chancellery offices. Those who have not been heard from by the expiration of this date shall be deemed without proper authorization to hear confessions and administer other Sacraments. The faithful should be made aware that these are matters which bind in conscience and that no one should with rash temerity expose himself to sacrilege.
With the cooperation of everyone concerned, we can then look forward to the implementation of the traditional good order and right discipline for which Holy Mother Church has been rightly known and admired. May this letter addressed to all faithful Roman Catholic clergy in particular and the faithful in general he received in the sincere and sipernatural spirit in which it has been written. And may the blessing of 'God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be upon all; may the Queen of heaven inspire each with courage and devotion.
Bishop Louis Vezelis, O.F.M. DD.
3376 Mt.Read Blvd.
Rochester, New York 14616 (Tel) 716-621-1122
Bishop George J. Musey, DD.
15514 Cobre Valley
Houston, Texas 77062
(Tel) 713-486-1749
***
Anmerkung der Redaktion:
Die vorstehende Erklärung der amerikanischen Bischöfe ist
a) pastoral und
b) provisorisch zu verstehen.
a) Pastoral: Die Verleihung der Jurisdiktionsgewalt über eine bestimmte Diözese erfolgt durch den Papst; der päpstliche Stuhl ist z.Zt. unbesetzt.
b) Provisorisch: die Einteilung der Wirkspären wurde nur zwischen Mgr. Musey und Mgr. Vezelis OFM abgesprochen und betrifft nur die U.S.A. Auf eine umfassende Aufteilung der Zuständigkeitsbereiche für die Bischöfe müßte im Interesse der Gläubigen hingearbeitet werden.
Auch wenn unsere Bischöfe noch keine Jurisdiktionsgewalt mit genau bezeichnetem Diözesan-Territorium haben (im eigentlichen Sinne), so sind die Priester und die Gläubigen zur Rückgewinnung der Einheit, Hoheit und Sichtbarkeit der Kirche verpflichtet, sich unter ihnen zusammenzuschließen.
Eberhard Heller |
