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Newsflash Archives > A Bishop Weeps
A Bishop Weeps
Fragments of the immediate reaction of the progressive Italian bishop Luca Brandolini to Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio on the liturgy Summorum Pontificum has been reported by Reuters. Here is the full text of the interview granted by him to the Italian daily La Repubblica (Sunday edition), to the veteran Vatican journalist Orazio La Rocca. We offer it as an example of the range of response to the Pope's document in Italy. -- The Editor
"I will obey the Pontiff, but it is a day of grief. The reform is canceled."
- by Orazio La Rocca
VATICAN CITY - "This day is for me a day of grief. I have a lump in my throat and I do not manage to hold back my tears. But, I will obey the Holy Father, because I am a bishop and because I care for him. However, I cannot hide my sadness for the putting aside of one of the most important reforms of the Second Vatican Council." In fact, Monsignor Luca Brandolini, Bishop of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo and member of the Liturgical Committee of the Cei (Italian Episcopal Conference), hardly holds back his tears when he is asked for a comment on the reintroduction of the Tridentine Latin Mass: "Please, do not ask me anything, I do not wish to speak [about it], for I am living the saddest day of my life as a priest, as a bishop, and as a man."
Monsignor Brandolini, why [are you] so upset?
"It is a day of grief, not only for me, but for many who lived and worked in the Second Vatican Council. Today, a reform for which so many labored, at the cost of great sacrifices, animated solely by the wish to renew the Church, has been canceled."
The optional return to the Tridentine Rite represents thus a danger for the Church?
"We hope not. It remains to be seen in the future, but today an important reform of the Council was undermined."
Why are you so touched by the decision taken by Pope Ratzinger?
"The episcopal ring which I carry on my finger belonged to archbishop Annibale Bugnini, the father of the Conciliar liturgical reform. I was, at the time of the Council, a disciple of his and a close co-worker. I was close to him when he worked in that reform and I always recall with how much passion he worked for liturgical renewal. Now, his work has been canceled."
You will not accept the "motu proprio" of Benedict XVI, then?
"I will obey, because I care for the Holy Father. I have for him the same sentiment that a son has for his father. And then, as a bishop, I am bound to obedience. Yet, in my heart, I suffer deeply. I feel as if wounded in my heart, and I cannot help saying it. Nonetheless, if anyone in my diocese will ask me to follow the Tridentine rite, I will not be able to say no. But I do not believe this will happen, because ever since I have been the bishop of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo, there has never been anyone who has expressed a similar desire. I am certain that it will always be like this in the future."
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Inside The Vatican (ISSN 1068-8579) is a Catholic news magazine, published monthly except July
and September, with occasional special supplements.
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