THE SCANDAL OF AN ANGLICAN-LED SERVICE IN THE POPE’S CATHEDRAL
Early last Wednesday evening, I posted the following on the Whatsapp page of vaticanisti, the journalists who cover the Vatican: This story by churchmilitant popped up on my Twitter feed. Should we be asking why an Anglican bishop celebrated Mass in St. John Lateran? https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/anglican-bishop-mass-in-popes-cathedral
I posted this the day after the Mass had been said by an Anglican bishop at an altar of St. John Lateran basilica, the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome, that is, the pope. CNA noted in a story that, “The clergymen, who were accompanied by Bishop Jonathan Baker of the Church of England, are part of the Anglican Communion, which broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534 amid King Henry VIII’s frustration that he could not receive an annulment for his marriage. The Catholic Church does not consider Anglican holy orders valid and does not recognize Anglican orders as valid, which means they cannot validly celebrate Mass.”
Most Catholic news reports called it a ‘service’ or ‘event’ or ‘liturgy’.
My brief comment took on legs of its own, word was spreading and the following morning Bishop Guerino Di Tora, vicar of the archpriest of St. John Lateran, issued a brief statement expressing “deep regret” for the incident that was “caused by a failure in communication.”
He did state that the service was celebrated at the basilica’s high altar, although that was later contradicted by both statements and photos.
You all know the expression, “with all due respect.”
With all due respect, I’d like to say that the communiqué from St. John Lateran Chapter was quite lame and, for most people, lacked credibility except, perhaps, for the “regret” expressed. So far, no plausible explanation for the “failure in communication” has been given. No explanation of how this was even planned and organized.
When a Catholic priest travels, be it for business or pleasure, and he will be in a diocese not his own and he wants to say Mass in a church in that diocese, he will have on his person what is called a Celebret. The Diocese of Rome has an entire page dedicated to this: Home (diocesidiroma.it)
A “Celebret, from the Latin celebret, ‘may he celebrate’, the first word of the document) is a letter which, according to Canon 903 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic Bishop or major religious superior gives to a priest in order that the priest may obtain permission in another diocese to say Mass, and for this purpose bears testimony that he is free from canonical censures.”
Canon 903: 903 A priest is to be permitted to celebrate even if the rector of the church does not know him, provided that either he presents a letter of introduction from his ordinary or superior, issued at least within the year, or it can be judged prudently that he is not impeded from celebrating.
I actually learned about this a few years ago from a priest friend who was travelling and his wallet and other papers, including the celebret, were stolen, and he had to obtain new documents for him to say Mass in that diocese.
So now we are at the heart of the matter. Was this bishop, were other Anglican priests present, not asked for the Celebret? If not, why not? Do Anglicans even have a Celebret?
Priests who want to say Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica must contact sacristy authorities to request a day for Mass. Are they asked for their Celebret? If not, why not? Were they not asked to show some kind of documentation? If not, why not?
The Vatican has drastically reduced permissions for priests so say Mass there. They can no longer say Mass alone at a Vatican altar. They must concelebrate in one of two allowed chapels, or a priest must be leading a group of pilgrims.
Is it just presumed that someone wearing a Roman collar is a Catholic priest?
How did this Anglican prelate present himself? He wore episcopal attire so the St. John Lateran chapter had to know he was a bishop.
Did he identity himself as a bishop of the Church of England? Did the sacristy staff just assume that was the Catholic Church?
So many checks are normally needed for priests to say Mass in a church or a diocese not their? Were these overlooked in this case? Were any documents checked at all?
We know nothing about the Rite they used. If they used the Roman Rite, that would have been illegal. If it had been an Anglican Rite, surely someone would have noticed.
In the Eucharistic prayer of a Catholic Mass, the priest says: Therefore, Lord, remember now all for whom we offer this sacrifice: especially your servant N. our Pope, N. our Bishop,* and the whole Order of Bishops, all the clergy, those who take part in this offering, those gathered here before you, your entire people, and all who seek you with a sincere heart.
Was – good heavens – Pope Francis’ name mentioned by the Anglicans? “Francis, Our Pope….”
So much we don’t know and absolutely need to know1
With all due respect, was a “miscommunication” actually a deception?
Joan's Rome 