Indult or Insult?

Bishop Tod Brown has "generously" decided that he is going to allow another indult Mass of the Tridentine rite in Orange County.  All Catholics who are interested in attending the new additional indult Tridentine Mass in Orange County have to do is drive to Yorba Linda at 7:00 AM on Sundays!

The only other indult Mass in Orange County is offered at 8:00 AM in the tiny Serra Chapel at the Mission San Juan Capistrano.  The Tridentine Mass at that location is only offered at 8:00 A.M. on Sundays and non-transferred Holy Days, is attended by 300+ persons every Sunday, and 450+ on the first Sunday of every month. The Serra Chapel is designed to hold approximately 120 persons. Many of these people drive from as far as 50 miles away and those who plan to attend are encouraged to plan on arriving up to 45 minutes early if they hope to get a seat!

The diocesan announcement appears to indicate that this new permission for an additional indult Mass from Bishop Brown was not motivated by the conditions at the Serra Chapel, but rather by a certain impending motu proprio.

Here is the announcement from the Diocese of Orange in PDF format: Yorba Linda indult

Here is the text of the announcement made by the Diocese of Orange:

An Additional Mass in Latin to be Celebrated Bishop Brown oversees all aspects of the liturgical life of our local Church. This includes the implementation of Ecclesia Dei, a 1988 apostolic letter by Pope John Paul II in which he recognized the "rightful aspirations" of all Catholics who wished to worship according to traditional forms and called upon bishops to apply both widely and generously the indult, Quattor abhinc annos, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship on October 3, 1984. A similar moto proprio is expected soon from Pope Benedict XVI.

Bishop Brown has listened to the concerns of those faithful of our local Church who are attached to the older liturgical form of the Mass, i.e., the Missal of 1962, often referred to as the “Tridentine Mass.” Although one such Mass is currently celebrated each Sunday morning at 8:00 AM at the historic Serra Chapel of Mission San Juan Capistrano, the level of interest is such that Bishop Brown has directed that an additional Mass utilizing the Missale Romanum – editio typica 1962 (Latin Mass) will be celebrated “ad experimentum” at the John Paul II Polish Center, located at 3999 Rose Drive in Yorba Linda, on Sundays at 7:00 AM. The first Mass at that location will be celebrated on the 25th of February 2007, the First Sunday of Lent.

Bishop Brown made his decision after consultation with his College of Consultors and with the agreement of Fr. George Blais, the director of the Center, and the willingness of the Rt. Reverend Eugene Hayes O. Praem., Abbot of St. Michael’s Abbey, to supply priests able to celebrate these Masses fittingly. It is hoped that this additional location, one that can accommodate a larger number of the faithful, will be of pastoral benefit to those who are attached to this older form of the Mass.

It is the role of the Diocesan Bishop to be at the service of communio within the Church that he is called to shepherd. May this broader and more generous application of the norms articulated in Ecclesia Dei be a sign of this solicitude for all God’s Holy People in the Diocese of Orange.

This is official conformation from the Diocese of Orange that a motu proprio [the phrase is misspelled in the diocesan announcement] is expected from Pope Benedict XVI on the Tridentine Mass.

It is interesting that Bishop Brown is reacting to the impending motu proprio in this way – now – when the impending motu proprio is rumored to free up the Tridentine liturgy in a manner that is much more generous than the freedom that has heretofore been granted by Bishop Brown in the Diocese of Orange, and is reportedly more generous than Bishop Brown has even now been moved to become.

Perhaps Bishop Brown sensed that Pope Benedict's upcoming motu proprio would have made him appear out of step with the mind of the Church and felt this would give the appearance that he is as solicitous of assisting those who wish to worship at the Old Rite as Pope Benedict XVI.

"I am of the opinion that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It is impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it declares that what was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent." — Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt Of The Earth, Ignatius Press, 1997

It seems a bit nervy that this permission being offered by Bishop Brown for an additional indult Mass is being billed as a pastoral solution and a "broader and more generous application" of Ecclesia Dei.

When the Traditional Latin Mass of the old rite was being offered at 12:00 PM at St. Mary's by the Sea in Huntington Beach, the church was literally packed to capacity.  The Tridentine Masses at Mission San Juan Capistrano are also reportedly packed with hundreds of people.  Moreover, Our Lady Help Of Christians Chapel, an independent Catholic chapel in Garden Grove, has Sunday Masses at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, and 12:30 PM – all of which are filled with the over 800 Catholic families who attend the Tridentine Mass at that location. (Note: Masses at Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel are not sanctioned by Bishop Brown.)  Many of the familes who now attend at Our Lady Help of Christians had been attending the 12:00 PM Mass at St. Mary's by the Sea until Bishop Brown cancelled that Mass when Fr. Daniel Johnson retired.

Now, without endorsing independent chapels, the robust number of Catholics who worship at Our Lady Help of Christians – in addition to the hundreds of people who worship at the Mission San Juan Capistrano – is a strong indication of a tremendous desire for the Old Mass in Orange County.

It seems to me that sanctioning Masses at 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM in Yorba Linda and San Juan Capistrano in a diocese as big as Orange (which means a long drive for most of the diocese at an early morning hour) isn't all that generous or considerate.  It seems a bit insulting to families interested in worshiping at the Tridentine Mass to think anybody wants to make a long drive at that early hour, much less familes with small children (or teenagers).

All of that being said, it is still better than nothing.

Let's all pray for the day when Traditional Catholics no longer have to settle for a little better than nothing from their shepherds.

Any thoughts?

Comments

[Andrzej]

Indult or insult? That's easy: Bishop Tod Brown and almost everything he does are insults and embarrassments. For shame! This is generous in the same way that making 80-year-old Father Eamon Mackin at St. Mary's by the Sea pay to continue working at that parish is an act of generosity. I only wish Bishop Brown would be as generous to his flock as he is to his little buddies, the like-minded priests whom he rewards with large homes in gated communities, far from the parish grounds where they should be living. This new indult in Yorba Linda is Bishop Brown realizing that his diocese looks rather silly with only one Tridentine Mass for more than a million Catholics, and he's hurrying to try to look like he's at the front of the parade. Put another way, he's recognized which way the wind is blowing, and he's trying not to look quite as ridiculous as he has since killing off the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's. But it is all for show, since it's relatively difficult for many in the county to get to this location. Meanwhile, Brown continues to squeeze St. Mary's, probably in hopes of shutting it down. We all must pray that this bad, bad bishop will be replaced by a genuine, authentically Catholic shepherd. I think God is testing us.

[Rita]

Unfortunately, Bishop Brown was not listening to the concerns of the faithful who love the Tridentine Mass. It seems that what he was really hearing is a chorus of roosters as he must think that they love waking up at 5 AM.

[Patricia]

Absolutely disgraceful. Bishops like this have forfeited any right to the respect of the faithful. Personally I hold the likes of this bishop in utter contempt.

[Dan Hunter]

Thank the good Lord His Excellency is allowing an indult mass for whatever reason.
The hour of mass is early,but people would get up at 4am to assist at St.Padre Pio's mass in San Giovanni Rotundo.
What Bishop Brown has done is to give us the advantage of offering this sacrifice up for the salvation of many.
Hey, The Almighty worked through a Catholic killer like Saul.He sure can work through His Excellency Bishop Brown.
God bless you all.

[carolg]

Hey, if all his pride allows is one Latin Mass added at a time in somewhat out of the way places, I'll take it. Considering how much he dislikes the old Mass and Tradition in general, this is a small improvement. Maybe he'll add more. If there was one in Irvine, Huntington Beach or Newport, I'd go every week.

If he's trying to listen to the needs of people like it says, I wonder why it's not at St. Mary's by the Sea though.

Thank you God for the priests of St. Michael's!

"Let's all pray for the day when Traditional Catholics no longer have to settle for a little better than nothing from their shepherds."

Well put . . .

[TM Lutas]

My diocese's entire ruleset for running parishes is “ad experimentum” and has been for years so I have a bit of experience in what that means. This is a tremendous concession if you have the wit to use it.

Fill up the church and ask for more space. If it's not granted, overfill the church and after a reasonable number of services over building capacity call the fire marshall. No bishop would like to be in the position of explaining to the nuncio why their inadequate provision for the tridentine mass has led to trouble with the secular authorities over crowd safety lapses, especially if other churches are under capacity. It goes to basic competence. Bishops should not be physically endangering their flock. In other words, unless Bp. Brown is a greater fool than I think, he'll not let it get that far out of a healthy regard for his own self-interest if nothing else (and I pray that there is something else guiding him).

Ad experimentum is a recognition that what was done in the past isn't working and the Church is formally announcing that it's going to "wing it". If you don't gratuitously insult the man and there is real support justifying more services, this will just be the first in a series of steps adding mass after mass in the form you desire. But even when winging it, there are limits to how and how much one should push.

How many other 7AM masses are there? How well attended are they? If 10% of capacity is the norm and the Latin mass is drawing 40% capacity, will that be recognized as a sign of superior demand and justification of a more reasonable hour to pull in even more people? "Ad experimentum" means that there are no preset answers and that everybody is called to participate in the process of developing a new rule within the limits of their faculties. It's ok to ask questions. So ask and be reasonable about it.

[Dick Gruen]

Bishop Brown is like the weather he can go two ways. If you stick around long enough, he changes like the winds. How can this Bishop be so against Latin Masses and kneeling, and then all of a sudden he's for supporting the very same two subjects mentioned above, that he has been so against and now he's for them. Hog wash. A leopard cannot change its spots, even with bleach.

Have church goers of St.Mary's by the Sea forgotton how he removed the high Latin sunday Masses, which drove people to other churches.

So beware of those who wear sheeps clothing. Especially if their garments are black.

[Raj]

Indult or Insult? I'm thinking both.

7am? John Paul II Polish Center in Yorba Linda? Come on!

[bebeq]

Bishop Brown knows that many of those good traditional families that were driven out of St. Mary's by the Sea have had no other recourse than to attend the independent parish in Garden Grove. He'll do what very little he can and by the hardest to at least get back some of those lost weekly donations.

[Jeffersonranch]

It is a shame Catholic mirrors secular society. God help us all.

[Natalie]

I think offering another mass at 7 in the morning is a bit of an insult. I'm sure there will be people that will attend, but most likely not as many as a later mass would attract. Also, I think it almost discourages those who are curious about attending latin mass for the first time such as myself since if you aren't 100% committed to attending. Yorba Linda isn't too far from me, but I'm most likely going to go to Our Lady Help of Christians sometime next month. Has anyone ever attended mass at St. Michael’s Abbey? I've heard good things about their priests as far as confessors go.

[Thomas A.]

1,300 St. Mary's by the Sea parishioners petitioned Bishop Brown to preserve the Tridentine Mass there - - but were ignored.
Many of them were devotees of the Tridentine
Mass, and have left 'en masse' for the illicet Tridentine Mass in Garden Grove (Our
Lady Help of Christians). Last year several
St. Marys parishioners met personally with
Bishop Brown imploring him to bring the Old
Latin Rite Mass back to St. Mary's, reminding the good bishop that these "Tridentine families" were faithful financial supporters of the parish. In a letter sent to these parishioners, Bishop Brown flatly refused. Since then, St. Mary's beleaguered 'pastoral administrator' has been repeatedly warning St. Mary's faithful that donations/collections are critically low. Contrast this with a flashback to 2004, when the 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 Sunday Masses were PACKED with (faithfully donating) parishioners for the Norbertine priest (at 9:00) and the Tridentine Mass (at 12:00), for therein lies the root cause of the dearth of donations.
Please tell our pastoral administrator, who answers directly to our bishop - unlike a full fledged pastor - to direct his pleas for help to the person who 1) singlehandedly
created the crisis in the first place, and 2) who could resolve it with one phone call, as he just did in Yorba Linda.

[Raj]

I actually just noticed that the Nobertines will be supplying the priests to celebrate the Latin Mass. Seeing as how St. John the Baptist Church in the more centrally located city of Costa Mesa is under the care of the Norbertine fathers, the notion that Bishop Brown is being more insulting than accommodating here is evident.

[Dan Hunter]

So should there be no second indult mass at all?
Ok.Lets petition His Excellency to not allow Yorba Linda.
Holy Mass was offered in the middle of carnage on the blood soaked beaches of Tarawa,and in the middle of ball chilling deep freeze in the Belgian forests.
The Church in Yorba Linda will do just fine for the Mass of the Ages.
Viva Cristo Rey!

[Robert Burns]

"Tod" Brown? Is there a Saint "Tod"? Who made this grunge a "Bishop"? Was it Woytyla? Sounds quite definitely that another "John the Great" appointment has turned out to be a turd that should have been flushed down the toilet of apostasy even before being cosidred for the post of "full priest".

[Margaret]

Dan,
I love your faith and zeal but don't be such a lay down. The martyrs died for the "Truth". I bet the martyrs called the heretics on a few things too! Catherine of Sienna talked about the stench she smelled. Bishop Brown is still being deceitful and mean spirited. Faithful Catholics don't want to rest on the laurels of those martyrs. They need to hammer this selfish servant with constant reminders that he needs to practice what he preaches. St. Francis de Sales said, "It is a great charity to warn the sheep that the wolf is among them!"
Yes, we can be grateful for this little crumb of kindness for show. Yes, we can offer it up. More importantly we can help Bishop Brown get to heaven by "Painting a vivid picture by numbers" in the form of constant prayers, urgings and reminders to...#1 uphold, not alter Church Teaching #2 Show real compassion and pastoral consideration to the sheep #3 Tell the sheep he is sorry for wounding them #4 Make a good act of contrition after confession and make a firm purpose of amendment. Now we have loved Bishop Brown! Love him enough to not let him fool himself that he's fooling us. Yes, God sees what he is doing but God expects us to "expect and help" him be a better Bishop.
Ask anyone in Idaho? Bishop Brown ignores kindness and abhors the Tridentine Mass. I pray that if I deliberately injure others and show cruel neglect, that someone loves me enough to steer me on a better path. Even if I have just given my victims a crumb of goodness!

[Mark]

The 11am Sunday Mass at St. Michael's Abbey is absolutely wonderful. If you ever wanted to hear a devout, reverently-said, and liturgical-abuse-free Novus Ordo "High" Mass, then do yourself the favor and visit them.

We must be charitable and show respect towards Bishop Brown. Yes, we may have our own opinions of him (however justified they are), but we must remember that we should show Bishop Brown our filial obedience. There is tremendous grace that is given when one is obedient in the face of persecution. Let us continue to praise and thank our Lord for this new Indult, which will be offered by the Norbertine Fathers.

We'll make it our Sunday sacrifice to wake up in the early hours and go to the Indult Mass.

My only problem is this: I was looking at the JP II Polish Center website and their Mass times are at 8:30 and 10:00. Does this mean that the 7 AM Indult Mass won't be a High Mass but a Low Mass instead?

[mj]

Good post. I posted it on my blog with a link back to yours.

I used to attend what is now Our Lady, Help of Christians in Garden Grove, CA. It began as a small parish using a rented room in which Father Fredrick Schell - a Jesuit priest who followed his conscience and would not distribute communion in the hand - celebrated the TLM for the Faithful who followed him away from the Novus Ordo. I no longer live in CA, but it is wonderful to see how the parish has grown, thanks to the efforts of Father Schell and the Faithful and the priests who now celebrate Mass there.

I have two points regarding the article:

First, with regards to this:

"Bishop Brown has listened to the concerns of those faithful of our local Church who are attached to the older liturgical form of the Mass, i.e., the Missal of 1962, often referred to as the “Tridentine Mass.”"

This is actually partially misleading. The Missal of 1962 is not the "original" Tridentine Mass - rather, the Missal of 1962 is the Indult Mass, the Mass of Pope John XXIII.

Second, a TLM doesn't have to be sanctioned by the local Bishop (according to Quo Primum, the Apostolic Constitution of 1570). As long as a priest is in good standing with the Church (ie, not excommunicated - not having had his priestly faculties taken away from him), then he does not need permission to celebrate a TLM. True, jurisdiction comes into play, but according to canon law, jurisdiction is no longer an issue when the Church is in a state of necessity - which She is.

[aca]

His Eminence must have powerful faith in our parental skills to be able to roust six young children, formally dress them, feed them and then transport them a long distance to get anywhere by 7:00 a.m.

"Does this mean that the 7 AM Indult Mass won't be a High Mass but a Low Mass instead?"
- His Eminence doubtless appreciates our fondness for kneeling, which is more prevalent in the Low Mass. See, he thinks of everthing!

[Cindy]

Check out the Latin mass locations here:

http://www.sspx.org/chapels.htm

[Sean]

Insult.

All that time and frustration used to drive the faithful at St. Mary's from the true Mass to the New Order. Now His Excellency establishes *another* Tridentine location. His decisions make no sense from a Catholic perspective. They do make sense if you look at them from the Modernist perspective which wishes to destroy the faith of Christ in men. Pray for him that he may return to the Mass of all time, the Mass he himself was reared in. Stop persecuting the faithful!

[Sean]

Note to readers:

Do not doubt that St. Mary's by the Sea is/was being squeezed to sell the property. It's prime real estate steps from the Pacific Ocean in pricy Orange County. Yorba Linda is nice, but a little less "choice".

Although it is very easy to get upset and emotionally charged at this issue, I appreciate and eccho the charitable sentiments of TM Lutas. Yes, we can take it as an "insult" when a bishop refuses to "allow" the Tridentine mass when the faithful of the diocese clearly and eagerly want it. And some bishops and clergy are quite evidently doing the devil's work by ignoring and turning away the faithful in their diocese, putting their own will above that of the church. Most notably, I cite Bishop Thomas O'Brien of Phoenix who never allowed a Tridentine mass in his diocese, causing a backlash and thousands of parishoners to join SSPX and heretical sede-vacantist sects. This, incidently is the same bishop who was convicted of hit-and-run manslaughter...by their fruits shall they be known.

So, in the grand scheme here, I believe we should work within the church always in trying to restore the Tridentine mass for those who wish it. And though 2 early morning masses may seem an insult, it can ALWAYS be worse. It wasn't until our bishoip got called away to Rome (good ridance) that a Tridentine mass was finally offered.

[Patrick]

Does anyone else remember the story below? Maybe Bishop Tod Brown is attempting to deflect criticism of this kind from secular media.

Sunday, October 15, 2006
Bishop Tod Brown & The Tridentine Mass

Bishop Tod Brown is in the news again. This time, in the pages of OC Weekly. The article, written by Gustavo Arellano, highlights Bishop Brown's antipathy towards the Tridentine Mass, while taking pot shots at the Tridentine Mass at the same time. Although the pot shots are rooted in ignorance (as well as what might be termed a shallow spiritual outlook) the article still manages to convey the injustice of Bishop Brown's treatment of traditional Catholics in his diocese.

I would welcome an indult Mass...even if it were at 5 am. I live in a small town with insufferable liturgies. The only alternative is to drive a hundred miles round trip to the nearest indult TLM.

I am beginning to worry about the expected motu propio from the Vatican. I hope it doesn't turn out to be another let down. Wasn't it due after Christmas?

Could someone please tell me more about Father Schell at Our Lady Help of Christians in Garden Grove? Is he a retired Jesuit priest? What do his superiors in the Jesuit order have to say about his activities? Is he associated with the SSPX or some other group? I wonder how he would be affected by the motu propio.

[d]

What, exactly, is an Independent Catholic parish? Are they or are they not in communionw with Rome? Is the one in Garden Grove associated with SSPX, the Pius V group, or any of the sedevacantes? If they are not affiliated with the Diocese of Orange, where are the sacerdotal faculties authenticated? Do the priests there "answer" to another bishop or a religious superior (similar to the Norbertines)?