The big Catholic news for Scotland yesterday was, of course, the appointment of Bishop (now Archbishop) Tartaglia to Glasgow. I have posted a few times in the past on Archbishop Tartaglia's stout defence of marriage, the family, and the sanctity of human life. He's already getting flak for that in the secular press. May the Lord give him strength in his new responsibility.
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I suppose Archbishop-elect Tartaglia's homecoming to his native diocese should be a time of rejoicing but here in the Diocese of Paisley we shall be very sorry to see him go. We can only pray that his successor will be as stout a defender of the Church and her teachings.
Great news!
It is not a particularly happy day for those in Glasgow who love the Latin Mass, however. Archbishop-elect Tartaglia has made his distate for the Tridentine Mass well known. In many other regards, I think he will be an excellent archbishop, but his emnity for the Latin Mass will be difficult for many.
Dear Fr, I do not know if your reference to the "flack" Mgr Tartaglia has received for his defense of marriage refers to the furore concerning his remarks about the death of David Cairns, but I feel that it is wrong to pass over in silence what was a massive own goal: the remarks were not merely counter-productive, in that they will not result in the average person being better disposed towards the arguments of the archbishop-elect; they were also ignorant and unjust in themselves. The fact that you and other Catholic bloggers defend these remarks or pass them over in silence essentially undermines your apologetics by giving the impression that your morality is selective.
Father Paul: When congratulating Archbishop Tartaglia on his new position I had no knowledge of the David Cairns incident and I suspect other bloggers and commentators were not aware either. So do not make accusations about people's apologetics being selective when such accusations are based upon your unsupported speculations.
I have now looked up the incident and found a report in to-days Mail Online. It appears that all his Grace was doing was raising a question as to whether the cause of death could be related to Mr Cairn's lifestyle. I suppose the connection might be between lack of immunity and HIV. He was asked a question and responded. Is discussion of possible connections between a homosexual lifestyle and health to be forbidden? May be there is a truth there that is being suppressed?
I write to disagree with "Fr Paul". Bp Tartaglia's remarks were an impromptu response to question at a public meeting several months ago; that they were widely reported only the day after his elevation appears to be an attempt to discredit him, an attempt which I trust will fail. The offence taken is, as so often, synthetic.
Perhaps Monsignor Tartaglia, rather than raising questions about the potential harm of such lifestyle on one's immune system, saw the excess immunity enjoyed by the rainbow community for matters political; Mr Cairns's lifestyle might or might not have harmed his immune system but his lifestyle certainly earned him ample amount of immunity against people who voiced suspicions about the gay lifestyle and just how safe it is. People do not talk about the safety of it at all in fact; someone must have shut them all up, perhaps?
Archbishop Conti was also lukewarm about SP and tried to put a restrictive gloss on it; at the same time he encouraged the use of Latin and Chant. In any case, it's up to individual priests to promote the traditional Roman Rite; most bishops have never celebrated it (Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham and auxiliaries at Westminster being notable exceptions) and the poor turn-out for the Masses I have sung at probably justifies the prevailing episcopal attitude that there is little demand for it. Had the Roman Rite been allowed to continue in the 1960s, when it was in everyone's memory, the story might well have been different.
John - I agree that the onus is on individual priests to promote the usus antiquior. Although Bishops ought to respond positively to approaches from lay people, there are a thousand ways of wriggling out of that responsibility and the blogs will detail many of those.
As regards attendance, I think that the old Mass celebrated in parishes as part of the regular schedule shows a different picture. People who might not travel for miles to attend a Missa Cantata will happily do so if it is in their parish. Many have benefited positively from in in my parish and others in my diocese.
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