Lex Iniusta Non Est Lex

The Canon Law Made Easy site is asked if  Bishops may cancel Mass. Her response emphasizes the difference between granting dispensation and cancelling Mass.The site does not permit copying and pasting things, so go to it and read the whole thing. It is inspiring.

Here's my take away:

"To be blunt - if our parish clergy aren't at the parish to celebrate Mass, administer the sacraments, and otherwise tend to the spiritual needs of the faithful, then what are they there for?"

And this:


"Make no mistake, obeying an unjust and illegal order is not virtuous."

I guess instead of going to Mass on Sunday, I will stand at the window waiving a peace sign to everyone.

 

Pachamama, Protect Us!

The Diocese of Belleville has suspended all public Masses effective immediately.
The cancellation of those services will remain in effect until further notice, the Rev. Msgr. John T. Myler, spokesman for the diocese, said Tuesday.

The diocese oversees about 70,000 Catholics in the 28 southernmost counties in Illinois, along with 108 parishes and 29 schools.

Myler said a letter from Bishop Edward Braxton will be released Wednesday morning, and that it will provide more details about the closings, as well as information about issues such as weddings, funerals and confessions.

 

Dr. Braxton

 Doctor Braxton said,  "There is nothing more important to the Catholic Church than your physical health. It is way more important than your spiritual health. If there was ever a time for people to go to Church it is not during a crisis of any kind. The fact that only 6 people in the Diocese have contracted the virus and none have died is irrelevant.

I think cancelling all Masses will remind people how unimportant going to Mass on Sunday is, and will help us recruit more priests. May Pachamama watch over us."

Not the Tribe in Clevland, the Other One

Juba, South Sudan, Jan 6, 2020 / 02:25 pm (CNA).- Bari ethnic leaders in South Sudan have distanced themselves from critics of the newly-appointed Archbishop of Juba. The archbishop has faced controversy since his December appointment for several reasons, including that he is not a member of the region’s predominant Bari tribe.

This may explain the animosity towards other Bishops.

 

How Did Bishop Braxton Miss Out on This One?

Atlanta, Ga., Feb 19, 2019 / 03:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Three U.S. bishops have called on the Supreme Court to take up the case of a death row inmate in Georgia whose sentence may have been prejudiced by the racism of a juror.
“There is no toxin more pernicious than hatred based on racial stereotypes,” the bishops warned in a Feb. 17 opinion piece in The Atlantic.
They said that despite some progress in overcoming racism, it still exists in America today.
“Whenever personal prejudices surface in a trial, society relies on appellate courts and especially the Supreme Court to rectify these biases.”
 

Bishop Wilton Gregory

The opinion piece in The Atlantic was written by Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta; Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, chairman of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.

Chrism Mass

Today Bishop Braxton  celebrates the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Belleville.

On Holy Thursday morning (in some dioceses it may be another morning during Holy Week), the bishop, joined by the priests of the diocese, gather at the Cathedral to celebrate the Chrism Mass. This Mass manifests the unity of the priests with their bishop.

Here the bishop blesses three oils — the oil of catechumens (oleum catechumenorum or oleum sanctorum), the oil of the infirm (oleum infirmorum) and holy chrism (sacrum chrisma) — which will be used in the administration of the sacraments throughout the diocese for the year. This tradition is rooted in the early Church as noted in the Gelasian Sacramentary (named after Pope Gelasius I, d. 496), but was later absorbed into the Holy Thursday evening Mass; Pope Pius XII issued a new Ordinal for Holy Week, which reinstituted a special Mass of the chrism distinct from the evening Mass.

There is nothing that I can find on the Diocesan website, but priests are also renewing their vows at the Mass.

Mongolia Moves Into a Tie With the Diocese of Belleville, 1-1

The little Catholic community of Mongolia-- about 1,000 strong-- awaits the ordination of the first native priest in August.

Bishop Padilla

Bishop Braxton

Deacon Joseph Enkh will be ordained on August 28 by Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, the apostolic prefect of Ulan Bator. He received his training in South Korea, and was ordained to the diaconate there in December 2014. Returning then to Mongolia, he has been visiting country's six parishes-- which to date have been served exclusively   by foreign missionary priests.