Uvijek isto

Engleski prijevod pjesama dviju flamanskih pjesnikinja koje su živjele u 16. stoljeću. 

Zagreb earthquake

I was asked by some friends and acquaintances about the situation in Zagreb so I decided to write a report highlighting those things which an average Catholic traditionalist might find interesting.

Traditional Latin Mass returns to Croatia

Update (6 May 2018). Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation (Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints' Day, Christmas) at 11 am in the church of Christ the King at Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb. Any changes can be found through this google group.

***

In accordance with the decree of cardinal Josip Bozanić from January this year (see more here) answering a petition from a group of faithful, regular celebration of Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) started Sunday, 20 February, in Zagreb. This was probably the first public Missa Cantata in Croatia since the liturgical reforms, but even more important is that Traditional Latin Mass will be celebrated every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation (Christmas, Corpus Christi, Assumption and All Saints) at 11.30 in the church of St. Martin, Vlaška 36, Zagreb (close to the main city square and the cathedral) from now on.

With the help of Divine Providence a group of faithful was able to organize together with Rev. Stanislav Vitković a dignified and pious celebration of the Holy Mass. During the previous week all the necessary items not available from the existing users of the church had to be acquired (including chalice, paten, ciborium, communion plate, wine and water ampullas, cruet, dish and towel for hand washing, corporal, purifier, hosts, wine, maniple, pall, burse, chalice veil, altar cards, candlesticks and candles, missal stand, altar cloths, server and cantor's cassocks and surplices, kneeling pads, affordable head coverings, missalettes and leaflets). The Archdiocese kindly provided the 1962 Missal and the cathedral lent a chasuble and a stole (unfortunately, they could not find a violet maniple etc.). We were not allowed to move the new altar or move the chairs for a few centimeters during the Mass so that people can kneel on the floor more easily (proper pews were replaced with chairs some time during the 90's). After the end of 10am novus ordo Mass, a group of faithful quickly made all the necessary changes within the restrictions placed upon them and everything was ready a few minutes before the beginning of 11:30 Mass.

Before the beginning of the Mass, Rector of the church of saint Martin, Rev. Đuro Zalar greeted the assembled faithful on behalf of an ancient community which celebrates the Mass according to the Missal of pope Paul VI in this church. He expressed his wish that the new community harmoniously blends with the existing groups which visit this little church and cautioned Rev. Vitković to be vigilant in that respect.

Rev. Vitković, prebendary of the Zagreb cathedral, who was ordained in 1971. celebrated nicely his first ever Mass in the E.F. of the Roman Rite although we had only one rehearsal (the day before) and he only had a Missal and one recording of the old mass to practice on his own. In a very good sermon he explained the meaning of readings of this Septuagesima Sunday. Ordinary and proper of the Mass were sung by Mr. Ivan Kovačić who came for the weekend from Sweden. During the singing of the ordinary some of the faithful joined him of their own initiative. Communion was given orderly with no attempts to circumvent the practice of receiving communion on the tongue which is integral part of this rite. The general impression of about 85 participants in this Mass was very positive. As the word spreads, there will surely be other interested Catholics in our capital city and beyond, especially if any of the Catholic or secular news agencies mention this event. Most encouraging was the silence and reverence of the faithful, the sight of cassocks and collars scattered between the ordinary faithful, successor of apostles watching from the back of the church and especially the markedly lower mean age of those present. We can hope that TLM becoming a normal and established part of Catholic life in Croatia will help encourage those still afraid to show their attachment to Tradition and change the hearts of those who regard it with suspicion.

With the help of God, we hope to further improve in correctly observing the rubrics and following the spirit that inspired them, in preparation of the space and acts of divine worship, in building a community of the faithful attached to this form of the Roman Rite, in establishing a normal working relationship with the administrators of the church of Saint Martin and above all, in living the principles and values that the Traditional Mass embodies.

Thanks are due to all who with their prayers, their works or their presence contributed so that this Mass could be held in the best possible manner. Their efforts are well known to our dear God who will without a doubt bless them for it. We thank cardinal Josip Bozanić, who in instituting a regular public celebration of the Traditional Mass made this inestimable treasure of the Catholic Church more widely available to the faithful of our Archdiocese, but also our entire country. We thank the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei which interceded in order to bring the petition of a group of faithful to its happy goal. We thank Rev. Stanislav Vitković who accepted a pastoral care which requires no small commitment on his part. We thank our Holy Father pope Benedict XVI without whose Motu Proprio, TLM would probably have remained just a dream for the faithful in Croatia. But first and last, we thank our dear Lord and Our Lady. As we are told by the Gospel about the workers of the last hour that we heard this Sunday and as Rev. Vitković explained, all the goods that we have, and thus especially this "source and summit of the Christian life" is an undeserved gift of God's grace.

(you can see more photos here and later on other photos and videos will be added)

Gostujući autor - Moravski Hrvati

Danas nam je "u gostima" Hrvat iz Češke čiji pretci su otišli u te krajeve prije kakvih četristo godina. Daniel ima 36 godina i živi u gradu koji se zove Hradec Králové, a vidjet ćete iz teksta koji slijedi kako je njegova obitelj onamo dospjela. Daniel je pokrenuo i uređuje interesantnu i lijepo uređenu stranicu Vendée koja se bavi katoličkom tradicijom. Sigurno nećete zamjeriti Danielu što piše na engleskom jer, kako sam kaže, on razumije i govori hrvatski jezik, ali ga nikad nije formalno učio, pa bi u pisanju dosta griješio. Opširniji članak Dragutina Pavličevića na hrvatskom koji se bavi ovom temom možete naći ovdje.
Nadam se da će nam Daniel u nekom budućem članku opisati i religijsku situaciju u Češkoj s posebnim osvrtom na katoličku tradiciju, a sad vam preporučujem da pročitate o ovoj manje poznatoj grani hrvatskog iseljeništva.

***

Croatians in Moravia

I was kindly asked by Toma to write an article on the Moravian Croatians. Being one of the descendants of those proud people, I am glad to do it. I beg you pardon to do so in English. I can understand and read in Croatian but to use the language actively is quite hard for me as I was never studying it at school.

First settlement
Until these days there exists a small Croatian minority in the South Moravia. First Croatians sought there a safe exile before the cruel Turkish attacks which took place in their country. They were leaving their homeland during the 16th and 17th century, i.e at the time when the Turkish expansion was at its peak. The community itself became the oldest, northernmost, and farthest Croatian diaspora in Europe.The emigration has started soon after Suleyman the Magnificent with his army had won the battle of Mohacs in 1526. The advance of the Ottomans (Turks) into central Europe drove countless Croatians to seek protection of the Hapsburg crown. It is believed that the colonization of the Croatians began from the Croatian regions south of the Kupa river and Petrova Gora, the regions known as Banija or Banska Krajina as was summarized by the Czech academician Adolf Turek.

These emigrants settled in the stretch between Austrian and Hungarian lands from the Drava and Mura rivers in South to the Danube river in the South Slovakia and at the confluence of the rivers Morava and Dyje in Moravia. Most part of this Croatian body is today found in Burgenland in Austria and is known under the name Gradišćanski Hrvati (or the Burgenland Croatians). Besides Moravia, there are Croatian villages in the South Slovakia, too. Language, culture, and faith were three fundamental guides of the Croatian national corpus which influenced the survival and existence of the Croatians in this region.

The oldest notice of Croatians in Moravia dates back to 1539. This was the year when Croatian villages of Poštorná, Hlohovec, and Charvátská Nová Ves were settled. These Croatians probably came here from the area of the Una and Kupa rivers. Later on Frélichov (todays Jevišovka), Dobré Pole, and Nový Přerov villages were occupied. At the end of the 16th century Croatians were also present around the towns of Hodonín and Břeclav. Another wave of emigrants came to Moravia during the 17th century. This time they moved to areas where their compatriots has already settled.

Original Croatian Settlements in Moravia

All the Croatian enclaves broadened after the Thirty years´ war (1618-1648) and Croatians also occupied villages left empty after the war. This was the era of the Hapsburg re-catholization of the Czechlands and as Croatians were faithful Catholics, they were welcomed immigrants and even had some special privileges – e.g. until the end of the 17th century they had the right to have their own priests who knew Croatian language and were usually coming from Croatia itself.

The area of the South Moravia was inhabited by three nations – Czechs, Croatians, and Germans. Croatians sometimes called themselves to be a “people of three languages“ as they spoke Croatian but also Czech and German. A part of Croatian community was naturally assimilated either with Czechs or Germans after some time, but most of it lasted until the end of the Second World War.

“First republic“ (1918-1938)
In 1918, after almost 400 years since the first settlers had been coming, there was still a Croatian population of 1700 people in the South Moravia. At the time of the so-called “First republic“ (1918-1938) the situation was paradoxically worse than at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Croatians were exposed to the strong pressure of “Czechization“ and were viewed as the Slavic element which should incorporate to the Czech (and Slovak) nation. The Czech leaders of Czechoslovakia were mostly anti-Catholic and Catholicism was understood as the religion of the hated Hapsburgs. Some of the leaders were also free masons or were influenced by them.

And what was the religious life of the Croatians like at that time? Hard. There were no direct ties of the Church in Croatia and the Croatians in Moravia. Holy mass was held in Latin mixed with Croatian. There are however some personalities never forgotten in the consciousness of the Croatian community. One of them is pastor Vjekoslav Malec from Dobro Pole village. He faithfully worked to keep Croatian from being squeezed out of religious rites. Though he was Czech by his nationality, he took a great unselfish care of the Croatians there. He was teaching Croatian children Croatian language, wrote a book of 2000 pages on Croatians, published Croatian prayers etc. Thus he deserved the title “the little apostle of the Moravian Croats“ and he will never be erased from the memory of the Moravian Croatians.

Oče naš (kako se izgovara u Gutfjeldu)
Oče naš, kjesi na nebesih,
svjeti se ime tvoje,
preidi nam kraljevstvo tvoje,
budi volja tvoja,
kako ná nebi tako na zemi,
kruh naš svakidanji daj nam ga Bóg danas,
odpusti nam duge naše,
kot i mi odpušćamo dužnikom našim,
nevedi nas napas,
baviti nas od šega zla.
Amen.
(You can see there are some bohemisms (=čehizmi) present in it.)

After the Munich conference
After the Munich conference in 1938 the border area where Croatians lived was devolved to the National Socialist Germany. In view of the fact of establishing of the NDH – a faithful German ally – Croatians received some privileges and minority rights. On the other hand, some of them had to join the Wehrmacht and were sent to the Eastern front. All of this was fatal for the whole Croatian community after the Soviet victory in 1945 and especially after the Soviet-Yugoslav break after 1948. Croatians were accused of being the Nazi collaborators. And because they strongly opposed “Czechization“ and for more in the first elections after the Second World War in 1946 majority of Croatians voted for the only legal right wing party – Czechoslovak people´s party (the Catholic oriented party) – their fate was sealed..

The Communist repression
After the Communist putsch in 1948 the Croatian community was labeled „unreliable and hostile“ and it was dispersed over 100 villages of the whole Bohemia and Moravia. They were also prohibited from all community activities at all. Until that time the unbroken consciousness of the Moravian Croatians of their national origins as well as their deep-rooted religious believes particularly illuminated all the researchers as states Jasmina Kovacevic-Cavlovic in her article „Moravian Croats“.

Testimony to the unbreakable national orientation is an inscription on a restored monument from 1928:

Hrvatsko selo, Hrvatski ljudi, Hrvatski jazik, Hrvat ljubi! Hrvat si kodno more reć, da je nikdo ništa već, nek si ti, brat tvoj, od lieta selijena bruoj.

A Croatian loves Croatian village, Croatian people and Croatian language! You are a Croat who can be said that no one is greater, be it you or your brother, who count the years of migration.

In original villages in the South Moravia only 19 ethnic Croatians stayed in 1961. The apology for this persecution came only in 1999 when the government plenipotentiary for minorities in his speech on the occasion of Croatian meeting in Jevišovka officially apologized for it.

Croatians today
In the 2001 census of the Czech republic, there were 1585 persons who claimed for the Croatian nationality. Since the 1990´s the Association of Citizens of Croatian Nationality (Sdružení občanů chorvatské národnosti) is functioning. The main aim is to maintain the old Croatian habits, customs, traditions and also language which is an archaic form of the Chakavian dialect.

From 1991 the annual meetings are held in Jevišovka in the beginning of September where Moravian Croatians and also compatriots from Austria and Slovakia join together. “The Croatian Cultural Day“, as is the official name of it, always opens with the Holy mass in Croatian in the St. Kunhuta church in Jevišovka and continues with presentation of old Croatian customs and the meeting around a monument dedicated to Croatians (Moravian immigrants) which was established there in 1884.

The Croatian Cultural Day 2008

Thanks to cooperation of Nový Přerov and its Austrian counterpart of Neu Prerau, the St. Michael´s church, originally built up 400 years ago by the Croatian immigrants, was restored in Nový Přerov in 2000. Association also managed to open the museum on the history and life of Croatians in Jevišovka.

St. Michael´s Church in Nový Přerov

The End?
Some people say that the Croatian community in the Czech republic is already dead – dispersed, assimilated, and lost forever. Some say it somehow exists as a kind of cultural curiosity. It all may be right. In my opinion however the Croatians here are not dead until there is the last of us who considers himself a Croatian and keeps the Catholic faith of his forefathers.
Bog i Hrvati!
Daniel

More information in Croatian:
Dragutin Pavličević: Moravski Hrvati – povijest – život – kultura", Zagreb 1994.

Dietrich von Hildebrand o Teilhardu de Chardinu

Esej koji slijedi preuzet je iz knjige Trojanski konj u gradu Božjem gdje je objavljen kao dodatak. Autor je filozof Dietrich von Hildebrand o kojem više možete pročitati ovdje. Prenosim tekst s ove stranice, uz neke izmjene prema novijem izdanju i dopunu podnaslovima koji olakšavaju čitanje. O isusovcu Pierreu Teilhardu de Chardinu osnovne informacije možete pronaći na wikipediji.

On the state of Traditional Mass in Croatia

Update (6 May 2018). Traditional Latin Mass is celebrated every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation (Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints' Day, Christmas) at 11 am in the church of Christ the King at Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb. Any changes can be found through this google group.

***

Advocata Croatiae, fidelissima Mater,
ora pro nobis!

First part of this post will be a very brief historical sketch and the second part is concerned with more recent events. I have to warn you I'm no expert in either theology, liturgy or history. My main reason for this text is to inform those who are interested in the state of traditional liturgy in Croatia. Hopefully, you'll understand my English well enough for it to convey what I wanted to say.

***

As most people probably know, Croatian lands, mainly along the coast of Adriatic, were the only area of western Christendom that had liturgy in the Roman Rite, but in Old Slavic language, written in Glagolitic letters. You can read much more about it here. For different reasons, Latin influences always tried to reduce this culture, but what is important is that up to the liturgical changes after the II Vatican Council, it was still living and continued to be transmited to younger generations. With the reforms that practically abolished Latin liturgy, Glagolitic liturgy suffered a deadly stroke. When you hear about Glagolitic liturgy today, it is always Novus Ordo celebrated for some special occasion like an anniversary and invariably it has all the things one usually links to Novus Ordo: versus populum, ugly vestments, liturgical minimalism etc. As is probably the case in other parts of the world as well, the advent of new liturgy meant suppression of many old popular devotions (although some of them still survive) and especially the liturgical singing which was very diverse with almost every place having its own melodies for singing the Ordinary of the Mass and variable parts that changed with the liturgical year. You can get a taste of this singing here, here and here.

In other parts of what is today Croatia, Latin liturgy was the norm. In the north, the old rite of Zagreb which was used for more than six centuries had as one of its specific characteristics many folk songs. Croatian people were very attached to their religious folk songs, especially Christmas songs. For example, when Franciscans in Zagreb had introduced Gregorian chant instead of well established Croatian songs for Christmas 1924, blessed Ivan Merz had to write an article to defend them from those who were against this decision.

I believe Michael Davies recognized very well further important factors that contributed to total abandonment of Traditional Mass in Croatia. In a chapter of his book where he recalls his meeting with cardinal Seper he notes:

His lack of concern where the New Mass is concerned is probably the result of being brought up in a country where there was no large Protestant minority. The same may be true of Pope John Paul II. Slavonic Catholics come into contact with members of the Orthodox Church far more frequently than they do with Protestants. The Eucharistic teaching of the Orthodox Church is very close to that of the Catholic Church. There has never been the saying: “It is the Mass that matters," among Slavonic Catholics. Thus, the changes made in the Mass following the Second Vatican Council do not have the same significance for them as they do in some countries such as England where similar changes were made by the Protestant Reformers. In Slavonic countries Marian rather than Eucharistic devotions tend to form the focus of Catholic piety. It is also true of both Cardinal Seper and Pope John Paul II that their people live under Communist governments, and maintaining the unity of the Catholic people is their greatest priority. Cardinal Seper was, therefore, far more disturbed by reluctance in accepting without question a disciplinary change imposed by the Pope than by the fact that the liturgical expression of Catholic Eucharistic teaching had been considerably weakened in the Novus Ordo Missæ.

By the intercession of Blessed Virgin Mary Croatia has been preserved from the plague of Protestantism and Croats always loved and relied on the Pope ever since duke Branimir in the 9th century wrote to pope John VIII as the "beloved son who wishes to be pious in all things and obedient to St. Peter and the Holy Father". In the year 1960 cardinal Alojzije Stepinac died in house arrest, the real cause of his imprisonment being his loyalty to the Holy See and refusal to establish a national church. While the communists were trying by establishing priestly societies, giving benefits to cooperating clergy and punishing those who opposed them to weaken the unity and influence of Catholic Church in Croatia, it was quite natural that the reaction would be even stronger acceptance of each one of Pope's decisions, including those on liturgical reform.

On the other hand, new theological currents were slowly, but surely making its way into the seminaries and theological faculties. Even those who saw what was happening and strongly opposed heresies coming from the west never questioned the new liturgy or the underlying causes of the widespread abuses, news of which probably horrified most Catholic priests and lay faithful. But, of course, most of the theologians found their inspirations in the west and the influences from the godless theologies of western Europe, especially Germany, spread and festered.

With the advent of democracy in the nineties, great parts of Croatia were ravaged by the war. Hundreds of churches were destroyed. After the occupied territories were freed, rebuilding begun, very often new churches were ugly and devoid of religious spirit (just one example). Also, since the communist prohibited or made very difficult building of new churches, after the independence a great need for new churches was being realized without taking too much consideration of beauty or religious feelings of the people.

Although liturgies after the reform became very minimalistic, it wasn't until the new freedom and democracy that the more sinister abuses appeared and became more widespread. While guitars seemed avant-garde in the seventies, these days new music which is either protestant songs translated into Croatian or newly composed sentimental songs of little musical or religious value is pushing out traditional songs. New versions of Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei with rewritten words are sung everywhere and Gregorian chant is almost inexistent. About ten years ago female altar servers started appearing and now they are widespread. Five years ago extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion were a very rare thing. Nowdays, you can see nuns (who still wear their habit, thank God) and even laypeople (men and women) standing next to the priest and giving Holy Communion. Communion in the hand was alowed long ago and even devote people receive Communion that way, probably because no one ever told them of the better way.

***

This brings us to the question of Traditional Mass in Croatia. The answer is quite simple. There are none. Obviously, even if I knew of a Traditional Mass being celebrated in private somewhere, I could not tell you. Unlike me, who am a lay person not affiliated to any Church institution, priests who have the affinity to traditional liturgy can and will suffer from their bishops if that becomes known. And that is not just purely theoretical, but let's leave it at that.

If you asked them about Traditional Mass, most lay people and priests would understand you are talking about a thing from the past, abolished and forgotten in the sixties. Even if they heard about Summorum Pontificum they would probably say that it had something to do with some schismatics far away who did not accept II Vatican Council, those that like Mass with the priest having his back to the people, babbling in Latin quietly while pious grannies pray their rosaries. Many priests and bishops are not bad people, on the contrary. But through their education and priestly life they developed some kind of fear and even loathing for that dead language, complicated liturgy and the demands it puts on them. Why not just do the Mass easily? You can say a few things like how we have to love each other, how we have to defend our national identity, read a few short inspirational stories, rush through the second eucharistic prayer, give communion and be done with it. Why would anyone want to complicate things when they are stretched so thin already?

Most of the Croats who like Traditional Mass developed their love for it while they were either living in or visiting foreign countries.

***

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia with roughly a quarter of the 4.5 million people who live in Croatia. Around 88% of citizens of Croatia declared themselves as Catholics at the last census.

Before Summorum Pontificum, there was allegedly a group in the Archdiocese of Zagreb which requested Traditional Latin Mass. Their request was totally ignored.

There was a young priest, ordained sometime towards the beginning of this century, very intelligent and knowledgeable, who taught himself the Traditional Mass and celebrated it privately from time to time. He never did it publicly and only his friends knew about it. After a while he was sent to a Croatian Catholic mission in Germany and then he joined the Carthusians. He and his brother created a web page that had many interesting resources in Croatian about the traditional liturgy. The most important of these is the little missal which you can find here (2.6 MB pdf), some of the others are now here since that page is no longer online.

Last year, first Croatian priest who was ordained for some traditional group visited Croatia. Father Ante (or Anthony) Sumich from FSSP celebrated private Mass in several places along the coast and then celebrated a Mass in a small chapel at the Franciscan monastery in the centre of Zagreb. When the Franciscan fathers became aware that someone announced this Mass on the Internet, they threatened that they will lock the doors and not allow anyone to enter. Deo gratias, that did not happen, but it did deter some people from coming. Also, I think we can safely say they won't be giving any permissions for the Traditional Mass at their monastery in the future.

I wrote to the editor in chief of the most important Catholic publication in Croatia, the weekly magazine Glas Koncila (Voice of the Council) offering to give him photos and write a short article on this historical occasion and also on the first Croatian priest from FSSP. He answered that just because there was a Mass in Latin, it doesn't make it any more newsworthy than if it was celebrated in any other language. He also mentioned that they reported on the "Pope's decision that the Mass can be celebrated in Latin" when he gave it. If a priest at that position can write something like that, I think you can imagine what ignorance and misconceptions there are among people of Croatia about the Traditional Mass. Finally, I wrote a text for "letters from the readers" column (and they do publish all kinds of stuff there) quoting what some of the cardinals said about Traditional Mass. They did not publish it.

***

Now, I'll quote from a letter written to Ecclesia Dei because I think it summarizes well the process we've been through trying to get back Traditional Mass in Croatia. You can find the entire letter together with all the other DOCUMENTS HERE (personal information have been removed). 

In February, March and May of 2008 I sent emails to the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Zagreb in Croatia. Despite the promises from the spokeswoman of the Archdiocese, I received no answer to my question on the availability of Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Archdiocese of Zagreb. Therefore, in February 2009 I repeated the same question in a letter sent by regular mail. I soon received a reply from auxiliary bishop Ivan Šaško who is the president of the Commission for liturgy of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. In his answer it was stated that my request for Mass in the Extraordinary Form cannot be accepted since it was made by an individual and not a group and because, according to him, in the Archdiocese there is no ‘continuously present group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition’ as specified in the Art. 5 § 1 of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Using the Internet, a petition was started in June of 2009 that says

In accordance with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI we ask to be enabled to attend the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (also known as Traditional Latin Mass and Tridentine Mass) in one of the churches of the city of Zagreb at least on Sundays and holy days.

It was signed by 30 persons from different parishes of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. There are also some signatories from other (arch)dioceses but they were not joined to the main group. On 8 July 2009 request was sent to the parish priest of *** parish (from which three of the signatories are) and to the Rector of *** church. While the church of *** is not a parish church, it is located in the center of Zagreb and appropriate for the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Since no reply was received in two months, the request was forwarded on 8 September 2009 to the Chancery of the Archdiocese.

On 28 October 2009 Most Reverend Ivan Šaško replied on behalf of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. His answer is negative and he states towards the end of the letter that the necessary conditions are not fulfilled. From both letters of Most Reverend Ivan Šaško it is clear that the conditions he refers to without specifying them or quantifying them are impossible to fulfill either at present or in the future. Therefore, in accordance with the Art. 7 of Summorum Pontificum, we ask you:

• To clarify what conditions the group of faithful from the Archdiocese of Zagreb should fulfill in order to qualify for application of the Art. 5 of Summorum Pontificum. In particular: how many faithful should there be, how many from the same parish, how can they prove their attachment to the earlier liturgical tradition and prove that they are a part of a stable group as stated in the same article?

This request is made solely in the hope that this specific group will be able to reach the goal from the petition in this specific situation.

• To help us and other faithful who are interested to participate in Masses in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in the Archdiocese of Zagreb.

In the past forty years there have been no public Traditional Latin Masses in the Archdiocese of Zagreb and the few private Masses were extremely rare and never publicly announced.

You can find my comments on the first letter from bishop Sasko (a professional liturgist and a very smart man who unfortunately despises Catholic traditional liturgy) here.
A reply from Ecclesia Dei together with a second letter to them which they still haven't answered are here.

***

I don't expect this post to make a big difference. Maybe it will encourage some of the readers to say a few prayers for Croatia and its people. That will be quite enough. I will continue trying to help the old Mass return to Croatia where I believe it would have many good fruits. But, in the end, it all depends on the will of God who is the only one able to change the hearts of men.

Hads't thou stayed, I must have fled!

In his chamber all alone,
Kneeling on the floor of stone,
Prayed the Monk in deep contrition
For his sins of indecision,
Prayed for greater self-denial
In temptation and in trial;
It was noonday by the dial,
And the Monk was all alone.
Suddenly, as if it lightened,
An unwonted splendor brightened
All within him and without him
In that narrow cell of stone;
And he saw the Blessed Vision
Of our Lord, with light Elysian
Like a vesture wrapped about him,
Like a garment round him thrown.

Not as crucified and slain,
Not in agonies of pain,
Not with bleeding hands and feet,
Did the Monk his Master see;
But as in the village street,
In the house or harvest-field,
Halt and lame and blind he healed,
When he walked in Galilee.

In an attitude imploring,
Hands upon his bosom crossed,
Wondering, worshipping, adoring,
Knelt the Monk in rapture lost.
Lord, he thought, in heaven that reignest,
Who am I, that thus thou deignest
To reveal thyself to me?
Who am I, that from the centre
Of thy glory thou shouldst enter
This poor cell, my guest to be?

Then amid his exaltation,
Loud the convent bell appalling,
From its belfry calling, calling,
Rang through court and corridor
With persistent iteration
He had never heard before.
It was now the appointed hour
When alike in shine or shower,
Winter's cold or summer's heat,
To the convent portals came
All the blind and halt and lame,
All the beggars of the street,
For their daily dole of food
Dealt them by the brotherhood;
And their almoner was he
Who upon his bended knee,
Rapt in silent ecstasy
Of divinest self-surrender,
Saw the Vision and the Splendor.
Deep distress and hesitation
Mingled with his adoration;
Should he go, or should he stay?
Should he leave the poor to wait
Hungry at the convent gate,
Till the Vision passed away?
Should he slight his radiant guest,
Slight this visitant celestial,
For a crowd of ragged, bestial
Beggars at the convent gate?
Would the Vision there remain?
Would the Vision come again?
Then a voice within his breast
Whispered, audible and clear
As if to the outward ear:
"Do thy duty; that is best;
Leave unto thy Lord the rest!"

Straightway to his feet he started,
And with longing look intent
On the Blessed Vision bent,
Slowly from his cell departed,
Slowly on his errand went.

At the gate the poor were waiting,
Looking through the iron grating,_
With that terror in the eye
That is only seen in those
Who amid their wants and woes
Hear the sound of doors that close,
And of feet that pass them by;
Grown familiar with disfavor,
Grown familiar with the savor
Of the bread by which men die!
But to-day, they knew not why,
Like the gate of Paradise
Seemed the convent sate to rise,
Like a sacrament divine
Seemed to them the bread and wine.
In his heart the Monk was praying,
Thinking of the homeless poor,
What they suffer and endure;
What we see not, what we see;
And the inward voice was saying:
"Whatsoever thing thou doest
To the least of mine and lowest,
That thou doest unto me!"

Unto me! but had the Vision
Come to him in beggar's clothing,
Come a mendicant imploring,
Would he then have knelt adoring,
Or have listened with derision,
And have turned away with loathing.

Thus his conscience put the question,
Full of troublesome suggestion,
As at length, with hurried pace,
Towards his cell he turned his face,
And beheld the convent bright
With a supernatural light,
Like a luminous cloud expanding
Over floor and wall and ceiling.

But he paused with awe-struck feeling
At the threshold of his door,
For the Vision still was standing
As he left it there before,
When the convent bell appalling,
From its belfry calling, calling,
Summoned him to feed the poor.
Through the long hour intervening
It had waited his return,
And he felt his bosom burn,
Comprehending all the meaning,
When the Blessed Vision said,
"Hadst thou stayed, I must have fled!"

The Theologian’s Tale; The Legend Beautiful
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Comments on the correspondence

This post will include my thoughts about the correspondence you can read here. You are invited to leave your comments as well.

I am going to use a style father Z. made popular.

Here's the response from bishop Sasko again, but this time with my emphasis and comments:

Office of the Archdiocese
Archdiocese of Zagreb

No. ***
Zagreb, 26th February 2009

***


Dear Mr. ***:

I have received your inquiry, sent by electronic mail on 17th February 2009, [Actually, I sent emails on 22nd February 2008, 12th March 2008, 30th May 2008. This time I sent a real letter with the confirmation of receit.] received by us on 19th February 2009 and so I gladly answer it.

The essence of your inquiry is, as you state, “the execution of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in the Archdiocese of Zagreb” and you write “about the Traditional Latin Mass, also known as Tridentine Mass”.

You also write literally: “I would like very much to hear the mass according to the missal of blessed John XXIII. or, as it is called in the Motu Proprio, the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. Although such masses are available for the faithful in numerous places in the world, in Croatia we unfortunately still do not have that opportunity.”

The main question you are interested is “how the pope’s Motu Proprio is going to be implemented in our archdiocese of Zagreb?”

Responding to your main question let me remark that it’s about Pope’s document in force which allows something, therefore, there is no need to talk about implementation, since it is honored and executed in the archdiocese of Zagreb, and by that ‘implemented’. It is another question how much the faithful are asking for use of such possibility and how well-founded those requests are, i.e. are the required conditions satisfied for the usage of a provided possibility [This kind of talk is emblematic of the bishop, it continues later as well.]. I emphasize right away that the Archdiocese of Zagreb is acting in complete accordance with the Pope’s Motu Proprio and will honor it strictly in the future as well.

You ask us about fulfilling specific conditions, presuming that “there would be more than enough people in Zagreb interested in a regular Sunday and holiday celebrations of the Traditional Holy Mass in one of the churches of our city.” [Well, it did happen at least once, as you can see here, even in spite of threats of cancelling the mass in that small chapel. Of course the cathedral could not be used for that mass. On the other hand, if you want to have mass in Hungarian, Italian, with a guitar, with Taize flavor or with liturgical improvisations you are welcome to the cathedral. I'm only mentioning those I personally witnessed.]

In your letter you say that you address us “completely independently” [I only wrote that because I did not want to be connected with any previous groups since I did not know what their stand was. You can read about the impossible group requirements later on.] . Such a request can not be answered affirmatively. Namely, in the document (which from this year also exists as an official translation published by Kršćanska sadašnjost: Benedikt XVI., Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and Pismo pape Benedikta XVI. Prigodom njegova objavljivanja, Documents 152, Zagreb 2009) – in twelve articles – the necessary elements and conditions are indicated under which such celebrations are permitted. [I am quoting the Motu Proprio in this translation of the bishop's letter from here. I know that Croatian translation here is different in some aspects, for example the phrase "where there is a stable group of faithful" is translated something like "where there is a lasting/continuously present group". I don't know how much the official translation the bishop mentions is different from the one on the internet. From what he quotes, not much.]

The Motu Proprio talks about permitting the celebration of the sacrifice of the mass “as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church.” (cf. art. 1) Although no permission is required for the priest, in art. 5§1 the Holy Father says the following: “In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonises with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with canon 392, avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church.”

It is appropriate to adjoin with that part also the text of art. 7: “If a group of lay faithful, as mentioned in art. 5 §1, has not obtained satisfaction to their requests from the pastor, they should inform the diocesan bishop. The bishop is strongly requested to satisfy their wishes. If he cannot arrange for such celebration to take place, the matter should be referred to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.”

Therefore, it's always about a group of faithful defined by their attachment [=adherence from the Motu Proprio] to an earlier liturgical tradition. We have no knowledge about the existence of such a group in your parish. It is important to notice also the other elements with regard to ordinariness of pastoral care and to interrelationships in the parish community, as well as the extraordinarity Summorum Pontificum talks about [I've used words that I think best express what the bishop wrote. They do sound a bit strange, but I'll gladly modify them if you think you have a better translation. What is important is that the bishop stresses the ordinary-extraordinary opposition suggesting that the later shoud somehow be rare and exotic.]. You personally contacted the priests in your parish, but your appeal did not fulfill the wanted requirements [But he never really says what the requirements were. If I had ten people with me would that be enough?]. It is clear that the “attachment” the Motu Proprio talks about is not a simple curiosity, but implies a certain rootedness in the entire spirituality from which the good of the faithful results, as well as knowledge of the rite and its language (Latin) [Of course, he is careful not to mention any quantifiable conditions. Who is going to check that rootedness and how? Is an A in Latin from a very demanding teacher in high school enough? How do I prove it's not just curiosity, do I have to?].

It is good that you notice notional nuances that the Pope uses, that you adopt them and correct the colloquial terminology which can lead to confusion, since this matter is not about “Traditional Latin Mass”, nor does the Benedict XVI. talk about some “Tridentine Mass”, much less about “hearing the mass”, as you – talking about your own experience – wrote [Here's a little lecture in good manners for me. I would accept it more easily if the bishop told me what terms are acceptable. Do I have to write extraordinary form of the Roman rite every time? What's wrong with hearing the mass? Dear bishop, please explain.].

Summarizing what has been said, I emphasize that the archdiocese of Zagreb will treat every request in accordance with the regulations of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

However, it is important to mention that the assertion from your letter which says “in Croatia we unfortunately still do not have that opportunity” (meaning to celebrate such liturgy) is not correct. There is a possibility also in Croatia, but to realize this possibility no valid requests were exhibited so this possibility has not been used. [This is probably the funniest part of the whole letter. If it sounds strange and illogical it is because the original in Croatian is like that. So, not only am I not to ask for traditional mass, I actually should not even complain about not having one because I do have a possibility, it's up to me to realize it.]

Up to now the need to use this possibility has not arisen in the archdiocese of Zagreb which is extremely indicative [What does it indicate? That people don't know much about traditional mass and the little they know are mostly misconceptions? That Summorum Pontificum was introduced in the official catholic publications in Croatia with the title: It's not turning back on the council, and the gist of the story was that it's only for some shismatics far away. What if we were talking about something else from faith and morals. There are some extremely indicative examples of the ignorance of those that say they are Catholics about the teachings of the Church (there are about 90% of Catholics in Croatia, officially). Does that not indicate we should change the situation?]. As far as we know, in the area of archdiocese of Zagreb such groups have to date not been present and it is questionable how much the future generations can be attached to an earlier liturgical tradition. Since at present there are no [such groups] in our archdiocese or in Croatia, there is only a question of those that would come from other countries. [If I understand this convoluted argument correctly, the bishop is saying that since the groups have to be continuously present, if there are no groups now, there cannot be any groups satisfying the conditions in the future since they would not be present continuously.] We can not answer such hypothetical questions, but we will, I repeat, abide strictly by the regulations of the Motu Proprio [I'm sure that the bishop who is also our leading liturgists (!) would find some contrary arguments even if dozens of foreigners who know only traditional mass and speak latin fluently were to move to the same parish in Zagreb.].

It should be noted here that in the archdiocese, at the places where the need arises and on the occasions when the conditions for it are fulfilled, the liturgy is celebrated in Latin language according to the Roman Missal, i.e. its edition currently in force, based on the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council [Really? Where? The only time I can think of was when Cardinal McCarrick was in Zagreb a few years ago. He said the central parts of the mass in latin, but people could not even answer "Et cum spiritu tuo". I know my latin is bad, but doesn't that show the calls from the council and the popes that people should know at least some latin were not heeded in the Archdiocese of Zagreb?].

Connected to you in the mystical communion of Church, I sincerely salute you in Christ,

Vicar general and the president of the Committee for liturgy of the Archdiocese of Zagreb,
+ Ivan Šaško, auxiliary bishop of Zagreb

My correspondence with the Archdiocese of Zagreb, Croatia

You can find my comments on this subject and leave yours in another post.

First I give my letter to the Archdiocese of Zagreb. First part of that letter explains what happened prior to it and the second part is the request. I omit the email correspondence here since it is sufficiently summarized in the letter itself.
After that the response of the Archdiocese follows. All the translation is mine, you can find the original letters in Croatian here.

All comments about the translation and the content of the letters is welcome here.
My letter:

***

Office of the Archdiocese

Archdiocese of Zagreb

Kaptol 31,

10000 Zagreb

Subject: Traditional (Tridentine) Mass in the Archdiocese of Zagreb

Dear Sir or Madam:

In accordance with the instructions given to me by the spokeswoman of the Archdiocese of Zagreb Ms. Matilda Kolić Stanić, I sent an email to the address *** on 27^th February 2008 concerning the execution of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in the Archdiocese of Zagreb. Since I did not receive any reply even after the repeated inquiry two weeks later, I again contacted Ms. Kolić Stanić and she assured me that my letter is certainly waiting its turn and is not forgotten. After three months, on 30^th May 2008, I again sent an email to the spokeswoman and the office with a request “If my letter is just waiting its turn, I would at least like to have this confirmed with a possible date when its turn might come.” That time nobody answered. In the meantime I still have not received any acknowledgement that my inquiry has been given consideration or that anyone will answer it in future. Therefore, I repeat my query in the continuation of this letter.

It is in regard to the Traditional Latin Mass, also known as Tridentine Mass that pope Benedict XVI. writes about in his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (Croatian translation on the web page http://www.latinska-misa.com/summorum.php).

I am a lay faithful, from the parish of *** in Zagreb. I would like very much to hear the mass according to the missal of blessed John XXIII. or, as it is called in the Motu Proprio, the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. Although such masses are available for the faithful in numerous places in the world, in Croatia we unfortunately still do not have that opportunity. From my own experience, I can say that regular celebration of Traditional Mass has a particularly beneficial influence on the catholic life in those areas.

In accordance with the instructions from the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, I first contacted the priests that work in my parish. Unfortunately, they can not or will not celebrate the Traditional Mass, which, considering different circumstances, is to a certain extent understandable. My main question is how the pope’s Motu Proprio is going to be implemented in our archdiocese of Zagreb?

Although I address you completely independently, I am certain that there would be more than enough people in Zagreb interested in a regular Sunday and holiday celebrations of the Traditional Holy Mass in one of the churches of our city. If some specific conditions have to be fulfilled in order for that to happen, please specify them, so that all who have that goal can start fulfilling them.

Thank you for your answer. Sincerely,

***

Enclosed: copy of the email correspondence

In Zagreb, 17^th February 2009

The response:

Office of the Archdiocese

Archdiocese of Zagreb

No. ***

Zagreb, 26^th February 2009

***

Dear Mr. ***:

I have received your inquiry, sent by electronic mail on 17^th February 2009, received by us on 19^th February 2009 and so I gladly answer it.

The essence of your inquiry is, as you state, “the execution of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in the Archdiocese of Zagreb” and you write “about the Traditional Latin Mass, also known as Tridentine Mass”.

You also write literally: “I would like very much to hear the mass according to the missal of blessed John XXIII. or, as it is called in the Motu Proprio, the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. Although such masses are available for the faithful in numerous places in the world, in Croatia we unfortunately still do not have that opportunity.”

The main question you are interested is “how the pope’s Motu Proprio is going to be implemented in our archdiocese of Zagreb?”

Responding to your main question let me remark that it’s about Pope’s document in force which allows something, therefore, there is no need to talk about implementation, since it is honored and executed in the archdiocese of Zagreb, and by that ‘implemented’. It is another question how much the faithful are asking for use of such possibility and how well-founded those requests are, i.e. are the required conditions satisfied for the usage of a provided possibility. I emphasize right away that the Archdiocese of Zagreb is acting in complete accordance with the Pope’s Motu Proprio and will honor it strictly in the future as well.

You ask us about fulfilling specific conditions, presuming that “there would be more than enough people in Zagreb interested in a regular Sunday and holiday celebrations of the Traditional Holy Mass in one of the churches of our city.”

In your letter you say that you address us “completely independently”. Such a request can not be answered affirmatively. Namely, in the document (which from this year also exists as an official translation published by Kršćanska sadašnjost: Benedikt XVI., Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and Pismo pape Benedikta XVI. Prigodom njegova objavljivanja, Documents 152, Zagreb 2009) – in twelve articles – the necessary elements and conditions are indicated under which such celebrations are permitted.

The Motu Proprio talks about permitting the celebration of the sacrifice of the mass “as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church.” (cf. art. 1) Although no permission is required for the priest, in art. 5§1 the Holy Father says the following: “In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonises with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with canon 392, avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church.”

It is appropriate to adjoin with that part also the text of art. 7: “If a group of lay faithful, as mentioned in art. 5 §1, has not obtained satisfaction to their requests from the pastor, they should inform the diocesan bishop. The bishop is strongly requested to satisfy their wishes. If he cannot arrange for such celebration to take place, the matter should be referred to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.”

Therefore, it's always about a group of faithful defined by their attachment to an earlier liturgical tradition. We have no knowledge about the existence of such a group in your parish. It is important to notice also the other elements with regard to ordinariness of pastoral care and to interrelationships in the parish community, as well as the extraordinarity Summorum Pontificum talks about. You personally contacted the priests in your parish, but your appeal did not fulfill the wanted requirements. It is clear that the “attachment” the Motu Proprio talks about is not a simple curiosity, but implies a certain rootedness in the entire spirituality from which the good of the faithful results, as well as knowledge of the rite and its language (Latin).

It is good that you notice notional nuances that the Pope uses, that you adopt them and correct the colloquial terminology which can lead to confusion, since this matter is not about “Traditional Latin Mass”, nor does the Benedict XVI. talk about some “Tridentine Mass”, much less about “hearing the mass”, as you – talking about your own experience – wrote.

Summarizing what has been said, I emphasize that the archdiocese of Zagreb will treat every request in accordance with the regulations of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

However, it is important to mention that the assertion from your letter which says “in Croatia we unfortunately still do not have that opportunity” (meaning to celebrate such liturgy) is not correct. There is a possibility also in Croatia, but to realize this possibility no valid requests were exhibited so this possibility has not been used.

Up to now the need to use this possibility has not arisen in the archdiocese of Zagreb which is extremely indicative. As far as we know, in the area of archdiocese of Zagreb such groups have to date not been present and it is questionable how much the future generations can be attached to an earlier liturgical tradition. Since at present there are no [such groups] in our archdiocese or in Croatia, there is only a question of those that would come from other countries. We can not answer such hypothetical questions, but we will, I repeat, abide strictly by the regulations of the Motu Proprio.

It should be noted here that in the archdiocese, at the places where the need arises and on the occasions when the conditions for it are fulfilled, the liturgy is celebrated in Latin language according to the Roman Missal, i.e. its edition currently in force, based on the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council.

Connected to you in the mystical communion of Church, I sincerely salute you in Christ,

Vicar general and the president of the Committee for liturgy of the Archdiocese of Zagreb,

+ Ivan Šaško, auxiliary bishop of Zagreb