Members of the Society of St. Pius X have distinguished themselves by disrupting a service commemorating Kristallnacht, a service held in the cathedral in Buenos Aires and previously hosted by the man who is now pope. The service they declared a “profanation” because a rabbi was leading it (the same rabbi who used to lead it with then-Cardinal Bergolio). According to someone who was there, the protest “started as a murmur of ‘Our Father’ and other prayers, and then the protesters began chanting the rosary louder and louder. Between 20 and 40 young men, some just teenagers, kneeled down and began praying fervently, their eyes fixed straight ahead.”
The AP reports (the lines in boldface type are Father Z’s):
The Rev. Christian Bouchacourt, the South America leader of the Society of Saint Pius X, said Wednesday that the protesters belong to his organization and that they have a right to feel outraged when rabbis preside over a ceremony in a cathedral. “I recognize the authority of the pope, but he is not infallible and in this case, does things we cannot accept,” Bouchacourt said in an interview with Radio La Red. [Sure. They have—right or wrong—a right to be outraged, and even to express their outrage. They don’t have a right to disrupt that service in that manner.]
“This wasn’t a desire to make a rebellion, [“This”, he said—pointing at a duck—“is not a duck!” And this wasn’t “rebellion”. Riiiight.] but to show our love to the Catholic Church, which was made for the Catholic faith,” Bouchacourt added. “A Mass isn’t celebrated in a synagogue, nor in a mosque. The Muslims don’t accept it. In the same way, we who are Catholics cannot accept the presence of another faith in our church.” [I think Father is confused.]
Francis responded that “aggression cannot be an act of faith” and “Preaching intolerance is a form of militancy that must be overcome.”
They have, as Fr. Z says, a right to feel outraged, even if one thinks that their disregard for the Second Vatican Council leaves them feeling outraged about something that should not outrage them. But to use the Our Father and the rosary as weapons, that itself is a profanation. That’s not prayer, it’s assault.
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