Brazilian Traditional Bishop Still Loyal to Pope Benedict XVI

The Constantinian Order Website ^ | Unknown | Unknown

[Dennis Paul Morony]

The traditional Catholic bishop of brazil, Bishop Areas Rifan is shown with Pope Benedict XVI.

[magisterium]

I am not aware that there was even a suspicion that he isn't. I know the bishop tangentially through a friend, and neither my own knowledge of him or the better knowledge that my friend has of him would indicate even the slightest wavering of Bishop Rifan's loyalty to Pope Benedict. Why does the title of this thread suggest otherwise? The attached article doesn't even allude to the issue of loyalties one way or the other. It would have been better to use the title that the article already has.

[Dennis Paul Morony]

Yo, Magisterium:

If anybody has been keeping up the SSPX they'll know that the internet is swamped with references as to how Bishop Rifan "con-celebrated the new mass," etc.

Frankly I don't care if he has.

For me and I'm sure others what really counts is indeed his loyalty to Rome.

A number of us were privileged to meet and talk with him in a common language, Spanish, back in 1996 when he was on his way back to Brazil.

A very impressive and matter of fact individual.

In so far as this particular thread goes, it so happens to be one of the comparative few in English that has anything to say about him at all in recent times.

A random search with YAHO0 or any other search engine I suspect will confirm this.

While he still (I guess!) comes here to America now and again, my growing impression these last two years is that many so-called "Traditionalists" are cool towards him.

Yet, for all that, he is still very active in Church affairs (as this website indicates) both in his native Brazil and abroad.

Left-wing elements of the portuguese-language Brazilian press hate him, and from their perspective, with good reason.

Thnaks for the input!

Dennis

[magisterium]

Thanks for the clarification on the direction this thread was meant to take. Indeed, the fact that Bishop Rifan assisted in the celebration of the Novus Ordo should be excellent evidence that he has not departed from Rome.

He still comes to the US on occasion, invariably winding up in Providence, RI before heading home to Campos. A friend of mine who attends the Indult in Providence has a close friendship with Bishop Rifan, and I have met the bishop at this man's house and elsewhere on several occasions. He is, as you say, a very impressive individual. I say this even while forced into the somewhat hampering necessity of communicating with him in English, in which he is fluent but a bit limited in his ability to discuss things at a deeper level. I'm sure I would find him even more impressive if I could speak Portuguese!

[Dennis Paul Morony]

Yo, Magisterium:

Regarding Portuguese, yeah, me too: fifty years or so ago my mom made an honest effort, but outside of some weird phonetic vowel chant like: "tuno, fino, nata," with no memorable success, I'm afraid to say.

Speaking of "Mom" -- and more particularly "The Catechism According to Mom": while dealing over the years with many self-described "True Blue Remnant Traditional Catholics," etc. her advice often comes to mind:

"Son, beware those Catholics 'holier than the Pope!'"

See ya,

Dennis