[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche’s Rescript: Tightening the Noose on the Bishops

Catholic Family News ^ | April 2023 | Brian M. McCall

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[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche’s Rescript: Tightening the Noose on the Bishops

Cardinal Roche’s Rescript: Tightening the Noose on the Bishops (Brian M. McCall)

As this issue goes to press, credible rumors still swirl about claiming that the Pope will issue a document, likely an Apostolic Constitution, further strangling the ability of bishops to encourage or even permit the Traditional Latin Mass and sacramental rites. Although we will not know the full depths of the next persecution if and until it is published, events have been on a fairly clear trajectory since July 2021. …

The year and a half following the publication of Traditionis Custodes could be characterized as a pitched battle between Francis, Roche, and their reliable sycophants on one side and bishops willing to shelter, tolerate, or even promote the Mass that every Western Catholic would have known for millennia. The February Rescript

On Feb. 20, 2023, Cardinal Roche met with Pope Francis in audience and obtained from him a rescript dated Feb. 21, 2023, which builds on the Dec. 2021 Responsa ad Dubia to further attempt to force the bishops’ hands to contain and exterminate the Traditional Mass. A rescript is a legal document issued by the Pope or a Roman Congregation, under the specific approval of the Pope, which clarifies the particular law governing the Church. The term dates from the Roman Empire, when the emperor would issue rescript letters to the provincial governors. Sometimes, a rescript presents a detailed legal analysis and other times the emperor (or pope) would simply write “approved” or “rejected” on the legal request. This second simple approval appears to be what happened with Roche. He drafted a letter with the new powers he wanted and Francis signed off on it.

In this case, Cardinal Roche sought to extend his dictatorial grasp over recalcitrant bishops who were not enthusiastically following the Revolutionary Politburo in Rome and suppressing Masses, and also as a means of endorsing the approach of the Soviet Socialist Diocese of Chicago.

… What is the Point of the Rescript?

Now if, as we expect, a new legal document is about to be issued (and may have appeared by the time you read this), why would Cardinal Roche go to the trouble of obtaining Francis’ approval of this Rescript? After all, these new restrictions on bishops could have been included in the forthcoming document. There are several possible answers to this question.

First, it might indicate that Roche is not certain that the anticipated document will be issued or that it will be as clear and harsh as he hopes. He may therefore want to get this power grab on the books before that document is issued or before Francis decides in his predictably unpredictable way to defer its issuance.

Secondly, the Rescript may be a warning to bishops about how they should react to the upcoming document. It may be a warning shot over the bow to bishops who have lagged in their zeal for persecuting faithful clergy and laity. This is a code book for reading the new Orwellian language. When Traditionis Custodes entrusts decisions to bishops, it really means it only permits the selection of one option: restriction. Like a Soviet election, there is no real “choice” for diocesan bishops. They are not really supposed to consider the particular circumstances of their diocese and the spiritual good of their subjects. Their only “choice” is to get behind the party line and choose to hack down and suppress the Mass of our fathers. The message is that there is to be no “legalistic” or “clever” interpretations of Traditionis Custodes or this anticipated document. To the extent a bishop attempts to “evade” the will to suppress, Roche will run back to the Peronist Pope and get a new legal hammer to beat them down. To continue reading, subscribe to Catholic Family News

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Ping

[Bookshelf]

“Fri Dec 3, 2021 - 2:43 pm EST
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — In the summer of 2003, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, reportedly told two priests in a private audience that he considered Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the priestly Society of St. Pius X, to be “the most important bishop of the 20th century with regard to the universal Church.”
Lefebvre, the Champion of the Latin rite was, however, rabidly opposed by the Jesuits of Argentina throughout the period 1980-2000. If one wants to know where the present Pope is coming from, just begin the investigation in Argentina and the role that he and the Jesuits have assumed in that nation.