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To: Alberta's Child
The FSSP church shut down because the bishop ordered it. I have nothing but contempt for bishops who buckled to civil authorities in the matter, but an FSSP priest in a parish setting cannot disobey the local bishop.

Any priest, or lay catholic, can, and should, disobey an unlawful order that harms the sacramental life of Catholics.

15 posted on 07/07/2020 5:22:54 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide

If a priest wants to say Mass in a park or in someone’s home, that’s one thing. But the priest does not own his parish church, and will be subject to removal by the police if he defies his superiors by holding services against the bishop’s wishes.


17 posted on 07/07/2020 5:26:49 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("We're human beings ... we're not f#%&ing animals." -- Dennis Rodman, 6/1/2020)
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To: ebb tide
Who makes the decision as to what is an unlawful order that "harms the sacramental life of Catholics"?

If a bishop suspended the obligation to attend Mass in response to a natural disaster and ordered the churches in his diocese closed to prevent anyone from venturing out to attend Mass, one could argue that he is "harming the sacramental life of Catholics", as people would not be able to attend Mass or confession at that time.

But the bishop is concerned with both the spiritual and physical welfare of the people in his diocese. People (at least, those of us outside of the SSPX) recognize the authority of the bishop when he makes such a call. And while the closing of a church make not make much sense to the person who lives next door to it, the person next door to the church presumably has enough of an imagination to realize that others would be driving 30 or more miles to get to that church.

37 posted on 07/07/2020 5:59:42 PM PDT by Captain Walker
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