Posted on 05/31/2023 11:50:00 AM PDT by ebb tide
CHARTRES, France (LifeSiteNews) — Over 20,000 Catholic pilgrims filled to overflowing the magnificent, iconic gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame du Chartres in France on Pentecost Monday, after walking three days from Paris as witness to their love for the Traditional Latin Mass, while praying for full freedom to be granted for the celebration of the Church’s ancient apostolic liturgy.
READ: Half of the traditional Catholics on the Chartres pilgrimage were under 20
The pilgrimage began on the Vigil of of Pentecost, May 27, in the beautiful Church of Saint Sulpice, just blocks away from Paris’ Cathedral of Notre Dame, where the Chartres pilgrimage used to begin before the fire that destroyed the medieval central spire. Amid great enthusiasm and with hundreds of flags, banners, and crosses leading the various chapters of pilgrims, 16,000 set out along the streets of Paris after a Solemn High Mass at Saint Sulpice.
The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) has described assisted suicide as sometimes being the “greatest common good concretely possible” contrary to the Catholic Church's strenuous condemnation of the practice.
This betrayal of the Catholic faith by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia is not for the first time, with the PAV repeatedly causing scandal under his watch by:
SIGN: Pope Francis must remove Abp. Paglia from the Pontifical Academy for Life
“Personally, I would not practice suicide assistance,” Archbishop Paglia told an Italian journalism conference last week, “but I understand that legal mediation may be the greatest common good concretely possible under the conditions we find ourselves in.”
Accepting an anti-life Italian court ruling that specified when assisted-suicide is permitted, the archbishop claimed “it is not to be ruled out that in our society a legal mediation is feasible that would allow assistance to suicide under the conditions specified by Constitutional Court Sentence 242/2019...”
From the outset of his presentation in Perugia, Paglia also undermined the authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, stating: “First of all, I would like to clarify that the Catholic Church is not that it has a ready-made, prepackaged package of truths, as if it were a dispenser of truth pills.”
SIGN: Abp. Paglia must be removed from the Pontifical Academy for Life
The PAV issued a statement on Monday trying to clarify the archbishop's remarks, insisting that Paglia “reiterates his ‘no’ towards euthanasia and assisted suicide, in full adherence to the Magisterium”.
However, far from denouncing Paglia’s words, the PAV unsurprisingly supported its president. Referencing the Italian court ruling which partially decriminalized euthanasia by outlining exceptions to its illegality, the PAV stated it was in the context of this ruling that Paglia had made his comments.
In this precise and specific context, Msgr. Paglia explained that in his opinion a ‘legal mediation’ (certainly not a moral one) in the direction indicated by the Sentence is possible, maintaining the crime and the conditions under which it is decriminalized, as the same Constitutional Court has asked Parliament to legislate.
The PAV’s fudging of the issue was met with consternation from several Catholic commentators, with liturgist Matthew Hazell, who had highlighted Paglia’s original comments, asking “How hard is it for the @PontAcadLife to just say ‘sorry’ for scandalising the faithful? Indeed, how hard is it to actually adhere to the teaching of the Church on life issues? Are you so incapable of reading the signs of the times & interpreting them in the light of the Gospel?”
The Pontifical Academy for Life has tried & failed to explain @monspaglia's remarks. Paglia had spoken about the “accompaniment” needed for the dying, saying “in this context, it is not to be ruled out that in our society a legal mediation is feasible …” https://t.co/C3LU601aA2 — Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) April 24, 2023
Sorry guys, not good enough. Nowhere near good enough.
Archbishop Paglia's "opinion" on the possibility of "juridical mediation" regarding euthanasia is still contrary to the Catholic faith, as has been explained already. https://t.co/qMATq0UZrL pic.twitter.com/W8s4zLvkj7 — Matthew Hazell (@M_P_Hazell) April 24, 2023
Archbishop Paglia's comments about assisted suicide being "feasible" are wrong and harmful. It's the kind of "crack in the wall" that opponents of human life will run with to promote their agenda. The teaching of the Church is clear: Euthanasia is "morally unacceptable." Period. — Bishop Thomas Tobin (@ThomasJTobin1) April 24, 2023
SIGN: Abp. Paglia's presidency of the Pontifical Academy for Life is untenable
It's vital that the Church and PAV push back against the culture of death, rather than trying to accommodate it and accept a world that where the vulnerable are helped to kill themselves.
Be part of pushing back against the tide and making it clear that there is no room for confusion or betrayal when it comes to the sanctity of human life and the infallibilty of Catholic teaching on the matter.
SIGN AND SHARE THE PETITION WITH FRIENDS & FAMILY
MORE INFORMATION:
Abp. Paglia defends assisted-suicide as 'greatest common good possible' for dying people - LifeSiteNews
The route to Chartres covered more than 60 miles, with police escorts to assist in the direction of traffic as pilgrims walked the roads of what is part of the medieval pilgrimage route from Paris to Santiago de Compostela. Camping two nights in the French countryside, pilgrims participated in a beautiful, chanted Pentecost Mass out in the fields along the way.
As they walked for hours upon end, men, women, youths, and even little children could be heard reciting and singing the rosary and litany of Our Lady, as well as traditional hymns and chants, folk songs, and rousing cheers to pass the hours in prayer and good cheer. In contrast to last year’s torrential rains, this year saw clear skies and hot, dusty roads, with an occasional breeze to break the heat.
READ: Thousands of Catholics persevere despite worst weather in history of Chartres pilgrimage
Many groups of Scouts and Guides from all over France made the pilgrimage, similar to last year’s hike that saw more than half of the participants below 20 years old. Additionally, groups traveled from many European countries, including England, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine. Joining the pilgrimage from other continents, pilgrims journeyed from the U.S.,
Canada, Brazil, and New Zealand. LifeSiteNews was represented in the two American chapters, with John-Henry Westen making the trek from Canada. Although coming from different countries and speaking different languages, all were united in their love for and devotion to the Church’s ancient Roman liturgy.
With tired feet and sore legs, pilgrims arrived at Chartres to the cheers of local residents. The Bishop of Chartres, Monsignor Philippe Christory, greeted the crowds and presided over a Solemn High Mass that saw more than 20,000 participants. The cathedral was filled with 3,000 children, while more than 18,000 adult pilgrims filled the plaza and streets outside.
READ: Bishop of Chartres joins Americans in final stretch of pilgrimage from Paris
The head of St. Thomas Aquinas was carried in the procession at Chartres, which saw hundreds of priests and religious, together with the flags and banners of the many chapters that made the long walk from Paris. After the Mass, pilgrims venerated the relic of Our Lady’s, the great treasure of the Cathedral since the early Middle Ages.
Amid increased restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, Catholics who love the Old Rite have come to see that their numbers are only growing. To the minds of many observers, the enthusiasm, excitement, faith, and youthfulness of those who make the Chartres Pentecost Pilgrimage every year manifests the way in which the Holy Spirit is preserving in the hearts of the faithful a strong and deep love for that form of the Mass that has brought forth so many saints in the Church.
It is hoped by the faithful who make the Chartres Pentecost Pilgrimage that those in authority in the Church will grant their requests for full freedom to be able to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass, and that they will come to see the truth of what Pope Benedict XVI declared, that “what earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”
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