SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission
P. O. Box 7352
York, PA 17408
717-792-2789
www.saintspeterandpaulrcm.com
August 18, 2010
Most Reverend Joseph Patrick McFadden
Bishop the Diocese of Harrisburg
4800 Union Deposit Road
Box 2153
Harrisburg, PA 17105-2153
Enclosure: Index of Leading Catholic Indicators by Kenneth C.
Jones
Dear Bishop McFadden,
Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission was incorporated in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in July of 2002 and functioned informally for
several years before that. The Mission
is canonically a pious union of lay Catholics that in practice operates more
along the lines of a confraternity. The
members have bound themselves together for their own sanctification by simple
promise to perform acts of prayer and penance for the restoration of the
Ecclesiastical Traditions of the Roman Rite, the patrimony and right of all
Catholics, to the Diocese of Harrisburg.
With the help of more than a dozen priests, we have provided the
traditional Roman rite of Mass to this diocese on a regular basis for about the
last ten years. In January of 2004 we
purchased and renovated the old synagogue in the historic district of York at
129 S. Beaver Street where the immemorial traditions of our right have been
faithfully and lovingly restored.
A formal petition was submitted to your predecessors, the late Bishop Dattilo and Bishop Rhoades, for a judgment by the Church on
the claims of our Mission. None was
forthcoming. Although our claim is
simple, since it is a matter of conscience that pertains directly upon the
nature of our Catholic faith, we have a right for a judgment, if necessary,
from the highest authority in the Church.
We hold that by virtue of our baptism which incorporates us into the
Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, “outside of which
there is no salvation,” we have received, among other things, the infused
virtue of Faith and the baptismal character that empowers us to offer fitting
worship to God. St. Thomas distinguishes
two aspects to this virtue of Faith. The first is the interior submission
of the mind and will to the revelation of God on the authority of God.
The second is the exterior manifestation of this interior assent. Both
are necessary to the virtue of Faith without which, “it is impossible to please
God” (Heb. 11:6). It was Jesus Christ who said, “Every one therefore that
shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in
heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my
Father who is in heaven.” And St. Paul
said, “For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth,
confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10). The “confession unto
salvation,” the “exterior” aspect of our Faith, is
manifested by acts of the virtue of Religion, which constitute the very heart
of our immemorial Ecclesiastical Traditions.
Since God has imposed as a duty upon us to profess our faith and
worship Him in the external forum, we claim, as a right, the freedom to embrace
the immemorial Ecclesiastical Traditions that are perfectly consonant with the
faith we hold in the internal forum, the traditions that perfectly comport with
the doctrinal and moral truths of our Faith, in particular, the right to the
sacraments according to the “received and approved” immemorial rites of the
Church. Since these immemorial traditions are not accidental but rather a
necessary constitutive element of the Catholic faith, we hold that they cannot
be simply matters of discipline subject to the free and arbitrary will of any
legislator. Furthermore, since rights
necessarily impose reciprocal obligations, we hold that the Church hierarchy
has a strict moral duty in this matter to secure the rights of the faithful to
the practice of our religion without prejudice while recognizing that rights
can be duly and justly regulated. We further hold that no Catholic, of whatever
ecclesiastical dignity, has a right to do anything or to command anything that
is manifestly harmful to Catholic faith and morals.
Since the Second Vatican Council, every Ecclesiastical Tradition of the
Roman rite has undergone a transmutation according to the novel principles of
ecumenism. The “fruit” of this novelty
is documented in the book, Index of Leading Catholic Indicators by
Kenneth C. Jones, a statistical compilation of trends in the Church since
Vatican Council II. I have enclosed a
copy for you. A copy was previously sent
to Bishop Dattilo and Bishop Rhoades. The Church since Vatican II by every
statistical index is in an unprecedented state of decline. We believe it is because an indispensable
element of our faith, that is, the immemorial ecclesiastical traditions, has
been relegated to the status of simple discipline and then unjustly proscribed.
We refused to consider an offer by Bishop Rhoades to become an “Indult”
community because an indult is the permission to do
something that is held to be illegal. We
also rejected any possible offer to the legal grant of privilege to the
conditional exercise of our traditions under the stipulations of Summorum Pontificum. The immemorial traditions of our rite, which
we hold as a matter of first principle to be a necessary element of our faith,
cannot be the subject of an indult nor can they be
the subject of a grant of legal privilege without ceasing to be a right.
As previously said to Bishop Rhoades, we recognize that our irregular
canonical status within the Diocese is a scandal for Catholics and
non-Catholics alike, but as a matter of conscience, which every Catholic is
bound to follow, we cannot permit questions of faith and morals to be the
subjected to legal proscription. If you
believe that it is possible to regularize our position within the diocese
without compromising our conscience, we would like very much to meet with you
and discuss our concerns regarding the current state of the Church and our
problems with the developments over the last forty years.
Your welfare is remembered in the Masses and prayers offered at our
chapel with all due filial respect and hope that you may fulfill your office to
the glory of God, the welfare of every soul in your charge, and for your own
sanctification and salvation.
Sincerely in Christ,
David M. Drew
Chairman
SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission