SS. Peter and Paul
Roman Catholic Mission
P.O. Box 7352
July
10, 2003
Mrs. Tracey Trott
14356 Curvin Drive
Stewartstown, PA 17363
Dear Mrs. Trott,
Mr. Art Noel gave
me a copy of a letter that was written by Rev. William J. King, the judicial
vicar for the Diocese of Harrisburg, regarding his canonical opinion of SS.
Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission.
Mr. Noel asked me to write to you regarding the letter of Rev. King.
SS. Peter and Paul
Roman Catholic Mission is an association of lay Catholics who have been
incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the purpose of restoring,
against the will of the local ordinary, Bishop Nicholas Dattilo,
the Ecclesiastical Traditions of the Roman Rite to the Diocese of
Harrisburg. Our primary focus at this
time is to make available the Tradition Roman Rite of the Mass and to offer
sound catechetical instruction in the Catholic Faith to children and
adults. The names of Pope John Paul II
and Bishop Nicholas Dattilo are included in the canon
of these Masses.
The Traditional
Roman Rite of the Mass, sometimes called the Tridentine
Rite because of its codification by Pope St. Pius V after the Council of Trent,
is firmly dated in all its essentials to the time of Pope St. Damasus I (366-383) and, at that time it was held as
immemorial custom. The noted liturgist,
Msgr. Klaus Gamber, stated that every reference to
the Traditional Roman Rite by papal authority has historically regarded it as
an “Apostolic Tradition,” which makes it part of Divine Tradition. It is an offense to common sense in the
extreme to suggest that canon law, a form of human law, can legitimately be
employed to suppress the offering of the Traditional Roman Rite of Mass by any
bishop. But that is exactly what Novus Ordo canonists have argued since Vatican II. Rev. King is not the first to offer this
intellectual and moral offense against justice.
I have enclosed for
your consideration the canonical opinion of Rev. John Huels
and my reply to his opinion, entitled Reply to a Conservative Catholic Canon
Lawyer,
that was written about two years ago. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, Rev. Huels
was a noted canonist who had been an instructor in canon law at the Catholic
Theological Union in Chicago, previous head of the Servite
Order, and most recently, professor and vice-dean of canon law at St. Paul
University in Ottawa, Canada. His
canonical opinion, appended to the back of my reply, was published by the Canon
Law Society of America. Rev. Huels’ position is basically a better articulated and more
authoritative expression of the same opinion of Rev. King. Thus, the reply to Rev. Huels
should apply equally as well to Rev. King.
I was unable to continue any discussion with Rev. Huels
because his long history as a homosexual predator was exposed,
he resigned his position at St. Paul’s citing “depression”, and was
subsequently laicized.
The second reason
why it is important is because these arguments were presented to Bishop
Nicholas Dattilo by Msgr. Mercurio
Fregapane who formally requested the bishop to
provide an authoritative opinion by virtue of his office regarding the
theological and doctrinal soundness of the arguments. Msgr. Fregapane was
summarily and unceremoniously retired for reasons of “health” after making the
formal request. Bishop Dattilo has never responded although he has a strict moral
obligation to do so.
I have also
enclosed a copy of our last bulletin from the Mass for your information.
If after reading
the Reply to a Conservative Catholic Canon Lawyer, you have any
questions, I would be happy to address them as best as I can. And if I cannot adequately answer your
questions, I will find someone who can. What
might be better for clarification of the issues is a public debate. This affords the opportunity to expose each
side of the issue to a through cross-examination. You may want to suggest this to Rev.
King. You might also ask him to take the
Reply to Bishop Dattilo as Msgr. Fregapane did.
I would like to
close by saying that the charge of “schism” leveled by Rev. King has been made
before. Bishop Ferrario, of Honolulu on January 18,
1991 made the charge of schism against several lay Catholics and formally
“excommunicated” them for doing the same thing that we are doing in the Diocese
of Harrisburg. The “excommunication” was
nullified on appeal to Rome by Cardinal Ratzinger on
June 4, 1993. Apparently, Rev. King does
not distinguish the difference between disobedience and schism. He would accuse the “man born blind” in the
gospel of St. John, chapter 9, of being a “schismatic.”
As for the
Sunday obligation, I frankly wonder if Rev. King even knows what the obligation
actually entails. Be that as it may,
Rev. Msgr. Camille Perl, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission of Ecclesia Dei
and no friend of Catholic tradition, wrote a private letter on September 27,
2002 that was published in part in the Remnant. Msgr. Perl wrote a follow up public letter on
January 18, 2003 that was intended to provide further clarification of the
private letter written in September. In
the letter of January 20, 2003 Msgr. Perl said:
“In response
to the question, Points 1 and 3 in our letter of 27 September 2002 to this
correspondent are accurately reported. His first question was "Can I
fulfill my Sunday obligation by attending a Pius X Mass" and our response
was:
"1. In
the strict sense you may fulfill your Sunday obligation by attending a Mass
celebrated by a priest of the Society of St. Pius X."
The Office of
Bishop Dattilo has confirmed that any parish has the
standing “permission” of Bishop Dattilo to conduct an
ecumenical prayer service in the sanctuary of a Catholic Church with
Mohammedans, Talmudic Jews, and Novus Ordo Catholics
to pray to their “common god.” Since
Jesus Christ is formally expelled from these prayer services, it remains a
mystery as to what god these prayers are directed. It is little wonder that Bishop Dattilo, who has the hubris to believe that he can nullify
the First Commandment, would have any trouble prohibiting the Traditional Roman
Rite of the Mass.
Sincerely in
Christ,
D. M. Drew
SS. Peter and Paul
Roman Catholic Mission
Encl.: Reply to a Conservative Catholic Canon
Lawyer
Bulletin, SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission
cc.: Bishop Nicholas Dattilo
Rev. William J. King
Mr. Art Noel