Pope’s House Liturgist: Limit Access to the Traditional Rite

(Rome) In the spirit of its political analogues, the ecclesiastical left demands the end of freedom. The liturgical scientist Andrea Grillo, a dogged opponent of the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, who finds an open ear in the Italian Episcopal Conference and in Santa Marta, is calling for stricter access to the traditional rite.

The free exercise of religion for believers and especially priests of the tradition should, according to the liturgist Andrea Grillo, be restricted. As reason for his demand he identifies the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, that of Pope Benedict XVI., adopted in 2007. Summorum Pontificum, which have a homeland to the traditional form of the Roman rite, leads, according to Grillo, to an "ever more paralyzing embarrassment" in the Corpus ecclesiae, which is why it urgently needs a return to a unified rite - and that could only be the Novus Ordo.


Hate object Summorum Pontificum

In mid-2017, he attacked Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Roman Congregation for Worship and the Order of the Sacraments, with unbelievable severity. He insulted the Cardinal for being "incompetent" and "unsuited" for his office. At the same time, he accused Benedict XVI, whom he called only "Ratzinger", of being the cause of the Church's "failure".

The wrath of the Novus Ordo liturgist was challenged by Cardinal Sarah's persistent call to all priests to return to the East or ad Deum celebrations, as well as Benedict XVI's ordered reform of Missal translations in the vernacular languages.

Grillo is a key figure of the inner-Church secret commission that Pope Francis established in late 2016. He works behind the back of Cardinal Sarah, the prefect responsible, but with the consent of Pope Francis at an "ecumenical Mass". It would be the definitive "liturgical revolution" after the radical liturgical reform of 1969, as Riccardo Cascioli, the editor-in-chief of Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, wrote in June 2017.

The existence of this commission, which was revealed by the Vatican Marco Tosatti on December 26, 2016, has not been confirmed by the Vatican, but denied at the end of 2017. The corresponding rumors and hints persist, however, and do not allow any reasonable doubt as to the existence of this liturgical commission. In January 2017, Spanish columnist Francisco Fernandez de la Cigoña even revealed the names of the commissioners - including Andrea Grillo.

Grillo is one of those in the papal entourage who is worried about a "renunciation of renunciation." What if Benedict XVI, who has continued to maintain his pope's name and numerous visible signs of papal dignity, resigns from his resignation and reclaims his powers as pope? Such an option seems increasingly unlikely due to age. Nevertheless, Grillo hinted at what might happen if Pope Francis was to die and to be replaced by Benedict XVI. The fear of a possible reaction of Benedict drives the liturgist, to ever new, increasingly explosive attacks. Nothing will change that as long as the German church leader lives.

While others are silent, Cardinal Sarah replied on 6 June 2017 to the attacks against Benedict XVI:



A hard patch for the traditional rite

Italy has always been a hard patch for the traditional rite. There are several reasons for this. The Italians as a Mediterranean people are quite emotional, but not dogmatic. In addition, the bond with Rome is a matter of course. The change from Vetus to Novus Ordo was correspondingly untraumatic. And corresponding difficulties are encountered by the faithful of the traditional rite for obtaining Mass locations. The bishops are largely deaf to their wishes.

There is also another factor: the massive presence of a strictly Moscow-based Communist Party and another galaxy surrounding other Marxist parties and organizations after the Second World War made a part of Catholicism eager to seek an alliance between socialism and Christianity and to accept the corresponding politicization. As a result, the Catholic world and its institutions have gradually been interspersed and disintegrated since the 1960s.

This alliance became apparent when, on 1 June 2018, the new Italian government of the Five-Star Movement and Lega was sworn in. They took power, like family minister Lorenzo Fontana. Andrea Grillo lunged at him with incredible vehemence. What makes Fontana the hate object of a liturgist? He is opposed to abortion, mass immigration, gay marriage, gender ideology and visits Mass every Sunday in the traditional rite.

Grillo initiated a conflict and employed choice words that were previously known only by the radical left. He cursed Fontana as a "fascist" and wrote on Twitter:

In other words, the "home liturgist" of Pope Francis sees Summorum Pontificum as an expression of "fascism" and implicitly also Benedict XVI. as "fascists.” Grillos' verbal derailment reveals the radical nature of the unholy fusion of left-catholicism with the left-leaning left - especially in the language. The fact that he was not condemned or even reprimanded by the episcopal side or by the university where he teaches, clarifies the drama of the inner-church situation.

Fontana reacted calmly:


In recent months, the attacks on Summorum Pontificum in Italy have become more conspicuous, so conspicuous. It is unclear whether this is an organized thrust. Recently, Andrea Grillo also participated in this with an essay on his blog. The blog Come se non, parked on the website of Munera - a European Cultural Magazine, highlights how pinned Grillo is to the enemy image of the Summorum Pontificum, to which numerous entries are devoted.

On February 18, he led Hans Urs von Balthasar as a witness for the necessary and legitimate "end of Vetus Ordo" in the field. In his book "Little Primer for the Unsettled Layman," published in 1980, Balthasar states "with great clarity" that the traditional rite "was definitively overcome by the liturgical reform". Balthasar writes that against all criticism of the "traditionalists", whom he accuses of "sectarian" behavior, everything ultimately speaks "for the Council Church and against the traditionalists.” The Holy Mass required an urgent renewal, especially the participatio actuosa of all believers in the sacred action, which was a matter of course in the first century. The Roman canon had remained unchanged and Communion received while standing in the hand was common until the 9th century.

Traditionalism, on the other hand, does not lean on living theology and philosophy, and for that very reason it can not claim validity today. Balthasar refers to the view of various theologians, including Joseph Ratzinger, that the traditional rite could have survived a transitional period parallel to the Novus Ordo, but then dissolved in an "organic" way and will would completely replaced by the New Rite.


Grillos quarantine claims

Grillo draws from this his conclusions. In "Ratzinger's autobiography,” he attributed the liturgical form to a "supplementary character" and described the Tridentine rite in the version of 1962 as "inviolable". But Balthasar's remarks would emphasize, with reference to Ratzinger, that the liturgical reform of 1969 was an "inescapable necessity," even though the previous form of the Roman rite in a "provisional and limited" wat could continue to enjoy protection. Grillo's quintessence:

Ordinary for Liturgical Sciences at the Benedictine School of Sant'Anselmo in Rome
Professor of Liturgy at the Benedictine School of Sant'Anselmo in Rome


From this the liturgical scientist formulates his demands:

-The upswing of liturgical reform can not take place unless all work on a single rite.

-Access to the previous rite is destined to extinguish, and can only be performed in exceptional circumstances, under the supervision of the locally competent authority.


Finally, Andrea Grillo triggers the guillotine: