Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Cardinal Ricard's Statement on the Agreement

I should acknowledge, as usual, Rorate Caeli, as the source of the links to the original French documents, on the website of the Archdiocese of Bordeaux, to which I refer readers who read French for a more fuller and more accurate understanding.

Cardinal Ricard presents the meaning and implications of the agreement signed with the Institute of the Good Shepherd

On Thursday 1st February, there were signed a decree erecting in Bordeaux a personal parish and an agreement entrusting this personal parish to the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

The Code of Canon Law speaks of a personal parish in these terms: “As a general rule, a parish shall be territorial, that is it will include all the faithful of a given territory; but where it is useful, personal parishes shall be established, defined by the rite, the language, the nationality, of the faithful of a territory, and indeed by any other characteristic.”

This personal parish which is not territorial, encompasses some faithful who wish to celebrate the liturgy with the liturgical books in force in 1962, It takes its place among the other communities where this liturgy is celebrated in union with the Archbishop: the chapels of Christ the Redeemer (at Talence), St. Germain (at Auros), and the Church of St. Bruno (in Bordeaux.) This parish has its seat at the Church of St. Eloi, which is placed at its disposal by the Diocese. It is entrusted to the Institute of the Good Shepherd, a society of apostolic life of pontifical right, officially erected by Rome on 8th September last.

The time is come

This decision, described in my editorial in L’Acquitaine of 6th October, 2006, was preceded by a consultation of the Council of Priests and of the Diocesan Pastoral Council. Questions have been asked, and reservations expressed. The contacts undertaken, meetings with the members of the Institute and its Superior General, difficulties surmounted, a personal letter which Father Laguérie addressed to me, wishing, after a number of years of polemics, to renew more fraternal relations with the Diocese, have convinced me that the time has come to sign an agreement with the Institute. This, in parallel with the recognition of the Institute by Rome, is ad experimentum. It will be reviewed after five years, and the situation will be assessed each by the two parties.

Towards fraternal communion

The signature of this agreement is not merely an administrative act, nor one made reluctantly. It is the expression of a desire of welcome and communion in the Diocese of Bordeaux with the priests and faithful who wish to recover full communion with the See of Rome. We must recall that we are of the same family, called by grace to take our places as the poor at the table of the Lord. During the celebration of the Eucharist, I often address this prayer to the Father: “Humbly, we ask that, partaking in the body and blood of Christ, we may be gathered by the Holy Spirit into one single body.” No-one is the owner of the Church. In a reconciliation according to the Gospel, no-one is the conqueror or the vanquished; without concession or condition, there is a fraternal communion, a welcome in the love of Christ, mutually.


A task to be accomplished

Certainly, this communion has, in the nature of the agreement signed, an institutional dimension: this parish has the same rights and duties as the other parishes of the diocese, such as are defined by our diocesan statutes and the universal law of the Church. But this communion must also be lived by fraternal links, for, if it is a fruit of the Spirit, it is also a task to be accomplished, with which must comport mutual knowledge, communication, exchange and dialogue. At the suggestion of the Council of Priests, I have decided on the creation of a commission of dialogue (from five to seven persons) which will be in constant contact with this person entrusted to the Institute of the Good Shepherd, and will assist with a better mutual awareness.

The deepening understanding of the Second Vatican Council

We know well that it is not only the liturgical question which has hitherto been the cause of divisions in the Church, but more generally a disagreement about the doctrinal and pastoral authority of the Second Vatican Council, and about the reception of its texts. The welcome given by Rome to the priests of the Institute has not made light of this question. This still remains relevant. We must not hide this. Fraternal communion does not erode this fact. During the creation of the Institute of the Good Shepherd at Rome, on 8th September last, the priests of this Institute have declared [that they], “accept the doctrine contained in no. 25 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium of the Second Vatican Council on the Magisterium of the Church and the adherence which is due to it.” They have also agreed to clarify that, “Concerning certain points taught by the Second Vatican Council or concerning the subsequent reforms of the liturgy or of the law, and which seem to us difficult to reconcile with Tradition, we commit ourselves to a positive attitude of study and of communion with the Apostolic See, avoiding all polemic.” (Act of adherence.) It is therefore possible, in fidelity to the present Magisterium, to be able to speak with the members of the Institute and with the faithful who associate with them, concerning certain points which they find difficult about the Second Vatican Council. The truth of communion has this price.

The Second Vatican Council, situated within the whole tradition of the Church, is for us, as Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have said, a “compass” for our ecclesial journey. Next year, I have proposed to our whole diocese four great catecheses for adults on the four great insights of this Council. I hope that they will be the occasion, without making light of our differences, of a calm reflection and of a respectful exchange among all.

A communion for mission

Let us not forget in the end that our communion is at the service of our mission. We are confronted by some terrible challenges: how to proclaim the Gospel today to those who do not know it? How to transmit the Christian faith to generations which come into a largely secularized society? As I have already said last October, “We need to unite our forces, all our forces, and share our experiences. We are called to live the same apostolic adventure. Some days, the sea can seem strong. The ship of the Church is submerged in it. But let us not fear! Let us listen to Christ saying to us: “Men of little faith, why have you doubted? Do you not know that I am with you in the boat until the end of the ages?”

It is against this horizon of communion and mission that we must assess what is at stake in the agreement which has just been signed.

Bordeaux, the 2nd February, 2007,

On the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

Jean-Pierre Cardinal RICARD
Archbishop of Bordeaux
Bishop of Bazas

Monday, February 05, 2007

Press Release

The dialogue which has been open since last September between the Institute of the Good Shepherd and the Diocese of Bordeaux has just passed an important stage: the creation of a personal parish for those priests and lay faithful desirous of celebrating the liturgy according to the books in force in 1962, and the signature of an agreement entrusting to the Institute of the Good Shepherd this parish in the Church of St. Eloi in Bordeaux.

This stage is the sign of a firm desire to work for unity and to seek paths of reconciliation after a time for polemics. This agreement gives a context for mutual knowledge and a constructive dialogue. Mutual respect will allow for a calm discussion on the reception of the Second Vatican Council, in fidelity to the Magisterium, and on the conditions for evangelism today.

In the months to come, only a climate of peace, trust and the spirit of the Gospel will allow us to be completely faithful to this mission which Christ has entrusted to his disciples: "That they might be one, that the world may believe!"

At Bordeaux, the 1st February, 2007

Father Philippe Laguérie
Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd

Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard
Archbishop of Bordeaux
Bishop of Bazas

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Decree of Erection of Personal Parish at St. Eloi, Bordeaux

Decree and Nominations

By decision of the Lord Archbishop.

According to Canon 518 and after consultation with the Council of Priests, there is constituted a personal parish for the priests and faithful laity desiring to celebrate the liturgy using the liturgical books in force in 1962.

The Lord Archbishop invites the Institute of the Good Shepherd to take charge of this parish.

An agreement is established between the two parties for a period of five years ad experimentum, the period fixed by the Holy See for the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

The services and celebrations of this parish shall take place exclusively in the Parish Church of St. Eloi.

Father Philippe LAGUÉRIE, Superior General, is named for five years as parish priest of this parish.

Father Christophe HÉRY, with the agreement of the Superior General, Father Philippe Laguérie, is named assistant priest.


At Bordeaux, the 1st February, 2007,


Father Pierre GRENIÉ
Chancellor

Jean-Pierre Cardinal RICARD
Archbishop of Bordeaux

Cardinal Ricard's Agreement with the Good Shepherd Institute

On 1st February, Cardinal Ricard erected a personal parish which he has entrusted to the Institute of the Good Shepherd, in the following text:

Agreement between the Archdiocese of Bordeaux
and the Pontifical Institute of the Good Shepherd

Between his Eminence, Jean-Pierre, Cardinal RICARD,
Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bishop of Bazas
and
Father Philippe LAGUÉRIE,
Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd,

It is agreed as follows:

The Lord Archbishop has erected in the Church of St. Eloi a personal parish characterized by the usage of the liturgical books in force in 1962 (CIC 518), which he has entrusted to the Society of apostolic life, the Institute of the Good Shepherd (CIC 520 §1) for a period of five years ad experimentum (520 §2).

In accordance with the Decree no. 118/2006 of 8th September, 2006, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has conferred on the members of the Institute of the Good Shepherd the right to celebrate the sacred liturgy, “using, truly as its proper right, the liturgical books in force in 1962, namely the Roman Missal, the Roman Ritual and the Roman Pontifical for conferring orders and also the right to recite the Divine Office according to the Roman Breviary published in the same year.”

At the proposal of the Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, the Lord Archbishop names the pastor of this parish so that he may be the true pastor exercising his ministry under the authority of the diocesan bishop (CIC no. 519).

A parochial vicar may be appointed as his assistant (CIC no. 545 § 1). Proposed by the Superior General of the Institute, he shall also be named by the Archbishop of Bordeaux.

The parish priest and the curate of the personal parish entrusted to Institute of the Good Shepherd shall exercise their responsibility according to the rules fixed by the Universal Church. (CIC no. 515ff.)

The Archbishop, trustee of the Church of St. Eloi, commits to the parish priest of the personal parish entrusted to Institute of the Good Shepherd, the rights and duties of the trustee.

The services and the sacraments of the Christian life of the personal parish entrusted to the Institute of the Good Shepherd shall be celebrated exclusively in the Church of St. Eloi.

In accordance with Canon 535 §1, the parish is given parish registers. A copy of the registers shall be sent each year to the Archdiocesan Curia.

Processions and other manifestations outside the church having the capacity to serve the edification of the People of God, which the personal parish entrusted to the Institute of the Good Shepherd may wish to organize, shall be submitted for the written authorization of the Lord Archbishop.

The Lord Archbishop according to the needs of his duty reserves to himself the possibility of celebrating in the Church of St. Eloi.

The pastoral letters and official texts sent by the Lord Archbishop to be read in all churches of the diocese shall be read also in the Church of St. Eloi.

A noticeboard shall be placed in the church of the use of diocesan notices and announcements.

The customary collections shall be taken in the personal parish, and the collections ordered by the Lord Archbishop must be announced, taken and sent for the use of diocesan funds.

The envelopes for the funds of the Church shall be distributed in the Church of St. Eloi and returned to the Curia.

The parish priest and the curate shall be the financial responsibility of the personal parish, which will benefit, to insure their salary, from reimbursement by the Church’s funds, to the extent that every priest in the diocese of Bordeaux receives.

The personal parish enjoys the use of the presbytery attached to the Church of St. Eloi. The seat of the Institute can be transferred there.

There shall be constituted under the authority of the parish priest a finance committee according to the rules in force in the diocese of Bordeaux. The accounts of the parish shall be sent made available annually to the diocesan finance office.

The present agreement shall be submitted to re-evaluation each year for five years. All serious difficulties in the application of this agreement and any new situation shall be the object of discussions and agreements between the signatory parties.

At the end of this period, a more comprehensive agreement shall be drawn up in necessary.

At Bordeaux, the 1st February,

Father Philippe LAGUÉRIE
Superior General
Institute of the Good Shepherd

Jean-Pierre Cardinal RICARD
Archbishop of Bordeaux

Father Pierre GRENIÉ,
Chancellor