Novus Ordo: New Italian bishop condemns ‘false altars’ facing away from people, ‘nostalgia for the past’
The
little Albenga-Imperia diocese in northern Italy can expect to see
dramatic changes instituted by the new bishop, Guglielmo Borghetti.
The former bishop, Mario Olivieri, was a conservative who
led the diocese from 1990 and was famous for being a pillar of
faithfulness to Rome. Bishop Olivieri was a member of the Pontifical
Congregation for the Liturgy as well as a collaborator with the
Congregation for Clergy in the Vatican.
The seminarians under Bishop Olivieri were educated in both
forms of the Roman rite and many of them celebrated the extraordinary
form regularly. The bishop also made it possible for some traditionally
minded groups to open apostolates in the diocese – for which he received
much flak from a group of liberal-minded priests who stirred media
campaigns against him.
Now news has surfaced
that the newly instituted Bishop Borghetti wants to get rid of
orientation to the East during the Mass. With this pronouncement, the
bishop will “turn the altars and stop the nostalgic and excessively
traditionalist temptations,” reports La Stampa of Savona, Italy. This
decision was announced by Bishop Borghetti on October 20 when he met
with the clergy of his diocese to present new “guidelines and the new
course of the diocese.”
This new “course” will not have much space for “nostalgia
for the past.” And at the same time, the bishop urged the clergy to not
seek counsel from the retired bishop but follow Borghetti’s authority.
Bishop Borghetti stressed that for him the distinctions
between “traditionalists” and “modernists” do not exist, but only “the
Magisterium of the Church.” Setting himself firm in that Magisterium, he
explained, “Everything that is approved by the Magisterium of the
Church will be permitted in Albenga, while all that is not or is not
anymore considered will also not be part of this diocese.”
He went a step further and said: “I don’t like going into
the parishes and celebrating Mass on a false altar: all Churches must
have altars facing towards the people.”
It is to be expected then that there will be no more Masses
with priests facing toward the East, except perhaps in smaller churches
of the diocese or on special occasions.
Borghetti also promised to provide a small drawing for the
priests that will show how the presbyterium is supposed to be arranged.
Bishop Borghetti fails to recognize that the celebration of the
extraordinary form of the Roman Rite is part of the Church’s
Magisterium, which he sets as the foundation of his leadership. The rite
has been renewed through the Motu Proprio of Pope Emeritus Benedict
XVI’s “Summorum Pontificum.”
Also, elements of the extraordinary form, including the celebration
toward the East, have been recently encouraged by the current head of
the Pontifical Council for Liturgy, Cardinal Robert Sarah, as well as more recently by Pope Emeritus Benedict himself. 