Institute of the Good Shepherd

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The Institute of the Good Shepherd is a Catholic society of apostolic life of traditionalist Catholic priests in full communion with the Holy See.

Contents

[edit] Background

Father Paul Aulagnier, who had been provincial superior of the Society of Saint Pius X in France from 1976 to 1994 was expelled in 2003 for having spoken in favour of the 2002 agreement between the Holy See and the priests of Campos, Brazil who form the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney[1]. These priests were authorised to use the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite on the condition of recognising the Second Vatican Council "in the light of Tradition" and the validity of the revised Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI.

In August 2004 Father Philippe Laguérie was expelled for having complained that the Society of Saint Pius X had serious problems which discouraged priestly vocations in its seminaries. As a disciplinary measure he had been transferred to Mexico, but refused the assignment.[2]

Father Laguérie had for many years been in charge of the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris, occupied by traditionalist Catholics since 1977. In 1993, he made an attempt to take over another Paris church, that of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. He carried out the operation successfully at Bordeaux, obtaining the approval of the city council, but not of the archbishop's office, to take over the church of Saint-Eloi in January 2002.[3]

Father Christophe Héry was expelled for supporting Laguérie, as was Father Guillaume de Tanoüarn. The latter was the founder of the religious association of Saint-Marcel and the Saint-Paul Centre in Paris.[4]

On 15 June 2006, a French court in Nanterre (chambre du Tribunal de grande instance de Nanterre) ordered the reinstatement of Fathers Laguérie and Héry.[5]

[edit] Foundation of the Institute

They had already decided to embark on a new path (while, according to at least one of them, remaining members of the Society of St Pius X).[6] On 8 September 2006, the liturgical feast of Our Lady's Birthday, they, together with Father Henri Forestier, who also was stationed in Bordeaux, formed the Institute of the Good Shepherd,[7] a society of apostolic life in full communion with the Holy See. Several seminarians joined the new fraternity, some of them close to ordination, and Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, who signed the decree approving their constitutions for a preliminary experimental period of five years,[8] promised to confer the sacrament of orders on them.

Father Laguérie had declared in March 2006 that agreement with the Holy See was required by the very constitution of the Catholic Church, and he asked his parishioners to take note of the signs of good will on the part of Rome and of its intention to put an end to the doctrinal craziness and the scandals of 1960-2000. He pointed to an address of Pope Benedict[9] as a condemnation of using "the spirit of the Council" as a pretext for excesses.

[edit] Agreement with the Holy See

The Holy See granted the members of the new institute use, as the institute's own rite, of the "Tridentine" form of the Roman Rite, employing the 1962 Roman Missal. For their part, each of the founding members personally undertook to respect the authentic Magisterium of the See of Rome with "complete fidelity to the infallible Magisterium of the Church."[10] The members of the institute may engage in a criticism of the Second Vatican Council that is serious and constructive and in accord with Pope Benedict XVI's address of 22 December 2005 to the Roman Curia,[11] while recognizing that it is for the Apostolic See to give the authentic interpretation.[12]

[edit] Latin America District

On 1 November 2006, Father Rafael Navas Ortiz was nominated superior for the Latin America District.[13]. Today, the district has 3 houses: one in Santiago, Chile; other in São Paulo, Brazil and another in Colombia[14].

[edit] Present situation

In less than five months, by 6 February 2007, membership had grown to ten priests and two deacons - one close to priestly ordination - incardinated in the institute and listed by name on Father Laguérie's blog. In its two formation houses it also had a not yet incardinated deacon, a subdeacon and eight other seminarians. There was one brother (lay member of the institute). The ordination at 3 March 2007 added another two priests, while yet maintaining the number of deacons at two. Priests from many places were requesting incardination, but the institute was exercising the greatest prudence in their regard.

Cardinal Castrillón fulfilled the promise he made when the Institute was founded and on 22 September 2007 ordained five priests of the Institute, one of whom was a former member of the Society of St. Pius X. The archbishop of Bordeaux and president of the French episcopal conference, Jean-Pierre Ricard, was present.[15].

[edit] Expulsion from Chile?

Various Spanish-language blogs report polemically that, with a letter dated 22 February 2008, the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, ordered the Institute of the Good Shepherd to cease celebrating the Tridentine Mass within four months and to abandon the country within an additional two. There is no confirmation of this on the official Websites of the Archdiocese of Santiago, of the Institute itself and of its Latin American District.

The Institute's Latin American "blogspot" has the following comment: "The canonical character of our celebrations has been and is that of private Masses. The locale is called "Oratory" by analogy, because, lacking the declared approval of the Ordinary, it has been and is only a private home or priests and recently also the administrative offices of the Institute of the Good Shepherd. According to the papal decree Summorum Pontificum, every priest can celebrate his private Mass in accordance with the extraordinary form (cf. article 2), and the faithful with wish to may assist at that celebration (cf. article 4), without any need of authorization other than that granted by the Pope".

The dispute that is thus reported to exist may be about the "private" character of the Masses celebrated, and the matter may have been brought to the attention of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in accordance with article 12 of the motu proprio.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Les accords avec Rome Mgr Lefebvre-Mgr Fellay
  2. ^ The case of Fr. Philippe Laguérie in Bordeaux - SSPX USA
  3. ^ "En 1993, il avait tenté d’occuper une autre église parisienne, Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois. Il a réussi l'opération à Bordeaux en obtenant du Conseil municipal de la ville, mais pas de l'archevêché, d'occuper l'église Saint-Eloi, en janvier 2002" (La Une (News) 8 September 2006).
  4. ^ "M l’abbé de Tanouarn installe son brillant « Centre saint Paul » à Paris."Interview by Father Aulagnier, 21 September 2006
  5. ^ La Justice déclare illégales et annule les exclusions des abbés Laguérie et Héry
  6. ^ "Je reste toujours membre de la FSSPX, jusqu’à ma mort. Je ne peux me résoudre à quitter ce que j’ai aimé. Follement. L’Eglise a besoin d’elle. Elle a besoin de tous ses prêtres." (I still remain a member of the SSPX. Until death. I cannot get myself to abandon what I have loved, madly loved. The Church needs the Society. She needs all her priests.)L’Institut du Bon Pasteur - par l’abbé Paul Aulagnier
  7. ^ Decree of erection and Press communiques
  8. ^ Decree of Approval
  9. ^ Pope Benedict XVI's address to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005
  10. ^ Statutes II §2
  11. ^ English translation of the address
  12. ^ Communiqué des prêtres de l'Institut du Bon Pasteur
  13. ^ Latin America District Superior Nomination Letter
  14. ^ Address of the houses in Latin America
  15. ^ Un cardinal venu de Rome ordonne cinq prêtres traditionalistes de l'Institut du Bon Pasteur, Le Monde, 24 September 2007. For some reason, the journalist, Stéphanie Le Bars, attributed the presence of Archbishop Ricard, by agreement with whom the Institute has charge of the church in Bordeaux, to "politeness". She also wrote of Cardinal Castrillón as having been sent by Pope Benedict XVI.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 44°50′8″N, 0°34′15″W