Bishop Olson threatens to hold Jesus hostage

“I told you so” can be bittersweet indeed; in this case, far more bitter than sweet, but here goes.

The present pontificate’s subversion of the norms set forth in Summorum Pontificum in the restrictions placed upon the FFI is proving to be exactly as I expected; the first shots in what could very well blossom into an all-out assault against the traditional Mass and those who love it.

“Only a fool can be confident that this same, or a similar, criteria won’t eventually end up being applied in the regulation of the traditional Mass in dioceses (and parishes) wherein the local ordinary (or pastor) is either ambivalent or hostile toward the ancient rite. And why not? Rome has given such men (if they ever really cared about the mind of the pope in the first place) all they need to claim justification for doing so.”

So I wrote back in August, even as the neo-con papal cheerleaders at Catholic Answers were snickering up their collective sleeve while painting such concerns as an unwarranted “freakout in cyberspace” over “Pope Francis’s presumed dark intentions toward the extraordinary form liturgy.”

Sure enough, Rorate Caeli is reporting that Most Reverend Michael Olson, Bishop of Fort Worth, an obviously emboldened prelate who is clearly hostile toward the traditional Mass, took it upon himself on February 24th to forbid the celebration of the Usus Antiquior at Fisher More College.

In a letter addressed to Mr. Michael King, President of Fisher More, Bishop Olson stated:

“You do not have permission to have the public celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at the Chapel of Fisher More College. This includes Sundays and weekdays. The weekly celebration of the Extraordinary Form is available to the faithful every Sunday at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Fort Worth.”

While it was awfully nice of the newly consecrated bishop, who was installed just twenty-six days before writing his epistle, to alert Mr. King of the availability of the traditional Mass on Sundays at 5:30 pm at a parish off-campus, I have some bad news for him:

You don’t have the authority to forbid the celebration of the so-called ‘Extraordinary Form’ of the Mass. Period.

The letter, which might best be put to use as thurible kindling at Fisher More’s next Solemn High Mass, continues:

“You may only have the celebration of the Mass in the Ordinary Form … Failure to comply with the above stated norms will result in my withdrawal of permission to celebrate the Eucharist in your chapel along with withdrawal of permission to reserve the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel.”

Yes, you read that correctly. The bishop is actually threatening to hold Jesus Christ hostage from a Catholic college in order to enforce his diabolical, yes, diabolical aversion to the venerable rite.

Just imagine the scene as Bishop Olson strides onto the Fisher More campus to seize the Eucharistic Christ from the tabernacle, crozier in one hand, thirty pieces of silver in the other.

Pardon me, Excellency, but this “Successor to the Apostles” thing kind of assumes you’ll model yourself after one of the other eleven. Capisce?

And why, pray tell, is this considered by Bishop Olson as a matter of such pressing importance that it merited this immediate and incomprehensibly harsh attention?

According to his letter, “I make these norms out of my pastoral solicitude and care for the students of Fisher More as well as for your own soul.”

No, this isn’t an early April Fool’s Day joke; this fool is the real deal.

He not only thinks that typing up a document on the computer in his new office is the same as establishing “norms,” one of the first things he committed to writing on his freshly printed letterhead makes it clear that he considers the traditional Mass a danger to souls.

This has all the makings of a case study in the real Francis Effect: A Barney Fife wannabe bishop with a burr under his saddle for the Usus Antiquior attacking with abandon traditional Catholics and that which they most hold dear, Summorum Pontificum be damned.

One expects that Fisher More College will respond to this outrage by making an appeal through official channels, doing everything possible to avoid a flat out showdown with their new bishop, but it’s difficult to imagine this ending any other way.

Let’s keep a close eye on this one; you can bet your favorite hand missal every whack job liberal bishop in the country is doing just that.

Latest Comments

  1. Mark March 3, 2014
  2. saluto March 3, 2014
  3. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  4. saluto March 3, 2014
  5. codephined March 3, 2014
  6. Joe of St Therese March 3, 2014
  7. Torquemada Tequila March 3, 2014
  8. stoney March 3, 2014
  9. Alphonsus Jr. March 3, 2014
  10. saluto March 3, 2014
  11. linda stella zentner March 3, 2014
  12. S.Armaticus March 3, 2014
  13. linda stella zentner March 3, 2014
  14. saluto March 3, 2014
  15. Konstantin March 3, 2014
  16. Sean March 3, 2014
  17. saluto March 3, 2014
  18. Halina March 3, 2014
  19. Halina March 3, 2014
  20. Maggie March 3, 2014
  21. Halina March 3, 2014
  22. Halina March 3, 2014
  23. Long-Skirts March 3, 2014
  24. Halina March 3, 2014
  25. Fizzwizz March 3, 2014
  26. Pooh Bear March 3, 2014
  27. Andrew March 3, 2014
  28. Getthefacts March 3, 2014
  29. Vox March 3, 2014
  30. Rodj March 3, 2014
  31. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  32. Konstantin March 3, 2014
  33. saluto March 3, 2014
  34. saluto March 3, 2014
  35. saluto March 3, 2014
  36. Catholic Militant March 3, 2014
  37. WendyinVA March 3, 2014
  38. saluto March 3, 2014
  39. saluto March 3, 2014
  40. saluto March 3, 2014
  41. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  42. Catholic Militant March 3, 2014
  43. Long-Skirts March 3, 2014
  44. Getthefacts March 3, 2014
  45. St. Benedict's Thistle March 3, 2014
  46. Halina March 3, 2014
  47. Konstantin March 3, 2014
  48. Getthefacts March 3, 2014
  49. JamesTheLesser March 3, 2014
  50. Long-Skirts March 3, 2014
  51. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  52. CMC4134 March 3, 2014
  53. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  54. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  55. CMC4134 March 3, 2014
  56. Mop bucket March 3, 2014
  57. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  58. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  59. Torquemada Tequila March 3, 2014
  60. CMC4134 March 3, 2014
  61. stoney March 3, 2014
  62. CMC4134 March 3, 2014
  63. St. Benedict's Thistle March 3, 2014
  64. cyrillist March 3, 2014
  65. The Observer March 3, 2014
  66. aged parent March 3, 2014
  67. Michael Brown March 3, 2014
  68. The Observer March 3, 2014
  69. Long-Skirts March 3, 2014
  70. Maggie March 3, 2014
  71. Steve Skojec March 3, 2014
  72. Steve Skojec March 3, 2014
  73. Tom March 3, 2014
  74. Andrew March 3, 2014
  75. GobblerGirl March 3, 2014
  76. Alex March 3, 2014
  77. Joe March 3, 2014
  78. Oatmeal March 3, 2014
  79. Rodj March 3, 2014
  80. Hannah March 3, 2014
  81. Oatmeal March 3, 2014
  82. Charlemagne March 3, 2014
  83. Lisamck March 3, 2014
  84. Getthefacts March 3, 2014
  85. Rodj March 3, 2014
  86. Dontoverreact! March 3, 2014
  87. JamesTheLesser March 3, 2014
  88. Son_of_the_Church March 3, 2014
  89. Mary K March 3, 2014
  90. c matt March 3, 2014
  91. simplynotred March 3, 2014
  92. saluto March 4, 2014
  93. Catholic at Rome March 4, 2014
  94. Torquemada Tequila March 4, 2014
  95. Torquemada Tequila March 4, 2014
  96. MMC March 4, 2014
  97. MMC March 4, 2014
  98. Torquemada Tequila March 4, 2014
  99. Dontoverreact! March 5, 2014
  100. Justathought March 5, 2014
  101. hsilver March 6, 2014
  102. Charles Byrne March 6, 2014
  103. Mary March 7, 2014