Of disobedience and a church schism

JAMES HOFFMAN

I would like to thank reporter Karen Muller for writing an article that brought news of the dedication Mass of Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Chapel to a wide audience (“Church brings back Latin mass, stirs controversy,” YDR, Jan. 26). I would also like to bring to light a story of disobedience and schism in the Diocese of Harrisburg that has not yet received the attention it deserves.

In the article it was stated that the diocese warned that persons attending Saints Peter and Paul were in schism. Yet any well-informed Catholic knows that this issue has been addressed in the public forum by authorities in the Vatican very clearly. In 1993, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ruled in the case of an independent chapel in the diocese of Honolulu that persons merely attending an independent Mass are not in schism. Obviously the Vatican is a higher authority than the Diocese of Harrisburg. Bishop Dattilo and his employees may not overrule the Vatican. Clearly whoever has stated that persons attending Saints Peter and Paul are in schism is disobeying the Vatican and is himself not in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.

It was also stated that attendance at Saints Peter and Paul does not fulfill the Sunday obligation. Yet, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, in Rome, has publicly stated that attendance at a Mass offered without the permission of the bishop can fulfill one’s Sunday obligation. Again, no local church official can overrule the higher authority of Rome.

Certainly there is controversy over schism and disobedience in the Diocese of Harrisburg. But the disobedience and schism is all on the part of diocesan officials, including Bishop Dattilo himself, who refuse lawful submission to their superiors in Rome. The worst instance of this disobedience is Bishop Dattilo’s shameful refusal of Pope John Paul II’s clear instruction in Ecclesia Dei to make “wide and generous application” of the Holy Father’s permission for use of the old Latin Mass as is done at Saints Peter and Paul.

To clarify one more time: The faithful of Saints Peter and Paul recognize our Holy Father John Paul II as Pope and are loyal and obedient to him, submitting to all the defined dogmas and teachings of the Holy Catholic Church, we recognize Bishop Dattilo as Bishop of Harrisburg, our bishop, and stand ready to obey him whenever he chooses to end his disobedience to Pope John Paul and work for a wide and generous use of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Harrisburg.

James Hoffman is a resident of Etters.