In the course of my Friday reading, I happened on two unrelated (but related?) stories in succession. The first, from Sharon Otterman on the New York Times site today, brings readers up to speed on the situation at New York City's Church of the Holy Innocents, which is on the archdiocese's list for possible closure and consolidation with another parish. That's not the story so much as is the fact that it's the only church in New York City offering a daily Tridentine Mass. But even that's not the whole story, which also features a visiting South African priest who might have spoken out of turn about parishioners' rights, his dismissal by his superior at the Vatican Embassy in New York, and his recall by the archbishop of Johannesburg. Not to mention recorded transcripts of the priest's remarks being forwarded to the archdiocese, questions over just why Holy Innocents--which thanks to its thriving thrift shop and generous donations operates at a surplus--is targeted for closure, and fears among liturgical traditionalists and conservative Catholics in general that these developments "may signal a return to a broader suppression of the Latin Mass after a period of being encouraged under Pope Benedict XVI." Read it all here.
The second story, from Ruth Chojnacki and Jennifer Scheper Hughes in Religion Dispatches, looks at developments that may signal an end to ecclesiastical suppression of liberation theology and practice in Mexico, citing the "striking statement" from CDF head Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller "[placing] liberation theology in context with the work of the 'great Doctors of the Church like St. Augustine and St. Thomas.'” There's a lot of explanatory historical background in the piece, but the gist of it is here:
..Mexican Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel announced that after a 14 year church-ordered suspension of the rite, indigenous deacons would again be ordained in the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas—where the local church serves a largely Maya population....
As a result of the dismissal of sympathetic hierarchs and the dismantling of progressive wings of the institution conducted in a climate of suspicion, liberation theology came to be understood as a failed vision, while the Vatican continued to pronounce it a false one. Before a gathering of Brazilian bishops in December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI declared liberation theology “deceitful.” After almost three decades of systematic Vatican suppression, liberation theology appeared to be dying.
When Francis welcomed [liberation theology founder] Gustavo Gutierrez to the Vatican last year, it appeared no more than a simple gesture of respect for the beloved and aging patriarch of liberation theology. But Pope Francis’ revitalization of the diaconal ministry in Chiapas indicates a deeper level of support.
If you haven't been following developments, the whole thing is here, and worth a read.
