50 Reasons Why 25 Priestsin Brazil Refuse To Attend Novus Ordo Mass

REASONS SET FORTH BY 25 DIOCESAN PRIESTS
OF THE DIOCESE OF CAMPOS, BRAZIL
WHY, IN CONSCIENCE, WE CANNOT ATTEND THE "NEW MASS"


[The following statement was issued by 25 diocesan priests in Campos, Brazil,
where the bishop did not implement the Novus Ordo. The history of this
unique diocese and its bishop, Antonio de Castro Mayer, is documented in The
Mouth of the Lion by Dr. David A. White, available from Angelus Press.]


We, 25 diocesan priests of the Diocese of Campos, Brazil, state the
following reasons why, in conscience, we cannot attend the New Mass
(also known as the Mass of Paul VI, the Novus Ordo, or the New Liturgy),
either in the vernacular or in Latin, whether facing the people or
facing the tabernacle. Thus, for the same reasons, we adhere faithfully
to the Traditional Mass (also known as the Tridentine Mass --the Mass
for all time).

1. Because the New Mass is not an unequivocal profession of Catholic
faith (which the Traditional Mass is); it is ambiguous and Protestant.
Therefore, since we pray as we believe, it follows that we cannot pray
with the New Mass in Protestant fashion and still believe as Catholics.

2. Because the changes were not just slight ones but actually "deal with
a fundamental renovation ... a total change ... a new creation" (Msgr.
Bugnini, coauthor of the New Mass).

3. Because the New mass leads us to think "that truths ... can be
changed or ignored without infidelity to that Sacred Deposit of Doctrine
with which the Catholic Faith is bound forever.

4. Because the New Mass represents "a striking departure from the
Catholic theology of the Mass formulated in Session XXII of the Council
of Trent," which, in fixing the "Canons [of the Mass]," provided an
"insurmountable barrier to any heresy against the integrity of the
Mystery."*

5. Because the difference between the two is not simply one of detail or
modification of ceremony, but "all that is of perennial value finds only
a minor place (in the New Mass), if it subsists at all."*

6. Because "recent reforms have amply demonstrated that fresh changes in
the liturgy could lead to nothing but complete bewilderment in the
faithful, who already show signs of uneasiness and lessening of faith."*

7. Because in times of confusion such as now, we are guided by the words
of Our Lord: "By their fruits you shall know them." Fruits of the New
Mass are 30% decrease in Sunday Mass in the U.S. (NY Times 5/24/75), 43%
decrease in France (Cardinal Marty), 50% decrease in Holland (NY Times
1/5/76).

8. Because in less than seven years after the introduction of the new
Mass, priests in the world decreased from 413,438 to 243,307 -- almost a
50% decrease (Holy See Statistics).

9. Because the New Mass does not manifest faith in the Real Presence of
Our Lord -- the Traditional Mass manifests it unmistakably.

10. Because the New Mass confuses the Real Presence of Christ in the
Eucharist with His Mystical Presence among us (proximating Protestant
doctrine).

11. Because the New Mass blurs what ought to be a sharp difference
between the hierarchic priesthood and the common priesthood of the
people (as does Protestantism).

12. Because the New Mass favors the heretical theory that it is the
Faith of the people and not THE WORDS OF THE PRIEST which makes Christ
present in the Eucharist.

13. Because six Protestant ministers collaborated in making up the New
Mass (Georges, Jasper, Shephard, Konneth, Smith and Thurian).

14. Because just as Luther did away with the Offertory -- since it very
clearly expressed the sacrificial, propitiatory character of the Mass --
so also the New Mass did away with it, reducing it to a simple
Preparation of the Gifts.

15. Because enough Catholic theology has been removed that Protestants
can, while keeping their antipathy for the true Roman Catholic Church,
use the text of the New Mass without difficulty. Protestant minister
Thurian said that a fruit of the New Mass "will perhaps be that non-
Catholic communities will be able to celebrate the Lord's Supper using
the same prayers as the Catholic Church."

16. Because the narrative manner of the Consecration in the New Mass
infers that it is only a memorial and not a true sacrifice (Protestant
thesis).

17. Because by grave omissions, the New Mass leads us to believe that it
is only a meal (Protestant doctrine) and not a sacrifice for the
remission of sins (Catholic doctrine).

18. Because changes such as a table instead of altar, facing the
people instead of the tabernacle, Communion in the hand, etc., emphasize
Protestant doctrines (e.g. the Mass is only a meal, the priest is only a
president of the assembly, etc.).

19. Because we are faced with a dilemma: either we become
Protestantized by worshiping with the New Mass, or else we preserve our
Catholic Faith by adhering faithfully to the traditional Mass of All
Time.

20. Because the New Mass was made in accordance with the Protestant
definition of the Mass: "The Lord's Supper or Mass is a sacred synasis
or assembly of the people of God which gathers together under the
presidency of the priest to celebrate the memorial of the Lord" (Par. 7
General Introduction to the [New] Roman Missal, defining the New Mass,
4/6/69).

21. Because beautiful, familiar Catholic hymns which have inspired
people for centuries have been thrown out and replaced with new hymns
strongly Protestant in sentiment, along with new and old Protestant
Reformation hymns at that, headlining Martin Luther, which further
deepens the already distinct impression that one is no longer attending
a Catholic function.

22. Because the New Mass contains ambiguities subtly favoring heresy,
which is more dangerous than if it were clearly heretical since a
half-heresy resembles the truth!

23. Because the New Mass follows the format of Cranmer's heretical
Anglican Mass, and the methods of the English heretics.

24. Because Holy Mother Church canonized numerous English martyrs who
were killed because they refused to participate at a Mass such as the
New Mass.

25. Because Protestants who once converted to Catholicism are
scandalized to see that the New Mass is the same as the one they
attended as Protestants. One of them, Julian Green, asks, "Why did we
convert?"

26. Because statistics show a great decrease in conversions to
Catholicism following use of the New Mass. Conversions, which were up
100,000 a year in the U.S., have decreased to less than 10,000.

27. Because the nature of the New Mass is such as to facilitate
profanations of the Holy Eucharist, which occur with a frequency unheard
of with the Traditional Mass.

28. Because the New Mass, despite appearances, conveys Modernism, using
vague terminology in order to insinuate and advance error.

29. Because by introducing optional variations, the New Mass undermines
the unity of the liturgy, with each priest liable to deviate as he
fancies under the guise of creativity. Disorder inevitably results,
accompanied by lack of respect and irreverence.

30. Because many good Catholic theologians, canonists, and priests do
not accept the New Mass, and affirm that they are unable to celebrate it
in good conscience.

31. Because the New Mass has eliminated such things as genuflections
(only three remain), purifications of the priest's fingers in the
chalice, preservation from all profane contact of the priest's fingers
after Consecration, sacred altar stone and relics, three altar cloths
(reduced to one), all of which "only serve to emphasize how outrageously
faith in the dogma of the Real Presence is implicitly repudiated."

32. Because the Traditional Mass, enriched and matured by centuries of
Sacred Tradition, was codified (not invented) by a pope who was a saint,
Pius V, whereas the New Mass was artificially fabricated.

33. Because the abolition of the Traditional Mass recalls the prophecy
of Daniel 8:12, "And he was given power against the perpetual sacrifice
because of the sins of the people," and the observation of St. Alphonsus
de Liguori that because the Mass is the best and most beautiful thing
which exists in the Church here below, the devil has always tried by
means of heretics to deprive us of it.

34. Because in places where the traditional Mass is preserved, the faith
and fervor of the people are greater, whereas the opposite is true where
the New Mass reigns (Report on the Mass, Diocese of Campos, ROMA,
Buenos Aires # 69, 8/81).

35. Because along with the New Mass goes also a new catechism, a new
morality, new prayers, new ideas, a new calendar -- in one word, a New
Church, a complete revolution from the old. "The liturgical reform,
... do not be deceived, this is where the revolution begins" (Msgr.
Dwyer, Archbishop of Birmingham, spokesman of the Episcopal Synod.)

36. Because the New Mass attempts to transform the Catholic Church into
a new ecumenical church embracing all ideologies and all religions -- a
goal long dreamt of by the enemies of the Catholic Church.

37. Because the altar and tabernacle are now separated, thus marking a
division between Christ in His priest and Sacrifice on the altar, from
Christ in His Real Presence in the tabernacle, "two things that of their
very nature must remain together" (Pope Pius XII).

38. Because the New Mass no longer constitutes a vertical worship from
man to God, but instead a horizontal worship between man and man.

39. Because the Traditional Latin Mass of Pope St. Pius V has not, nor
can it ever be, legally abrogated; it therefore remains a true rite of
the Catholic Church forever, by which Catholics may fulfill their Sunday
obligation.

40. Because "in none of the three new Eucharistic Prayers [of the New
Mass] is there any reference ... to the state of suffering of those who
have died, in none the possibility of a particular Memento, thus
undermining faith in the redemptive nature of the Sacrifice."*

41. Because as stated in Vatican Council I, the "Holy Spirit was not
promised to the successors of Peter, that by His revelation they might
make a new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviolably
keep and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith delivered
through the Apostles" (D.S. 3070).

42. Because heresy, or whatever clearly favors heresy, cannot be matter
for obedience. Obedience is at the service of Faith and not Faith at
the service of obedience! In this foregoing case then, "one must obey
God before men" (Acts of the Apostles 5:29).

43. Because the New Mass, with its ambiguity and permissiveness, exposes
us to the wrath of God by facilitating the risk of invalid
consecrations: "Will priests of the near future who have not received
the traditional formation and who rely on the Novus Ordo Missae with
the intention of 'doing what the Church does,' consecrate validly? One
may be allowed to doubt it!"*

44. Because the intrinsic beauty of the Traditional Mass attracts souls
by itself; whereas the New Mass, lacking any attractiveness of its own,
has to invent novelties and entertainments in order to appeal
to the people.

45. Because the New mass embodies numerous errors condemned by Pope St.
Pius V at the Council of Trent (Mass totally in vernacular, words of
Consecration spoken aloud, etc.). (See Condemnation of Jansenist Synod
of Pistoia, and errors condemned by Pope Pius XII, e.g., altar in the form of
table. See Mediator Dei. [The condemned Council of Pistoia demanded a
"simplified" Mass said entirely out loud in the vernacular, condemned by Pope
Pius VI as "rash, offensive to pious ears, insulting to the Church, favorable
to the charges of heretics against it [the traditional Latin Mass]" (Pius VI,
Auctorem Fidei (1794), in Henricus Denziger, Enchridion Symbolorum (1955),
sec. 1533).]

46. Because the New Mass, in removing the salutations and final blessing
when the priest celebrates alone, shows a denial of, and disbelief in
the dogma of the Communion of Saints.

47. Because the New Mass, although appearing to conform to the
dispositions of Vatican Council II, in reality opposes its instructions,
since the Council itself declared its desire to conserve and promote the
Traditional Rite.

48. Because Pope St. Pius V granted a perpetual indult, valid "in
perpetuity, to celebrate the Traditional Mass freely, licitly, without
scruple of conscience, punishment, sentence or censure" (Papal Bull "Quo
Primum").

49. Because Pope Paul VI, when promulgating the New Mass, himself
declared: "The rite by itself is NOT a dogmatic definition" (11/19/69).

50. Because Pope Paul VI, when asked by Cardinal Heenan of England if he
was abrogating or prohibiting the Tridentine Mass, answered: "It is not
our intention to prohibit absolutely the Tridentine Mass."