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Ottaviani Intervention

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Short Critical Study of the Novus Ordo Missae (Italian: Breve Esame Critico del Novus Ordo Missae ), nicknamed Ottaviani Intervention , is a 1969 document written by some Roman Catholic theologians addressed to Pope Paul VI to criticise what those theologians perceived as problems in the Mass of Paul VI  — also called " Novus Ordo Missae " —, Mass which had been promulgated earlier the same year. The surname of the document comes from one of its writers, Alfredo Ottaviani .

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45-578: Cardinals Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci sent the Short Critical Study to Pope Paul VI with a cover letter dated 25 September 1969. The study cast doubt on the orthodoxy of the Mass of Paul VI , which had been promulgated by the apostolic constitution Missale Romanum of 3 April 1969, though the definitive text, which took account of some of the criticisms of the Short Critical Study , had not yet appeared. Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers

90-513: A letter to Paul VI in support of a study by a group of theologians who criticized the new Order of Mass and the new General Instruction . Those are two parts of the revised Roman Missal that had been promulgated on 3 April of that year , but that actually appeared in full only in 1970. This letter became widely known as the Ottaviani Intervention . In 1962, as head, under the Pope, of

135-540: A teenaged, virtually illiterate street urchin whom his brother had adopted a few years earlier, led to an upgrading of the Secretary's job, as the incumbent had to take over the duties the Cardinal Nephew was unfit for. By the time of Pope Innocent X the Secretary of State was always himself a Cardinal, and Pope Innocent XII abolished the office of Cardinal Nephew in 1692. From then onwards the Secretary of State has been

180-446: A warning bell. When Ottaviani kept speaking, Alfrink signalled to a technician, who switched off the microphone. After tapping the microphone to determine it was off, the half-blind Ottaviani stumbled back to his seat in humiliation while "there was scattered applause in the council hall" by members of the council fathers who held that he had gone on too long. Scandalized by the reaction of his fellow council fathers, Ottaviani boycotted

225-523: Is claimed the negative judgement of the Holy Office was based on misunderstanding due to the latter's use of a faulty French or Italian translation of the diary. However, the ban at the time was due to "serious theological reservations -- Faustina’s claim that Jesus had promised a complete remission of sin for certain devotional acts that only the sacraments can offer, for example, or what Vatican evaluators felt to be an excessive focus on Faustina herself." It

270-737: Is said to be the main intellectual force behind the study. Pope Paul VI asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , the department of the Roman Curia that Ottaviani had earlier headed, to examine the Short Critical Study. It responded on 12 November 1969 that the document contained many affirmations that were "superficial, exaggerated, inexact, emotional and false". A letter of 17 February 1970 signed by Ottaviani and addressed to Gerard Lafond,

315-657: Is the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State . Cardinal Pietro Parolin has been secretary of state since 2013. The secretary of state is appointed by the Pope , and serves as one of his principal advisors. As one of the senior offices in the Catholic Church , the secretary is required to be a cardinal . If the office is vacant, a non-cardinal may serve as provisional secretary of state, exercising

360-459: The 1963 papal conclave , which elected Giovanni Battista Montini as Pope Paul VI. He was also the protodeacon (senior cardinal-deacon) during the conclave, and as such, he announced Montini's election and crowned him on 30 June with the triregnum . With the change of the name of the Holy Office to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965, Ottaviani was named pro-prefect of

405-656: The Cardinal Secretary of State , presides over the Holy See 's Secretariat of State , which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia . The Secretariat of State performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See and the Vatican City State . The secretary of state is sometimes described as the prime minister of the Holy See, even though the nominal head of government of Vatican City

450-614: The Holy Office , Ottaviani signed its document known by its incipit Crimen sollicitationis , which had as subtitle On the Manner of Proceeding in Cases of the Crime of Sollicitation . It laid down detailed rules about the procedure for ecclesiastical tribunals to follow if a priest was accused of making sexual advances connected in any way with the sacrament of confession . Judges and other officials of

495-411: The separation of Church and State and granting equal rights to all religions , supported religious tolerance if public manifestations of non-Catholic religions were suppressed when possible. Their confrontation became so intense that Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini had to intervene, noting his disappointment at such a "serious discussion". Ottaviani also argued during the debates on the liturgy and on

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540-549: The 10-minute limit imposed on all speakers. Upon Ottaviani passing this mark Cardinal Eugène Tisserant , dean of the Council Presidents, showed his watch to the council president for the day Cardinal Bernard Alfrink of Utrecht (whom the Associated Press described as "one of the most outspoken members ... who want to see far-reaching changes inside the church." ). Ottaviani, engrossed in his topic, went on condemning

585-573: The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The event was seen as "a major turning point" by the Associated Press , noting he was being replaced "by a prelate from a Communist country that once imprisoned a Catholic cardinal  ... In dramatic fashion, it signified the move of the half-billion-member church away from rigid conservatism toward new experiments in modernism and changing relations with Communist countries." In 1970, when Paul VI restricted voting in papal conclaves to cardinals under

630-582: The Holy Father without authorizing anyone to publish it. Jean Madiran , a traditionalist Catholic who was the founder-director of the review Itinéraires , which was condemned by the French episcopate in 1966, maintained that Itinéraires had received the cardinal's authorization to publish his letter to the Pope and suggested that Ottaviani had signed the letter to Dom Gerard-Marie Lafond, prepared by Ottaviani's secretary, without knowing its contents, since Ottaviani

675-483: The Holy See , which were just beginning to become permanent postings instead of missions sent on particular occasions. At this stage the secretary was a fairly minor functionary, the papal administration being led by the Cardinal Nephew , the Pope's confidant usually taken from his family. The imprudence of Pope Julius III in entrusting the office of Cardinal Nephew to his alleged lover Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte ,

720-468: The age of 80, Ottaviani, already 80, said the Pope's action was "an act committed in contempt of tradition that is centuries old" and that he was "throwing overboard the bulk of his expert and gifted counsellors". Ottaviani died on 3 August 1979. At the beginning of 1962, Ottaviani notified the Jesuit superiors of theologian Karl Rahner that Rahner had been placed under Roman pre-censorship. That meant that

765-490: The apostles acting collegially, at the Garden of Gethsemane : "They all fled." In 1985 Patrick R. Granfield had already recounted the same anecdote as something that "may well be apocryphal" and attributed it not to Ottaviani but to "one Council Father". According to Allen, Ottaviani was opposed in the movements for a rapid council by German Cardinal Josef Frings of Cologne. Frings often clashed with Ottaviani on which direction

810-513: The congregation; the pope held the title of "prefect" until 1968. He was raised to the rank of cardinal-priest (with the same title) on 26 June 1967. As pro-prefect, Ottaviani had described himself as a "policeman" who protected traditional doctrine. On 8 January 1968 Ottaviani resigned from the Church's central administration. Pope Paul VI accepted the resignation and appointed Cardinal Franjo Seper of Yugoslavia to take his place as pro-prefect for

855-405: The council should take. In this, he was assisted by "a [then] progressive firebrand" who was "dissatisfied with many of the answers offered by the Church's official authorities", a young theological advisor named Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then Pope Benedict XVI . Frings had heard a lecture of the young Ratzinger on issues

900-528: The council, who were struck by the Democratic process and freedom of expression at the council". As he was president of the Theological Commission responsible for amending the schema on sources of religion, Ottaviani returned to the working session to champion the position of those the Associated Press called "the static traditionalists". Ottaviani was one of the cardinal electors who participated in

945-510: The dome off St. Peter's"; in a working session of the council, Frings declared Ottaviani's dicastery a "source of scandal " to the whole world. With continued worldwide interest in Vatican II another incident, in which Ottaviani breached the council's rules for debating procedure, found its way into international news. During the 30 October 1962 session, concerning changes to the Mass, he went beyond

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990-403: The ecclesiastical verdict was never to be made known, the document spoke of the verdict being "declared" and "put into effect", and the punishments laid down in canon law were: "He is to be suspended from celebrating Mass and hearing sacramental confessions and, if the gravity of the crime calls for it, he is to be declared unfit for hearing them; he is to be deprived of all benefices and ranks, of

1035-657: The event was announced in L'Osservatore Romano . Valtorta's notebooks were published in 1956 by Michele Pisani as The Poem of the Man-God . A year after the death of Pius XII, Ottaviani placed the work among the list of books he presented to the newly-appointed Pope John XXIII , who signed in January 1960 the decree banning all the books on the list. Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness ( Latin : Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae, Italian : Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità ), known as

1080-473: The functions of the head of state of the Vatican City State until a new Pope is elected. Once the new Pope is chosen, the former secretary's role in the commission likewise expires, though he can be re-appointed as Secretary of State. The office traces its origins to that of secretarius intimus , created by Pope Leo X in the early 16th century to handle correspondence with the diplomatic missions of

1125-440: The last edition of which had been published in 1948, was abolished by Pope Paul VI in 1966. On 6 March 1959, the Holy Office issued a notification that forbade circulation of " images and writings that promote devotion to Divine Mercy in the forms proposed by Sister Faustina " (emphasis in the original). Faustina Kowalska was a Polish nun who in her diary recounted conversations with Jesus Christ . Since at least 2002, it

1170-440: The most important of the officials of the Holy See. The separate position of Cardinal Secretary for Internal State Affairs was created by Pope Gregory XVI in 1833 at the request of Tommaso Bernetti , then Secretary of State, reducing the workload of the Secretary of State. In 1968, Pope Paul VI 's apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae further enhanced the powers of the Secretary of State, placing him over all

1215-419: The next six council working sessions. When Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini of Palermo presided over the 11 November session, he announced that "Ottaviani had been grieved by the 30 October incident" and asked council fathers to refrain from voicing approval or disapproval with applause. The Associated Press noted that "Ironically, the incident ... [was] favorably commented on by the non-Catholic observers attending

1260-535: The other departments of the Roman Curia . In 1973 Pope Paul further broadened the Secretaryship by abolishing the ancient office of Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and merging its functions into those of the Secretary of State. Silvio Orlando portrayed fictional Cardinal Secretary of State Voiello in the 2016 Sky Italia Sky Atlantic HBO Canal+ co-produced television series The Young Pope and

1305-577: The powers of the Secretary of State until a suitable replacement is found or the Pro-Secretary is made a cardinal in a subsequent consistory . The secretary's term ends when the Pope who appointed him dies or leaves office. During the sede vacante period, the former secretary acts as a member of a commission with the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church and the former President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State , which exercises some of

1350-400: The priest or at least promising seriously to do so. Violation of secrecy by the accused was also punished not by excommunication but by suspension. In 2003, 24 years after Ottaviani's death, media reports presented this document as an attempt to "hide sexual abuse". Some reported that even accusers were subjected to excommunication if they made their accusations known, and that the document

1395-668: The prolific theology professor could no longer publish or lecture without permission. A few months later, in November 1962, Pope John XXIII appointed Rahner to be peritus (an expert advisor) to and at the Second Vatican Council. Since Rahner accompanied the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Franz König , as a theological consultant, Ottaviani did not throw Rahner out of the council in spite of the earlier silencing. On 25 September 1969, Ottaviani and Cardinal Antonio Bacci wrote

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1440-467: The proposed changes, saying, "Are we seeking to stir up wonder, or perhaps scandal, among the Christian people, by introducing changes in so venerable a rite, that has been approved for so many centuries and is now so familiar? The rite of Holy Mass should not be treated as if it were a piece of cloth to be refashioned according to the whim of each generation." When he had reached fifteen minutes, Alfrink rang

1485-528: The right to vote or be voted for, and is to be declared unfit for all of them, and in more serious cases he is to be reduced to the lay state." These punishments were of public character and not subject to secrecy. As secretary of the Holy Office , Ottaviani was responsible for the banning of a number of books, which would accordingly have been included in any new edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books). The Index ,

1530-511: The sources of divine revelation , which are understood as scripture and tradition in Catholic theology. In 2000, John L. Allen wrote that the news media often went to Ottaviani during the council for colourful reactions to stormy working sessions: in one speech at the council, reacting to repeated mentions of "collegiality" of bishops, Ottaviani pointed out that the Bible records only one example of

1575-532: The text is capable of arousing. In this sense I wish your "Doctrinal Note" [on the Pauline Rite Mass] and the activity of the Militia Sanctae Mariae wide diffusion and success. The letter also expressed regret on the part of the cardinal that his letter of 25 September 1969 had been published: I regret only that my name has been misused in a way I did not wish, by publishing a letter that I wrote to

1620-489: The tribunal ("each and everyone pertaining to the tribunal in any way") would be subject to automatic excommunication if they revealed anything about the conduct of the trial, even after the verdict had been declared and put into effect. This penalty did not apply to accusers and other witnesses; on the contrary, anyone with knowledge of the crime who failed to denounce it within one month was subject to automatic excommunication and could be absolved only after actually denouncing

1665-543: The upcoming council could address. It seemed to Frings that Ratzinger had set forth a complete agenda for the council that was exactly what Frings himself had in mind. Frings had Ratzinger prepare the text of a lecture that Frings was to give in Rome. After the lecture, which Pope John XXIII complimented warmly, Frings told the Pope that he did not deserve credit for the speech, as it was written by one of his priests. Pope John admitted that he too delegated much of his work. The key thing

1710-423: Was blind . Alfredo Ottaviani Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church . Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicastery was reorganised as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , of which he was pro-prefect until 1968. Ottaviani

1755-524: Was ordained to the priesthood on 18 March 1916. On 12 January 1953, he was both appointed pro-secretary of the Holy Office and created Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica by Pope Pius XII . He participated as a cardinal-elector in the 1958 conclave which elected Pope John XXIII . On 7 November 1959, he was named the Vatican's chief doctrinal guardian as secretary of the Holy Office. Ottaviani

1800-951: Was a prominent figure in the Catholic Church during his time, and was the leading defender of Traditionalist Catholicism voice during the Second Vatican Council . Ottaviani was born in Rome , where his father was a baker . He studied with the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Trastevere , then at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare , from where he received his doctorates in philosophy , theology , and canon law . He

1845-422: Was appointed Titular Archbishop of Berrhoea on 5 April 1962, receiving his episcopal consecration on the following 19 April from Pope John XXIII in person, with Cardinals Giuseppe Pizzardo and Benedetto Aloisi Masella serving as co-consecrators . His episcopal motto Semper idem ("Always the same") reflected his conservative theology . He resigned his titular see in 1963. Ottaviani, while opposed to

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1890-546: Was published by La Documentation catholique  [ fr ] . It stated: I have rejoiced profoundly to read the Discourse by the Holy Father on the question of the new Ordo Missae, and especially the doctrinal precisions contained in his discourses at the public Audiences of November 19 and 26 after which I believe, no one can any longer be genuinely scandalized. As for the rest, a prudent and intelligent catechesis must be undertaken to solve some legitimate perplexities which

1935-528: Was stored in the Vatican Secret Archives , where it was discovered by a lawyer pursuing cases on behalf of victims of abuse by Catholic priests. In fact, the 69-page document was sent to "all Patriarchs , Archbishops , Bishops and other Local Ordinaries , including those of Eastern Rite " and was to be found, even if after forty years it was generally forgotten, among the papers in their successors' offices. While media reports also suggested that

1980-415: Was to select the right person for the job. After this conversation, Ratzinger became Frings's lead assistant during the entire council and thereafter never left Frings's service. The acrimony felt by such liberal members of the council against Ottaviani spilled out into international news in a dramatic incident on 8 November 1963, in which Protestant observer Robert McAfee Brown described as having "blown

2025-483: Was with Ottaviani's approval that Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Kraków began in 1965 the informative process on Faustina's life and virtues, and the ban on her work was reversed by Pope Paul VI in 1978. Ottaviani was critical of the writings of the bed-ridden Maria Valtorta , who reported visions of Jesus and Mary . Carinci and Bea facilitated a meeting between the Servite Order priests and Pope Pius XII, and

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