Controversy surrounds first Latin Mass of newly ordained priest.

Diocese of Münster: Fraternity of St Peter should have obtained the bishop's consent

First Mass in the Old Rite in Uedem: local priest leaves celebration

Our symbolic picture shows a pontifical Mass in the "extraordinary rite" in the Cologne church of St Kunibert during the Eucharistic Congress 2013

According to the Diocese of Münster, the approval of Bishop Felix Genn was lacking for the first Mass of a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter using the Tridentine rite last Sunday in Uedem.

Before the celebration using the pre-conciliar rite, there had been irritations in the Lower Rhine parish.

The local priest took part without liturgical clothing but left the church during the sermon.

The ordination of a priest of the traditionalist Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in the Lower Rhine town of Uedem last Sunday took place without the necessary approval by Bishop Felix Genn in Münster. This is reported by the portal "katholisch.de" who asked the Diocese. The Department of Canon Law in the General Vicariate assumes "that a request for the bishop's consent should have been made". 

Last Friday, "Kirche-und-Leben.de" reported on the planned celebration of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter member, Daniel Bruckwilder, who comes from Uedem. Reinhild Ahlers, Head of the Department of Canon Law in Münster, had said that the primatial celebration in the Tridentine rite could take place. However, after the restriction of the "Old Mass" by Pope Francis, a notification to the diocese would at least have been "nice". 

Local priest was there in a suit

The parish priest in charge, Berthold Engels, had agreed - even if "with a stomach ache". After the service, which was largely in Latin and without women at the altar, he told "Kirche-und-Leben.de" that he himself had been present at the service and had greeted those celebrating. However, he did not join in and did not wear liturgical clothing. "I stood at the back of the church in a suit and followed the proceedings," he reported.

During the sermon, however, he left the place of worship. "I didn't like the tone," Engels explains. The first preacher had spoken of the "saint", which belonged to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. "It was clear to me that this form of Mass celebration is not mine," says the priest. He also found it too much that the readings and Gospel were first sung in Latin and later read out in German. 

Bruckwilder becomes pastor in Unterallgäu

According to Engels, former classmates and neighbours of the new priest attended the celebration in the Holy Family Church in the Uedemerbruch district, which belongs to the Parish of St. Francis. He was glad that everything went off without a hitch. Daniel Bruckwilder will also no longer celebrate in one of the Uedem churches.

According to information from the priestly fraternity, he will return to the place of his ordination in Türkheim in Unterallgäu and strengthen the pastoral team there.

Source