Traditional Our Lady of Christendom Pilgrimage banned from the Shrine of Our Lady of Luján in Argentina
The Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Christianity and the Power of the Exiled
Last weekend, the Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Christianity in Argentina to the shrine of Our Lady of Luján took place. More than 2,500 people—the vast majority of them young people and teenagers—walked for three days, covering more than 100 kilometers, expressing their faith in God, their belonging to the Catholic Church, and their preference and devotion to the Roman Mass celebrated according to the traditional rite, the same rite of which Pope Benedict XVI said: "What for centuries was sacred to the Church, and which continues to be alive in the tradition of faith and prayer, cannot suddenly be considered invalid or, in any case, harmful." The testimonies and photographs of the pilgrimage can be seen on their Instagram.
The Argentine episcopate seems to ignore the words of Pope Benedict and the concrete reality they face. And although Francis is dead and buried, they intend to continue with the ecclesiology he bequeathed to them; they refuse to accept that the "absolute continuity" many of them spoke of has become nothing more than wishful thinking. They certainly won't give up easily and have sworn to resist the changes already beginning to be felt in Rome (I will discuss this in a series of posts dedicated to the Argentine bishops that I will publish soon). I wouldn't be very optimistic about this undertaking: the Argentine episcopal caste's main characteristic is mediocrity, which is usually accompanied by submission. I don't see any Mindszenty or Wyszyński among the Argentine mitred bishops. They were chosen by their deceased godfather from the fringes of the clergy, and their lack of substance and brain cells (and gonads) will inevitably become apparent.
The truth is that the bishops are very concerned about the pilgrimage to Our Lady of Christendom. It has been a topic of discussion in recent plenary meetings, seeking to intervene by hunting down the priests behind it (the poor, who perceive themselves as so Franciscan, are nevertheless so clerical that they can't quite convince themselves that it's a purely lay initiative) and by exerting pressure left and right, even on the provincials of religious orders and congregations, to prevent students and teachers from Catholic schools from joining the pilgrimage, threatening them with dismissal from their jobs. And I'm not exaggerating.
And they are right to be concerned. It's not very difficult to gather a million people who make a "pilgrimage" to Luján listening to cumbia, smoking marijuana, and with no other ideal than, at best, a vague popular religiosity. The same could be achieved on a walk to the "sanctuaries" of Gauchito Gil or Gilda. The bishops know that it would be impossible to attract 2,500 young people fully committed to the ideals of the Catholic faith, who struggle to remain faithful to the commandments despite worldly pressures and who do not buy into the misleading and diluted religion offered by the Argentine Church for several decades. This is absolutely impossible: the "youth ministry" of the Argentine episcopate is a resounding failure. And examples abound: ask Bishop Gabriel Barba how many young people he managed to gather at his musical "Youth Mass" that he imposed in the Cathedral of San Luis: just guitar players and a handful of charismatic old men. The initiative, as the spectacle of the pitiful, lasted only three months. Or ask any diocese in the country, whether in the capital or in the interior, how many young people they gather at their weekly meetings. Less than a handful each, and, in general, these are examples with whom one cannot get too excited because they are anything but examples of good Christians.
The pilgrimage to Our Lady of Christianity, in Argentina as in France and Spain, is no longer a minority phenomenon. And not only because of its unstoppable annual growth, but also because of the constant decline and sterility of progressive and Franciscan pastoral care. But, like those unfortunates who sin against the Holy Spirit, the bishops persist in closing their eyes and denying reality. And I speak of the bishops, because a good number of priests are opening their eyes, and with discretion and prudence, as the Gospel and common sense advise, are joining the traditional movement. We are no longer a minority; they know it, and we must abandon the complex we have lived with for decades.
However, these young pilgrims have been banished from the Luján Basilica. On this occasion, as soon as the first few began to enter the church, a young priest from the local clergy began praying the rosary before the exposed Blessed Sacrament; then a blessing, and that was it. So, by the time the last few arrived (the pilgrimage had reached well over three thousand people on the final stretch), it was all over. Bishop Jorge Scheinig of Mercedes-Luján had banned the celebration of the traditional Mass in the national basilica some years ago (he will probably have to change his decision due to a call from Rome, which he is expected to receive soon). He wasn't convinced, he said, because he wanted to give the church a "Latin American profile."
However, a few kilometers to the east, that same day, Father Adrián González, a Salesian priest and parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Alta Gracia, was celebrating Mass, or whatever it was, dressed as he appears in the photograph. Will she receive any reprimand from the Archbishop of Córdoba, the widowed mother Cardinal Ángel Rossi? Certainly not. In the Argentine Church, any nonsense can be done; in the Basilica of Luján, transgender Masses and militant Peronist Masses can be celebrated; Masses can be celebrated with guitars and drums, and old women with hairy spots on their faces can walk around dressed in mini-albs, distributing blessings with holy water to the poor faithful who come to have their images and holy cards blessed. What cannot be done is to welcome three thousand pilgrims as children of God after a three-day walk, much less to grant their desire to celebrate Holy Mass as our ancestors did. For Bishop Scheinig and his mitred colleagues, "What for centuries was sacred to the Church" is no longer valid but, on the contrary, is harmful.
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