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Newsletter of the District of Asia July - December 2004 Chronicle
of the District of Asia
Indian Fr. Valan Devasaya giving his first blessing to his father,
July 10 Singapore: The move from 110 A Killlney Rd to the new priory (3 steps away!) 112 A began. 12 Singapore: Fr. Adrian Wee, OCD, returned to Singapore after 11 months in our Seminary in Australia. Father came back to Tradition in 2003. He left a few days later for France to go and live with the Traditional Capuchin Brothers for a few months. 29-31 KL/ Singapore: Bishop Williamson on a quick visit. In Singapore he gave his slide-show on the Lies of the Fall of the Twin Towers. (Copies of these slides and a few other documents are available from the Singapore priory for a donation.)
1 Singapore: Blessing of the new priory by Bishop Williamson. 5 Cebu, Philippines: Blessing of the new church of St Pius V, by Bishop Williamson. In his sermon, Bishop Williamson showed the link between St Pius V and the Philippines, via Philip II, and the contrast between the work of these two giants for the establishment of the kingship of Christ and the new world order gradually taking place in our days. 9-14 Philippines: Priests' retreat by Bishop Williamson on the majestic epistle to the Romans. 13 Philippines: Fr. Joseph Lester, newly ordained American priest, arrived in Manila. He will be stationed in Iloilo, at the Brothers' Noviciate 18 Singapore: Fr. Aurelito Cacho, Filipino ordained in the SSPX Argentinian Seminary in 2000, arrived in Singapore for a new assignment after 4 years in the Philippines. 19 India: Fr. Patrick Summers, American, went to India to re-enforce our missionary team working in this challenging country. * * * India: During part of June &July and the whole of August there were much activities in India We insert here two letters dated August 15th, and 26th, from Fr. Blute explaining it all. First Letter —August 15th, 2004 " Dear Friends, I have been reluctant to publicize this dramatic miracle of grace, because often these things collapse at the last moment, leaving no real growth in the Faith. However, having seen so many signs of Gods protection and guidance, real wonders of grace, I must give you some elements of this latest event. I must be brief, because many other matters are pressing. /. The situation: Nagercoil is the densest collection of Catholics in South India, excluding places in Kerala. We reckon 36% Catholic. They were converted by St. Francis Xavier himself. They are much more devout than Catholics of other regions, and of a very traditional mind set. Their old churches were build by the people, ages ago, and all the temporal concerns of the parish were traditionally administered by a committee of elected leaders. 2. The clergy of this Catholic bastion are the absolute worst in India. Pride, arrogance, unchastity, greed, are their most commonly noted virtues. With vigor they imposed Modernist teaching and practices upon a most unwilling people. 3- The most important work of the Bishop of this region is to sweep away the administrative committees of lay people, and impose the "parish council" of his own construction. Events of the past ten years have proven that the main purpose of this substitution is to consolidate all the wealth and money-harvesting machinery in the hands of the Bishop. One by one, he has coerced the parishes into accepting it. Many cruel methods were used to accomplish this. One of the most effective was interdict... removing the parish priest, and refusing the sacraments, especially Marriage, Confirmation, and Mass. Those communities which persisted were either bribed into submission, or crushed with the help of the police. 4. Many parishes were in an uproar over communion in the hand, ladies in the sanctuary, and of course the public crimes of the priests. Having "set the stage", I can speak about Ramanpudur, Holy Family Parish. 13 June, Sunday — The representatives of Holy Family Parish come to the SSPX priory, and after a cordial meeting, go away, seeming pleased. 19July, Monday — The representatives of St. Lourdes Church, Punnianagar (adjacent to Holy Family and in league with them) came and definitively requested us to take over the spiritual ministry of their church, because the Bishop had just refused to take care of them, until they submit to his decree of the parish council. The promised date of the takeover was Wednesday, 21 July. Wednesday, the people were rounded up by the police and browbeaten for four hours, to make an agreement with the Bishop, "Or ELSE!" 24 July, Saturday. — The committee from Punnainagar came and showed the letter they gave to the Bishop severing all dealings with him, and accepting the SSPX as their pastors. A surprise Mass was scheduled for 4 AM the following morning, Sunday. Before they arrived at their homes, they were betrayed: the President handed over the keys to the police, who then locked the church, and gave the keys to the Bishop. No more hope. 25 July, Sunday — Fr. Pancras went to Punnainagar to celebrate the surprise Mass: Surprise! Church all locked, police guarded. He goes, then to Asaripalam, for the normal Mass at our SSPX chapel. After the Asperges, a fine car with finely dressed people came up, and unloaded. These representatives of Holy Family Church attended the Mass piously, and after Mass requested the SSPX to send a priest to their Church for morning Mass, Monday. 26 July, Monday — 9AM morning Mass. The people prepared a great celebration at a shrine of St. James, where Fr. Blute went and celebrated a Sung Mass with the well-coordinated altar serving of Hostel Boys, now experts in liturgy. The crowd of 300 was quite edified. They also sang very well, remembering from their youth the Kyriale. 27 July, Tuesday — SSPX now welcomed and housed in the Rectory of Holy Family parish. The first of several meetings with District officers, and Bishops representatives with the reps of Holy Family, to try to work out a solution. The defense: The Bishop definitively abandoned us, so we are free to choose the SSPX fathers as our pastors. Outside, 300 women prayed the Rosary. At the church, we officiated the Novena of St. Anthony. 28 July, Wednesday — The people of Punnainagar march on the Collectorate, demanding justice, and their church keys. 29 July, Thursday — Punnainagar is beginning to boil, and the men are contemplating an uprising. They are calmed by the people of Ramanpudur,with whom they have forged an unbreakable alliance to bring the Latin Mass to their churches. Accusations and warnings appear in all the newspapers. 30 July, Friday — A traditional friend and politico approaches the Collector (the highest District officer) requesting support for the people. "There are 42 parishes in exactly the same state as Holy Family, and if I get involved, I'll not have time for any other work."
1 August, Sunday of the Maccabees — A solemn high
mass is scheduled for the first time in Holy Family Church in forty
years. Opposition by the Bishop is rumored. Police arrive 4:30 AM.
The altar is then occupied by 4 August, Wednesday — The Bishop Leon Dharmaraj called all those in the pay of the Diocese to his house, and his Vicars cajoled and threatened them, forcing them all to sign a blank paper, and urging them to go the following day to the Collectorate to protest, and to bring 15 family members. The teachers go home late, shaken and anxious. Holy Family Parish complains to the Dept. of Education at this abuse of authority. Evil rumors about schism, etc., are rebuked by Hindus who watched and hastened with awe to the Requiem Procession and Mass that morning. "Even if these priests were great sinners, I am convinced by their prayers they are holy men." 5 August, Thursday — A fateful day, a judgment to be made by the District official, the "RDO". The committee goes to argue their case, and our 400 pious ladies (and gents) go to kneel outside and pray the Rosary. The teachers union provides 40 onlookers for the Bishop. The RDO orders the crowd dispersed: the Holy Family people immediately approach and ask for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and adore for 5 hours, with uninterrupted prayers and songs. After the delegates arrived, there was aloud public meeting with speeches galore in favor of Unity, the Latin Mass, and the SSPX. Anyone who inadvertently said, "Our parish priest came and..." was shouted down by cries of, "Not our parish priest— FORMER parish priest!!" Likewise, the blunder, "Our bishop has...." was drowned by," NOT OURS!" The District officers wanted a compromise. The parish reps said, " Not without a General Body Meeting". "Hold it tomorrow" was the reply. "Cannot—people can only come on Sunday". So the meeting, to know the will of the people, was adjourned till Monday. However, the Bishop's supporters, and the Government people, urged, "Can you not stop that Mass of yours?" "Oh, no, we need our daily Mass". "Please, if you would, just STOP THAT MASS!" (The devil is obviously tormented by this blazing light in the middle of his dark kingdom.) Same day: In the morning, the former Parish priest, Fr. Ladislaus, crept into the Rectory, and surprised Fr. Blute and Fr. Pancras at breakfast. He introduced himself as Fr. Benjamin. He was offered a seat, and soon he said, "Actually, I'm the parish priest here". So we cordially spoke about why we were here, and why we were not going to go, and how he had best go and speak to the Committee, if he must. He just grinned a Cheshire Cat grin. A security guard came and ignominiously walked him to the gate. Immediately he went with his friends to the Police station and filed a complaint of Attempted Murder: by Frs. Blute, Pancras, and three absent committee members. If this is the quality of the clergy in Ramanpudur, I, for one, feel not just justified in coming to their aid, but positively bound by duty. 6August, Friday — Another 5 - hour adoration. An illegal 'stay order' was placed in the trial court forbidding the SSPX Fathers from entering the Church. 8 August, Sunday — The general body meeting, after some debate, arrived at a plan: to offer some stern conditions for the Bishop to adhere to, if he wanted control of Holy Family: Among the conditions, were: The priest must wear Cassock, not allow any women in his priory, nor in the sanctuary. No communion in the hand, no women readers, and above all, no talk about 'Parish Councils' forever. As they foresaw, the Bishop refused to sign. 10 August, Tuesday — Tension builds all day. Morning Mass without any disturbance. Evening devotions in honor of St. Anthony are scheduled. At 5:15 PM, vans of people begin arriving and the crowd attempts to enter the church compound. The church bell begins to peal. Crowds of parishioners block the gates. Police provide protection. The crowd grows, on both sides. Hired vans begin arriving from the fishing villages. A crowd of priests, maybe 100 insists on being allowed into the church to offer the Mass. ("Funny", one man said, "first they refused us the Mass, now they are breaking down the walls and begging us to let them say Mass for us!") The crowd replies, "We have our own priests, thank you! You can go home!" A statue of St. Anthony was brought, and the devotion commenced. Then, on the parish side, continuous rosaries and hymns and prayers. A delegation of priests and sisters go to the RDO office. In his office, Fr. Ladislaus Benjamin protests vehemently, pounding the desk of the august official, and kicking his furniture. Outraged police give him a beating and chuck him out. At the church, the faithful cook a common vat of rice for all to sustain them in their siege. At 10:30 PM, vanloads begin arriving in force. The priests lay down and block the road. In the allied parishes of Punnainagar (St. Lourdes), Thakivaipuram, Mel Ramanpudur and others, the bells ring, and call for reinforcements. Crowds of supporters enter by the back way, swelling the parish side to 7000 people. A general call goes out to all police stations, and vans of police merge with vans of hired Bishops men converging on Ramanpudur. Seeing this, the police begin stopping the vans, and let the air out of their tires. Finally, some 1,500 police are in place, preventing the outside crowd of violence from entering the church compound. It becomes apparent that the 100 priests are not actually priests, but fishermen dressed in borrowed cassocks. At 2 AM the police lathi-charge the crowd and disperse them. Without doubt the most dangerous public disturbances in recent history, and it was completely blacked out by the media: no newspapers, no TV, no radio, no magazine articles. Who arranged that? Three families, years ago, had left Holy Family Parish to join the Pentecostals. After they saw the True Mass ONCE, they all returned to the Catholic Church. A young man testifies, "With the Tamil Mass, I would only go on Sunday. But since seeing the holiness of this Mass, I rise at 5:30 am so I will not miss it." A man was vociferously denouncing the SSPX priests. Out of curiosity, his wife and daughters attended Sunday Mass. Upon their return, they said, "We don't know how to answer what you say about these priests, but you must see the Mass." After attending once, he ceased his denunciations. Your ardent prayers are urgently requested. Only the power of Our Lady can overcome our enemies who have seemingly endless resources, cunning and malice to exterminate this hope. Fr. Thomas Blute Post Scriptum August 16, 2004: The critical juncture is over. The Bishop bought a judgment from the High Court, in Madras, and obtained rights over the keys of the church, came with police, and entered. We and all the people fled away. With great solemnity, the Bishop celebrated Mass in the very place hallowed by the Tridentine Mass days before: to an empty church. There were 40 local people, and about the same brought by the Bishop in a bus. The normal crowd is 3000!! The people are themselves asking to set up a tent on borrowed land, and have the Latin Mass within 2 weeks. The people of Punnainagar, especially, are bracing for the next onslaught, because they have also rejected the government of the Bishop Leon Dharmaraj (means 'Lion King of Virtue' the old women laugh and say Leon Adarmaraj —'Lion king of vice'. Recall that St. Peter says "your adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion goes about seeking whom he may devour.") So keep praying for us; there is a harvest to be gathered for tradition, and whether it yield 40,60, or 100 fold depends on our prayers."
" Last Sunday, we went back to Ramanpudur, and blessed houses. We were warmly received on all sides, and invited in passing by to enter and bless numerous houses. The Committee is still hoping in a legal solution, to get justice through the courts. However, the people are more and more saying, "The Mass, the Mass, bring us the Mass". So on Tuesday, while returning from Trivandrum, with Fr. Summers, we arranged a 'meeting' to discuss plans. The 'meeting' never happened, but something else. Spontaneously they set up for the Mass, and a good crowd came to the house of one of the committee members. It was a breakthrough. Fr. Pancras had come, invited to the 'meeting', and we made a plan, he and I. One lady offered us the use of their compound, for Mass. Fr. Pancras went, saw, and unpacked his bags. We will pay a small rental per month, which gives us a house for our exclusive use having ample room for 2 priests, refectory, chapel, as well as space for 200 people to attend Mass outside. It is midway between Ramanpudur and Punnainagar. In short, it's perfect. Now we simply need to say Mass, and rake in the harvest of souls. Last Sunday, the Bishop's man said Mass to an empty church, again. No one is going there. The priest there, with some police, went and forced the doors of the Marriage hall (built by the people, and still indebted to private persons to the tune of INK 28 lakhs -USD 56,000) to which he had no right, and announced that henceforth all arrangements for the marriage hall had to pass through the priest. Further, previous engagements, even those with deposits paid, could be cancelled by him. The people were furious. I am told that 500 young men mobbed the place and chucked the priest out, despite the police. As a further insult, they broke and changed the locks on the dispensary, and other buildings on the compound. The Bishop is intent on proving that all this belongs to him, and he has the right to do what he wants. His legal advisors are more astute than ours, and he can buy whatever judge he needs. The consequence of his bullying is that the people won't walk on the same side of the street with him, so to speak. Some energetic young men stopped our van as we passed by, on a narrow road, at night, and shaking hands all around, they introduced themselves, saying, "Father, we're with you. We're going to fight this fellow forever. You can count on us... etc. Keep up the prayers!" * * * September 7 Philippines: Fr. Santiago Hughes is diagnosed with acute myloid monocetic leukemia. 9-14 Indonesia: Fr. Pagliarani went to Jakarta for the first retreat for 8 of our youth. It brought on us the first official condemnation of the Cardinal of Jakarta, read in the pulpit of the Cathedral! It shows the power of Tradition, and how it is feared! One young traditional priest coming privately to give a 4 -day retreat to eight youth, without any publicity, deserves to be condemned solemnly by the Church highest authorities in the Cathedral, at a Sunday morning Mass! It is not who we are that they fear but what we represent.
19 Singapore: Brother Roman, OSB (Ivan Ho), native of Singapore came back to get a visa for France. Brother was transferred from the American Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe, New Mexico, to that of Bellaigue, in France, where he found another Asian vocation, Brother Luke, from Manila. 23 Singapore: Fr. Adrian came back from his three months' stay with the Capuchins.
13-29 District of Asia: First Canonical visit of all the priories by the District Superior, accompanied by the General Bursar, Fr. Emeric Baudot. These visits are important to ensure that the work of the SSPX in done in accordance to Church Laws. 17 Iloilo, Philippines: Blessing of the new church of Our Lady of Consolation and of St Joseph, by Fr. Couture. 23 Iloilo, Philippines: Brother Roman came to spend the 2 months awaiting the obtention of his French visa. It will be an interesting experience for the SSPX brothers to live all this time with a true Benedictine monk! 31 Madras, India: Fr. Couture was able to visit this Mass center which has really started only this year. From a little group of 20 back in January, it has now grown to nearly 70. The Mass center is at a stone's throw from the site where the Apostle St Thomas lived.
1 Holy Cross Seminary, Australia: Our three Filipinos ending their fifth year received the major order of subdiaconate from the hands of Bishop Tissier. 1-3 India: Fr. Couture visited a small orphanage and old people's home in Cuddapah, 250 km NW of Madras, where the lady who started it four years ago and her assistant are very eager to come to Tradition. They now have 51 orphans and 30 old people. 6 Holy Cross Seminary, Australia: The same three fifth-year Filipinos then received the major order of diaconate. 28 Philippines Death of Rev. Fr. Santiago Hughes. Fr. Hughes had been working with the SSPX in Manila since Nov. 4, 1996. He came to us after we offered a spiritual bouquet of 2 million Ave Maria to Our Lady. 'Fr. Santi', as he was familiarity called was one of the first priests ordained by Cardinal Sin, in 1975. Ever since his ordination, he refused to give communion in the hand, and always wore his cassock. These two reasons, joined to a fighting temper, are probably the reasons why he was re-assigned 14 times in 21 years of ministry. He was very good with the youth, even trying, in the early 1990's to start a small community. The fruits of this apostolate with the youth are visible today: Fr. Aurelito Cacho, now assigned in Singapore, and Rev. Mr. Gerald Fallarcuna, newly ordained deacon, were his companions of the first hours. Another young man is trying his vocation in the pre-seminary of Iloilo. Fr . Santi was an apostle of the Rosary, the scapular, St Philomena, and was wholy dedicated to the poor. May he rest in peace.
Rev.
Fr. Santiago Hughes (March 16, 1940 - Nov. 28, 2004), |
