On October 2, 2019, a member of the Heralds had written a first letter to the renowned Vaticanist Marco Tosatti to share with him some reflections about the canonical procedures of which the Heralds of the Gospel were being objected to. Ten days later, on October 12, another member of the Heralds decided to do the same, this time to refute slander propagated by a journalist. Again, without entering the merits of the assessments it contains, we believe it appropriate that this letter, having already been reproduced in several means, was published here to help contextualize our readers.
Dear Dr. Tossati:
First of all, I would like to thank you for the kind welcome and the recent publication of the testimony of my confrere, which encouraged me to send you mine. I am a bachelor layman, lawyer, Brazilian, 53 years old, and I belong to the Heralds since its foundation. Moreover, during a term I was secretary general of the Association.
I am writing because, unfortunately, news full of fanciful inventions about the "Heralds of the Gospel" continue to explode, standing against the wall of slander. For this reason I propose some reflections, which I take the freedom to share with you and, if you are to your liking, with your esteemed readers.
For the sake of brevity I will limit myself to a news story about us: Commissariat Heralds: questions to critics, revmo. Pe. Lorenzo Prezzi, SCJ, posted on the Settimana News website, known to the regulars of Stilum Curiae. The religious journalist, in his sweet merciful style, was not so kind enough to hear the accused party, as I could see through my Italian brothers. The Ep. Prezzi, as we know, respects with religious reverence certain Vatican guidelines, but does not sympathize with certain institutes, such as the Franciscans of the Immaculate and others…
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1) The first debauchery of the Dehonian priest is about our habit, considered by him to be a "curious uniform". In his "imaginary", according to his own expression, the habit of the Heralds would be close to the costume of the "musketeers". In fact, it is understood that someone not very fit to wear religious robes (CIC c. 284) ridicule a habit recognized by the Church and by its own right (CIC c. 669, §1), which, by the way, attracts both youth. Maybe much more than Amazonian feathers, so fashionable…
In this regard comes to mind a question: if the Heralds are the reissue of the "musketeers", who will be today the Machiavellian Cardinal of Richelieu? And who will be your malevolent guards? In the end I will leave a suggestion of reply…
2) Then the Fr. Prezzi "reveals" the supposed secret, that is, the institution of Sempre Viva, which would be something in the way of secret society, destined to carry out a kind of cult of the inspirations of the work. On this issue, there is nothing contrary to the doctrine of the Church. Of course, it is necessary to remember that about this institution was widely in the past and present, in the collection, in five volumes, The gift of wisdom in the mind, life and work of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, published without secrets by libreria Editrice Vaticana, with more than 100,000 printed copies of each volume. So I invite the Reverend Father to learn better about us before throwing his stones. What else does it have to censor the cult of deceased people in the odor of holiness, when today we see non-typically liturgical and Catholic ancestral rituals in the Vatican itself?
3) Fr.'s article Prezzi persists in the defamatory realejo of exorcism. As St. Thomas already thought, the charges serve to clarify the truth. Hey, and I hope, definitively: it's worth remembering that most of the phrases extracted from the videos are out of context. Now, in the case in question, it would be supposed statements of the devil through a possessed person. Well, in these meetings were mostly present, clerics, well aware that the prince of darkness is the father of lies. As is known, credit to the supposed statements must be given with extreme prudence, because Satan often transfigures himself in "angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14). He seeks to deceive even the Saints; tried to make her warls with St Catherine of Bologna, including showing herself to her with the appearance of Christ.
To analyze these vexations and others, at the time was constituted a commission of theologians and canonists, who closely followed the issue, well before, it must be said, that the video began to circulate illegally. The conclusions of the study (all documented and delivered to the competent ecclesiastical authority), applying the traditional rules of discernment of spirits, were in the sense of considering inverosimeis all those narrations, which, therefore, never were part of our convictions. If we had been consulted before the media explosion, unnecessary confusion in the minds of the Catholic public would have been avoided.
On millennials, I propose that the reverend priest read my brother's previous letter of habit. If Benedict XVI claimed that the supporters of "Liberation Theology" were the millennials of a recent past, what about their successors, "ecotheologists"?
Facta, non verba. The obvious fact for the Catholic public is that those episodes — which spoke, among other things, of climate change and a supposed future pontiff — influenced the behavior of the Heralds, which continued to be good, with conscience straight and quiet. Otherwise, the Heralds would not have accepted the apostolic visit or commissariat, since both constitute decisions that were at least hasty and unexplained. That is, even in adverse circumstances, love for the Church prevailed among us.
4) It is surprising that one still wants to dig up the case of the Heralds in Sucumbíos, Ecuador, an apostolic vicariate in the Amazon region, after almost ten years, and precisely during the Synod. All providential. I briefly recall the facts: the Nuncio in Ecuador asks Rome for the urgent replacement of Don Marañón, because he and his clergy were "beyond liberation theology". From the Congregation of Propaganda Fidei ask the Heralds to take over the vicariate. Less than six months since the installation, there is a substantial return to sacramental life, after 40 years of pastoral abandonment. The problem was not the lack of priests, but rather the fact that many of those who were there preferred Marx to Christ. Well, the sectors that today call for the abolition of priestly celibacy and in favor of ordering the viri probati have put pressure, even politically, to cease that fruitful apostolate, in such a needy region and indigenous majority. Our performance there, it must be said, as anywhere, it has never been focused on political issues. On the contrary, always remaining in the pastoral sphere, the effort was made to reach all with the bread of the Word and with the Holy Sacrifice. The people of the region would heartfully thank our labor, as can be seen to this day.
The Heralds therefore offered their availability to the Holy See, and when she requested that they withdraw, they did so promptly and in holy obedience. Testimony of this is the letter sent by the Mayor of Propaganda Fidei to the Superior General of the time, given to know our plenary.
Allow me an outburst: Brazil – so famous today thanks to the Synod and also to certain commissioners! – is the nation in the world with the highest number of Catholics, even though it has fallen from 95 to 50 percent in the last 50 years… We expect solutions to contain the bleeding. Benedict XVI placed his trust in missionary movements, such as the Heralds, helped by God's grace: "omnia possum in Eo qui confortat" (Phil 4:13). Others place their trust in the "shamans" and the "mother earth". And here comes to mind the prophetic question of Elijah addressed to the people of Israel: "How long do you claudicareyou of both feet? If the Lord is God, I followed Him, but if he is Baal, I followed Baal!" (1Re 18.21).
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I take this opportunity to say that questions are circulating among our friends about the extraordinary measures adopted by the Holy See in relation to us. The main one refers to the effective reason of the commissioner. Some will say that, deep down, there is the question of exorcism, as many press agencies have said recklessly. If so, why would the sisters be commissariat, too? What about the laity?
For my part, as far as the subject in question is concerned, I confess that I do not understand what motivated a commissioner.
Moreover, referring to the answers to the final eight questions presented by the visitors, which the Heralds mention in the press release published on the occasion of the commissariat, many want to know if both the visitors and the Congregation did Observations. The answer is negative. In fact, there is everything explained exhaustively in 572 pages, with more than 18,000 pages of attachments, between documents and testimonies. However, on the part of the official channels, not a word… Why is that? Where's the dialogue?
Then, in the good times of the life of curia, before commissioning an Institute, the superiors were informed about the conclusions of the visit. In our case, not even this! What's the point?
As a Catholic and lawyer, I hope my confreres won't let themselves be martyred as little curriters… On the contrary, the time has come to act like lions! In fact, I know that many think so too…
Anyway, a few days ago, a brother in habit who works in our archive made me a very revealing confidence… He assured me to have seen with his own eyes several confidential reports, from 2010 onwards, regarding the unprudent statements, to say little, of a certain dicasterial authority — would have a lack of oral continence? —who announced here, there and there, since his arrival in Urbe, the next "closure" of the Heralds; and this long before any "complaint" had arrived there. If in fact it is so, I hope that the truth will come to light, and that the intentions of hearts will be manifested. It would be clear, then, that we were "pre-judged" and that both the videos and the defamatory accusations served only as a pretext. Luck was already decided: delendi sunt…
Let us remain confident, however, that finally the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph!
Originally published as: www.marcotosatti.com
(*) Humberto Luís Goedert, a Brazilian, holds a law degree from the Federal University of Paraná (Brazil).