Letter #60, 2023 Mon Feb 27: Viganň, Nuns of Pienza

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Letter #60, 2023 Mon Feb 27: Viganň, Nuns of Pienza

[2023-02-27]

[Engleză]

Some of you may already of heard of a struggle between Church authorities and a group of 13 Catholic Benedictine nuns in Tuscany, Italy, whose life in their convent has become difficult in part, it appears, because somebody would like to sell the monastery where they have been living for a great deal of money.

Now, a report from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganň on this curious case — a long piece, written more or less in the style of a piece of investigative journalism rather than in his usual style of sociological and theological argument.

In fact, Viganň was trained as a lawyer, and received degrees in both civil and ecclesiastical law, and in this piece he seems to be preparing a type of legal brief to defend the nuns in their conflict with various authorities.

In other words, it is a case the archbishop has “taken to heart” and has evidently spent considerable time on to research and gather the facts he presents.

And this is only the first of Vigano’s pieces on this matter, for he is promising a second piece in the very near future.

So this is evidently a matter of considerable importance to the archbishop. —RM

***

Here is the cover note from the archbishop:

Attached is a PDF/Word file, the full text of my first intervention, on the situation of the Monastery of Maria Tempio dello Spirito Santo in Pienza (Italy), subjected to harassment and serious abuses by the Holy See in an attempt to remove the Nuns from the building assigned to them by the Diocese. This particular story is paradigmatic of a deplorable situation extended to the whole universal Church, in which the contemplative life is under fierce attack.

With my prayers and Blessing,

+ cmv

The full text is below.

***

P.S. We have been selling subscriptions to Inside the Vatican magazine for several months at a reduced price of $20 per year in honor of our 30th year of publication. We will continue this rate for just one more month, then return to the regular price of $49.95 per year. We would love to gain new subscribers, of course, and at $20, perhaps some may feel, “why not?” and take out a subscription. After March 31, the offer will no longer be available…. Click here to take out subscriptions at this reduced rate for friends, family members and anyone you think might like to receive the magazine.

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P.P.P.S. If you would like to support this work, here is a link to our donation page. Thank you in advance.
The “Case” of the Pienza Convent. Restoring the Truth. Msgr. Viganň (link)

February 27, 2023

Dear StilumCuriali, we receive and gladly publish this text received from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganň. Happy reading and sharing.

—Marco Tosatti
§§§

SOME CLARIFICATIONS

to restore the truth about the situation

of the Monastery “Maria Tempio dello Spirito Santo” of Pienza

Part One

The sequence of events

After the disclosure of conflicting and contradictory news relating to the recent events that have involved the cloistered community of the Benedictine Monastery of Pienza, I consider it my duty as a Pastor to intervene to re-establish the truth of the facts, as they are verifiable to those who are not prejudiced and care both about the fate of these religious women as well as highlighting the attitude of open hostility towards them on the part of ecclesiastical Authority.

This first contribution of mine comes from my direct and personal knowledge of the Abbess and the Nuns, on whose behalf I intend to speak. In this first part I will analyze the sequence of events.

A second essay will consider the content of the Holy See’s measures, framing them in the broader context of Bergoglio’s demolishing action. A third essay will propose some initiatives to be undertaken.

I. Origins

First of all, it is necessary to start from the birth of the Monastery. Twelve of the thirteen religious who compose it come from the Benedictine community “Santa Maria delle Rose” of Sant’Angelo in Pontano, belonging to the Piceno Federation.

This monastery in the Italian region of Marche experienced a moment of rebirth when it began to welcome female vocations from the so-called “Neocatechumenal Way” [the Cammino] of Kiko Argüello.

It was in fact from the Cammino that our young women entered religion, only to be sent in 2013 by the same leaders of the Way to establish a new Benedictine foundation in Holland, in the diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, with the agreement of Bishop, Msgr. Josef Marianus Punt. The new monastery was approved by the Holy See the following year.

As has already happened in Santa Maria delle Rose and in practically all the communities under Kiko’s control, so too in Holland the autonomy of government of the Monastery was put to the test by the serious and undue interference of the leaders of the Cammino.

This parallel Neocatechumenal hierarchy established by Argüello and his “catechists” led the Sisters to the decision – taken collegially in Chapter – to distance themselves from the Cammino.

After four years, Bishop Punt was forced to remove the Nuns under pressure from Kiko, who threatened to withdraw his Neocatechumenal priests from the diocese, because these priests were actually the only ones on whom the Bishop could rely and they constitute a considerable part of his diocesan presbytery.

This demonstrates the capacity for interference in the life and governance of the Church on the part of a lay association that has planned its infiltration into the ecclesial body in such a way as to make itself indispensable, so that once it has been accepted in the Dioceses it would be able to impose its pastoral line.

At this point the Sisters wanted to return to Italy, to the Monastery of Pontano, but the earthquake of 2016 seriously damaged it and so it was impossible to return.

Obviously, this decision of the Nuns, constituting yet another proof of the manipulative action of the leaders of the movement, has created a vacuum around our Benedictines, abandoned to themselves and deprived of any sustenance and support from the leaders of the Cammino.

The nuns seek hospitality in Italy, but the diocesan bishops and monasteries whom they have asked have given them a diffident refusal once they learn of the origin of the community from the ranks of the Neocatechumenal movement.

Because of the problems caused in the Dioceses and parishes by the Cammino, the Neocatechumenals no longer enjoy the enthusiastic welcome they received in the past, and this mistrust also affects the Nuns, who are rejected precisely because of their origin.

II. Arrival in Italy

This then is the situation of the Nuns, who arrive in Italy with the mark of infamy of having escaped the manipulations and heretical indoctrination of the powerful Spanish guru.

Their modernist approach, however, allowed the Sisters to find hospitality in Pienza, where, in August 2017, Bishop Msgr. Stefano Manetti welcomed them, in consideration of the fact that for years the Diocese had witnessed the inexorable extinction of contemplative religious life.

Very happy to be able to have a female Benedictine monastery, Bishop Manetti temporarily gave them space to live in the summer seminary that was no longer in operation, took care of paying their utilities, and promised the Sisters that he would find a suitable structure to become their definitive home, which was necessary for them to be able to canonically erect a monastery sui juris, that is, directly dependent on the Holy See.

Although Bishop Manetti did not keep his promise to find a suitable home for the Sisters, in February 2019 he still managed to obtain permission from the Holy See for the erection of the Monastery sui juris.

This appeared to be a real forcing of Canon Law, which provides as a condition for the erection of a Monastery sui juris that the community must own the building in which it is located. Bishop Manetti promised the sisters that he would personally guarantee their stability.

All this took place with the approval of the Chapter of the Nuns’ Monastery of origin. The process ended in 2019 with the election of the Abbess, Sister Maria Diletta of the Holy Spirit, who received the abbatial Blessing from Bishop Manetti.

After a few months, Bishop Manetti offered them a nine-year loan contract, revocable without any reason, on the condition that the Sisters provide for their ordinary and extraordinary expenses, as well as bearing the costs of the renovation and upgrading of the building.

The religious were therefore faced with an inadmissible proposal, both because they lacked economic means and also because they were not actually protected for the future.

It is evident that the contradictory and wavering behavior of Bishop Manetti was used to force the nuns to leave, without officially expelling them.

Why the Curia was so interested in reclaiming the summer Seminary would soon become clear.

At this point it is appropriate to recall that a Benedictine monastery sui juris, depending exclusively on the Holy See, is not required to join a “Federation,” that is, a group of monasteries that share a specific spiritual and governmental approach.

The Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei Qućrere, promulgated by Bergoglio on June 29, 2016, intervened to modify the practice established by Venerable Pius XII with the Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi Ecclesia of 1950.

This was the basis for the Cor Orans Instruction of May 15, 2018, which constituted the application of the new provisions on the suppression and federation of Monasteries.

Needless to say, these two documents have as their purpose the demolition of the contemplative life and the progressive re-education of religious sisters, precisely by means of the Federations.

Using the inexorable decimation of vocations as an excuse, Cor Orans makes it possible to unite the religious of several monasteries, ensuring that the assets of these monasteries – often consisting of prestigious historic buildings located in magnificent places – are confiscated by the Holy See.

The nuns thus find themselves torn from their spiritual family and sent to new communities, with the obligation of taking “refresher courses,” that is, indoctrination and “reprogramming,” outside the cloister.

The more traditional communities are obviously the ones that are the most persecuted.

This clarification is necessary in order to understand how, once they arrived in Italy and were established in a Monastery with their own Abbess, the Nuns of Pienza showed extreme “flexibility” by making themselves available — although not having the obligation, since they were established in a Monastery sui iuris — to make contact with the existing Federations so as to evaluate which of them was most suited to their charism.

The advent of the pandemic interrupted this process, especially after the lockdowns.

But the work of devastation of Cor Orans continues inexorably, as evidenced by the undue pressure of the Holy See on the Monastery of Pienza, which, as has been mentioned, is not in the least obliged to join a federation since it is sui juris.

The problem, in fact, was created when Bishop Manetti chose this canonical form, but without guaranteeing its ownership of its own property, which is a condition for a Monastery sui juris.

The transfer of Manetti and the appointment of Cardinal Lojudice — a friend of the Vicar General and former Rector of the Seminary — must have led the Bishop to try to settle a situation of irregularity before the arrival of his successor.

In the Decree of erection, Manetti declared: “In accordance with the canonical legislation in force, I erect in the diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza the Monastery of Benedictine Nuns […] in Pienza with all the privileges and spiritual graces that the other monasteries of the aforementioned Order legitimately enjoy, having provided for all the requests of the universal laws of the Church, especially with regard to the cloister, the sustenance of the nuns and their spiritual assistance.”

But we know that this was not the case: the property of the Monastery was still owned by the diocese, and the sustenance of the Nuns by the diocese was limited to the payment of utilities.

For this reason, the Bishop cannot formalize their removal and limits himself to verbally exerting pressure on the Sisters to leave.

III. The discovery of the ancient rite

In 2020, thanks to a priest friend of the Monastery and to some providential meetings with figures linked to the world of Tradition, the Sisters “discovered” the Tridentine Liturgy, and Bishop Manetti applied the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in their favor, believing that the occasional celebration of the Mass in the ancient rite could help the Community to definitively free itself from its Neocatechumenal formation.

The following year he contacted the Benedictine monks of Norcia to help the nuns on this journey.

When Traditionis Custodes was promulgated, the Bishop instructed some priests of Rome to ensure the Sunday celebration of Mass in the Tridentine rite, provided that it did not become their only liturgical form.

In the meantime, the Sisters continued to look throughout Italy for a Monastery to which they could transfer, without success.

Historical monasteries that are presently uninhabited are too expensive to live in, or need large amounts of restoration that a small group of nuns would not even remotely be capable of addressing.

On the other hand, the Benedictine communities with few nuns consider it problematic to welcome thirteen sisters, who would represent a sort of revolution for their quiet and regular life.

The Nuns then asked the Bishop to leave them where they are, offering to take care of the payment of the utilities, until then only partially paid by the Diocese since it was receiving a substantial reimbursement from the Nuns.

IV. The arrival of the new Bishop

In April 2022 the news came of the transfer of Bishop Manetti to the Episcopal Chair of Fiesole.

This decision of the Holy See led the Bishop – perhaps in order to remedy a situation of grave canonical irregularity before the arrival of his Successor – to verbally revoke the permission granted to the nuns to be able to avail themselves of the Tridentine Mass.

From this moment on, Bishop Manetti did not even provide for their spiritual assistance, depriving them of Holy Mass – including Mass in the “ordinary form” – even on Sundays and Holy Days.

And that’s not all: in front of the Sisters he declared that he never intended to expel them, but warned them that Don Antonio Canestri – who was still Rector of the Seminary even though it had been abandoned and converted into a Monastery, and who is also an old friend of the new Bishop, Cardinal Lojudice – had every intention of getting them out of the way.

Don Antonio then presented himself at the Monastery, with arrogance and intimidating tones, even to the point of violating the Cloister by entering the cells of the Nuns and claiming ownership of the property. Don Canestri’s intention to make a profit is obvious.

Here is therefore explained, with all the evidence, that the disciplinary actions against the Nuns were merely a pretext aimed purely at a financial operation, along the lines of the Monastery of Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. On the other hand, a structure located on a hill overlooking the enchanting Val d’Orcia represents a succulent profit opportunity for the coffers of the Diocese and the Holy See.

Let me be clear: the economic and real estate question is the element that pushes many ecclesiastics to execute Cor Orans for the sole purpose of making money or ingratiating themselves with the Bergoglian court.

But the true and deepest goal, the one that animates the entire action of this “pontificate,” is of an ideological bent: to normalize religious life to the new pauperist, migrationist, environmentalist, ecumenical, and synodal paradigm imposed by the junta of the Argentinian.

It is behaving no differently towards the faithful and traditional communities, which have seen the rights that the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Benedict XVI granted them in 2007 canceled or drastically reduced with Traditionis Custodes.

In essence, it is as if a government incentivized companies to invest in certain sectors, and then as soon as they started to do so it forced them into bankruptcy by canceling or cutting incentives.

Needless to say, such an operation, as well as being cowardly and morally reprehensible, is not the result of inexperience or inability, but of a targeted desire to create as much damage as possible. If we then combine Cor Orans and Traditionis Custodes, the fate is inexorably sealed.

The aversion of Cardinal Lojudice towards the inconvenient Sisters was not long in manifesting itself. On the occasion of his taking possession of the Chair of Pienza, the new Bishop refused to allow them to receive Communion kneeling, humiliating them before the whole city by making them stand up and receive Communion in the hand, and in the sacristy he rebuked them, telling them that in their Monastery they could do as they wished, but that in public they had to conform to common practice (moreover in violation of liturgical norms, which allow the faithful to kneel and receive the Sacred Host on the tongue).

V, The events preceding the Apostolic Visitation

In September 2022 His Eminence informed the Nuns that he wanted to come and visit them, coincidentally precisely in conjunction with their absence from the Monastery.

When his Secretary was informed that the Sisters would not be present since they were going away for a spiritual retreat, he replied that their presence would be necessary because the Cardinal’s visit was mainly aimed at making a real estate valuation estimate of the building.

I believe the order of priorities that animates the “pastoral” action of the Bergoglian Bishops is evident: first business, then propaganda and photos posing with Roma and immigrants (which alone will have been enough to tickle Bergoglio), and then only if there is time remaining is attention given to the only contemplative community of the Diocese.

The Dicastery for Religious acts no differently, engaged as it is in lucrative speculative operations with the sale of real estate, which it does not hesitate to make available by mowing down the few communities that survived the post-conciliar crisis of vocations.

The Nuns of Pienza manage to postpone the visit of Cardinal Lojudice to November 8th.

But on October 11, without any warning Mother Roberta (who would later turn out to be the Visitatress) showed up without warning at the door of the Monastery along with the Abbot of Pontida and a third person. They found no one there, since the Nuns were all on retreat in another region, and so this raid also failed.

But on November 1 the Abbot of Pontida renewed the offensive, announcing an Apostolic Visit to the Abbess and confirming that the Sisters would be present on the following November 3rd.

The Abbess then called Cardinal Lojudice to find out if he was aware of the Apostolic Visitation. His Eminence denied knowing anything, but then contradicted himself by admitting that on October 11 he had accompanied the visitors who had presented themselves at the Monastery without announcing themselves. On that occasion the Bishop pointed out that he had learned that the nuns had Mass celebrated in the ancient rite and that they had not yet entered any Federation.

There are two things to keep in mind.

First: the “traditional” conversion of the nuns.

Second: their failure to join a Benedictine federation.

As already mentioned above, the Federations, after Bergoglio’s Cor Orans Instruction, are being used as institutions of re-education and indoctrination to the new course of action. The fact that the Monastery of Pienza is sui juris, and therefore not required to federate, unleashed the fury of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life, at the head of which is Cardinal Braz de Aviz, the one who, to be clear, on the occasion of a meeting with cloistered nuns to present to them the wonders of Cor Orans told them: “Treat your life as adults, not as adulterers!” (here).

Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com

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