Do You Know Latin? Rigid Bishop Refuses to Grant Holy Mass
Tuninetti doesn't name the bishop or his diocese, but he is from Bra, which belongs to the diocese of Turin, whose archbishop is Roberto Repole, an alleged "theologian".
On 11 December 2023, Tuninetti went to meet the Bishop to hand him the 36 signatures of the faithful of his diocese to request that a Holy Mass be celebrated in the diocese.
During the meeting, the prelate asked Tuninetti whether all thirty-six signatories knew Latin well - and how they had learnt it, whether at school or on their own, whether out of pure passion or for other reasons (sic).
Seeing Tuninetti's surprised look, the bishop justified himself: "Ah, because you have to know Latin well. You have to understand what is being said... This is precisely why the liturgical reform decided to replace Latin in the Mass with national languages. You have to understand what is said during the Mass".
The bishop was contradicting the Second Vatican Council, which says in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium 35, that "the use of the Latin language is to be maintained in the Latin rites". The Second Vatican Council didn't ask the faithful to learn Latin.
Valter Tuninetti explained to the bishop that Holy Mass is not about understanding Latin, but about contemplating the sacrifice of Christ.
The bishop then asked him many questions: whether the group already attended Mass somewhere, where exactly, for how long, whether they also attended the Eucharist and the Novus Ordo parish.
After this interrogation, the prince of the Church arrogantly concluded that Tuninetti had "weak" spiritual motives, called him "nostalgic" and rejected his request.
He could use the same argument to condemn those who read the Bible because it is very old, so its readers must be "nostalgic".
The Prince of the Church ended the conversation by telling Tuninetti that he would consult with the bishops of the neighbouring dioceses, and Tuninetti announced that he would call on him again at the beginning of 2024 to find out the Prince's final decision.
On 9 February he had his second meeting with the bishop: to no avail. The prince was rigid and unyielding, refusing to grant the Holy Mass.
But Tuninetti does not intend to give up: "I will make more 'incursions' into his office. I will disturb him in the sacristy after Mass and, of course, we will be a prayerful presence in the area to pray for the conversion of this bishop and so many others like him who, abusing an authority that comes from God Himself, feel obliged to refuse spiritual food to the faithful who are hungry for heavenly graces".
Picture: © Joseph Shaw, CC BY-NC-SA, #newsHmytlqwbuj