RASH HAND IN EVIL HOUR

Here error is all in the not done. Pound

Ed. Note: We had hoped the rector's August MHT Newsletter might have commented either on the promised big $30 K proposal or on his quest for permanent status with Our Lady of the Sun Chapel. Instead, sad to say, it disappointingly contained an embarrassingly fifth-rate historico-political analysis. The rector should stick with what he knows best: distressing hapless seminarians, fearful laity, and priests without a conscience.

We recently learned that the priestly author of the revealing comments about the Terrible Triad and the pesthouse was on vacation last week. Accordingly we'll hold off publishing the rest of his tale of weirdness until he gets back. That way, when "One Hand" calls him on the carpet, the dressing down will have be fresh material. We really want our out-of-school tale bearer to have a chance to read what he wrote so he can face his off-put judges with a refreshed recollection. (This may end in tears. A resignation would be better for the man's soul.)

Our post about "One-Hand's" orders and the Blunderer's defense elicited quite a lot of anxious e-mail, and it filled the traddie forums. Here's our comment:

Many concerned Catholics wrote in, worried that the sacraments they received from "One Hand" might be invalid. In each case, we replied that their decision would be a matter of conscience. After all, we observed, many eminent canonists were of the opinion that a one-handed priestly ordination was valid.

Our central point is that the Blunderer's Latin translation of the key passage from Sacramentum Ordinis is just plain wrong, and the error has therefore rendered his defense of one-handed ordinations suspect. In each reply, we invited our correspondents to consult the Latin original of the authors Tony cites to allay any doubts.

Sure, we know that not everybody reads Latin nowadays (witness the majority of the traditional clergy), but our advice was not intended to torment. The problem is that Tony is such a bad Latinist (as we proved last year on these pages) that his translations and interpretations are not reliable. At the risk of wearying you, let us offer one, little example. (Please bear with us, if you will, for we will give you yet another substantive reason to mistrust everything Anthony writes.)

Among the strongest supporting testimony for Tony's thesis is the following quotation from the Theologia Moralis of Aertnys and Damen (Rome: 1958):

In Ordinatione presbyteri et Episcopi utriusque quidem manus impositio praescribitur sed nullo modo patet eam esse ad validitatem necessariam ad hoc ut plenioris potestatis translatio significaretur.

Now here's the Blunderer's translation:

In the Ordination of a Priest and of a Bishop an imposition of both hands is indeed prescribed — but it is plain that this is in no way necessary to it for validity, as though a fuller transmission of power would be signified.

There are two big errors in Anthony's translation. The first, in red, is merely a product of his gross ignorance of Latin idiom. The second, in violet, represents a genuine distortion in the meaning.

1) In Latin, the idiom ad hoc in this case means "for this (or the) purpose"; Anthony's laughable rendering "to it" is school-boy literalism caused by ignorance of the notion of grammatical antecedents and Latin phraseology.

2) In the Latin text, the word for "fuller" (plenioris) modifies "power" (potestatis), not "transmission" (translatio). Tony had no license to transfer the adjective to another noun in a different case, and the meaning he extracts, viz. "a fuller transmission of power," is semantically different from "a transmission of fuller power" of the original Latin.

There are a few other problems with his translation (a conjunction, the position of a modifying phrase and an adverb, a modal), but no sense in beating a dead horse. Tony's errors usually come in clusters. The bottom line is that no one should rely on the Blunderer for an answer to serious questions about the Catholic faith. (The warning is particularly apt for the abysmally ignorant traditional clergy who view Anthony as some sort of authority. )

For these and many other reasons, we say that everything about The Blunderer, "One Hand," and the rector is doubtful. It would be prudent of old "One Hand" to commission someone competent to retranslate all the Latin quotes in Tony's article. (That excludes the rector and the pesthouse completers.) Otherwise, people who have received sacraments at his hands will remain unsure.

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE?

Ed. Note: The Reader knows that for some, who haven't been around the Triple Threat of "One-Hand," the rector, and the Blunderer, it's very hard to conceive how Catholic clergy can be so wrongheaded. Therefore, to overcome any misgivings you might have had about how accurately we have been reporting their antics, this week we bring you external commentary in the words of one of their own priests (and a pesthouse completer, you'll be pleased to learn).

The original text arrived by way of an e-mail last week (it had been found in the trash by a very alert layman). Dated March 27, 2009, it came as a PDF of an e-mail message. We won't quote it all this week, but the few lines we cite will confirm everything we have asserted. Just for the fun of it, we've replaced names with our preferred epithets, and, to be sure, we've withheld the name of the author.

On the Need for Priests and the Boneheaded Un-gleesome Threesome

"...there is certainly an enormous need for priests today. But now consider my situation: I'm going to be ordained, and where am I needed? Obviously not in [my home state]. And not in Cincinnati either, although ["One Hand"] and [the Blunderer] always tell us about how overworked they are. If they needed me they would have made the very reasonable compromise that [the rector]proposed of having me in Cincinnati for two years. But they didn't want to do that because they said if I were there, they would begin new projects to have me work on, and then when I left they would have trouble continuing that work. I said I could just ease their burden for two years without them starting anything significant for me to do, or even if I did, there are other priests coming down the pipeline after me who could take my place after I left...There were several reasonable ideas that could have been worked out, but [the Blunderer] would not even discuss them with me."

On New Priests and the Newbies' Travails

"... the parish clergy are not willing to work with [newly ordained priests], so they have nowhere to go...I think we do not say Mass in enough places; we need more to do, more people, and more money. [The rector] has known about this problem for a long while now, but nothing has really been done. It also makes a bad impression on the laypeople too, because they see a new priest get ordained, and he ends up staying at the seminary to teach instead of working in a parish as they expected. And if they knew all the politics that went into my staying at the seminary, that bad impression would be infinitely worse."

On the Pesthouse and its Strange Goings-on

"Another thing is that I am beginning to lose faith in this seminary as an institution. [The rector] told me that if I stayed there I would have to avoid saying anything against the positions or discipline of the seminary. (I was never told that anti-una-cumism was an official position of the seminary, though I think that is going to change.) As far as the discipline, I approved of the rules of the seminary on the whole, with the exception of one or two details, but now I'm starting to hear about strange things being done."

"The pattern I see emerging here is that we are forbidden even to speak to people whom [the rector] doesn't like. This is a trend that I did not notice in the past, and it disturbs me...So if nonsense like that goes on in the two years that I'll be here as a teacher, I will have to verbally support the seminary in situations that may possibly get weirder and weirder as time goes on."

Ed. Note: Honestly, you can't make this stuff up. Their own people know that everything is rotten with the three stooges of Traditional Catholicism. Now don't worry. We won't leave you hanging. In a future post, we'll continue with the first-hand account of all the weirdness. In the meantime,

KEEP YOUR WALLETS CLOSED & STARVE THE BEAST

"SLIGHT" OF HAND

His hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him. Genesis

The Reader has been overwhelmed by e-mail inquiries about the origin of the sobriquet “One- Hand” Dan for the errant wandering bishop. We thought others might be curious as well. Accordingly, here’s the back-story in brief. It reveals quite a bit about the history behind the ugly SGG-MHT "association." It's also a good insight into the interpersonal relationships among this band of clerical brothers.

At "One-Hand's" ordination to the priesthood, Archbishop Lefebvre imposed only one hand, not both hands. Pope Pius XII had decreed, in the 1947 Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum Ordinis, that the matter of the sacrament consists in the first imposition of the bishop’s hands. In a letter dated September 21, 1990, nine priests then belonging the Society of St. Pius V, including the rector, cautioned Wee Dan as follows (emphasis in red ours):

In the course of the research which was being done in reference to ordinations and episcopal consecration, it was discovered that sacerdotal ordinations done with one hand are dubious…

Since your ordination was done with one hand, we must hold your ordination to be dubious, unless evidence can be brought forth that the one-handed ordination is certainly valid.

We therefore urge you ad cautelam to stop saying Mass, hearing confessions and administering the sacrament of Extreme Unction until this problem is resolved.

Please understand that our position in this matter is based purely on the dictates of Moral Theology, and has absolutely nothing to do with the disputes which exist between us.

Soon, in several rectories, the clergy began to use the moniker "One-Hand" Dan as an expression of derision, contempt, and disesteem. The nickname has stuck until this very day. It may all be harmless fun for some, but there do remain some serious considerations behind all the smirking ridicule and whispering.

In closing their 1990 letter, the signatories advised “One Hand” to do further research and report to them. The Blunderer did the research and issued an apologia, which is available here. While many have been satisfied with the findings, the Reader notes that there are several of the usual problems with the Blunderer’s understanding of Latin and his translations therefrom.

In a short 2005 note, one of our correspondents drew the problems to the Blunderer’s attention. As usual, the Blunderer dismissed the correction and offered a hasty and flimsy defense. His correspondent then sent a detailed, complete refutation. Given the complexity of the textual argument, Pistrina posts the full critique, “Lost in Translation,” on a separate page for anyone interested.*

Whatever your own conclusion is, it’s clear that traditional Catholics should avoid such men and the clergy who associate with them. They are definitely not “best in class.” Their influence is at an end. Their record speaks for itself. Too many doubts surround them. All that remains is for good and decent Catholics to

STARVE THE BEAST.

*Those ordained by “One Hand” might want to study the Blunderer's article carefully to determine whether his argument still holds in view of the corrected understanding of the Latin text of the constitution. If any priest is in doubt about validity, he may wish consult his conscience to decide whether or not to seek private conditional ordination from another bishop. Upcoming completers might wish to consider refusing orders from "One Hand."

IMPEDIMENTS ABROAD

We are getting foreignized rapidly and with facility. Mark Twain

In addition to boding ill for Our Lady of the Sun Chapel, the rector’s July MHT Newsletter bade farewell to Scut the Prefect, who is off to France to join a two-man “monastery.” (Yes, we couldn't help laughing either.) One wonders how MHT will fare with his departure. True, he’s a bully and an incompetent teacher (once ending a course in theology about a month before the end of the term!), but he shouldered the lion’s share of the day-to-day disciplinary duties. Tony the Blunderer only shows up monthly. Moreover, the rector had molded Scut into the kind of punishment-happy sadist required to carry on MHT tradition. Perhaps for a few months, the twitching and cowering “seminarians” will enjoy a respite from humiliating verbal abuse and accusations of mortal sin before the rector succeeds in bringing out the inner Calvinist of Scut’s successor.

Scut may not remain abroad for long. Our sources inform us that the two "monks" at the “monastery” (a term we use for convenience, not as an accurate description) are a very odd lot, to say the least. If Scut couldn’t tolerate the high jinks of a few well-adjusted but overly exuberant young men, he’ll go ape in his new weirdo environment. If he doesn’t run home to mommy after a few months there, he’ll be back in the swampland with an even greater store of resentment and rancor to visit upon the seminarians.

France can also expect a visit from “One-Hand” Dan’s woebegone flunky, the Incredibly Dull Hulk. While Scut at least has some native intelligence and a smattering of education gained in his native land, this shambling American nobody has naught to recommend him except for the fact that he cannot think for himself. He’s the one who banished under threat of arrest some long-time members of the Milwaukee chapel just for asking about the SGG School scandal. Then, only a couple of weeks ago, the Hulk announced to the remaining faithful at the Wisconsin chapel that they had to pay his salary as “One-Hand’s” lackey in SW Ohio. Until “One-Hand” needed him to help out in the cult center, this gawky, monstrously slow underling was held in contempt by most of his fellow MHT completers. Moreover, “One-Hand” himself used to contrive to keep the Hulk out of sight. (The SGG cultists might want to ask Dumpy Dan whether SGG funds will pay for the Hulk’s airfare or whether “One-Hand” will use frequent-flyer miles. We think we already know the answer.)

At least now la belle France will be able to examine in vitro, as it were, two completely different but equally noisome, viral specimens from the pesthouse – the manic, anti-social Scut and the tongue-tied, panic-stricken Hulk. Let’s hope that one furtive glance from behind a sterilized curtain will be enough for the worried mothers of the French seminarians to recoil in horror at the kind of creature their sons will become if they complete MHT.

MOTHERS OF FRANCE: KEEP YOUR SONS HOME & CLOSE THE PESTHOUSE.