Addressing the Pope

From the Pastor:    Addressing the Pope

       Last week I asked the people at the 7:30 Mass to write letters in a way similar to what was done when the parishioners wrote letters of support to Bishop Parkes. Similarly, mind you, not exactly the same way, for the letters to our Bishop were letters of support when he mistakenly thought that we didn’t support him. This week, through this bulletin article, I am asking the people at the other Masses to also take pen in hand and put it to paper. The Bishop to whom these new letters should be addressed resides in Rome. Unlike Bishop Parkes, Francis doesn’t see the value of allowing anyone, not just us at this parish, to celebrate or attend Mass in the Traditional Latin form. For this reason, I don’t ask you to send him letters of support, for he may think you support his desire to take that away from us. But I do ask you to send a letter explaining to him how the Traditional Latin Mass has changed your life for the better.
       Please don’t make up stories or even embellish your own personal experience with the Mass. Just write a nice letter telling him what it has done for your Catholic faith, for your understanding of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, how it has brought your family more deeply into the family of the Church, or any other way that it has opened your eyes to the Glory of God as expressed in Traditional liturgy. Let me here repeat what I said last week about writing such letters. I don’t know if any of them will get through to him for I don’t know what system is in place to allow some things to pass through and some to be blocked. There must be a system, though, for he cannot possibly read every piece of mail that gets sent to him. But I do know that if any of the “mail sorters” are anti-TLM and they see a nasty, cruel, belligerent letter coming in among hundreds of heartwarming and thoughtfully loving letters, that one horrible letter will be the one that gets placed squarely in the front and center of the desk. Don’t write such a letter! Don’t complain about anything. Don’t whine about anything. Don’t berate anyone. Just say something about how the TLM has helped you to become more holy and loving, more Catholic, and more likely to become a Saint. If even one such a letter gets through it has the possibility of changing his heart. It should go without saying that I am asking you to pray as you write it, pray as you send it, and prayerfully ask your guardian angel to help ward off any demons who wish to misdirect your letter or have it misinterpreted. Maybe the person soring mail will be a friend of Tradition and two hundred or more letters written from this one parish, from mature ladies and teenage girls, from little boys and elderly men, from the pastor and from the newbie who just wandered in for the first time, could all wind up in Francis’ hands. It won’t happen if you don’t send in a letter and you cannot send one in if you don’t write it. By the time these letters get to the Vatican and get processed, we will be down to approximately one year of life left in the parish with a possibility of an extension of this “generous” two-year exemption granted us before we have to cease doing the very thing that brought life back to the parish in 2015. Why not put personal stories out there to be seen by the one man who wields the power?
       Of course, most people have no idea how to address the letter or the envelope, so here is the proper protocol:
       The salutation on the letter should be “Your Holiness” or “Most Holy Father”. The complimentary closing should be “Respectfully yours.”
       The envelope should be addressed to:
                                 His Holiness Pope Francis
                                 00120 Vatican City
                                 Europe
It seems that thousands of packages, letters, and messages get delivered there each day. The chances of our letters getting through seem astronomically slim. Yet I believe that this is a worthwhile endeavor. After all, it is worth it if each of us has to express in writing just how much we have been changed for the better since discovering the Traditional Latin Mass. If we can explain it to Francis, we will better be able to explain it to our skeptical neighbors and friends. It is worth it for those sorting the Vatican mail, too, for certainly they will see their fair share of complaints and gripes, so seeing good news will bring them welcome relief. Finally, to use an image that is well-known to all of us, both young and old, as the Grinch’s heart grew and he fully embraced Christmas, perhaps this prayerful venture will have the same effect on Francis’ heart and he will fully embrace Traditional Catholicism. After all, celebrating the sacraments in their Traditional form, especially the Mass, has given me insights into the priesthood which I never knew I lacked. I am just an insignificant parish priest. I hear stories all the time about how individuals and families have loved God and His Church more fully after embracing the TLM, sometimes after long battles of kicking against the goad! Wouldn’t it be lovely to see the same result in Rome? Get out your best paper, ink, crayons, or whatever writing instruments you own, and get those letters out!

With prayers for your holiness,
Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka