Exclusive Report by Br. Alexis Bugnolo
If you are planning a trip to Rome for the Jubilee Year of 2025, prepare to expect not to be able to have Mass celebrated by the priest who is leading your pilgrimage.
Shocking as it may seem, but Pope Francis had ordered all the major Churches to establish pharasaical rules whereby any Mass by anyone, even a Bishop, during the Holy Year, can be cancelled or refused for any reason at any time.
And the rules are truly pharasaical.
I will explain what happened to a pilgrim priest yesterday in the Eternal City and let you judge for yourselves.
The priest visited the website of the Church in question and saw that the only requirement to celebrate mass was to fill out a simple form and submit it.
He arrived at the Church in time for the Mass he requested to say.
The laymen on duty asked if the priest had filled out the form. Then they said that these requests were only granted by the Rector, but that the Rector was not on duty. The vice-rector was also not on duty. Finally, the laymen realized how embarrassing the situation was to them, and they said the priest could say the Mass after the Church closed to the public, at 12:30 P. M.
The priest returned before that time to have some time to view the Church. Members of his pilgrimage where then told that he could not say the mass. The reason given was that the Rector who previously was claimed not to have seen the request, was now claimed to have seen and replied, and that the priest had to reply 3 or more days before he came to the Church. But this rule is no where on the website.
The members of the pilgrimage asked to speak with the Rector. They were told he was not on site. They asked to speak with the vice-Rector. They were told he was not there. They asked to speak to someone in charge. They were told there was no on available. They asked if the priest could reply to the email, which contained a questionaire, in person on paper. They were told that the email had to be replied to electronically. The poor priest did not think to bring his device with him.
The mass was to be a votive mass in honor of the Patron Saint of the Basilica. The day the priest chose was his birthday. He had come 10,000 miles to say this Mass.
The door was metaphorically speaking shut right in his face, with excuses that nothing could be done, because the Rector had just “entertained 3 cardinals and 15 bishops and 60 priests the day before, on Sunday, and had to take a day off.”
However, what these pilgrims were told does not make sense. Because if the Rector had not the time to see the request, how did he have time to reply to it? And if he had time to reply to it, why was he not reachable, even electronically on Mondays? And if permission was granted for 12:30 as the staff affirmed before numerous witnesses, how is it that it was withdrawn if the Rector and vice-Rector were unreachable?
Upon inquiry the pilgrims were told that masses by pilgrim priests are allowed at 9 AM, 12:30 P.M. and 5 P.M. But when they asked if any where scheduled today, they were told, “No”. And when they asked why their Mass could not be allowed at 12:30 PM, the staff say that the Church closes and the staff goes on lunch-break, so that they cannot remain and have mass!
On top of this, the website of the Church says, that “any priest who wishes to say mass at the Church, can concelebrate at the Masses regularly scheduled, and he need not show his celebret”!
Translated into layman’s terms: Anyone, Catholic or not, Christian or not, who claims to be a priest, can come to the Church before the Masses on Sunday or weekdays, present himself as a priest, whether he be so or not, and concelebrate with the Rector and his associates! — A policy entirely contrary to all Catholic Teaching and all Canon Law, not to mention the discipline of the Diocese of Rome which is announced for hearing Confessions on their official Jubilee Website, here.
So why the open door to fake priests, but a door slammed in the face of Catholic pilgrim priests?
The end result is this: what this priest suffered is exactly what I reported was going to happen in regard to the Ban on Masses at another Basilica, that of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. It appears if Pope Francis has intentionally banned the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by Catholic pilgrims during the Holy Year.
The Mayor of Rome seems to be in agreement, because the City of Rome is plastered with posters promoting the Jubilee Year, which show a Female couple, one white, one black, which seems to imply that lesbians, transgendered couples are the targeted group for tourism for the Catholic Jubilee Year, and that the City of Rome expects them, not mass going pilgrims. — On the Web, there are several variations of this poster showing different groups, but on the ground at Rome, I saw repeatedly and only this version:
Finally, FromRome.Info is the only Catholic news source which is reporting on this ban on masses. So please share this report for the sake of your brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere, lest they suffer the same religious persecution that Pope Francis seems to have organized this year at Rome as a sort of sadistic psychological game of abuse.
UPDATE: A member of the pilgrimage told me, after this report was first published, that the Priest did receive an email from the vice-Rector, who gave permission for a mass at 12:30 P.M. She had sent this email just a little more than an hour before the priest arrived in person. Pilgrims do not have cellphones which work in Italy, only near WiFi points in hotels and restaurants. The email from the vice-Rector contained no form to fill out. — More proof that multiple layers of mendacity were being employed to say, “yes” and signify, “No!”.