TU ES SACERDOS IN AETERNUM!

Florence, Italy
4th July 2024

At the culmination of the week of ordainations, five deacons were ordained to the priesthood by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke at the beautiful Romanesque church of  Ss Michael & Cajetan in central Florence on Thursday morning last.

Please pray for these new priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest at they begin their ministries:

From left to right: Rev’d Canon Mirko Perucchini, Rev’d Canon Paul McKown,
Rev’d Canon Thibault Pérez, Rev’d Canon Alban Colomb and Rev’d Canon Pol Lecerf

 

The week began on Monday where seminarians at the end of their first year received the cassock. On Tuesday, the Tonsures and Minor Orders took place and on Wednesday, ordinations to sub diaconate and diaconate.

PRIVATE AUDIENCE OF THE PRIOR GENERAL AND THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF

On the 24th June 2024, the 45th anniversary of his Priestly Ordination by Saint John Paul II, Monsignor Gilles Wach, Prior General of our Institute, was received in private audience by His Holiness Pope Francis, accompanied by Monsignor Rudolf Michael Schmitz, Vicar General of the Institute, and by Canon Louis Valadier, Provincial of France.

This audience was an occasion to thank the Holy Father for his inspiring Apostolic Letter, Totum amoris est, dedicated to Saint Francis de Sales, our Patron Saint. Monseigneur Wach was also able to present all the pastoral work carried out by the priests of the Institute throughout the world in the service of souls. On two occasions, the Pope insisted that we continue to serve the Church according to our own, proper charism, in the spirit of unity and communion which the harmony and balance of the Salesian spirituality allow. The Holy Father also expressed his gratitude for the prayers and for the apostolic and missionary work of the Sister Adorers.

At the end of the meeting, the Holy Father invited our Prior General to visit him again with all the members of the Institute, as well as the Sister Adorers, whom he would be very happy to receive in audience.

A WORD FROM THE SISTER ADORERS: RENOVATIONS IN NAPLES

There has been significant work done for the novitiate in Naples, Italy, called the House of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Leaking windows have been replaced, and the facades on one side of the house have been completely redone. Part of the basement is currently being transformed into a large pantry, and the building attached to the convent is being restored. The second floor will be lodging for the sisters’ chaplain and other canons, while the first floor will have three guest rooms, allowing the sisters’ family members a place to stay while they are visiting. Deo gratias!

TWO NEW PRIESTS ORDAINED

Always with thanks to God, two new priests for eternity have been ordained at Gricigliano, the Institute seminary near Florence, Italy on the feast of St. Francis de Sales.

His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke ordained Canon Morrow and Canon Ringeval las Monday.

Hopefully one or both will visit us soon.

FIVE NEW POSTULANTS FOR THE SISTERS ADORERS

Five new postulants arrived at the novitiate of the Sister Adorers of the Royal Heart in Naples, Italy last month, including three Americans, one from Germany and one from France. Postulancy is an year of discernment during which the young lady begins to learn the life of a Sister Adorer.

On the Feast of St. Gertrude, November 16, Monsignor Wach gave each new postulant the cross of St Francis de Sales and the postulant choir cape. The ceremony was followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Please join us in praying for these young ladies as they begin their initial formation in the religious life!

ARCHBISHOP FRANÇOIS BACQUÉ RIP

Of your charity, please offer prayers for the Eternal rest of the soul of Archbishop François Bacqué, Apostolic Nuncio and friend of the Institute, who died suddenly in Rome on 9 November 2023.

Born in Bordeaux on 2 September 1936, he was ordained a priest on the 1st October 1966. In 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II appointed him pro-Apostolic Nuncio in Sri Lanka and he was consecrated Archbishop that same year.

From 1994 to 2001, he served as Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic and Apostolic Delegate in Puerto Rico. He was finally Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands before retiring in 2012.

In 2013, Archbishop Bacqué was commissioned to conduct an Apostolic Visit to Gricigliano and our Institute. After the final approval of our Constitutions by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, He celebrated the Thanksgiving Mass on 2 February 2016 (photos below).

 

COUNT WOLFGANG WALDSTEIN RIP

Of your charity, please add to your prayers the Eternal rest of the soul of Count Wolfgang Waldstein, Governor-General of the Society of the Sacred Heart (secular branch of the Institute), called to God at about noon, 17 October 2023, at the age of 95.

THE GENERAL CHAPTER IN PHOTOS

The General Chapter was held at the beginning of September. An important week in the life of the life of the Institute.

The commencement – The Veni Creator

Renewal of commitment to the Institute taken by the Canons

The Masses

Mass with Monsignor Wach, the Prior General on the feast of the beheading of St John the Baptist

With the Monsignor Schmitz, the Vicar General of the Institute on the feast of St Rose of Lima

Pontifical Mass with His Eminence, Raymond Cardinal Burke on the feast of St Raymond of Penafort

Conferences and Instructions

Meals

Te Deum in thanksgiving at the end of the Chapter

2023 ORDINATION PHOTOGRAPHY

With due credit to the seminarians of Gricigliano who took these beautiful photographs, we are pleased to present a chronicle of the 2023 Ordinations in Florence.

Presentation of the Cassock and Incardinations

Minor Orders conferred by His Lordship Bishop Madega, Bishop of Mouila in Gabon

Major Orders conferred by His Grace Archbishop Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, USA, in the presence of His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

Te Deum of Thanksgiving celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke followed by dinner and fireworks

DIACONAL ORDINATIONS

Florence, 5th July 2023

This morning, in the presence of His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, His Grace, the Archbishop of San Francisco, the Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone conferred Holy Orders upon 5 subdeacons and 6 deacons at the Church of Santi Michele e Gaetano.

On Monday, a group of seminarians at the end of their first year received their cassocks. Meanwhile, on Tuesday the minor orders of porter, lector, acolyte and exorcist as well as the clerical tonsure were conferred.

Deo gratias!