SSPX pilgrims locked out of Italian shrine

“What is more important, the place or the Faith?” On March 28th, a group of SSPX pilgrims was refused entry to the Catholic Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows in Cuceglio, near the Italian town of Turin.

The large group, comprising priests, nuns and families, had walked for miles from the Priory of San Carlo di Montalenghe to honour Our Lady of Sorrows.

Although the party had notified in advance Don Luca Meinardi, the parish priest of Our Lady of Sorrows, that their closing prayers would take place in his church, he refused to let them in, having apparently received a directive from his bishop, Msgr. Daniele Salera.

A look at the official diocesan news outlet, Risveglio Populare, (“Popular Awakening”), reveals that the bishop is enamoured of ecumenism and all manner of social causes. Yet he is seemingly less open to tradition, or in this case, even to basic good manners.

The priest leading the pilgrimage is Don Aldo Rossi, who on finding the doors closed, read a statement in front of the church (a video of his statement can be found below).

Don Rossi said,

We find the sanctuary closed and they refuse to open the doors, too… This reminds us of the words of Saint Athanasius which say, among other things, against the Arayans ..in the early centuries of the Church

“you remain outside the places of worship, but faith dwells within you.”

Let’s see what is more important: the place or the faith? The true faith, of course….

In the dominant culture, which is htta of ‘inclusion’, doors open to everyone…To the Anglicans who celebrate Mass in the mother of all churches, in Rome St. John Lateran, who are not even priests…

Don Rossi, then drew attention to a congratulatory letter sent by Pope Leo XIV to the female, pro-abortion “Archbishop” of Canterbury on the occasion of her “installation”, which read in part:

I know that the office for which you have been chosen is a weighty one, with responsibilities not only in the Diocese of Canterbury, but throughout the Church of England as well as the Anglican Communion as a whole …. I pray that you may be guided by the Holy Spirit in serving your communities, and draw inspiration from the example of Mary, the Mother of God.

Don Rossi continued:

In Turin, Protestant churches are reopening and they are also allowing Protestant ministers to say Mass in a Catholic parish. All religions are praying together. Churches are opened to Pachamama….. They are opened to LGBT groups, and Masses celebrated with them ….. Churches are opened to Buddhists and animists as happened at Assisi in 1986, where a statue of the Buddha statue was also placed on the tabernacle… But for us, for the Fraternity of St. Pius X, however, even a simple prayers for vocations — not Mass, but prayers — the doors are closed …

In this case, there is no inclusion, but exclusion. Why? Because in the Pantheon there were all the gods except our Lord Jesus Christ….

There is only one answer that makes us understand the depth of the crisis of the Church and the liberal culture of inclusivity …. The truth is exclusive. Non-inclusive. Exclusive. I can include all other but not the truth. Because truth excludes. Two plus two equals four. And four excludes all other numbers. He who is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me disperses…

Don Rossi continues with the words of St. Athanasius:

“You are the great corruption because you remain in the middle. You want to stay between the light and the world. You are masters of compromise and you walk with the world. I tell you: you had better leave with the world and abandon the Master, whose kingdom is not of this world.”

He then concludes in the true spirit of the Society:

Let us ask this above all of Our Lady of Sorrows, who gives us this great example of patience, and also offer her this sacrifice: this sacrifice of not entering, of not being able to enter the church. First of all according to the intention of the pilgrimage, to obtain holy priests; but let us also offer this sacrifice for the Church, for the Pope, for the bishop of Ivrea, for all the bishops and all the priests, so that they may come out as quickly as possible from this darkness, from this false ecumenism, from this false culture of inclusivity that excludes the truth, that is, which excludes Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life.

Now, we will make here the final prayers: the prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows, then we will sing the litanies of the Holy Virgin.