Sacré Bleu! We’ve gotten the scoop from a certain Francophone professorial friend of mine that the Vicar General of the Diocese of Bordeaux is none too pleased with the sudden erection of a new Traditional Institute on his territoire. In a statement inconspicuously placed on the Diocese’s website, Père Rouet claims that Cdl. Hoyos has placed disinformation in the decree of erection about the agreement of the Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux to the project and rather forcefully “advised” Cardinal Ricard to go meet with Pope Benedict to let him know how traumatizing this is for the Church in Bordeaux — essentially calling the Cardinal-Prefect a liar and publicly ordering his own Bishop to go give the Pope a piece of his mind.

For our readers, we offer a humble translation of the most important passages:

Le décret n° 118-2006 de la Commission Pontificale Ecclésia Dei, reconnaissant l’Institut du Bon Pasteur comme une société de vie apostolique, contient un certain nombre d’affirmations sur l’accord présumé du Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard. Ces affirmations relèvent de la désinformation.
The Decree no. 118-2006 of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which recognizes the Institute of the Good Shepherd as a society of apostolic life, contains a number of affirmations that imply the agreement of Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard. These affirmations should be regarded as disinformation

And again,

Je souhaite que dans les semaines qui viennent notre Archevêque auquel je renouvelle ma totale confiance et le service de ma liberté de conseil soit reçu personnellement par le Saint Père lui-même afin de lui faire part de ce que l’Eglise catholique de Bordeaux vit à l’occasion de ces événements.
It is my wish that in the coming weeks our Archbishop, to whom I renew my total confidence and my service as a free advisor, will be personally received by the Holy Father himself so that he can give him some idea of how these matters are affecting the Catholic Church in Bordeaux.

The statement is quite rich with other jabs. He says, for instance, L’expression “messe de toujours” pour un missel en vigueur jusqu’en 1962 est une supercherie historique. (the expression “the mass of all times” for a missal in use only since 1962 is an historical deception). Cardinal Ricard, call your office … and get this guy a leash!

Update. I’ve now read the whole document more carefully. Apparently Father Rouet has ants in his pants over the fact that M. l’abbé Laguérie, the head of this new institute, said some mean and disdainful things about the beautiful works of the French Church during the last thirty years … and has not been ordered to repudiate them! He claims that letting these guys criticise the documents of Vatican II gives permission to the whole “people of God” to question everything the Church says, which, he fears, will lead to “revolution!” The rest is an evocation of the “violences” done by the SSPX in France and de rigeur references to the Spirit of Vatican II; though he does concede that it’s “easy to remember how beautiful the Mass of 1962 was” (it’s “as easy to remember as that spirit of the Second Vatican Council!”).
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