Following up on the press release and the study we published on Corpus Christi regarding dubious claims made by ecclesiastical authorities in New Hampshire, I will address another such assertion here.
On the website of the Diocese of Manchester, we find this false claim about Saint Benedict Center and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
In the past, the Bishop of Manchester has granted permission for a priest in good standing to offer ministry at the Saint Benedict Center. This fact was manipulated by the Slaves and the Center to imply support or recognition by the Church. To avoid any further misrepresentation of the status of the Saint Benedict Center and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, beginning 7 January 2019, Catholic priests are now forbidden to celebrate the Sacraments of the Church at the Center.
Father Georges de Laire, the Judicial Vicar of the Diocese and the signatory of the decree of precepts against us, stated something similar in his civil case against Gary Michael Voris, et alia: “the leadership of the Saint Benedict Center manipulated Father de Laire’s efforts to imply support and legitimacy by the Catholic Church.” (Civil Complaint, p. 10, para. 38; cf. p. 2, “Introduction.”)
From late 2010 to early 2019, the Bishop of Manchester granted a priest faculties to offer Holy Mass and hear confessions in the traditional Roman rite at Saint Benedict Center. That much of the statement is true. (Those who read our study — “‘Unacceptable’: Did the CDF Censure Saint Benedict Center’s Beliefs in 2016?” — may recall that the Holy See recommended that the Diocese grant such a permission, and, in addition, recommended that they do considerably more for us as well.)
What is false both in the Diocesan statement and Father de Larie’s civil complaint is the claim that we “manipulated” or “misrepresented” this limited permission for the ministrations of a priest to claim a canonical status that we did not have. What we told people is no secret: It is still right here on our website, in the first paragraph of “Our Status in the Church” (into which we later inserted a parenthetical statement that the situation had changed in January, 2019). Saint Benedict Center has never claimed any official canonical erection by the Diocese. Rather, we both published on this website and stated in person that we were allowed a priest here for Holy Mass and Confession, which was, in fact, true. We also said that we were a “de facto private association of the faithful,” which designation no fewer than four highly qualified canon lawyers informed me is correctly applied to our community.
To some, this may seem like a hairline distinction, but it is not. What we told people was simply true and we were told by competent professionals that it was true.
On April 22, 2021, I queried Father de Laire on this matter in a face-to-face meeting. These were my words: “…in saying that we were Catholic faithful who lived according to our own rules, that [earlier statement on the Diocese’s website] says we’re a de facto private association of the faithful. That’s my understanding.” Father de Laire responded: “From a broader perspective, absolutely, Brother, you are correct.” (Transcription of audio recording of meeting between Father Georges de Laire, Father Michael Taylor, Antoinette Cincotta, and Brother André Marie, dated April 22, 2021, p. 33.)
There is no factual basis for claiming we “manipulated” the Diocese’s permission to have a priest here or “misrepresented” our canonical standing. As in the case of the contrived “unacceptable” narrative we recently exposed, this claim is false.
We have, with no success, sought to correct the record on this matter with the Diocese of Manchester. Since our attempts at doing so were unsuccessful, we are now publicly correcting their public statement.
