Authority Of Church Defied

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31864, 17 December 1968, Page 21

Authority Of Church Defied

(N.Z.P .A.-Reuter—Copyright) FLORENCE (Italy), December 16. About 500 “rebel” parishioners defied their church’s authority by holding an irregular “assembly of prayer” yesterday in support of their dismissed priest.

In a nearby chapel, only 50 persons attended mass celebrated by Monsignor Bruno Panerai, the priest chosen to replace Don Enzo Mazzi, who earlier this month

'was dismissed by the Archbishop of Florence (Cardinal Ermenegildo Florit) “for disobedience.” In the church, the “rebels” dispensed with the mass and, instead, sang psalms together and chanted prayers. The members of the parish who remained faithful to the authority of the archbishop crowded into the chapel of San Benedetto, about 500 yards away on the other side of the Arno River, where they listened to Monsignor Panerai issue a stern call for obedience to church authority. Monsignor Panerai had said on Saturday that he would hold mass in the tiny chapel rather than risk trouble by trying to rival the “assembly of prayer” in the main parish church.

The dispute began when Don Mazzi and many parishioners sent in September a letter of support to Roman Catholics who occupied Parma Cathedral, demanding to discuss church matters with the clergy and protesting against the riches of the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Florit told Don Mazzi to retract his statement or resign. The priest, believing the people should participate in important church decisions, put the question to his parishioners, and they voted that he should do neither.