A Vatican-based tribunal temporarily restored the Rev. Bill
Rowe's powers to serve as a priest and celebrate the Catholic Mass in
all dioceses outside of Belleville, according to a seven-page letter
Rowe said he received from Rome.But the letter, from Cardinal Mauro Piacenzo of the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome, while stating that Bishop Edward Braxton did not follow proper form in stripping Rowe of his priestly duties, warned that the only way the former pastor of St. Mary's Church in Mount Carmel would be allowed to serve as a priest in the future would be to admit he was wrong and to strictly follow the liturgy.
Piacenzo advised: "While it is desirable that you return to the habitual exercise of the sacred ministry and the celebration of the Church's sacred rites, this can only come about when you shall have acknowledged your error and formally promise to dispose yourself to adhere to the rites and rubrics of the sacred liturgy set down by the lawful ecclesiastical authorities."
"If I was going to do that, I would have done it long ago," Rowe said on Tuesday.
In July, Bishop Edward Braxton stripped Rowe of his priestly "faculties" or powers because of an ongoing issue where Rowe regularly ad libbed part of the liturgy for the Mass in violation of strict Vatican protocols that state the wording must not be changed.
Rowe has said he ad libbed portions of the liturgy for years to make it easier to understand for parishioners.
During a recent required trip to Rome, Braxton had been urged by various church officials including an Italian bishop to strip Rowe of his priestly powers. Like Rowe, Braxton, too, is required to stick to the wording of the liturgy, which was revised in December to more closely resemble former Latin texts. Bishops are also required to follow the dictates of the pope.
Rowe had support at his parish where he had been pastor for more than two decades until his suspension in July.
Braxton, who does not comment to local reporters, could not be reached for comment.
The Rev. John Myler, spokesman for the Diocese, said: "The Vatican has communicated its response to both Bishop Edward J. Braxton and Father William Rowe. It is appropriate that further communication at this point be between Bishop Braxton and Father Rowe."
Rowe, who is serving as a volunteer teacher and school cafeteria assistant at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Olney, said that as he understands the letter, his removal from his home parish stands, but his priestly powers are restored outside the Belleville Diocese.
The letter from Piacenzo, which cites canon law stated Rowe's effort to stop his own removal as pastor of St. Mary's "has no canonical basis in law or in fact and is hereby rejected..."
Piacenzo stated that Braxton has 60 days to compose and send a "recourse against this decree," which must be sent to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, an appeal body at the Vatican.
Rowe said he was told that Braxton has reapplied to remove him as a practicing priest and sent him a letter informing him of this but that he hadn't yet received it.
Only the pope has the power to remove a priest from the priesthood, an action that has not been taken against Rowe.
Rowe said he does not intend to go outside the diocese to perform priestly duties.
Asked if he is angry that Braxton intends to persist in removing his ability to act in an official capacity as a priest, a punishment that in the Belleville Diocese has been primarily reserved for priests accused by a church panel of sexually abusing minors, Rowe answered: "Angry. Oh no. I'm not angry. It's what he wants to do. It's just our bishop. Just our bishop."