Paix Liturgique has attempted to conduct surveys in all the relevant nations visited by the Holy Father in Europe. Its new survey covers the Traditional Mass in England, Wales, and Scotland.
We urge you to help Paix Liturgique in their great endeavor (see last paragraph):
The Holy Father will be paying an apostolic visit to Scotland and England from the 16 to the 19 September. He will be coming for the beatification of Cardinal Newman, the Anglican theologian priest who converted to Catholicism. Our movement has seized the occasion of this much-awaited trip across the channel: we have commissioned a new survey on the Motu Proprio’s reception among British Catholics along the lines of the survey conducted during the Holy Father’s recent trip to Portugal.I – A PECULIAR CONTEXTEver since the sixteenth-century Anglican schism, Catholicism has had a peculiar position in Great Britain. The Church was institutionally oppressed down to the nineteenth century; indeed both the authorities and the people considered Catholicism to be antinational.The Catholic Relief Act of 1829 allowed Catholicism to organise freely, particularly once the 1850 Pontifical Brief re-established the Catholic hierarchy in the country. Since that time, in which Cardinal Newman lived, British Catholicism has had a remarkable influence in the island’s intellectual and cultural circles. Such singular figures as Chesterton and Tolkien emerged from this influence; it did not, however, bring about a massive return of Anglicans to Rome.The first important act in defence of the traditional liturgy came from England in 1971: a petition signed by dozens of personalities, among whom Agatha Christie (though not herself a Catholic). This action was rewarded by the immediate grant of an indult, commonly called the “Agatha Christie indult,” whose unabridged text we are publishing in appendix. This indult, which was formulated in the classic form of an answer of the Congregation for Divine Liturgy to the Cardinal President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, provided for the possibility of “certain groups of the faithful on specific occasions be allowed to participate in the Mass celebrated according to the rites and texts of the former Roman Missal."Despite this text’s importance for the history of the defence of the Church’s traditional liturgy (it established a precedent, which is very important in the Roman curia’s modus operandi, and it would be constantly cited in the context of the 1988 Motu Proprio), the dearth of eagerness in its application on the part of the British Episcopal hierarchy (already in 1971 . . .) deprived it of any fruit. Consequently the situation of English, Welsh, and Scottish Catholics attached to the traditional liturgy has ended up being closer and closer to that known on the continent: disdain and marginalization.The 2007 Motu Proprio has not yet reversed the situation, despite some overtures on the part of certain British prelates and the activity of lay movements, among whom the Latin Mass Society holds the first rank. It has organised many formation seminars for priests to learn how to celebrate the extraordinary form.Yet some effervescence has been observed at the approach of the pontifical visit. It has been fed in part by the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus setting up personal Ordinariates for Anglicans who enter into full communion with the Church. Indeed this text, a new fruit of Benedict XVI’s generosity, offers some hope to those Anglican faithful who no longer recognise themselves in the recent evolution of the Anglican Communion as it keeps caving in to pressure on the matter of women’s ordination and the admission of active homosexuals to “holy orders.” Until then it had seemed to be the Protestant community that was the closest to Rome. Furthermore, the Sovereign Pontiff is constantly under attack from many pressure groups that have access to the English media and do not shrink from utterly shameless provocations; there is even talk of sending the Pope to gaol! It is within this context that Paix Liturgique wished to measure what Catholics in Great Britain know about the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and how they react to it.II – THE RESULTSHere are this survey’s results. It was conducted on line, 21-28 June 2010, by Harris Interactive. There were 800 British Catholic participants, from a sampling of 6153 persons over the age of 18.Question #1: Do you attend Mass?Weekly: 24.3%Monthly: 7.8%On Holy Days: 10.1%Occasionally (e.g. for weddings): 45.6%Never: 12.3%Question #2: In July [2007] Pope Benedict XVI restated that the Mass could be celebrated both in its modern, "ordinary," or "Paul VI" form--i.e. in English, with the priest facing the faithful, communion received standing--and in its traditional, "extraordinary," or "John XXIII" form--i.e. in Latin and Gregorian chant, with the priest turned towards the altar, communion received kneeling. Were you aware of this?Yes: 39.4%No: 60.6%Question #3 : Would you consider it normal or abnormal for both liturgical forms to be celebrated regularly in YOUR parish?Normal: 44.9%Abnormal : 21%No opinion: 34.1%Question #4: If Mass were celebrated with Latin and Gregorian chant in its extraordinary form in YOUR parish, without taking the place of the ordinary one in English, would you attend it?The following answers are from all Catholics polled:- 15.6% would attend every week- 10.8% once a month- 11.1% for Holy Days- 46.1% occasionally- 16.4% neverAnswers from those regularly practicing (weekly and monthy) alone:- 43% would attend every week- 23.4% once a month- 7.8% for Holy Days- 17.6% occasionally- 8.2% never
III - PAIX LITURGIQUE’S COMMENTS1/ The first lesson to draw from this survey, and good news for the entire Church too, is that 32% of British Catholics claim to attend Mass at least once a month. This reported rate of practice is far superior to that in old Catholic countries such as France or Portugal (both at 19% according to the December 2009 IFOP survey for La Croix and the May 2010 Harris Interactive poll for PL, respectively).2/ The second lesson is that this survey, which was conducted by a professional and independent institution, confirms all earlier polls conducted in different places and at different times on the question of the Church’s traditional liturgy (see here). Let those that have eyes see; and those that have ears, hear. . . .In Great Britain as everywhere else, a strong proportion of Catholics would gladly attend the extraordinary form of the Roman rite if it took place right in THEIR OWN parish. The only difference is that the proportion is higher than the average obtained during the preceding surveys, where about one third of regularly practicing Catholics would gladly attend the traditional Mass if it were celebrated in their parish. In Great Britain, 43% of those who go to Mass every week would attend the traditional Mass if it were celebrated in their parish (Great Britain outstrips Italy, which until now held the record of 40% of weekly Mass goers answering that they would go to the traditional Mass every week if it were offered). The result even reaches 66.4% (i.e. 2 out of 3) if one lumps together all those who attend Mass at least once a month, which is even more than in Italy (63% according to the 2009 Doxa survey).When one notes (see question 2) that 60% of Catholics are not aware of the Motu Proprio’s existence, one can easily imagine that the aforementioned 66.4% of Mass goers would increase if awareness of the MP were spread more broadly. . . .3/ This study’s third lesson is the confirmation that in Great Britain too the overwhelming majority of the faithful find it absolutely normal for both forms of the Roman rite to cohabitate in peace in the parish setting.This is not entirely surprising: British Catholics, long persecuted as “Papists,” are indeed particularly attached to the successor of Peter. In Great Britain as elsewhere, the wish of the faithful to see the Motu Proprio being applied seems in direct proportion to the opposition that the Pope’s texts elicits among most bishops. The hierarchy’s lack of awareness of the reality before it, brought out by this study, is noteworthy.Only 21% of the Faithful find the peaceful coexistence of both forms of the Roman rite abnormal. This figure might be lower if more of the Faithful (i.e. more than the current 39.4%) knew the provisions in Benedicts XVI’s Motu Proprio. One can legitimately think that, among these 21%, there are some who believe what has been repeated to them for so long, namely that this liturgy had been “abrogated,” if not “forbidden” . . . .In Great Britain as elsewhere, the argument resting on the lack of interest among the Faithful for the application of the Motu Proprio is unfair. When their point of view is solicited in an opinion poll, the results are quite different to those obtained when one merely speaks in their name . . . all the while taking care not to consult them, unless it’s through parish councils, which as a matter of principle (whether because of ideology, fear, or simple post-conciliar conservatism) are not inclined to favour the reform of the reform undertaken by Benedict XVI.4/ Regarding the Agatha Christie Indult: from 1971 on it allowed the celebration of the 1965 Missal with the modifications of 1967 (as opposed to that of the 1962 Missal allowed in Summorum Pontificum and, before that, in Ecclesia Dei). One might have thought that this watered-down and modernised form of the John XXIII missal would have been more acceptable to the bishops of Britain and that it would therefore have helped spread a more traditional liturgy in the post-conciliar context . . . But such was not the case as the British bishops perceived no substantial difference between the 1965 liturgy and that of 1962. It is of course needless to press this point with too much insistence upon those who naively reckon that the celebration of the 1965 form would be more acceptable at the diocesan level than the 1962 form. There is likewise no need to mention the naïveté, which is in this case abysmal, of the few militants who are dead set on the celebration of the Paul VI liturgy in Latin . . . .5/ Above all this new survey underscores the (in this case British) bishops’ astounding deficiency—to put the best face on it—when it comes to communication. Indeed, a full three years after the publication of the Motu Proprio on 7 July 2007, only 40% have been informed of it. In fact one must call a spade a spade, particularly in so serious a matter as liturgical and sacramental life: in Britain as elsewhere, the issue is pastoral blindness to the expectations of the Faithful. This blindness on the part of bishops has once again been scientifically measured and put into figures. It is tempting to wonder whether the bishops might not need a new pastoral Council entirely dedicated to listening skills for the benefit of the “Silent ones of the Church,” and to meeting their expectations.6/ One final remark: because of the small proportion of Catholics in the country (13%), it was necessary to poll more people than usual (6153 individuals) in order to work with a representative number of people who declare themselves to be “Catholic.” Consequently this survey is the costliest of all those we have commissioned to date. It cost €10,000 with tax. If you wish to participate in its financing it and thus allow us to continue our work of information, you can post your donation to Paix liturgique, 1 allée du Bois Gougenot, 78290 CROISSY-SUR-SEINE (write out the cheque to Paix liturgique), or you can transfer funds: IBAN : FR76 3000 3021 9700 0500 0158 593 - BIC : SOGEFRPP.
