The Autumn Assembly of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF) begins today in Lourdes (the assembly even has its own blog), and the main item of discussion will be "the Traditionalist Question" and a blueprint prepared by an internal commission in response to their decision in the Spring Assembly.
It is possible to assess the mood of many of the bishops by reading this letter by Marcel Herriot, bishop of Soissons, to the current edition of the weekly Témoignage Chrétien (Source):
I join all those who deplore the creation of the Institute of the Good Shepherd without an understanding with the diocese of Bordeaux and its bishop. I seriously fear the motu proprio announced by the pope himself [?] on the general availability of the celebration of the mass from before the Council.I wrote in "La Vie diocésaine" [the diocesan paper] on November 1:
"Whatever shall be the decisions pope Benedict XVI shall make in liturgical matters, we cannot compromise with traditionalists on the orientations provided by the Second Vatican Council. They are vital for the Church and her involvement in the present world."
I add:
"We will not be able to accept the division of our communities according to individual liturgical sensitivities and tastes".
Traditionalist priests, the leaders of this movement, are using the Latin mass as a standard-bearer for a conception of the world and of mankind which is the opposite of the spirit of the conciliar constitution "On the Church in the Modern World" [Gaudium et Spes]. The violence and arrogance of the leaders of this movement are not compatible with the values of the
Gospel of the Beatitudes.
Marcel Herriot
Bishop of Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin.
