In the picture, from left to right:Burke, Bagnasco, Koch, Dziwisz, Bertone, Mvé Engone, the Pope,
O'Malley, Castrillón, Ruini, Toppo, Ricard, Pell, Arinze, and Murphy O'Connor
We thank reader Simon Peter for compiling the list (to which we added a couple of missing names) of those who were present at the meeting last Wednesday for the presentation of the motu proprio on the liberalization of the Traditional Mass and its accompanying letter, and who were later joined by the Holy Father. The list reveals as much about those who were present, as about those who were not invited.
Roman Curia:1. Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State
2. Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
3. Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
EuropeItaly4. Cardinal Ruini, Cardinal Vicar of Rome
5. Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, President of the Italian Episcopal ConferenceFrance6. Cardinal Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux, President of the French Episcopal Conference
7. Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of LyonGermany8. Cardinal Lehmann, Bishop of Mainz, President of the German Episcopal ConferenceEngland and Wales9. Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and WalesSwitzerland10. Kurt Koch, Bishop of Basel, President of the Swiss Episcopal ConferencePoland11. Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Cracow
AmericasUnited StatesAfrica12. Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston
13. Raymond Burke, Archbishop of Saint LouisGabonAsia14. Basile Mvé Engone, Archbishop of Libreville, President of the Episcopal Conference of GabonIndiaAustralia15. Cardinal Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India16. Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
Note: Though the list includes no diocesan ordinaries from Latin America, different sources confirm that two Latin American prelates (probably, considering the list, two presidents of episcopal conferences) were invited, but "justified" their absence. They probably had no idea that the Pope would personally greet them and discuss the matter with them for one hour. The pretentiousness and self-sufficiency of many Latin American Bishops were not softened by the Papal visit to the region in May...
Picture: Source
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According to the Rome correspondent of the Argentinian daily La Nación (see also UCANews - in English):
... in the meeting sub secreto of the day before yesterday, Cardinal Bertone explained that the main reason for the imminent document is to favor reconciliation with the ultra-orthodox Lefebvrists of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
...
The second motive for the Motu Proprio is to satisfy and to placate the demands of the Traditionalist sectors which, while not having left with the Lefebvrists, desire the reestablishment of the old rite in Latin. And the third and last [reason] is "not to lose the treasures of the past" implicit in the Latin liturgy, which presents a much more complex choreography, but instead to integrate them into modern culture.
