Philippine Update

First Sunday of Advent 2009, Chapel-Shrine of Our Lady of Atonement, Baguio Cathedral Compound

Bishop Angel Hobayan offers a "private" Low Mass, July 2009.

(This report is intended to be the first in a series on the state of the Traditional Latin Mass in various countries throughout the world. CAP)

In the Philippines, there are currently 9 locations (1 parish church, 1 chapel within a cathedral compound, and 7 other chapels) in 7 dioceses where the Usus Antiquior is available to the faithful on an every-Sunday basis, and under diocesan auspices. These are listed (along with weekday and monthly Masses) in an article that I’ve written for the website of the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph.

The current situation is a major improvement over the status quo of July 2007, when there were only three “indult” locations in the entire Philippines with an every-Sunday Mass that was open to the public. Filipino traditionalists are certainly thankful for the more than 300% jump in the number of Traditional Latin Masses. In particular, the openness of the diocesan authorities of Cebu and Baguio (in the former, the chairman of the archdiocesan "worship commission" offers the TLM every Sunday, while the latter is the only Filipino diocese that has promoted the TLM at its own initiative) is notable, and there is talk of establishing a personal parish for the traditional faithful in the Diocese of Cubao (but the congregation of traditionalists there has to first buy the land for the parish). Nevertheless, the situation could be a lot better – and that is an understatement!

In July 2008 there had been eleven (or twelve) locations (4 parish churches, one chapel within a parish compound, and 6 or 7 chapels) in 10 dioceses where every-Sunday Traditional Latin Masses under diocesan auspices were available to the faithful. Most of these had been listed in an article that I published on this very blog.

As much of the Traditionalist Catholic world now knows, the Archdiocese of Manila released one of the world’s most restrictive directives regarding the “implementation” of Summorum Pontificum. The hostility and ignorance manifested in the guidelines were not surprising; back in 2005, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales had refused to legalize a TLM that was being celebrated in the city of Manila every Sunday by a South Korean priest, claiming that “Quattuor abhinc annos” (no mention of Ecclesia Dei!) required Traditional Catholics to “celebrate” the Novus Ordo (!) In 2006, the Korean priest went back to his homeland; a fresh request to the Arzobispado for an indult Mass was summarily refused.

The “Manila Guidelines”, dated December 8, 2008, were released early in January 2009 and had been drafted in response to continuing requests by at least two groups for the regular celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. After a sustained uproar in the blogosphere, a formal statement from FIUV, and a reported intervention from Dario Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos himself, the “Guidelines” were removed from the official website of the Archdiocese of Manila. Nevertheless, Summorum Pontificum has not been implemented in Manila, despite the presence of not a few faithful who have asked for the Mass. Even the monthly weekday TLM in the cathedral that was proposed by the Manila Guidelines has not materialized. (There is a First Friday TLM in a small private chapel in Manila, celebrated by the octogenarian former rector of Manila Cathedral, Msgr. Melencio De Vera.)

(Rorate's coverage of the Manila Guidelines can be found here.)

At present, the 9 locations for Sunday TLM seem stable and under no threat, and as the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in the Philippines move towards the more frequent celebration of the Mass of Ages not just for weekdays but for Sundays as well, it is to be hoped that the number of regular Sunday TLM’s will significantly increase once again in the coming years. (The FFI has houses in four archdioceses and two dioceses; of these six, three have no every-Sunday Traditional Latin Mass either under diocesan auspices or the SSPX.)

The liturgical establishment of the Philippines remains wedded to the theories of the 1960’s and 1970’s, and even the faintest signs of the “Benedictine liturgical renewal” are absent from more than a tiny number of chapels and parishes. That crowds of faithful who have no knowledge of the Traditional Mass can be attracted to it merely by hearing about it or by seeing it celebrated once or twice has been proven time and again (especially in the now-suppressed Traditional Latin Masses of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Diocese of Paranaque, both of which attracted sizeable crowds), but this seems to have no effect on the attitude of not a few ecclesiastics.

Nevertheless, there is hope that the attitude of the liturgical establishment will become more positive. One sign of hope is the strong support for the TLM given by Fr. Timoteo Ofrasio S.J., professor of liturgy in the Jesuit Loyola School of Theology, (the country's most prominent theological academy), a former member of the "old" ICEL and once a strong proponent of inculturation and liturgical experimentation. He has spoken of the prayerfulness of the older form of Mass, which he now celebrates daily from Monday to Friday.

Meanwhile, the SSPX continues to maintain a stable presence. A list of SSPX Masses can be found here and here.

(I would like to acknowledge Paix Liturgique, which published its own update on the situation of the TLM in the Philippines in November, based upon an earlier version of this article that I had privately circulated.)