Beyond his many beautiful and profound words, beyond his symbolic gestures that scandalized many, beyond acts which have affected the very life of the Church and will still create an enormous problem in the future (such as the permission for "altar girls", considered by a Cardinal one of the
highest points of his Pontificate), one action (or rather, omission) is still haunting: why did he not act upon the express advice of his Cardinals in the Holy Office regarding the broad juridical rights of the Traditional Mass? This is not a matter for which it can be said - as it is said regarding several others - that he most probably could not have known, of which others might not have made him aware. They discussed the matter upon
his request and,
in 1982 (1982!), made clear what would only be made public in the motu proprio
Summorum Pontificum, in 2007. He knew; he was aware; he remained silent.
So much pain, so many tears, so many died expecting it, so many may have been lost forever waiting for what he himself knew was lawful, right, and just. So many problems caused, so much injustice, so much persecution, in a way that sheds new lights on the dramatic events of 1988 - which themselves led to Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, a document more focused on the sentiment of some faithful than on the legitimate right of priests and laity.
Thanks to the Lord, who, through Paul VI, gave us Cardinal Ratzinger, and, through John Paul II, gave us Benedict XVI. Benedicite, omnia opera Domini, Domino!
