As some readers may know, the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" has given new permission to a handful of traditional priestly societies to offer Holy Week liturgies this month as they existed before the massive Pius XII / Archbishop Bugnini reforms of 1955.
The permission, confirmed by Rorate via several sources at the priestly societies, is for a limited time on an experimental basis. In other words, if the Masses are offered well, with proper education and preparation beforehand, then perhaps this indult could lead to something larger in the future.
Traditional (and conservative) Catholic blogs were asked to hold off on reporting this until after Palm Sunday. (You may have noticed, however, several posts on the pre-1955 Holy Week in general.) The main goal, it seems, from the priests organizing this week's liturgies is to do them well -- and not necessarily cause too much of a global media fuss. Pastoral decisions were also made, and compromises such as using Pope Benedict's reformed Prayer for the Jews were decided upon, to avoid liberal advocacy group-driven complaints that caused a media stir in 2008 following Summorum Pontificum.
Early reports show things went well two days ago. We are pleased to publish a selection of photos from Palm Sunday 2018:
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| Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter; Kansas City, Kansas |
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| FSSP; Los Angeles, California |
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| FSSP; Los Angeles, California |
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| FSSP; Nashua, New Hampshire |
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| Institute of Christ the King; Brussels, Belgium |
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| FSSP; Guadalajara, Mexico |
We congratulate the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, Institute of Christ the King and other traditional priestly societies for gaining official permission from PCED for the use of pre-1955 Holy Week books. Although there have been (and still are) several TLM churches around the world using the pre-1955 books without PCED permission, convincing the Vatican this experiment ought to receive an official indult is an impressive and exemplary accomplishment, one that may ultimately benefit the universal Church in the years to come.
A blessed Holy Week to all.
