In Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis has given a command. He does this at a time when papal authority is unraveling as never before. The Church has long since advanced to an ungovernable stage. But the pope battles on. He abandons his dearest principles—“listening,” “tenderness,” “mercy”—that refuse to judge or give orders. Pope Francis is roused by something that troubles him: the tradition of the Church. ...
Fr. Claude Barthe is a seasoned veteran of the pre-Summorum "liturgical wars", now rekindled by Francis in his edict "Traditionis custodes". Living in Paris, Fr. Barthe was also the main chaplain for the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimages that took thousands of Traditional Catholics to pray and attend the Holy Mass in the Traditional Roman Rite in Saint Peter's Basilica during the past decade.
Fr. Barthe knows, therefore, all involved with the decision that led to the papal edict against the Traditional Mass. As he reveals (corroborated by several sources), the Italian bishops, and a couple of Italian cardinals in the Curia, were at the origin and the moving force behind this document.
Let us pray.
***
Interview with Fr. Claude Barthe
“Traditionis custodes: A New Liturgical War”
With the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes published on July 16, Pope Francis "unravels" his predecessor Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007 by drastically limiting the celebration of the traditional Mass.
Father, rumors about this motu proprio, which practically cancels Benedict XVI’s motu proprio of July 7, 2007, have been floating around for some time. Did you expect it to be published so soon, on July 16?
None of us were quite sure. There had been various rumors. In Rome there was talk of an August publication, while others warned of an imminent publication. The latter version turned out to be true. The Secretariat of State, which led all this, was extremely discreet, it must be admitted.
Recent events seemed to point towards the possibility of an appeasement - such as the words of Cardinal Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, who appealed to Summorum Pontificum in a recent interview on Vatican News. Were these hopes unfounded?
I don't know what Cardinal Gambetti did or said to the Pope, but it is certain that requests were made to postpone this document so as not to start a new liturgical war in the Church. Notably, some say that Cardinal Ladaria, president of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, held it back as long as he could, as did others. In the end, the decision was made by the Pope and by those who lobbied him to take it, especially the Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, the substitute, Cardinal Peña Parra, Cardinal Versaldi, and others who were involved, that is, who participated in these inter-dicastery meetings (meetings between the prefects of the congregations concerned: Divine Worship, Clergy, Bishops, and the Secretariat of State) and who have been working on this document for a long time.
As endorsed by several fellow Catholic blogs and pages, we urge you to get your Traditional Latin Mass community to join this global effort. This is very important! We can only win this generational battle through prayer and through the intercession of the Victorious Mother.
The Holy Catholic Church is in an unprecedented worldwide crisis. The only hope for the Faithful is a Divine intervention, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Two priests who wish to remain anonymous - one a Diocesan, the other a Religious, both of whom offer exclusively the Traditional Mass - propose a world wide consecration to the Immaculate Heart by all TLM communities on 15 August, 2021, the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption.
They hope that many Cardinals and Bishops will also associatethemselves with this entrustment.
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary triumph and reign!
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| Cardinal Burke celebrates Mass for the Latin Mass Society in London, Corpus Christi Maiden Lane, 2019 (photograph by John Aron) |
In the
Pillar, JD Flynn criticises
‘the siren voices calling for disobedience, or casting into doubt the authority
of the Vicar of Christ’. He has earlier quoted Cardinal Raymond Burke, Bishop Athanasius
Schneider, and Bishop Robertus Mutsaerts, but he leaves it to his readers to
connect what he quotes them as saying with ‘calls for disobedience’ and ‘casting
into doubt the authority of the Vicar of Christ’. This seems on the face of it
a serious injustice, and a failure to give these individuals the respect due to
their office and indeed to every Catholic, who has a right to his good name:
see Canon 220.
For readers
such as myself to be expected to examine the quoted remarks and look for
possible support of these serious allegations is ridiculous and an invitation to
uncharity. Flynn does not even give us a clue which of the three is implicated
in these two alleged offences. Indeed, it might even be that Flynn would, if
challenged, refer us instead to the unnamed others he vaguely refers to in the
course of the article. However, the insinuation remains, it is serious, and it
should be withdrawn.
A pontifical high Mass had been planned for 14 August in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. It was actually supposed to be offered a year ago, but was postponed due to COVID restrictions. The music was all set. The clergy were all lined up. EWTN was going to air it live.
Following Pope Francis' motu proprio attacking the traditional Latin Mass and placing massive restrictions on Catholics who worship using the old books, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, demanded the celebrant of the planned 14 August Mass -- Archbishop Thomas Gullickson -- submit a formal request for permission. Mind you, all permissions had already been attained prior to the motu proprio. The organizers and funders of the Mass, the Paulus Institute for the Propagation of Sacred Liturgy, had been working with shrine and chancery staff, even in the past few days, on liturgical and logistical details, including rehearsal times.
Today, Archbishop Gullickson received a reply from Cardinal Gregory. Permission: denied.
Father Guillaume de Tanoüarn, one of the priests who involved in the foundation of the Institute of the Good Shepherd (IBP), established by pontifical authority in the days of Pope Benedict XVI, is a well-known figure in conservative circles in France, and in Paris in particular, where his apostolate has been located for over a decade. He spoke to French website L'Incorrect on Francis' edict against the Latin Mass.
Were you surprised by the suddenness and severity of the measures enacted in the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes?
Yes, I didn't expect Pope Francis to hit so hard. Basically, this motu proprio is purely disciplinary, not doctrinal. It is a question of Pope Francis destroying the fruitfulness of the Ecclesia Dei institutes and derailing the movement that is going through the Church at the moment toward a coexistence of rites. It is now widely understood that the old rite can bring sacredness, transcendence and adoration, while the new rite has brought participation and proximity. Since 1988 and the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei of John Paul II, the Church has gradually become aware of the two rites’ complementarity.
I think that many young priests in parishes have practiced a mixture of the two, bringing their faithful a part of the verticality of the traditional rite. For my part, I insist that participation in the traditional rite is essential, and I believe it is very important for the future of the traditional rite to develop this reality.
We were in a peaceful situation, nothing like the conflicts of the 70s, 80s or even 90s. And suddenly, Pope Francis decides to dig up the old hatchet. His motu proprio is clearly written to achieve the extinction of the traditional rite. The most striking example - besides the fact that he refuses the erection of any new communities - is that priests ordained after this motu proprio will only be able to say the traditional Mass by asking permission from their bishop, who will himself have to ask Rome if it is appropriate. In other words, in the mind of the Pope, it will never be appropriate. It is in fact a disguised ban, and not very well disguised at that.
Do you understand the pontiff's grievance with traditionalists, that the traditional liturgy is being used to reject the Second Vatican Council?
“If you like the Latin Mass, you can keep the Latin Mass, because the Missal of Paul VI is the Latin Mass,” Adam Rasmussen, an adjunct professor of theology, wrote at the blog Where Peter Is.
Rob Mutsaerts, Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, published this strong statement on his blog. The pope has asked frequently for parrhesia, and now he's getting a good dose of it from around the world. Translation prepared for Rorate Caeli.—PAK
“Potestis bibere calicem quem ego bibiturus sum? Dicunt ei: Possumus.”
Mt. 20,20-23
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Today for the feast of St. James we read a passage from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew in which the mother of James and John asks Jesus to command that her sons sit with Him in His kingdom. Notice that Jesus does not rebuke her for this request, but instead, addressing himself to both the mother and her sons, only responds: “You know not what you ask.” Neither the mother nor the sons understand the profound suffering and true martyrdom that following Jesus entails, and they don’t even grasp the enormous honor they are asking of Him. Jesus continues “Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?” as if to say ‘Can you do whatever it takes to follow me in my glory? The only way to glory and my kingdom is my sorrowful passion. Can you remain with me in my suffering? Or will you abandon me?’ They respond “We can.” This is certainly the right response, and also true, insofar as they both will suffer for Christ, and Saint James will be the first apostle to be martyred, and Jesus affirms this “My chalice indeed you shall drink.”
Your Excellency, Pope Francis’ new apostolic letter, issued motu proprio on July 16, 2021, is called “Traditionis Custodes” (Guardians of Tradition). What was your initial impression of the choice of this title?
My initial impression was of a shepherd who instead of having the smell of his sheep, is angrily beating them with a stick.
What are your general impressions of the Motu Proprio and of Pope Francis’ accompanying Letter to the bishops of the world, in which he explains his rationale for restricting the Traditional Latin Mass?
In this document we wish to give some brief indications of what the Apostolic Letter does and does not do in terms of the canonical obligations of bishops and priests, in light of the advice we have received from more than one canonist.
The Authority of the Bishop
The Apostolic Letter emphasises the authority of the bishop in each diocese over the liturgy.
by Jean-Pierre Maugendre
THIS MASS, OUR MASS, MUST REALLY BE FOR US LIKE THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE IN THE GOSPEL, FOR WHICH WE ARE READY TO RENOUNCE EVERYTHING, FOR WHICH WE ARE READY TO SELL EVERYTHING.
Dear members and friends of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X,
The motu proprio Traditionis custodes and the letter that accompanied it have caused a profound upheaval in the so-called traditionalist movement. We can point out, quite logically, that the era of the hermeneutics of continuity, with its equivocations, illusions and impossible efforts, is radically over – swept aside with a wave of a sleeve. These clear-cut measures do not directly affect the Society of Saint Pius X. However, they must be an occasion for us to reflect deeply on the situation. To do so, it is necessary to step back and ask ourselves a question that is both old and new: Why is the Tridentine Mass still the apple of discord after fifty years?
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| Mariotto Albertinelli, The Sacrifice of Cain and Abel |
by Massimo Viglione
(Published at Duc in altum, July 21, 2021)
The Old Mass is Good for Catholic Social Teaching
by Stefano Fontana
La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, July 21
translated by Zachary Thomas
The great Spanish writer Juan Manuel de Prada (the best living columnist in the Spanish language in our opinion) wrote demolishing words on Francis' illegitimate motu proprio for Spanish daily ABC. Catholics are not under an obligation to obey unreason.
The Hat and the Head
Chesterton asserted that “the church asks us to take off our hats, not our heads when entering it.” Taking off one’s hat can, however, can be an act of mortification when the church lacks a roof or if its roof is leaky, not to mention when [defecating] pigeons nest therein. But through mortification a Catholic completes the Passion of Christ in his flesh, as St. Paul asked of us. In order to mortify myself, I have humbly endured masses that violently assault my artistic sensibility and devotional preferences: masses with revolting little ditties based on Simon & Garfunkel tunes, masses with empowered laywomen who read the epistles stumbling over every phrase, masses with thick-headed priests who stuff the liturgy with a tacky filling of improvisation till it overflows, masses with sermons that stink of forgettable politicking. And I have endured all these mortifications because I believe that a Catholic should go to mass in his parish, even if the masses he slurps leave him disgusted and sodden with their hideousness. This painful awareness of their hideousness stings even more when I compare them with the awareness of beauty I have felt in the few traditional masses I have participated in. There I have recognized myself as another link in the chain of a living tradition that has inspired the most eminent artists.
Fr Reese's column is here. My comments in red.
Despite the recent decision of Pope Francis to curtail celebration of the Latin Mass, we are not going to see it disappear anytime soon for a simple reason: Local bishops can and will still permit it.
This is true
It must therefore be considered that the Roman Rite, adapted several times over the centuries to the needs of the times, has not only been preserved but also renewed “in faithful obedience to Tradition.” Those who wish to celebrate with devotion according to the previous liturgical form will not find it difficult to find in the Roman Missal, reformed according to the mind of the Second Vatican Council, all the elements of the Roman Rite, especially the Roman Canon, which is one of its most characteristic features.
We at Rorate Caeli are gratified and edified by the generous paternal and pastoral approach that many bishops, particularly those in the Anglo-French sphere, have taken as a response to the horror that is “Traditionis Custodes”. To those good shepherds who read this we express, from the depths of our souls, our heartfelt gratitude.
In a time when anger and sadness try to push their way into our hearts and disturb our peace your actions, correct and courageous, calm the waters and keep the enemy from taking hold.
That said, these actions have been few and far apart. More action is needed post-haste.
We plead with all prelates of good will, all shepherds who love and care for their flock, for the spiritual good of all the faithful – clergy and laity – who have benefited now for years from the immense spiritual, euchological, and theological treasury of the 1962 Missale Romanum, to dispense us from the draconian provisions found in Traditionis Custodes.
The canonical institution of dispensation has always had a robust usage in the history of canon law, and is currently expressed in the words of canon 87, §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law[1]. The law predicates itself on the judgment of the diocesan bishop for the spiritual good of his territory or his subjects. In connection with the notion of dispensation, Hans-Jurgen Guth has, in recent years, written in canonical literature about the bishop’s right in law to protest against decisions of the Pontiff, also known as the ius remonstrandi.[2]
Given that the right to the traditional Mass from Quo Primum is
firmly established in the canonical tradition as never abrogated, bishops could
-- and should -- immediately exercise their canonical right of remonstration against such an
overreach.
Healthy spiritual fruits, as illustrated by Matthew 7:16,
are present in all groups of faithful attached to the Missal of Quo Primum
– loving, caring families who faithfully attend Mass and frequently receive the
sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion; seminarians dedicated to prayer,
study, and service of the Church; priests dedicated to the care of souls; and
religious consecrated to single-hearted devotion to the Lamb of God.
The Church, they say, never moves quickly. That cannot be said, however, of the original promulgation of the Novus Ordo (and banning of the traditional Latin Mass) or in the harsh, whiplash-inducing release of Traditionis Custodes. And the response must be just as swift.
We believe there are many prelates out there waiting for a leader. They are waiting for a brother bishop near them to take the first step and fully dispense priests and laity from Traditionis Custodes so those under their care may continue on their path to salvation in peace and without disturbance.
We ask, in all sincerity and all fidelity: Use your legitimate power and dispense all of us. This is in your power and is your option.
Please, we pray and plead, exercise it today.
[1]Can.
87 §1. A diocesan bishop, whenever he judges that it contributes to their
spiritual good, is able to dispense the faithful from universal and particular
disciplinary laws issued for his territory or his subjects by the supreme
authority of the Church. He is not able to dispense, however, from procedural
or penal laws nor from those whose dispensation is specially reserved to the
Apostolic See or some other authority.
[2]Guth,
Hans-Jurgen. "Ius Remonstrandi:
A Bishop's Right in Law to Protest". Revue
de droit canonique 2002, Volume 52, Number 1, pp. 153-65.
"The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be Commander over His people." (1 Sm 13:14)
Among its many, many unjust prescriptions, Traditionis custodes says that the readings at the usus antiquior are now to be “proclaimed in the vernacular language, using translations of the Sacred Scripture approved for liturgical use by the respective Episcopal Conferences” (n. 3, § 3). Quite aside from what this actually means in practice (e.g., would chanting the lections in Latin, then reading them in the vernacular before the homily suffice?), it is clear that this demand has, like the rest of the document, been drafted by someone totally unfamiliar with the traditional Latin Mass.
Traditional-minded Catholics from all over the world are familiar with the largest of all current Catholic pilgrimages, the Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage that takes place each year (when pandemics allow it...) in the weekend of Pentecost. It assembles in particular thousands and thousands of young pilgrims, attached to the Traditional liturgy.
The Chartres Pilgrimage was famous in the Middle Ages, and made famous once again by Charles Péguy in the early 20th century -- it was recreated by Traditional Catholics eager to proclaim their Faith and their liturgical heritage in 1983.
Many organizations around the world have made their view and dismay regarding Francis anti-Summorum motu proprio since Friday. They are all available online. But this one by the Pilgrimage organizers (Association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté / Our Lady of Christendom Association) is particularly poignant, and expresses the general feeling of most Traditional Catholics well. [Emphases added by us.]
Communiqué of Notre-Dame de Chrétienté
Notre-Dame de Chrétienté expresses its great sadness before the motu proprio Traditionis custodes of pope Francis, who displays nothing but disdain for so-called Traditionalist Catholics. We will pray very particularly for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who, while he still lives, sees his work for reconciliation swept aside.
The traditional Pilgrimage of Christendom, created in 1983, had believed in the promises of St. John Paul II and of Cardinal Ratzinger in 1988: "You have your place in the Church, just as you are." Obviously, the situation has changed and the urgency now is to rekindle the liturgical wars. The argument put forward leaves one speechless: to place under control the young diocesan priests attracted by the Traditional Mass! The intention of the Pope is to erect a wall to prevent the discovery of the wealth of spirituality of the Tridentine Mass!
Only four years had passed since the publication of the new Missal when Pope Paul VI surprised the Catholic world with a new Ordo Missæ, dated April 6, 1969. The revision made in 1965 did not touch the traditional liturgical rite. In accordance with the mandate of Article 50 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, it had been primarily concerned with removing some later additions to the Order of the Mass. The publication of the Ordo Missæ of 1969, however, created a new liturgical rite. In other words, the traditional liturgical rite had not simply been revised as the Council had intended. Rather, it had been completely abolished, and a couple of years later, the traditional liturgical rite was, in fact, forbidden. All this leads to the question: Does such a radical reform follow the tradition of the Church?
Michel Onfray is, by far, the most popular philosopher in France in our days. Take note: we are not saying he is the best or the most reliable, but he is indeed by far the most popular, the one who sells most books, the most influential, and probably the top intellectual figure in the society that practically invented the notion of the "public intellectual.""
An atheist (and formerly a rabid anticlerical), Onfray has, with age, become visibly more concerned with the collapse of Western Civilization. So, when Francis published his document with the intent to ultimately abolish the Latin Mass, Onfray was scandalized, and moved to write the following article for the greatest French daily, Le Figaro:
***
Michel Onfray: "The Latin Mass, a Liturgical Patrimony"
Le FigaroJuly 19, 2021OPINION - The writer and philosopher, despite being an atheist, sees in the Catholic Church and her rites the heartbeat of our Civilization. He explains why the decision of pope Francis to restrict the Latin Mass disturbs him.
I am an atheist, as is known, but the life of the Catholic Church interests me because she sets the heartbeat of our Judeo-Christian civilization, in very bad shape. Because, if God is not of my world, my world is one that was made possible by the God of Christians. Whatever may say those who think France started with the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which is as stupid as believing that Russia was born in October 1917, Christianity has shaped a civilization that is my own, and which I believe I can love and defend, without guilt, without apologizing for its errors, without waiting for a redemption after confession, contrition, and kneeling. It is mad how those who despise Christianity acting as if it didn't happen are as impregnated with it as a baba [au rhum] is with rum!
Benedict XVI was a philosopher pope, trained in German hermeneutics and phenomenology. He also read French Catholic authors in the original language. His Jesus of Nazareth (2012) is inserted in the history of German idealism, notably the Hegelianism that we call "of the right", to distinguish it of the "left", that led to a young Marx.
Pope Francis does not have this theological level, far from it. But he is not deprived of the jesuitical cunning that made him, coming from the Society of Jesus, choose as pontifical name the one that is as opposed as possible to the intrigues and vestibules of power where the Jesuits love to be, that is, that of Francis of Assisi. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a chemist by training, comes from Peronism; Joseph Ratzinger, a trained theologian, from anti-Nazism.
Traditionis custodes: a war on the brink of the abyss
The intent of Pope Francis’s motu proprio Traditionis custodes, of July 16, 2021, is to repress any expression of fidelity to the traditional liturgy, but the result will be to spark a war that will inevitably end with the triumph of the Tradition of the Church.
When, on April 3,1969, Paul VI promulgated the Novus Ordo Missae (NOM), his basic idea was that within a few years the traditional Mass would be only a memory. The encounter of the Church with the modern world, which Paul VI was aiming for in the name of an “integral humanism,” envisaged the disappearance of all the heirlooms of the “Constantinian” Church. And the ancient Roman Rite, which Saint Pius V had restored in 1570, after the Protestant liturgical devastation, seemed destined to disappear.
Never has a prediction shown itself more mistaken. Today the seminaries are devoid of vocations and the parishes are emptying, sometimes abandoned by priests who announce their marriage and return to civic life. On the contrary, the places where the traditional liturgy is celebrated and the faith and morals of all time are preached are crowded with the faithful and are incubators of vocations. The traditional Mass is celebrated regularly in 90 countries on all the continents, and the number of faithful who participate in it has been growing year by year, bolstering both the Fraternity of Saint Pius X and the Ecclesia Dei institutes set up after 1988. The coronavirus contributed to this growth after, following the imposition of communion in the hand, many faithful disgusted by the desecration left their parishes to go to receive the Holy Eucharist in places where it continues to be administered on the tongue.
by Leo Darroch
In this way they [John Paul II and Benedict XVI] intended to “facilitate the ecclesial communion of those Catholics who feel attached to some earlier liturgical forms” and not to others [4]. [my emphasis]
As confident as we were in our sources forecasting today as the day of reckoning for Summorum Pontificum and the traditional Latin Mass as we know it, in the back of our minds we had hoped it was merely an unfounded rumor. After all, Pope Benedict XVI is not only alive, but fully cognizant, dressed in a white cassock while living in the Vatican gardens. To that end, would a sitting pope be so arrogant as to publicly humiliate the 94 year old pope emeritus?
Alas, the answer is yes. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is without a doubt the most arrogant pope in the history of the Catholic Church. From day one, if not before, it has always been about him -- whatever the subject. Labeled "humble" by the mainstream media due to token stunts such as carrying a bag and wearing polyester vestments, Bergoglio is in reality a man of vengeance. A pope of vengeance. An angry bitter Jesuit settling scores through vengeance.
What ought traditional Catholics to do in response to the latest attack on the Mass and all those who love tradition? Simply put: ignore it. Ignore its message. Ignore its motivation caused by pure hatred and vengeance. Keep calm and keep on going as if it does not even exist.
by Fr. Pierre Laliberté, J.C.L.*
1. Principles
The motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes” was issued by Pope Francis on 16 July 2021, along with an accompanying letter.
As a restrictive decree, this present motu proprio of Pope Francis should be interpreted strictly, in accord with the legal maxim Regula Juris 15 (odiosa restringenda, favorabilia amplificanda). Interestingly, there is no vacatio legis on the document either.
Pope Francis indicates in the first paragraph that the bishops constitute the principle of unity of the particular churches and govern them through the proclamation of the Gospel. As the specified end of the document is the “constant search for ecclesial communion”, it would also appear that hermeneutically, this document should be interpreted in a way which genuinely fosters ecclesiastical communion between the faithful, priests, and bishops, and does not promote negative feeling and ill-will amongst any members of the Christian faithful who are attached to the traditional liturgical forms.
It is worthwhile to indicate what this motu proprio does not place restrictions upon. No mention whatsoever is made of the pre-conciliar Breviarium Romanum, Pontificale Romanum and Rituale Romanum. No express abrogation is made of any notable document concerning the traditional Roman Missal, and such abrogation should not therefore be implied. The traditional Missal remains, as it always was, never abrogated. The rights established by Quo Primum, by the theological and liturgical tradition of the Western rites, and immemorial custom remain intact. No mention is made of the traditional rites of the various religious communities (Dominican, Carmelite, Praemonstratensian, etc.) nor those of the ancient sees (Ambrosian, Lyonnais, etc.). There is no indication that the right of a priest to celebrate privately according to the 1962 missal is in any way infringed.
Note: Accompanying Letter below Motu Proprio:
APOSTOLIC LETTER
ISSUED "MOTU PROPRIO"
BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF
FRANCIS
“TRADITIONIS CUSTODES”
ON THE USE OF THE ROMAN LITURGY PRIOR TO THE REFORM OF 1970
Guardians of the tradition, the bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome constitute the visible principle and foundation of the unity of their particular Churches.[1] Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the Gospel and by means of the celebration of the Eucharist, they govern the particular Churches entrusted to them.[2]
In order to promote the concord and unity of the Church, with paternal solicitude towards those who in any region adhere to liturgical forms antecedent to the reform willed by the Vatican Council II, my Venerable Predecessors, Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, granted and regulated the faculty to use the Roman Missal edited by John XXIII in 1962.[3] In this way they intended “to facilitate the ecclesial communion of those Catholics who feel attached to some earlier liturgical forms” and not to others.[4]
In line with the initiative of my Venerable Predecessor Benedict XVI to invite the bishops to assess the application of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum three years after its publication, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith carried out a detailed consultation of the bishops in 2020. The results have been carefully considered in the light of experience that has matured during these years.
At this time, having considered the wishes expressed by the episcopate and having heard the opinion of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I now desire, with this Apostolic Letter, to press on ever more in the constant search for ecclesial communion. Therefore, I have considered it appropriate to establish the following:
Art. 1. The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.
by
don Marco Begato
From Aldo
Maria Valli's Blog
July 15,
2021
Breaking news
from the liturgical world suggests that the publication of a document that
would abolish, or at least re-dimension, the scope of the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum is close. This rumour has given rise to something more
than apprehension, most of all in those dioceses ( and therefore - in most Italian
dioceses) where the defense of the celebration of the Vetus Ordo is protected only by Summorum
Pontificum and certainly not in dialogue with the Shepherds.
Even two princes of the Church,
among others, have spoken out in defense of the status quo: Cardinal Müller
and Cardinal Zen.
My comment however today focuses attention
on the question of authority.
My thesis is that a move to harm Summorum Pontificum - especially if
initiated while Benedict XVI is still alive - would be a cheap shot against the
Liturgy, but would most of all be a traumatizing blow to authority.
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| A recently-ordained priest's first Mass |
Everyone knows that the centrepiece of the Catholic religion is the holy Mass. The Mass is a proper sacrifice in which the true Body and Blood of the Lord are offered to God under the outward appearances of bread and wine through the ministry of an ordained priest. The holy Mass renews—you could say it prolongs and perpetuates—the sacrifice Our Lord offered once and for all on the cross. In fact, it is the self-same sacrifice; only the outward manner of the offering differs.
This holy sacrifice, moreover, does not exist in a void but it is encased in a sublime sequence of prayers and ceremonies called the rite or the liturgy of the Mass. The ancient axiom of the Church Fathers lex orandi, lex credendi—“the law of praying is the law of believing”—reminds us that our liturgical prayers must be an accurate expression of our faith and must inculcate true reverence for God. That is why, especially at the time of the Protestant Reformation, the faith of the people was changed precisely by disrupting the ancient forms of Catholic worship. For example, John Calvin, a radical reformer who denied the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist, once wrote, “God has given us a table at which to feast, not an altar on which to offer sacrifice” (Institutes; IV, xviii, 12, col. 1059), and so by removing the old high altars and replacing them with a common table, the faith of the people in the sacrifice of the Mass was undermined and soon destroyed.
I mention these things because today [July 11] falls right between two important anniversaries related to the sacred liturgy: the papal letter Summorum pontificum from Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, 2007 and the papal bull Quo primum from Pope Saint Pius V on July 14, 1570. The Council of Trent had met from 1545 to 1563 to address the challenges of the Protestant Reformation, above all by clearly defining the Catholic dogmas denied by the heretics [1] and by promoting sound reforms in the life of the Church to root out the abuses which had first sparked the Reformation—things like the poor training and immorality of some of the clergy and the shoddy manner of celebrating Mass in many places.