On the 07 July ’07 Pope Benedict made what is said to be the most important move of his papacy. Catholic leaders, thinkers and media all over the world are now discussing how it will affect the Church.
But the pope’s decree, Sonorum Pontificum, was not a surprise at all to the majority of the informed Catholics. …
What is this decree all about? Essentially, it allows Catholic priests to use the pre-Vatican II order of the Mass, called the Tridentine Mass, without having to obtain the permission of the local ordinary. In the Tridentine Mass, the prayers are all in Latin and the priest celebrates the Eucharist facing east, with his back to the congregation, using the Roman Missal of 1962,published by Pope John XXIII, containing the latest revisions made in the Missal, originally issued by Pope Pius V in 1570.
Is this permission totally new? Not at all. People and priests who wanted to celebrate the Tridentine Mass have been allowed to do from 1984 onwards. Then what is new? Till now they had to obtain the permission of the local Bishop. This is not necessary from 14 Sept, when the decree comes into effect.
What was the need for this? What does Pope Benedict want to achieve by this decision that seems to “touch the central nerve of the public worship of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics”?
Pope’s move is aimed at reconciliation and greater unity in the Catholic Church. The reforms ushered in by Vatican II led to the new order of the Mass and the new Missal issued by Pope Paul VI in 1970.Almost all the masses celebrated now in Catholic churches all over the world follow this form, where the priest faces the Congregation and Mass prayers and readings are in the vernacular, the language of the majority of worshippers.
But here were and are traditional Catholics who did not like the new Mass and wanted to celebrate the old Tradentine Mass. Some of these stayed on and the permission granted in 1964 to use the old liturgy. Some chose to break away and to face excommunication. The chief among these is the Society of Pius X, founded by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Rejecting many of the changes introduced by Vatican II, he broke away from the Vatican in 1988. He and the four bishops he ordained were excommunicated.
Bishop Bernard Fellay, one of the four, is the present head of the Society. In 2005 Bishop Fellay met Pope Benedict XVI and asked for the restoration of Tridentine rite as a sign of good will. The Pope hopes that this permission for wider use of the old liturgy will bring these people back into the Church and fulfill the demand of those who stayed on...
The traditionalist Society of St. Pius X thanked Pope Benedict XVI but said serious doctrinal differences remain before it can reconcile with the Vatican. On the other side, some progressive Catholics have expressed sadness…
Honestly, if you ask me, for us here in India. This is nothing to make much of. If you look for a brief but accurate assessment of this decision, I’ll offer you the words of a fellow Jesuit, who happens to be Vatican’s official spokesperson, Fr. Federico Lombardi said this was nothing more than “a reconciliatory gesture to a relatively small number of people attached to the old liturgy.” Nothing more, nothing less.
M.A. Joe Antony SJ
The New Leader, August 1-15, 2007
(printed with permission from the author.)
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