Pope Benedict XVI / Photo Credit Mazur
Posted on 05/13/2011 10:22:51 AM PDT by NYer
.- Local dioceses should give a “generous welcome” to any laity who wish to attend Mass in the “extraordinary form” and to priests who wish to say it.
That’s the key message of new Vatican guidelines regarding the extraordinary form of the Mass – often popularly referred to as the “Tridentine Mass” or “old Latin Mass.”
The “extraordinary form” is the rite of Mass contained within the Roman Missal which was universally used from 1570 to 1962. It was almost always celebrated in Latin.
The “ordinary form”, on the other hand, is the newer rite of the Mass approved for use by Pope Paul VI in 1969. This Mass is most often said in parishes around the world.
Today’s guidelines were issued to clarify various questions from around the world about the Pope Benedict's 2007 document “Summorum Pontificum.”
In it Pope Benedict said that any priest wishing to say the older form of the Mass was no longer required to seek the permission of his bishop.
Questions arose, however, as to how aspects of the document should be interpreted. Hence the May 13 clarification produced by the Vatican body responsible for such matters, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. They state:
1. The two forms of the Roman rite are not in competition with each other but, instead, are complementary, “one alongside the other.”
2. The older rite of the Mass is a “precious treasure to be preserved” with “appropriate honor.”
3. Bishops and priests should give a “generous welcome” motivated by “pastoral zeal” to any groups of Catholics who ask for the older rite to be offered.
4. Such groups can be of any size and can also be from one parish, various parishes or even different dioceses.
5. Those preparing for the priesthood should be given training in the “extraordinary form” in seminary.
6. If a diocese doesn’t have the necessary expertise to undertake such training they should ask the Ecclesia Dei commission for assistance.
7. Every priest who is not impeded by Canon Law is to be considered “qualified” for the celebration of the “extraordinary form.”
8. A priest need only have a “basic knowledge” of Latin so as to be able to “pronounce the words correctly and understand their meaning.”
9. The court of appeal over the interpretation of “Summorum Pontificum” is the Ecclesia Dei commission in Rome.
10. “Summorum Pontificum” wishes to heal the rift between the Catholic Church and those who have left the Church over the liturgical reforms which followed the Second Vatican Council.
Finally, the authority of today’s document is underlined by the fact that it was personally endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI last month. Indeed in today’s document “Summorum Pontificum” is described as an “important expression of the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff.”
Ping!
That sound offical to me
This is welcome news. However, like other Papal declarations this will be ignored by local bishops and parish leaders. Without sanction or penalty for disobedience, nothing really comes out of these. The same thing happened with respect to Catholic Colleges and Universities that routinely allow for anti-Catholic and pro-abortion groups. Fr. O’Brien of Marquette University should have been removed a long time ago from teaching Catholic Apologetics.
LOL! Sounds like Pat could do it ;-).
Our retired pastor didn't have those qualifications for saying Mass in Spanish, but the congregation was good-natured about some of his pronunciation howlers. I suppose he pretty much understand the prayers, given their consistent use and spelling similar to Latin.
Are you referring to Fr. McBrien at Notre Dame?
Second, not all bishops have to be told under pain of punishment to follow Papal declarations. Actually, there are a number of conservative bishops who have already ok’d the Tridentine Mass in their dioceses.
Yes. I believe Fr. McBrien was at Marquette before.
When the Tridentine Mass is held in the large diocesan cathedrals of NYC, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, and Seattle, then it is change we can believe in. Until such time such Papal exhortations washes off like water on ducks back.
Our retired pastor didn't have those qualifications for saying Mass in Spanish, but the congregation was good-natured about some of his pronunciation howlers. I suppose he pretty much understand the prayers, given their consistent use and spelling similar to Latin.
Here in our diocese our bishop blocked Summorum Pontificum pretty directly. One of the things he said was that all priests had to specifically be fluent in Latin in order to do it. However, he apparently had no problem with the local priest from Vietnam, I think, who cannot speak a word of English. Sat through a Mass and, even knowing the words of the prayers, I could not pick one out. Went to confession and got him and I still don't know if I got absolution. Talk about not having confidence in the sacraments. I find it ironic that we have to have the vernacular because people should be able to understand the prayers, but it is only in Latin that clarity and understanding are required by the bishops.
Our bishop is positive about the use of the Extraordinary Rite.
I don’t let language issues bother me. You can tell where you are in the Mass, anyway. I went to Mass in Dutch in Amsterdam and puzzled along with phonics we inherited, and I’ve been to Holy Martyrs of Vietnam parish, gongs and all, and sung the Our Father in Ibo. It’s a big Church with lots of neat people in it.
This is one of the things that I find so wonderful about Mass. No matter where you are in the world, the comforting rituals and rhythms of the Mass are there to welcome you home. No matter the language, we are all united in God as Catholics.
I don’t let language issues bother me. You can tell where you are in the Mass, anyway. I went to Mass in Dutch in Amsterdam and puzzled along with phonics we inherited, and I’ve been to Holy Martyrs of Vietnam parish, gongs and all, and sung the Our Father in Ibo. It’s a big Church with lots of neat people in it.
In some situations this would not bother me either, though I think there is an innate problem with the modern Mass in this regard. Because of the almost endless options available to the priest it becomes very difficult to follow along from a book to see what is being said. You will be asking, is this option A? B? C? D? ZZ? Or is it just something he has made up which he is saying, as usually happens in our parish? It does become very problematic. The irony is that in the TLM I gather one can follow from a book fairly easily, but it is in that Mass that the bishop insists on such perfection and not in the new Mass where such a practice is very difficult and so clarity of speech is more important. And that ignores the fact that the bishops insist on the vernacular specifically because the people should understand the Mass. I will admit that I resent that kind of hypocrisy and obvious dishonesty.
And, honestly, the biggest problem for me is that the priests don't have to speak the language they are hearing confessions in. How is that workable? I have, to this day, no idea if I got absolution. It is very difficult to have confidence in that sacrament if you cannot understand a single word being said by the priest. If the bishop had honestly wanted what he said he wanted, i.e. priests speaking fluently, he would have insisted on it in the confessional before anywhere else.
It sounds as if the problem is with your local bishop.
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