Posted on 01/05/2007 1:37:38 PM PST by Carolina
POPE BENEDICT XVI has spoken by telephone to a number of French bishops to persuade them to accept a wider use of the Tridentine Mass, it has been claimed.
The Pontiff brought French bishops who oppose the Tridentine Mass "to a reluctant but decisive change of view", according to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP), an organisation of Old Rite priests that the Pope strongly supports.
It is widely expected that a papal document will soon be released to allow priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass – using the pre-Vatican II 1962 Latin Missal – without the explicit permission of the local bishop, though probably only in the low-key setting of a "private" celebration. The document, which will be released motu proprio, or on the Pope’s own initiative, has caused concern among bishops in France, where traditionalist groups are particularly active.
But efforts by the French episcopate to "torpedo" the initiative have failed, according to Videre Petrum, the FSSP’s British newsletter.
"It is said that the mild but persuasive words of Pope Benedict, who personally spoke by telephone to many of the most intransigent enemies of tradition among the bishops of France, worked a sort of miracle, and brought them to a reluctant but decisive change of view, or at least to a recognition of the limits of disobedience," the newsletter said. Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, a former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, said last month that the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission had discussed the document and would pass on its conclusions to the Pope.
The cardinal added that he did not expect the commission, set up in 1988 to oversee Vatican relations with traditionalists, to discuss the document any further.
Commentators say priests will be allowed to celebrate the Tridentine Rite without permission at "private Masses" that would be nevertheless be open to the public.
The proposed reform would put pressure on the bishops of England and Wales to adopt a more welcoming stance towards the FSSP, which currently has only two priests based in London.
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It's good news!
Robby, with all due respect, this has absolutely nothing to do with the feelings of the faithful. They are not in charge of the Church. That is what is done in protestant sects, who do things based on their own interpretations and "feelings."
It is an attempt by this Pope to bring the Church back to Catholicism that has been since it began. Not what was reinvented in the last 40 years.
Thanks, Carolina. I saw this today on Rorate Caeli and then checked out Father Zuhlsdorf's "What Does the Prayer Really Say" blog. He is facetiously asking what the name of the Motu Proprio will be since they are usually named for the first three or four words of the text. One wag in the comments said "Bring the Massa I Missa" or some such.
The thought had been that this would come before January 15th since that is when the Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist is to appear. Perhaps it is coming on Sunday? Who knows? It has been a long wait. Fr. Z. has all his cohorts ready and is asking for an immediate email if anyone sees the text posted anywhere on the internet. Soon, then???
F
http://www.ecclesiadei.org/video.htm
I have a VHS of this video which comes with a booklet containing the full rubrics of the Tridentine Mass. Other tapes are available from sources like the Wanderer (Una Voce) which also has a beautiful tape of the Tridentine Mass.
Frank
Deo gratias! I am bookmarking this thread on my home page!
By feelings, I mean the sensibilities of those people, especially the elderly, whose whole devotional life was tossed out of the window. The churches were stripped, and sometimes deformed. The "look," the "feel" or atmosphere of the churches changed. Quiet turned to noise. Elegence was replaced by tackiness. The bad music (in most churches) was replaced by awful guitar music. etc. I must admit that I myself was not appreciative of their loss of the past, because, naively, I thought that the reforms would becomes refined and improved. They only got worse.
I saw that...in Latin no less. LOL!
I'm really glad he's doing this, but my only question is why the heck the French bishops have so much power. They have "led" a church that has almost disappeared, everything they have done has resulted in fewer and fewer Catholics, and Islam is about to take over their country. Why should anybody care what they think?
I don't really know...but I suspect it has something to do with France being a stronghold of SSPX. Remember when Papa raised the Good Shepherd Institute with a couple of ex-SSPX priests? The Institute mission is to accomodate seminarians and priests leaving SSPX and allows them to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. This was in Bordeaux...boy, did the Bishop howl. They said something about it being divisive.
http://orbiscatholicus.blogspot.com/2007/01/buzz-from-rome-indult.html
Under the starry Roman sky I have some good news for everyone: the indult is here!
This is Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos (born in 1929 and ordained in 1952) walking into the Vatican Basilica on New Years Eve. When asked about the indult what was his reply? "Subito."
Sonorous and majestic: it's the Tridentine Rite! Why the Tridentine Rite? The reply is simple: "Because it is our patrimony."
“…and we cannot understand the secluar history of modern Europe, unless we understand something of that long thousand-year process of change and growth which we name the Middle Ages. Those thousand years saw the making of Europe and the birth and rebirth of Western culture; they also witnessed the creation of that socio-religious unity that we call Christendom, and the gradual penetration of our culture by Christian beliefs and Christian moral ad intellectual standards. They have left an indelible imprint on both our social and religious life. They have helped to make us what we are, whether for good or for evil, and even those who know and care nothing about mediaeval religion and culture, are themselves the unconscious heirs of mediaeval traditions."
Can anyone explain what does "private mass publicly celebrated" mean?
I may be totally wrong, but let me have a "go" at this. The Holy Father is stating that if 30 parishioners ask their pastor to have a Tridentine Mass, he must accommodate them. They are asking for a "private Mass" therefore. However, it is held publicly and anyone may attend.
I spoke to a young and very dynamic priest the other day and he told me many young priests are dying to celebrate the Tridentine Mass and that YOUNG people are pushing for this (not archaics like me). Thus, by giving permission for a private Mass held in public, the Holy Father can get around the foot dragging of the Bishops many of whom may be against this.
Does it have to be asked each time it is celebrated, like a funeral mass, or is one time enough for a given time and day of the week?
No doubt what you are saying, but there is a larger problem within the Church that you are completely missing, the battle against liberalism.
Those within the Church who were/are "attached" to liberalism, have been a scourge for years. Popes have condemned it since the 1800's, and it came to fruition once the "New Order" mass was established.
I recommend reading some of the past encyclicals by Leo XIII, or St. Pius X, who spoke out against liberalism infecting the church. It goes far beyond feelings or sensibilities.
thanks for the ping narses! I'm bookmarking this thread as well!
I love il Papa! May God keep Benedict safe from his enemies and on the straight path to His Everlasting Truth.
. . . and everybody is so reverent, so concentrated, so focussed . . .
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