(Reuters) - The Vatican told Catholic bishops around the world on Friday they had to obey a papal order allowing priests to say the old-style Latin mass for traditionalist Catholics, whether they liked it or not.Read the rest here.
The Vatican issued an "instruction" to bishops as a follow-up to a 2007 papal decree authorizing the wider adoption of the Latin Mass, which was in universal use before the 1962-1965 Vatican Council introduced masses in local languages.
The re-instatement of the Latin mass was one of the demands of ultra-traditionalists whose leaders were excommunicated in 1988, prompting the first schism in modern times.
The pope, in a nod the traditionalists, satisfied many of them in 2007 when he allowed a wider use of the Latin mass, in which the priest faced east with his back to the faithful for most of the service.
But some bishops around the world said privately it was a headache because of the scarcity of priests trained in Latin, and logistical problems inserting Latin mass in their schedule.
The five-page instruction from the Vatican's doctrinal department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made it clear that the pope wants bishops to follow his orders.
"It is the task of the Diocesan bishop to undertake all necessary measures to ensure respect for the 'forma extraordinaria'," the instruction said, using a Latin term for the old liturgy.
While couched in polite, institutional language, the instruction said local parishes had to insert a Latin mass into their liturgical schedules if tradionalist faithful wanted it.
It also said pastors of parishes should show "a spirit of generous welcome" to whose who wanted the old mass and had to "permit such a celebration."
Commentary on this in the Roman Catholic corner of blogdom has been somewhat slow, I suspect in large part due to Bloggers recent problems. Look for vocal commentary from all sides of this debate in the coming days. For the record my prediction is that the modernist/lib Catholics (Episcopalians mostly who just haven't come to terms with their true calling) will have a fit over this. On the other side I suspect reaction among "traddies" will be cool to hostile. Many will feel that this does not go far enough. And the really hard core ones (SSPX and other groups that are either overtly or de facto schismatics) are not going to be happy with one part in particular. I have not had a chance to read the whole thing but I am told that there are elements warning against rejecting the legitimacy of the post Vatican II rites. If true; that's not gong to fly with the Angel Queen and Rorate Caeli crowd.
Update: I just had a chance to give the document a quick read and it looks good. I think this will be a plus for the Roman Church. Fr. Z called it a "No Hitter" as opposed to a "Perfect Game." That might be a tad generous. But I would certainly say this is a strong document. The really liberal elements in the clergy, especially bishops are NOT going to like it. One can imagine the editors of what Fr. Z calls the National Catholic Fishwrap suffering a collective seizure. And yes, there is a paragraph mandating acceptance of the legitimacy of the post V-II rites and obedience to Rome that is going to give heartburn to your more hard core traddies. Look for the libs to latch onto that.
3 comments:
In fairness it's only the crypto-sedevacantists and out and out sedevacantists who deny the validity of the post-VII rites. The SSPX may not like them or approve of them but they don't deny their validity.
When Benedict XVI originally gave permission for the Extraordinary Form to be more widely available, a number of bishops resisted it, as did many priests and laity, and I imagine these people still will. A very common practice, especially in the American church, is that Rome will say whatever she says, and different sectors of the American church will do whatever they do.
While I think the new document may well be a good thing for the RCC, I believe other things need to happen for spiritual healing and nourishment to take place. Cleaning up the Ordinary Form is one of those things.
But even before that, the RCC must reorient itself to the Liturgy as God-centered, not "we" centered. Until that happens, we're rearranging nicnacks.
The document suggests that both forms of the Mass have to be accepted. This is bad news for both Liberals and Traditionalists. I think it's a fair verdict, because nobody wins.
Savvy
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