Bishop Fellay’s “Conditions”

While the Holy See waits for a response from the Lefebvrians, it is prepared to discuss pastoral and disciplinary questions but not doctrinal ones

Andrea Tornielli

(La Stampa / Vatican Insider) The letter which the Superior of the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, sent in response to the doctrinal preamble presented to him in the Vatican last 13 June, has not yet reached Rome. “The ball is clearly in the Fraternity’s court,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi had said this after the meeting. Everyone was aware that it was unlikely a response would have been sent before the Lefebvrian General Chapter held at the beginning of July. And even though over three months have gone by since the doctrinal document was handed to the Fraternity, the Holy See seems to be in no rush at all.
 
Following the meeting on 13 June, the Pope chose a new leader for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” (the Vatican body responsible for dialogue with the Society of St. Pius X): Archbishop Ludwig Müller replaced resigning cardinal William Levada as Prefect, while Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia was appointed Vice-President of the “Ecclesia Dei” Commission. So the figures Fellay will be exchanging views with will not be the same as those he met with three months ago.
 
The Holy See is well aware of how delicate the situation within the Society of St. Pius X is: it knows about the group that opposes an agreement with Rome, just as it knows about the (not so small) group of priests that does not want to suffer the consequences of the extreme choices of some. There is disquiet in some Lefebvrian districts in Latin America and Bishop Richard Williamson who is awaiting sentence is already on a collision course with Fellay. It is highly unlikely the Vatican will ask the Society of St. Pius X for a response to the preamble before October.
 
Readers may recall that last June, Fellay received a draft proposal for the canonical normalisation in the relationship of the Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See, by making the Fraternity a personal prelature. He received this in addition to the doctrinal preamble prepared by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by the Pope, containing some modifications proposed by the Lefebvrian Superior himself, some of which he did not fully agree with.
 
Vatican Insider has learnt that Fellay’s much anticipated response should still be interlocutory and contain certain conditions. If these involve requests that are to do with pastoral matters or discipline, the Holy See is willing to take these into consideration. Some conditions were discussed following the July chapter. The first three were considered “absolute” and were to do with the “freedom to correct the promoters of the errors or the innovations of modernism, liberalism, and Vatican II and its aftermath.” The second condition involved the “exclusive use of the Liturgy of 1962,” whilst the third requires “the guarantee of at least one bishop.” Other less binding conditions included the possibility of having a separate ecclesiastical court of the first instance and the exemption of the houses of the Society of St. Pius X from the diocesan bishops.
 
Agreement can be reached on most points and the Holy See is prepared to discuss these and incorporate changes in the draft about the future canonical normalisation of the Society of St. Pius X. What are not subject to discussion are the doctrinal issues outlined in the preamble. Lefebvrians are required to accept the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. Therefore, although they will be allowed to celebrate mass using the old Missal (an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite), they will still have to recognise that the ordinary form was introduced as a result of the post-Conciliar reform, whose validity and lawfulness is unquestionable.

Link:

• Fellay’s “Conditions”

Communiqué of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" (Re: SSPX)

From RORATE CÆLI:

Communiqué

of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei"

The text of the response of His Excellency Bp. Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, requested during the meeting in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of March 16, 2012, was delivered on April 17, 2012. This text will be examined by the Dicastery and submitted afterwards to the judgment of the Holy Father.

[Source: original texts in Italian and French]

Link:

• Communiqué of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei"

Related:

• SSPX: The Positive Response Has Arrived
• Vatican Hoping to Make SSPX Announcement Early Next Week

Michael Voris: Latin Anyone?

H/t to Father Zuhlsdorf:

Hello everyone and welcome to The Vortex where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed. I’m Michael Voris.

So with all the talk about the incredible need to evangelize and spread the Faith – there is something curiously missing. The willingness to say how much this IS ALREADY ACTUALLY HAPPENING in Catholic communities that offer the Traditional Latin
Mass.

As in Right Now .. Today .. currently going on.

We do a lot of traveling .. around the US and the world. We meet thousands of Catholics in dozens and dozens of different settings, from every race and nationality you can imagine.

In just the past six months alone .. we’ve been invited to speak to parishes and other groups in Denver, Colorado, Edmunton Alberta Canada, Toronto Ontario, Ottawa Ontario, Cleveland Ohio, Dallas Texas, Lafayette Louisiana, Manila, Cebu, BaCOLad and Davao City The Philippines, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja Nigeria, Washington DC, Sacramento California, Minneapolis Minnesota, Summit New Jersey, Rome,
Evansville Indiana, Rome New York, El Paso Texas, San Diego California, Tulsa Oklahoma, Clearwater Florida, and Toulon France.

And that’s just in the last six months. In the next month, we’ll be adding to those numbers traveling to Auckland New Zealand as well as Melbourne, Canberra, Wagga Wagga and Sydney in Australia.

We have logged over a hundred thousand miles and met thousands and thousands of Catholics in this time. Everywhere we go, its incredibly uplifting and massively encouraging to meet and hang with Catholics absolutely on fire for their faith.

Sure they need some reinforcement. We all do. The faith is constantly being beaten down and attacked. All that said, the near constant thread we see running throughout all these locations and people is a great love for Tradition, especially the Traditional Latin Mass.

Even in places we are invited where the Latin Mass is not readily available .. there is still a great curiosity about it and a desire to know more about it. For example, just the other day, I got a text from a young fellow in Cleveland I met a few weeks back who said he was very curious about the Traditional Latin Mass.

And this is a very noteworthy point. Despite what you may hear from the stuffy bureaucratic types in the Church who seem to have some out of their mind animus to the Traditional Latin Mass, it is not a bunch of doddering old people at these masses.

When we travel, we go to Mass wherever we are invited by our hosts and frequently, not always, but frequently, it is the Traditional Latin Mass. This past weekend in Edmonton Alberta Canada being the most recent example.

What strikes you almost instantly is the large proportion of young people, especially young males as well as young families. Sure there are old people there, but the more liberal party line coming out of chanceries across the Catholic world that the Traditional Latin Mass is like a senior citizen home is pure hooey.

I know. I’ve been to these Masses on three and soon to be four continents, multiple countries and dozens and dozens of cities across the United States. London England, for example has a splendid and lively group of young Catholics called Juventutum, which is Latin for Youth.

One of the leaders in London is a splendid young chap named Paul, shout out to you Paul. Juventutum is a worldwide organization for 16-30 year olds who are especially attached to the Latin Mass and it’s only about 10 years old. They are a growing presence at World Youth Day gatherings.

What curious about all this is this. When you look around the Church these days .. practically anywhere, this is where you see all the growth and excitement and energy.

The parishes that are mired in their stale boring lives of dull liturgies complete with lifeless unchallenging homilies or even worse, Protestantized emotional liturgies, which is to say the large number of Catholic parishes in the west are emptying out and closing up.

And Church leaders can’t continue blaming losses on demographics and migration. The average Catholic knows little about his faith and cares even less. That’s why parishes are closing. Sure the other factors have some impact. But the number one reason is lack of Catholic identity.

Oh oh, but not in these traditionally minded circles. No siree! They are churning out vocations, are packed with young L-A-R-G-E families, have a parish-wide sense of community, socialize as well as pray together, generally tend to home-school their exorbitant number of kids and center their lives around the one true faith established by Jesus Christ – The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

They know their faith, make sure their kids know the faith. They live the faith and most importantly LOVE the faith. Practically all the action in the Church these days, from excitement and devotion, to vocations and young people involvement to large families -

ALL of it – is coming from the Traditional Latin Mass quarter of the Church.

Again .. I’m not reading this in brochures or promotional videos .. as if such things even existed in the first place. I’m seeing it with my own peepers .. almost everywhere I go.

As the liberal establishment Church of the last half of the 20th century turns old and grayand fades away .. one can only hope that its liberal and decidedly non-Catholic approach to the Church’s mission of saving souls fades away right along with it.

As you look around at who’s clogging the ranks of seminarians these days .. as Father Z pointed out on his superb blog earlier this week .. it's not hard at all to see where the Church will be in the next 20 years.

Here’s a clue .. it’s gonna be very hard to hear the drums and tambourines over all that Gregorian Chant.

And here’s a shout out to the liberal Catholic crowd .. the few of you that are left. If you cant beat ‘em .. join ’em. After all .. You made a living fomenting revolution in the halcyon days of the 1960s and 70s.

Well .. here’s the newest revolution you can sign up for. And never forget, what’s old is new again.

GOD Love you. I’m Michael Voris.

Links:

• RealCatholicTV.com
• RealCatholicTV Youtube Channel
• RealCatholicTV Facebook
• New Voris video addresses where the “action” is in Catholic communities.
• Brick by brick: Most seminarians would prefer the older, traditional rite

Bishop Michael Warfel Restricts the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings - UPDATE

UPDATE - read more at WDTPRS

---

"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the Liturgy growth and progress are found, but not a rupture. What was sacred for prior generations, remains sacred and great for us as well, and cannot be suddenly prohibited altogether or even judged harmful." - Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of the World, July 7, 2007

From Father Z at WDTPRS:

GUIDELINES REGARDING CELEBRATION
OF THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF MASS

Diocese of Great Falls-Billings

Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, (MPSP) article 5.2 notwithstanding, celebrating the Extraordinary Form on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation in parishes of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings as a regular Mass of obligation is not allowed at this time. [Parishioners in these instances may be drawn away from celebrating at the regular Mass for Sunday or Holy Day].

Indiscriminate mixing of elements of the Novus Ordo and elements of the Extraordinary Form is now [sic] allowed. Norms for each form are to be observed correctly [N.B. Instruction on the Application of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, #24].

MPSP, article 5.3 notwithstanding, celebration of ritual Masses (funerals, weddings, etc.) in the Extraordinary Form is not allowed at this time in the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings. A priest must contact the Bishop in advance to ask for any exception to this policy and demonstrate pastoral consideration by not imposing the Extraordinary Form on a parish in these instances.

Altar Servers for the Extraordinary Form must be properly trained.

N.B.: It is important to remember that the Extraordinary Form generally does not enable full, active participation by the assembly which was called for by Vatican II. While the Extraordinary Form holds a definite place in the liturgical tradition of the Church, it does not meet the spiritual needs of the large portion of Church membership today.

Attachment – Instruction on the Application of the

Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum of His Holiness
Benedict XVI Given Motu Proprio
Promulgated by Bishop Michael Warfel
August 9, 2011

"Even though Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei“‘s instruction Universae Ecclesiae is attached, it is as if Universae Ecclesiae didn’t exist.  Indeed, it is as if Summorum Pontificum didn’t exist and these matters were still governed under the now superseded provisions of Ecclesia Dei adflicta..." (continued...)

Read More Here

Update 09/08/11: DEVELOPMENT: D. Great Falls-Billings document about Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum

Link:

• Diocese of Great Falls-Billings issues amazing document about Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum

Related:

• Universae Ecclesiae… Instruction on Summorum Pontificum.
• Apostolic Letter "Summorum Pontificum" issued Motu Proprio Benedict XVI
• Letter to the Bishops That Accompanies the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum

Altar girls and the Extraordinary Form of the Mass - Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei States They Are Not Permitted

From Father Zuhlsdorf:

"I have now a copy of a letter sent by the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesiae Dei” and signed by the Secretary Msgr. Guido Pozzo, which clarifies that UE 28 in fact does say that females cannot serve at the altar in the Extraordinary Form.

The letter essentially quotes UE 28 and then states:

In this regard, the Circular Letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments of 1994 (cf. Notitiae 30 [1994] 333-335) permitted female altar servers, does not apply to the Extraordinary Form.

Bottom line: females may not serve at the altar in the Extraordinary Form..."

Read More

Archbishop Burke on altar girls and EMHCs in the Extraordinary Form

 

 Photo: NLM

Father Z:   "I picked up from Il blog degli amici di Papa Ratzinger that H.E. Most Rev. Raymond Burke (Prefect of the Ap. Segnatura) wrote a preface to a canonical study in German of Summorum Pontificum by Fr. Gero P. Weishaupt.

In his preface, Archbp. Burke says, inter alia, that neither altar girls nor Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are admissible in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite because the integrity of the Rite must be respected..."

Read More

• Archbp. Burke on altar girls and EMCHs in the Extraordinary Form 
• Preface of Msgr. Burke to Canonical Commentary on Summorum Pontificum

Vatican clamps down on Killala Latin Mass move

Michael Kelly

A high-profile Vatican office has ordered Bishop John Fleming to make provision for the traditional Latin Mass in his Killala diocese. The move, from the powerful 'Ecclesia Dei' Commission comes after the Killala Council of Priests decided that no provision should be made for the celebration of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

In July 2007, Pope Benedict's letter, Summorum Pontificum, eased restrictions on the pre-Vatican II Mass, the so-called Tridentine Rite and established that any Catholic priest can celebrate the traditional Latin Mass without first seeking the permission of his bishop. Prior to the coming into force of Summorum Pontificum bishops had the right to restrict access to the Latin Mass.

Initially, the Killala Council of Priests, an advisory body made up of both elected members and priests appointed by Bishop Fleming, advised that no provision should be made for the Latin Mass pending a request for clarification from the Vatican on aspects of the Pope's letter. This advice was accepted by Bishop Fleming and an announcement made that the Mass would be unavailable in the Killala diocese.

However, The Irish Catholic has learned that the matter came to the attention of the Holy See as a number of people in Killala wrote to the Vatican to express their frustration at the lack of provision. The Irish Catholic also understands that a number of diocesan priests who believed the decision countermanded papal legislation, contacted Bishop Fleming to register discontent.

The 'Ecclesia Dei' Commission, headed by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, then wrote to Bishop Fleming insisting that the restriction was forbidden under Church law since Pope Benedict had made universal provision for the availability of the Mass in the extraordinary form. In its letter, the Commission insisted that neither Bishop Fleming, nor the Council of Priests, had the right to place a restriction on a right approved by the Pope. Bishop Fleming has now designated the Church of the Assumption, Ardagh, Crossmolina, Co Mayo as the centre for the traditional Mass in the Killala diocese and the celebrant will be Fr John Loftus, a priest of the diocese.

h/t to Ulster Taig

• Link
  

Decree of the Congregation for Bishops

From RORATE CÆLI:

CONGREGATIO PRO EPISCOPIS

By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial disposition. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and trusting in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration.

With this act, it is desired to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, is also intended to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to vanquish the scandal of division.

It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.

Based on the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit from Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that time.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops

Sources:

1.Available Vatican publication (in Italian)

2.Text of the 1988 Decree (in English)

____________________

Reactions:

1. Press release of the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

The excommunication of the bishops consecrated by His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on June 30, 1988, which had been declared by the Congregation for Bishops in a decree dated July 1, 1988, and which we had always contested, has been withdrawn by another decree mandated by Benedict XVI and issued by the same Congregation on January 21, 2009.

We express our filial gratitude to the Holy Father for this gesture which, beyond the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, will benefit the whole Church. Our Society wishes to be always more able to help the pope to remedy the unprecedented crisis which presently shakes the Catholic world, and which Pope John Paul II had designated as a state of “silent apostasy.”

Besides our gratitude towards the Holy Father and towards all those who helped him to make this courageous act, we are pleased that the decree of January 21 considers as necessary “talks” with the Holy See, talks which will enable the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to explain the fundamental doctrinal reasons which it believes to be at the origin of the present difficulties of the Church.

In this new atmosphere, we have the firm hope to obtain soon the recognition of the rights of Catholic Tradition

Menzingen, January 24, 2009

+Bernard Fellay

2. Letter of the Superior General of the SSPX to the faithful (PDF)

3. Statement of the German Episcopal Conference (in German)

4.Interview of Card. Vingt-Trois, President of the French Ep. Conference (in French)

Interpretive instruction on the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum "in the Pope's hands"

From RORATE CÆLI:

"Italian religious journalist Bruno Volpe interviews Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos for his website Pontifex, and asks him about the interpretive instruction on the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. The Cardinal confirms once again that the instruction is now in the Pope's hands.

[Bruno Volpe]: The by now famous instruction on the Motu Proprio that liberalized the Mass according to ancient Roman rite: at what stage is it?

[Cardinal Castrillon:] "In the Pope's hands, it pertains only to him now. Let us trust in the Pope's wisdom."

posted by New Catholic"

• Link

Card. Castrillon pontificates at Ss. Trinita in Rome

From Fr. Z:

"The FSSP is celebrating their anniversary in Rome. Our friend John Sonnen of Orbis Catholicus has posted some video of a Mass at the "personal parish" in Rome for the TLM and older forms of sacraments, the historic church where St. Philip Neri began the still extant confraternity, Santissima Trinita dei Pelegrini. Cardinal Castrillon, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was the celebrant."

Special Ops

From Maureen in a comment at NLM:

"In a world that doesn't understand the mind of the Council Fathers...

[sad scenes of your favorite liturgical abuses]

When you need the Sacraments.
When you want the Extraordinary Form.
When no one has been trained.
When even your bishop won't help you.

Maybe you can call in --

Ecclesia Dei: Special Ops.

[quick cuts of priests on motorcycles, priests on skis in snowy barrens, priests crawling on their belly through underbrush, priests parachuting]

[Shot of priest at just opened door.]

"I'm from the Vatican, and I'm here to help you."

[quick cuts of various traditional forms of the Sacraments and other devotions, each led by a priest in full traditional array.]

Good guys wear black!

Ecclesia Dei: Special Ops."

• Catholic Bishops plan a politically correct travesty of the Mass for 'Youth Sunday'
  
• Instruction on Summorum Pontificum in Early January 2009?
• Z-Man
• 'In a world' voiceover master dies at 68

Instruction on Summorum Pontificum in Early January 2009?

From NLM:

"The following item was today posted on the Italian "Pontifex" site of Bruno Volpe (NLM translation). While what it says about the Instruction being submitted by Ecclesia Dei to the Holy Father agrees with the public declarations of the leadership of PCED, the rest should still be regarded as a rumour, as yet unconfirmed by any of the prestigious vaticanistas. The tone of the article, which is not exactly impartial, would suggest some caution, lest some wishful thinking is mixed into the reporting, and the last paragraph, to me at least, sounds somewhat confused. Still, if this is indeed accurate, it would be quite remarkable, and certainly more than many of the more pessimistic supporters of the usus antiquior had hoped for.

Instruction on the Motu Proprio Ready. Ecclesia Dei Strengthened.

The Instruction on the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of 7 July 2007 which liberalized Holy Mass according to the ancient Roman rite, has been ready for some time already and is now being examined by Pope Benedict XVI. This Pontifex has learned from authoritative sources. The text, signed by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, will be signed most likely by the Pope in late December and published in the first days of January 2009. In its most important parts the document, which had become indispensable after the many problems in the application of the Motu Proprio and forms of outright recalcitrance on the part of not a few bishops (incidentally appropriately denounced in September by the Vice President of the Commission Ecclesia Dei, Monsignor Camille Perl), addresses two crucial topics: the interpretation of the term "stable group of faithful" within an ordinary parish and the problem of personal parishes. It was even considered to list and to indicate a minimum number of faithful, but this solution has been discarded.

According to the document, the traditionalist faithful present in a parish will have the full protection of the law to ask for the old Mass, and if the bishop refuses (here is the news), saying that there are no priests capable of celebrating according to the ancient rite in that place, the Commission Ecclesia Dei will authoritatively ("di imperio") send a priest able to do so to that diocese. In short, the bishops will no longer be able to refuse a priori to have the old Mass celebrated, because in such cases, the Commission Ecclesia Dei will send a delegated priest of its own.

The document then analyzes the case of personal parishes in which the traditionalists want to celebrate the Christmas Mass or the Easter Triduum according to the ancient rite, also in cases of an absence of priests, or a prohibition by the bishop. The possibility of a shortage of priests could be envisaged, and also in this case, Ecclesia Dei will take care. The Holy See, therefore, wants to establish definitive clarity regarding the application of the Motu Proprio, and for this reason also the powers and prerogatives of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei will be better defined and strengthened.

Again, this should be taken for what it is, a rumour, and considered with due caution."

• Link

Ecclesia Dei Commission's Summorum Pontificum Web Site

From NLM:

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei now has an official website called Summorum Pontificum. The address is http://www.ecclesiadei-pontcommissio.org. So far it is mainly in Italian, but versions in English, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese are apparently being prepared. This is Card. Castrillón's introductory letter (click to enlarge):


NLM translation:

To the end of keeping bishops, priests, religious and faithful permanently informed about every aspect concerning the Extraordinary Use of the Roman Rite and every expression of the Gregorian liturgy, on this Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei inaugurates the "web" site Summorum Pontificum.

We wil strive to incorporate into the structure of this website official documents, study material, information about events, comments and audiovisual instruments helpful for the understanding and performing of the liturgical celebrations.

We do not aim in any way at establishing an interactive website, but rather at offering information and materials in complete fidelity to the "mens" of the Holy Father, who has manifested the clear intention of preserving and keeping alive, in extraordinary form, the theological, spiritual, religious and artistic richness of the Gregorian Liturgy.

(Hat-tip for the link to the Spanish blog Hoc Signo.) Posted by Gregor Kollmorgen

• Link

Summorum Pontificum One Year Later

An Interview with Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Brian Mershon

REMNANT COLUMNIST, Texas

In conjunction with Michael Matt’s exclusive report from the priestly ordinations performed May 30 by Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) in the Cathedral of Lincoln, Neb., The Remnant provides this exclusive interview with Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the FSSP.

Fr. Berg outlines the current growth in apostolates for the FSSP both in the U.S. and worldwide, along with his impressions of the deeper significance behind the recent ordinations by high-ranking members of the Roman curia.

He also provides an update on the FSSP’s role in assisting with the education of diocesan and religious priests wishing to learn the Traditional Roman rite. In addition, Fr. Berg touches on some controversial issues regarding concelebration and the “cross-pollination” of the two forms of the Roman rite.

B. Mershon: With Cardinal Castrillón and Archbishop Ranjith performing priestly and diaconate ordinations in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in Wigratzbad, Germany, do you believe this is a significant sign from the Holy See in light of the heightened attention given to the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments since the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum?

Fr. Berg: Sure. I think there is overall a kind of greater acceptance. We also have Cardinal Rode, who is the head of the Congregation for the Religious, who performed ordinations in Wigratzbad on the 28^th of June.

So, yes, I have found the Roman curia has had much more openness to coming and doing ordinations and in offering the extraordinary form in general.

But Cardinal Hoyos did come one time before to do them for us in Wigratzbad, I think 2 or 3 years ago. He has also done them for a couple other groups; for instance, for the Institute of the Good Shepherd and the Institute of St. Phillip Neri.

He has been quite active since becoming head of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to get around and do a lot of traditional Masses.

B. Mershon: Has this been the first time that someone like Cardinal Castrillón has come to the United States specifically to perform traditional ordinations?

Fr. Berg: Yes. This is the first time that anyone has come to the United States to do them.

B. Mershon: Summorum Pontificum one year later… What is your assessment so far? Has it been primarily beneficial or have the results been mixed?

Fr. Berg: That is a good question. I would say that overall it has been positive but that it varies greatly depending upon the area of where it is in the United States and in North America. It has been very well received in certain parts of Europe; Italy, for example, at least in certain places. Although I do know a number of other countries have been less receptive. I think there has been an application of it that has been very limited—like just applying it on a Sunday here and there, and not giving much more than that.

So there has been [a positive response], obviously, in those countries where there has been a greater increase in Masses. And I think if you look at just the sheer numbers, it looks pretty good in a lot of areas where it has increased, it looks pretty good for the availability of a Sunday Mass. But when you factor in the ability of priests to do other work [aligned with Summorum Pontificum] that a priest has to do within the diocese, sometimes those results are not nearly as good. And then you kind of evaluate if there is a stable presence and how it has really grown in those situations where it is just allowed on Sunday, it is difficult to see how—unless it really is presented in a positive manner or unless the priest really wants to do it—it will be sustained and how it will continue to grow.

So it’s pretty mixed—at least at the level of where it has been allowed for the Mass to take place within the diocese.

But then again, to really ascertain the fruits of the motu proprio after only one year, I suppose we must consider the different ways of measuring it—to find out whether it has been positive or negative thus far. One of the ways is certainly simply to add up the number of new Sunday Masses. Another way is to look at places where it has really become accepted and where it has really become a part of the parish life, like in places where a chaplaincy or a new apostolate has been set up, for example.

And there is another way of looking at it. That is by looking at the number of priests who offer the Ordinary form on a regular basis but who now have begun to say the Extraordinary form.

And a third way to evaluate it would be with priests who have gone around to different places. I think one of the reactions of our priests has been about how much easier it has been and how much more welcome they are when they go to different pilgrimage sites or different churches to celebrate the Mass in different countries wherever they might be. The fact they offer the Mass [extraordinary form] isn’t such a strange thing anymore.

Certainly, I think the acceptance among the number of priests who ordinarily offer the new rite has been really well received in that way based on the numbers.

B. Mershon: One example is that Fr. Robert Ferguson, professor at the FSSP’s seminary in Denton, Neb., has conducted training sessions both for Raleigh and Charlotte dioceses where he has educated 20 or more priests in the Traditional liturgy. Are there other examples where the Fraternity has been called upon?

Fr. Berg: I know we did a session in New Orleans. And we did one in Lafayette, as well. We also did one in Scranton.

It has been a question for us going into this next year whether we may have a priest next year dedicated to doing this training exclusively or not. We’re a little bit stretched as far as the number of priests and the resources that we have.

I know that about 100 have been trained at our sessions in Denton [home of the FSSP seminary near Lincoln, Neb.]. There have been a good number of invites from bishops. A lot of those have been priest study days, which are only one- or two-day sessions. They recognize we’re not going to do the full training, but it provides the spirit of things and gives the foundation for them to continue their study.

B. Mershon: So based upon your growth and the challenges of priestly resources, do you foresee the FSSP continuing to do this training in the future?

Fr. Berg: We will certainly continue the sessions at the seminary. But I don’t think we’ll do it as much elsewhere, just due to the number of priests it requires and the additional demands we’ve had from other new dioceses. We’re going to try to place those priests in new apostolates we’re going to be opening up this summer.

B. Mershon: There has been much said about the so-called potential “gravitational pull” and “cross-pollination” of the two forms of the one Roman rite. With the new Good Friday prayer, the allowance of vernacular readings (even without the corresponding Latin text being read by the priest) and other rumored changes such as new prefaces, it seems the pull has thus far only been in one direction—from the Novus Ordo into the Traditional Latin Mass.

Is this accurate and will the pull also occur in the other direction? For instance—Cardinal Medina once mentioned the possibility of the use of the Traditional offertory as an option for the Novus Ordo? What about the elimination of communion in the hand? Communion under both species? Altar girls? The habitual abuse of extraordinary ministers on a weekly basis when administering Holy Communion?

Fr. Berg: I think that the old rite is certainly held up as a standard in that it has fixed norms. It doesn’t have a lot of options, so it is easier to hold it up as a standard in a certain way. I think the new rite could have some of those introduced.

If you go back and read Summorum Pontificum, I don’t think it was the intention of the Holy Father nor was it spelled out as to the meaning of mutual enrichment in either of the rites. I think we also could to some extent be slipping into a “spirit of Summorum Pontificum” similar to “the spirit of Vatican II” by taking liberties and making certain changes with regard to the rubrics in one direction or the other as something that was allowed or was intended or even the “vision” of the Holy Father.

Some liturgical “experts” like to think that this whole thing is ultimately about creating one rite way down the road. But I think that if you understand that one of the primary principles of the liturgy is to be subservient to the liturgy—not that it is something that is your own, but you being obedient to the liturgy and to the prayer of the Church, not your individual prayers, but the prayer of the Church.

What that involves is following the rubrics and the guidelines as they are written. So I think it would be disastrous if anyone were to take it upon himself, as you have already mentioned, to think they are going to take the first steps to move these two forms of the rite together.

Of course the document itself clearly says that the vernacular can be used in the readings, but just because that is allowed does not mean it is required or that there are a host of other things in the document that allow other changes.

B. Mershon: To be fair, in some places over the past 40 years and even prior to the Second Vatican Council, the lesson and Gospel were both read in the vernacular, right?

Fr. Berg: In both France and Germany, it was a completely standard practice prior to 1962.

B. Mershon: Because Latin is the norm for the liturgical language of the Latin Church, even if the readings are in the vernacular, doesn’t it make perfect sense to have the priest say the prayers in Latin simultaneously, or even better, have him read them from the ambo in the vernacular (outside of the liturgy) during the sermon? And a related question, since the ideal liturgy is the Solemn High Mass, or at least the Missa Cantata, it certainly makes sense for the readings to be sung in Latin, right?

Fr. Berg: True. To me, that goes back to jumping on that clause of the motu proprio. As far as the Fraternity of St. Peter goes, the general norm in those places where we have been serving in English-speaking countries for 20 years is to pray the readings at the outset in Latin and then to read them in the vernacular prior to the sermon.

I think you have to be careful of falling into that tendency, which has been very prevalent in the liturgy for the past 30 years, where priests come into a church and think they know what the faithful need, or they know what they want.

For me personally, I went to Thomas Aquinas College and that was the first time I ever experienced the liturgy in Latin. And after that, I started to go to the Mass in Latin.

So I think it would be a real mistake to think that just because the readings are read in Latin, they are less followed or somehow more difficult to follow. My personal experience both as a pastor at a church in California and attending the Mass as a layman, is that even children before their first Communion can quite easily follow along from a hand missal.

I think it is a mistake to just walk in and think, “Oh this group is not used to the Latin Mass, so we should do the readings in the vernacular.” I just don’t think that is necessarily true—that you’re going to get a greater following of the Gospel texts.

B. Mershon: There has been much discussion, both online and elsewhere, on the issue of the so-called second (or third) Confiteor prayed by the altar boys prior to Holy Communion. Some have even gone so far to state that the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has disallowed its use. How do you respond, and what has been the FSSP’s practice in this regard?

Fr. Berg: While I certainly think that the internet and the blogging world is a good source of information, I think it would be a real mistake to think that the Commission is going to hand down decisions on liturgical practice through blogs X, Y or Z. It is an abnormal world that we live in when we think that Rome is going to speak officially through internet blogmasters.

If the Commission wants to make a statement on this question, then it will. Maybe that will be part of this Instruction document that has been promised; but, then again, that will happen on the date of publication. Until that time, as far as we understand and what we have received from the Commission from the beginning, including conversations with the Cardinal, we have been told to keep the practice as we have found it in the places we serve. So when it comes to the second Confiteor, we have a mixed usage within the Fraternity in the United States, depending upon what the communities had as a regular practice before we arrived.

There is no use to rock the boat one way or the other. So, yes, to a certain degree, it varies by country and it varies much more in North America and England and in English-speaking countries. We keep the practice as it is [and will continue to do so] unless or until the time of further clarification.

One example: The Commission brought Campos and Msgr. Rifan back into full communion in the Church and the second Confiteor is used there. They didn’t ask for any kind of change within the liturgical practice there.

I think that some may be getting a little ahead of themselves.

B. Mershon: How do you respond to priests or bishops who still question the FSSP priests regarding concelebration of the Novus Ordo at the annual Chrism Mass with the bishop? Some bishops in the past have used this as a sort of test. Do you have examples of how this has been handled with the FSSP in various dioceses?

Fr. Berg: One, I think this is kind of before my time, by and large. During the time I have been doing this, I haven’t run into any bishops who have made it a sine qua non in order to come into the diocese. Again, if we look back at the liturgical changes and we see that for 1,000 years this [concelebration] didn’t take place, ecclesial unity was obviously achieved through other elements.

So I think there is a seeking of those elements of unity for communion with other priests and the bishop and the faithful in the diocese that runs much deeper than one annual liturgical action. It hasn’t been set up as a sine qua non.

My response to the bishop is that I have been given this responsibility and put in this position to govern and not to legislate, and I must do what the Holy See has asked me to do with what the Fraternity is able and allowed to do within the diocese.

B. Mershon: So in your tenure thus far, you haven’t had any bishops categorically state that your priests must concelebrate or you aren’t going to be allowed in our diocese?

Fr. Berg: No, I haven’t had that happen in any country.

B. Mershon: Do you have any final thoughts or comments?

Fr. Berg: think that with regard with the motu proprio, one of the things that it has made us do is to refocus on our own priests and on our own constitutions. Therein it is stated that in addition to doing parish work, we will be at the service of other priests and this includes the training of other priests—whether it is a matter of training seminarians in the seminary or holding retreats and inviting priests and seminarians into Fraternity houses for theological discussions or if they want to learn the Mass.

So the motu proprio has certainly provided us the opportunity to do some things which really are part of our overall mission, especially this priest training and especially that which we provide at the seminary. I think it really runs much deeper than simply saying to the priests that come to us: “You move your left foot. You move your right foot. You put your hand here. You put your hand there.”

Our task is to give him a more profound reading of the rubrics and everything else that comes with it and what lies underneath it—the spirituality of the Mass—the sacred priesthood and its relationship to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

That I believe has been a real opportunity and now we have followed that up with a DVD that was just completed recently. It has given a new scope to what we’re trying to do to benefit the Church, not just being in each diocese where there is a need, but inviting those priests and helping those dioceses serve the needs of the faithful.

And frankly, we enjoy helping serve the needs of the priests even if they are going to be saying this rite just privately on a regular basis.

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St. Rose in Quincy to be chapel for extraordinary form of Mass

Written by Kathie Sass, Catholic Times Editor

Extraordinary form sometimes known as Traditional Latin Mass


QUINCY - Bishop George J. Lucas has given permission for St. Rose of Lima Church, Eighth and Chestnut, to be used as a chapel for regular celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass in the Roman Rite.

In his July 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI granted broader permission for the use of the extraordinary form of the liturgy, sometimes known as the Tridentine or Traditional Latin Mass. Shortly afterward, a group of lay Catholics from the Quincy region approached Bishop Lucas for permission to use St. Rose Church as a site for celebration of the extraordinary form...

After consultation with priests of the Quincy Deanery, Bishop Lucas granted permission to use the church, which will be known as St. Rose of Lima Chapel. A not-for-profit organization, the Latin Mass Society of Quincy, was formed to take responsibility for the facilities, which includes the church, rectory and parish hall.

The chapel will be staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, founded in 1988 with the approval of Pope John Paul II to provide priests conversant in the celebration of the extraordinary form. The fraternity has nearly 200 priests and 100 seminarians, with its North American headquarters in Elmhurst, Pa...

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h/t to Father Z

Supplied Jurisdiction or Fresh Bread Through the Back Window

Excerpt from the Transalpine Redemptorists at Home:

Martin: What has really changed over the last 20 years?

Father Michael Mary: Nothing really changed at all in our thinking, until 7 July 2007 when Pope Benedict XVI issued the Motu Proprio by which he proved beyond doubt that he was intent on 're-sacralising' the Church. It was like a miracle. (Perhaps, as in the vision of St Don Bosco, he is the Pope who is steering the Barque of Peter between the two pillars surmounted by the Blessed Sacrament and Mary Immaculate.) Consequently, as soon as you recognise that Benedict XVI is without doubt truly the Pope; a new dynamic of Catholic life came into play.

Martin: What's that?

Father Michael Mary: From the moment one recognises Benedict XVI as truly the Pope, 'Practical Sedevacantist Catholicism' gives way to 'Practical Papal Catholicism'; it is inevitable. Even though there be a war raging about us in the Church, we still have to make the move towards the Barque of Peter by abandoning 'practical Sedevacantist Catholicism' for 'Practical Papal Catholicism' where the Pope has primacy of jurisdiction over each one of us. We join ranks with him for our own salvation; and after that, we join ranks with him in the battle for the life of the Church. But I repeat, the above is my personal understanding of the last 20 years. It may not be the understanding of others. But I know that however one understands the last 20 years, something new has begun with Pope Benedict XVI and the tide has turned.

Martin: And Jurisdiction?

Father Michael Mary: When 'Practical Papal Catholicism' kicks in you soon see that it is necessary to obtain jurisdiction, from the Vicar of Christ, as soon as possible.

Martin: But what about supplied Jurisdiction?

Father Michael Mary: If you believe that Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope, then you need to have the authority that comes from him. It is that simple. Even with a crisis in the Church raging all about us. Even if you are going to be stoned by fellow traditionalists. No matter what you have to 'get with the Pope!'

Martin: Please explain it a little more.

Father Michael Mary: I am reminded of the morals question on 'stealing' in a case of necessity. The Second World War: Some British soldiers are hiding in a French village. They are in dire need of food and discover that the back window of the village bakery can be opened to give them access to freshly baked bread. Can they take the bread without this being the sin of theft?

Martin: Yes they can. There is necessity and taking the bread through the back window is the only way they can stay alive.

Father Michael Mary: Exactly. But then, after some period of time, the people in the village notice them. The war is not over, there are still many risks, but France is slowly being liberated. The Baker announces that he will give them all the bread that they need and that there is no longer any need to take it from the back window. He himself will even bring it to them.
Now everything is changed, and if not today, then very soon, taking the bread from the back window will be called, and will be, stealing.

Martin: Which means?

Father Michael Mary: For 20 years we have been living in a state of necessity where we lacked authorisation for what we needed, particularly for the Heavenly Bread, confessions, marriages and religious professions. We did as we could. We presumed authorisation for everything we needed. It was not the best situation, but we did what we did because we could not see any other way of surviving.
Then Pope Benedict XVI noticed us and in a clear voice he announced through the Motu Proprio that the old Mass was authorised and that he would give us all that we need and more: Mass, Ritual, jurisdiction for Confessions, marriages, religious professions and the exclusive use of the 1962 Missal in our communities. It is clear that he knows that the war is not over since he is himself working at restoring all things in Christ. He calls us to answer his call and accept the bread he offers us in abundance from his open arms.

Martin: So is this what you are saying: The Baker is the Pope, right? He knows there is a war going on and he is leading the way? He now offers us what before 7 July 2007 we simply took? To ignore him now and to continue taking through the back window is no longer acceptable, since it can't be right to take from behind his back what he wants to give us face to face?

Father Michael Mary: That's one way of putting it. And let me add, there are reasons for getting things right with the Church. This matter of Jurisdiction is a very serious matter. I remember a Doctor of Canon Law in the seminary, citing a case of a pre-Vatican II marriage annulment. It went like this:

A bishop's niece was being married in a neighbouring diocese. The bride invited her uncle, the bishop, to perform the ceremony. It was agreed. The uncle-bishop performed the marriage in the cathedral of the neighbouring diocese where even the local bishop attended to add solemnity to the occasion.

Some years later the marriage broke down. The marriage tribunal investigating the case discovered that the uncle-bishop did not ask for or receive receive jurisdiction from the neighbouring bishop (the local Ordinary) to perform the marriage; (he presumed it). And even though the local bishop was physically present, the Church declared the marriage nul through lack of jurisdiction.

Surely this would have been a case of 'human error and failure'? Surely the Church would have declared this to have been a case for 'supplied jurisdiction'. No it was judged to be a case of 'no jurisdiction.' The marriage was anulled. We were given this case as an example of the seriousness and necessity of having valid jurisdiction to perform valid acts. Perhaps some will say this is legalist, I do not argue. I say that it is an example that gives cause of concern for acting without valid jurisdiction when it can be had for the asking...

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Scottish traditionalist group nears full communion with Vatican

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Jul-16-2008

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A traditionalist group based in northern Scotland is on the road toward establishing full communion with the Vatican.

Though the Transalpine Redemptorists reported July 1 that all canonical censures had been lifted and their priests were in good canonical standing, one Vatican official clarified there were still "certain censures that have to be removed."

The official, who asked not to be identified, told Catholic News Service July 15 that the censures will be removed eventually and that the group and its members "are on their way" toward canonical good standing and full reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church.

He said it still "will take some time" for the group to establish and get approval for its new religious community.

"They are aspiring to be a religious community" whose members take vows and, therefore, they will have to draw up a rule of life and follow other somewhat lengthy procedures, he said.

The Transalpine Redemptorists, who are not linked to the Redemptorist order, are based on the island of Papa Stronsay in the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, and have a second monastery in Christchurch, New Zealand. The community has a total of 18 members -- priests, seminarians, brothers and postulants.

The community's vicar general, Father Michael Mary, wrote on the community's blog July 1 that he petitioned the Vatican in person June 18 before the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" for the group's priestly suspensions to be lifted.

The commission oversees the pastoral care of traditionalist Catholics and seeks to help regularize the canonical situation of traditionalist religious communities that already exist without recognition from Rome.

The group is linked to the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X which broke with the Vatican in 1988 when its founder, the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, ordained four bishops against papal instructions.

Father Michael Mary said in a July 16 e-mail response to questions by CNS that while the Transalpine Redemptorists are "an independent religious community founded with the approbation of Archbishop Lefebvre, we had a close link" with the Society of St. Pius X, and their seminarians studied in the society's seminaries.

He said Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 apostolic letter that allowed for wider use of the Mass in Latin using the 1962 Roman Missal prompted the community to seek full communion with the universal church.

Father Michael Mary said the community was concerned about the "lack of jurisdiction for the organization of religious life" if members remained outside the universal church and "the rock and jurisdiction of Peter."

"We found that we would be building on sand, not to mention burying our heads in it, if we continued to ignore try to live religious life in this way," he wrote.

"We were unhappy with the responsibilities and possible consequences we would be taking upon ourselves in commanding people without sharing in the authority that comes from Christ, through his vicar and through the delegated superiors whoever they may be. Continuing on in the face of these realities seemed to be like 'playing house,' and we didn't want to have anything to do with it," he added.

The priest wrote on the community's blog July 1 that the value of full communion with Rome "cannot be fully expressed in earthly language and, therefore, we hope that all traditional priests who have not yet done so will answer Pope Benedict's call to enjoy the grace of peaceful and undisputed communion with him."

Father Michael Mary told CNS the Vatican considers the group's priests to have been illicitly ordained and the censures that come with such ordinations still must be lifted.

Because the group is not associated with the Redemptorist order, it will have to change its name.

Father Michael Mary said the community's new name would be announced on its blog July 20.

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Benedict ‘annoyed’ at bishops’ boycott

From Damian Thompson via WDTPRS:

Benedict ‘annoyed’ at bishops’ boycott

Posted by Damian Thompson on 19 Jun 2008 at 15:22

I don’t like passing on rumours, [And in fairness that is what this is, and he has clearly acknowledged it from the start.] as you know, but there are reports that Pope Benedict XVI is annoyed by the absence of a single bishop at the big Mass celebrated by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday...

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Pope would like Tridentine Mass in each parish, Vatican official says

By Simon Caldwell
Catholic News Service

LONDON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI would like every Catholic parish in the world to celebrate a regular Tridentine-rite Mass, a Vatican cardinal has said.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos also told a June 14 press conference in London that the Vatican was writing to all seminaries to ask that candidates to the priesthood are trained to celebrate Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass, restricted from the 1970s until July 2007 when Pope Benedict lifted some of those limits.

The cardinal, who was visiting London at the invitation of the Latin Mass Society, a British Catholic group committed to promoting Mass in the Tridentine rite of the 1962 Roman Missal, said it was "absolute ignorance" to think that the pope was trying to reverse the reforms of the Second Vatican Council by encouraging use of the rite.

"The Holy Father, who is a theologian and who was (involved) in the preparation for the council, is acting exactly in the way of the council, offering with freedom the different kinds of celebration," he said.

"The Holy Father is not returning to the past; he is taking a treasure from the past to offer it alongside the rich celebration of the new rite," the cardinal added.

When asked by a journalist if the pope wanted to see "many ordinary parishes" making provision for the Tridentine Mass, Cardinal Castrillon, a Colombian, said: "All the parishes. Not many, all the parishes, because this is a gift of God.

"He (Pope Benedict) offers these riches, and it is very important for new generations to know the past of the church," said Cardinal Castrillon, president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," which works to help separated traditionalist Catholics return to the church.

"This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful," he said. "The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure. The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church."

He also said his commission, which also is responsible for overseeing the application of "Summorum Pontificum," the 2007 papal decree authorizing the universal use of the Tridentine rite, was in the process of writing to seminaries not only to equip seminarians to celebrate Mass in Latin but to understand the theology, the philosophy and the language of such Masses.

The cardinal said parishes could use catechism classes to prepare Catholics to celebrate such Masses every Sunday so they could "appreciate the power of the silence, the power of the sacred way in front of God, the deep theology, to discover how and why the priest represents the person of Christ and to pray with the priest."

In "Summorum Pontificum," Pope Benedict indicated that Tridentine Masses should be made available in every parish where groups of the faithful desire it and where a priest has been trained to celebrate it. He also said the Mass from the Roman Missal in use since 1970 remains the ordinary form of the Mass, while the celebration of the Tridentine Mass is the extraordinary form.

The document did not require all parishes to automatically establish a Tridentine Mass schedule, but it said that where "a group of faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition exists stably," the pastor should "willingly accede" to their request to make the Mass available.

Cardinal Castrillon told the press conference, however, that a stable group could mean just three or four people who were not necessarily drawn from the same parish.

Later in the day, Cardinal Castrillon celebrated the first pontifical high Mass in the Tridentine rite in London's Westminster Cathedral in 39 years. The event drew a congregation of more than 1,500 people, including young families. None of the English or Welsh bishops attended.

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Full text of Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos address to the Latin Mass Society

From NLM:

Address to the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales
London – 14th June 2008

Mr Chairman, Reverend Monsignori and Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen;

I am grateful for your kind invitation and for your warm welcome. It is a pleasure to be present with you today in London and to address the annual general meeting of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

I look forward to the joy of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the great, historic and beautiful Westminster Cathedral for you this afternoon.

Today I would like to speak about three related subjects.

1. The first thing that I wish to say is that I appreciate the work which the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales has undertaken in the past four decades. You have worked with and under your bishops, at times without all of the results which you desired. Yet in all that you have done you have remained faithful to the Holy See and to the successor of Saint Peter. And you have been loyal during a very difficult time for the Church – a time that has been especially trying for those who love and appreciate the riches of her ancient liturgy.

Quite evidently these years have not been without many sufferings, but Our Blessed Lord knows them and will, in his Divine Providence, bring about much good from your sacrifices and from the sacrifices of those members of the Latin Mass Society who have not lived to be here today. To all of you, on behalf of the Church, I say: “thank you for remaining faithful to the Church and to the Vicar of Christ; thank you for not allowing your love for the classical Roman liturgy to lead you outside of communion with the Vicar of Christ!”

I also say, “Take heart!” for it is obvious from the many young people in England and Wales who love the Church’s ancient liturgy that you have done very well in preserving and handing on a love for this liturgy to your children.

2. Secondly, I wish to speak about the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. I know what great joy the publication of Summorum Pontificum brought to your members and indeed to many faithful Catholics around the world. In response to the prayers and sufferings of so many people in these past four decades, Almighty God has raised up for us a Supreme Pontiff who is very sensitive to your concerns. Pope Benedict XVI knows and deeply appreciates the importance of the ancient liturgical rites for the Church – for both the Church of today and for the Church of tomorrow. That is why he issued a juridical document – a Motu Proprio – which establishes legal freedom for the older rites throughout the Church. It is important to understand that Summorum Pontificum establishes a new juridical reality in the Church.

It gives rights to the ordinary faithful and to priests which must be respected by those in authority. The Holy Father is aware that in different places around the world many requests from priests and lay faithful who desired to celebrate according to the ancient rites were often not acted upon. That is why he has now authoritatively established that to celebrate according to the more ancient form of the liturgy – the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as well the sacraments and other liturgical rites – is a juridical right, and not just a privilege accorded to all.

Certainly this must be done in harmony with both ecclesiastical law and ecclesiastical superiors, but superiors also must recognise that these rights are now firmly established in the law of the Church by the Vicar of Christ himself. It is a treasure that belongs to the whole Catholic Church and which should be widely available to all of Christ’s faithful. This means that parish priests and bishops must accept the petitions and the requests of the faithful who ask for it and that priests and bishops must do all that they can to provide this great liturgical treasure of the Church’s tradition for the faithful.

In this period immediately following the publication of the Motu Proprio our most immediate task is to provide for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite where it is most desired by the faithful and where their “legitimate aspirations” have not yet been met. On the one hand no priest should be forced to celebrate according to the extraordinary form against his will. On the other hand those priests who do not wish to celebrate according to the 1962 Roman Missal should be generous in meeting the requests of the faithful who desire it.

As I see it, two factors are necessary. 1. It is first of all important to find a centrally located church, convenient to the greatest number of the faithful who have requested this Mass. Obviously, it must be a church where the parish priest is willing to welcome these faithful from his own and surrounding parishes. 2. It is crucial that there be priests willing to celebrate according to the 1962 Roman Missal and thus to provide this important pastoral service on a weekly Sunday basis. Often there may be one or more priests in a given deanery or section of a diocese who would be willing and even desirous of celebrating this Mass. Bishops need to be sensitive to such pastoral provisions and to facilitate them. This is a fundamental intention of Summorum Pontificum. It is particularly sad where priests are prohibited from celebrating the extraordinary form of the Mass because of restrictive legislative measures which have been taken and which run counter to the Holy Father’s intentions and thus to the universal law of the Church.

In this regard I am also pleased to commend the Latin Mass Society for its provision of the training session for priests at Merton College, Oxford, last summer, allowing many priests unfamiliar with the usus antiquior to learn how to celebrate it. I am very pleased to give my blessing to this initiative which will take place again this summer.

Let me say this plainly: the Holy Father wants the ancient use of the Mass to become a normal occurrence in the liturgical life of the Church so that all of Christ’s faithful – young and old – can become familiar with the older rites and draw from their tangible beauty and transcendence. The Holy Father wants this for pastoral reasons as well as for theological ones. In his letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum Pope Benedict wrote that:

"In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place."

3. This brings me to my third point. You are rightly convinced that the usus antiquior is not a museum piece, but a living expression of Catholic worship. If it is living, we must also expect it to develop. Our Holy Father is also of this conviction. As you know, he chose motu proprio – that is on his own initiative – to alter the text of the prayer pro Iudæis in the Good Friday liturgy. The intention of the prayer was in no way weakened, but a formulation was provided which respected sensitivities.

Likewise, as you also know, Summorum Pontificum has also provided for the Liturgy of the Word to be proclaimed in the vernacular without being first read by the celebrant in Latin. Today’s Pontifical Mass, of course, will have the readings solemnly chanted in Latin, but for less solemn celebrations the Liturgy of the Word may be proclaimed directly in the language of the people. This is already a concrete instance of what our Holy Father wrote in his letter accompanying the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum:

"the two Forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching: new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal. The “Ecclesia Dei” Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior, will study the practical possibilities in this regard."

Naturally we will be happy for your input in this important matter. I simply ask you not to be opposed in principle to the necessary adaptation which our Holy Father has called for.

This brings me to another important point. I am aware that the response of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” with regard to the observance of Holy Days of obligation has caused a certain amount of disturbance in some circles. It should be noted that the dates of these Holy Days remain the same in both the Missal of 1962 and the Missal of 1970. When the Holy See has given the Episcopal Conference of a given country permission to move certain Holy Days to the following Sunday, this should be observed by all Catholics in that country. Nothing prevents the celebration of the Feast of the Ascension, for example, on the prior Thursday, but it should be clear that this is not a Mass of obligation and that the Mass of the Ascension should also be celebrated on the following Sunday. This is a sacrifice which I ask you to make with joy as a sign of your unity with the Catholic Church in your country.

Finally I ask your prayers for those of us called to assist the Holy Father in Rome in this delicate work of facilitating the Church’s ancient liturgical tradition. Please be patient with us: we are very few and there is much work to be done. And there are many questions to be studied and sometimes we may make mistakes!

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, intercede for all in this land which is so beautifully called “the Dowry of Our Lady,” and through her prayers may all Christ’s faithful come to draw ever more deeply from the great riches of the Church’s sacred liturgy in all of its forms.

Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos
President
Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei

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