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October 11, 2006
Into the breach...
Pope Benedict XVI is preparing to expand permission to use the Tridentine Mass, the pre-Vatican II rite favored by traditionalist groups, said an informed Vatican source.
The pope is expected to issue a document "motu proprio," or on his own initiative, which will address the concerns of "various traditionalists," said the source, who asked not to be named.
The source said the new permission, or indult, was a papal decision, but was being done in cooperation with agencies of the Roman Curia. He would not elaborate on the extent of the indult, when it would be established or how it would work.
The Tridentine rite is currently available to groups of Catholics who ask and receive permission for its use from their local bishops. The old rite is celebrated in Latin and follows the Roman Missal of 1962, which was replaced in 1969 with the new Roman Missal.
Among those who have strongly pushed for wider use of the Tridentine rite are the followers of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was excommunicated in 1988.
Canadian Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, told Catholic News Service Oct. 10 that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, head of the Congregation for Clergy, had spoken briefly to Canadian bishops about the expected step.
"It sounded to me like it was a sort of concession somebody has made," the archbishop said.
Archbishop Weisgerber said the new indult was apparently motivated by a desire to bring comfort to older people who may miss the old rite. But in his archdiocese, he said, the few people asking for it are "young people who never experienced it."
We have no idea what the nature of this document is, but I'll just clarify something - the present Indult requires the express permission of a bishop. Apparently what this new step would do would be to declare that any priest who wanted to could offer the Tridentine Mass. There are sorts of potential complications, of course, ranging from...could a priest ditch the Novus Ordo totally in his parish? Two Masses in one parish on two different calendars (which happens of course in the Indult parishes anyway...). It will be interesting to see how these little points are sorted out.
And as for the developing story line that this is all about the Pope trying to appeal to "ultraconservatives" - no.
The Pope knows better than you or I that there is an element of the Traditionalists movement that would totally indifferent to this move, because, as we discussed before, the issue of the Mass is only a small part of their larger beef. My (uniformed) opinon is that this (unknown) move is about 1)principle - that whole knotty question of whether the '62 missal was ever "abrogated" or not - clearing that up. 2) principle - that it makes no sense for the Mass, offered for centuries, not be widely available 3) a hope that those involved in SSPX, etc., who do feel a pull to be in full communion with Rome might return. (and we're not talking the opposite of schism, here - a lot of conversation and controversy about that as well, but just say that the general opinion is that your ordinary person who attends an SSPX chapel out of a desire to practice their Faith is not in schism - certain bishops might be, but that's another story) 4) a genuine belief in the organic development on the liturgy, the inadequacies of the post-Conciliar reforms, their disconnect from much of 1900 years of church practice, and the faith that the availibility of this Rite will affect some kind of "cross-pollination" and improve and focus the practice of the Novus Ordo.
Oh, there's much more. And there are many others who know a lot more about this. But it worth saying, since there seems to be certainty that "something" is coming, that is not about wrenching the Church back into the past to please a certain group of people. The Pope knows that a lot of those people won't be pleased anyway.
And Terry Mattingly would like you to help him watch the coverage of this, as well...
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
That's right - a lot of "those people" won't be pleased no matter what Pope Benedict does. What is happening is that the Latin Mass is being reintegrated into the life of the Church again and the novus ordo is being purified. And the bishops have no say in the matter, if there's a motu proprio attached to it. Too bad, Cardinal Mahony. Gone are the pitchers of Kool Aid at your Masses.
Posted by: Janice at Oct 11, 2006 1:56:38 PM
Praise be to God. I also have a source whom heard it from the Holy Father's mouth that this is coming by the end of November.
I pray that the love of the TLM grows and the NO is purified so that it accurately reflects a hermeneutic of continuity as Pope Benedict said during his Christmas Curial address.
Posted by: Brian at Oct 11, 2006 2:04:39 PM
the faith that the availibility of this Rite will affect some kind of "cross-pollination" and improve and focus the practice of the Novus Ordo.
I suspect that by far the largest effect of this will not be on the relatively small minority attending the old Mass, but rather on the large majority continuing to attend the new Mass. And that this is precisely Pope Benedict's intent. In his writings as Cardinal Ratzinger he repeatedly emphasized the need for the traditional rite as a guide and signpost for the continuing development of the new rite.
Posted by: Henry at Oct 11, 2006 2:33:37 PM
There seems to be something to this story. Long articles on the supposed new document appeared today in a number of Italian newspapers.
Rorate Caeli has translated (partially) that in Il Giornale and provides links to the articles in other Italian papers (if you read Italian).
There is also a fairly long article at Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605776.htm
Posted by: Fr. Augustine Thompson O.P. at Oct 11, 2006 2:43:56 PM
Has anybody else noticed the irony of the news breaking on the same day as the feast of the little man whose picture Amy has placed in the upper left-hand corner?
Posted by: Jon at Oct 11, 2006 2:52:23 PM
Let me say this up front: I am not a traditionalist.
Let me say secondly what it seems that - especially based on past comments and writings he has put out - the Pope is trying to accomplish here, and that is two things:
1. To bring back into the fold such followers of SSPX as can be brought back in - a share which Pope Benedict and all other reasonable observers know will never be 100%;
2. To create an environment more hospitable for the reform of the reform of the liturgy be reintroducing more intimately into the daily life of the Church the classical Roman Rite, which, as the Pope has written repeatedly, should serve as the standard, the "control group" for liturgical reform.
It's all in the details, of course, in terms of how this is implemented. Some bishops will still fight it (just imagine Tod Brown's reaction). And to celebrate it properly - well, a fighting knowledge of Latin and familiarity with a set of more exacting rubrics is going to be needed. Say what you will, but one advantage of having only special indult communities (FSSP, ICK, etc) celebrating the Roman Rite is that it has insured that those doing so know what they're doing, and do so with real love and reverence. No quickie mumbled 15 minute speed low masses of the sort that gave such a bad odor in the pre-conciliar years (which I say to forestall Todd's inevitable, and I think in some measure fair, comment in this regard).
I think it is a fair question to ask how many attend indult masses simply because they can find no reverently celebrated N.O. masses near them? I know I'm such a one, or at least have been at times in the past. To say such is to prescind from any debate over the (often serious) defects in the collects or lectionary of the N.O., as detailed recently by Lauren Pristas; the point here is that one hopes that greater exposure to the Roman Rite will put more Catholics, lay or clerical, in touch with more of the richness of their own forgotten tradition, and thus lay the groundwork for a much more fruitful reform of the New Rite.
And yes, it is accurate, I think, to call them different rites - and this is how, apparently, they will now be celebrated.
Either way, I am pleased to see the earnest prayers of so many finally answered.
Posted by: Richard at Oct 11, 2006 2:53:48 PM
I believe that this indult, if it happens, would only be the opening move in a larger adjustment. The end of November sees Benedict XVI in Turkey visiting the patriarch of Constantinople. Why announce such a change when, for many, it might overshadow the visit? It would only make sense to do so if there were some wider ecumenical move afoot which would thematically fit with a wider indult for the Tridentine.
What joy if the announcement of a wider indult ended up being a footnote! You can't expect such a thing but one can dream and the rumored timing is decidedly odd.
Posted by: TM Lutas at Oct 11, 2006 3:00:44 PM
If they're gonna do it, I hope there's a preference for the "dialogue" mass. Obviously one can and should participate when attending a non-dialogue mass, but participation is easier when you have responses to make and so on.
Posted by: MG at Oct 11, 2006 3:01:58 PM
Amy,
You make another good point here:
"2) principle - that it makes no sense for the Mass, offered for centuries, not be widely available..."
It is worth repeating, as Klaus Gamber has noted, along with the Pope, about what happened in 1969: Unlike any previous initiative, the Roman Rite was not reformed; it was replaced by a new rite. An entirely legitimate rite, to be sure, and with some connection to the old one. But new and distinct, just the same.
And so it does seem nonsensical for a rite celebrated for centuries to suddenly be forbidden. Had Pope Paul restricted the brief of the consilium to a modest (and needed) reform of the Roman Rite, as clearly envisioned by Sacrosanctum Concilium...well, we would not be here having this conversation today.
Worth reading in this regard are the pope's remarks to precisely this effect in Looking Again At the Question of the Liturgy With Cardinal Ratzinger: Proceedings of the July 2001 Fontgombault Liturgical Conference edited by Alcuin Reid OSB.
Posted by: Richard at Oct 11, 2006 3:10:34 PM
I don't know if I would regularly go to the Tridentine Latin Mass or not. I was raised on it. I've learned to like the N.O. Mass in English, when it is well done. Even better if Gregorian Chant is used.
For the good of the Church, it would seem to me to be far more important to get rid of the abuses in the N.O. Mass. The sloppiness, the corruption of the text with additions and omissions, the abuses of the rubrics, the casualness of the servers and the Extraordinary Ministers, celebrants who don't even vest properly and other items greatly detract from the holiness of the experience.
Posted by: Ray from MN at Oct 11, 2006 3:13:45 PM
Richard is obviously correct.The Holy Father wants to renew the liturgy according to the mind ofVatican II.It was the liturgist Louis Bouyer ,one of the achitects of sacrosanctum concilium of Vat.II who said that the old mass was a corpse and the new mass is that corpse decomposed.I beleive in the long end we will arrive at a missal which is truly the heir of the council,organically rooted in Tradition.
Posted by: franklyn at Oct 11, 2006 3:14:56 PM
Given that this was a "sure-thing" during the last Holy Week I have been pretty skeptical of blog reports on this. But given that this is being reported by CNS it looks to be pretty likely. Whatever you might think of CNS' ideological biases they are pretty reliable on this sort of thing.
Posted by: Mark Adams at Oct 11, 2006 3:16:11 PM
I agree that this will be very good for the New Mass. Many priests, who say both Rites, have said that saying the Traditional Mass has improved their offering of the New. However, I do not want dialogue Mass, unless they are sung. I attended an Eastern Rite Liturgy without a cantor, so the Liturgy was not sung, and the result was a banal as the New Mass. Secondly, I do not agree with the theology that relegates the participation of the lay faithful to that of a server. I do not know when their roles became synonymous but I for one think that it is clericalism in a very bad form. I attend the Traditional Mass and I pray all the prayers of the priest making them my own. Obviously, I recognize the difference between my necessity (there is none) and the priest's in the sacrifice, that said the sacrifice is really mine as well as the priest’s, and I resent being seen as a merely a server.
Posted by: Christopher Sarsfield at Oct 11, 2006 3:17:28 PM
I think the most important part of active participation by the laity in the Mass is the uniting of one's will to Christ's saving sacrificial action re-presented on the altar. There's no dialogue at that point in the classical form of the Roman rite. The dialogical memorial acclamation shocks one out of this most important active participation and demands that one say/sing a response, or at least listen to others do so. What an impediment to true active participation.
By which I mean, while I like dialogue Masses, there's also much to be said for a 25 minute low Mass. We still need more catechesis on what participatio actuoso means. Of course, the powers that be will have to agree on what it means before they can catechize the rest of us.
Plus, all men of goodwill of course realize that broader offering of Mass according to the 1962 Missal is just a stop-gap until the Church can return to her pre-Bugnini liturgy and organically (and verrrry slowly) grow from there.
Posted by: Boko Fittleworth at Oct 11, 2006 3:18:21 PM
No quickie mumbled 15 minute speed low masses of the sort that gave such a bad odor in the pre-conciliar years (which I say to forestall Todd's inevitable, and I think in some measure fair, comment in this regard).
For the past year I've attended indult Masses celebrated by a young priest who was "retrained" to celebrate the TLM. I don't recall a single one recently that's lasted less than an hour and 15 minutes.
Regarding the parenthetical comment, I was also there in the 1950's, and never witnessed a 15-minute quickie. Not a single one. I do recall people looking for a shorter Sunday Mass complaining that "No matter whether the sermon is long or short, low Mass somehow lasts exactly 42 minutes." (I not saying myself that it always did, merely that this was a common saying of the time, which surely others will remember.)
Posted by: Henry at Oct 11, 2006 3:22:42 PM
I was a little Lutheran girl of about five when my Catholic Dad took me to the (then) Latin Mass at the local parish.
The beauty of the Church, the lingering smell of incense, the mystery of it all.
If we can bring some of that back to all of our liturgies, NO and Traditional it could go a long way towards healing the bewilderment so many of us who came into the Church feel at the lack of the numinous that has infiltrated so many Catholic parishes.
Posted by: Christine at Oct 11, 2006 3:24:01 PM
How can any mass be held without the Bishop giving permission. Does he not need to mkae sure the priest is properly trained and following the proper procedure? Is not the parish priest still bound to obey the bishop in all matters? How can he be left out of it?
Posted by: Randy at Oct 11, 2006 3:31:28 PM
I'm surprised that some people find saying responses distracting. That's very interesting and something I want to think about more.
Along the same lines: do people find it distracting for the priest to say the canon and other prayers loud enough to hear? Maybe that will sound sarcastic but I don't mean it that way at all. The last low mass I went to, I couldn't hear a thing, and well, it was hard to follow along! But maybe others don't have the same experience.
Finally, saying responses needn't reduce one to being a server--one can still say the prayers along with the priest anyway. No?
I wonder how long it will take to get a musical setting by Haugan or Haas. It would be nice to have High Mass too.
Posted by: MG at Oct 11, 2006 3:34:18 PM
Richard,
This from CWN:
"Vatican sources say that the papal document affirms the principle that there is only one liturgical rite for the Latin Church. But this rite has two forms: the "ordinary" liturgy (the Novus Ordo, usually celebrated in the vernacular language) and the "extraordinary" (the Tridentine rite, in Latin). These two forms have equal rights, the text indicates, and bishops are strongly encouraged to allow free use of both forms."
Posted by: Janice at Oct 11, 2006 3:37:07 PM
Dear MG,
I do not believe that you can say the prayers of the priest in the New Mass. There are specific rubrics for the people attending the New Mass, and what the people are supposed to say and the priest's prayers are not part of their role.
BTW in the traditional liturgy their are no rubrics for the congregation. It is all governed by local custom.
Posted by: Christopher Sarsfield at Oct 11, 2006 3:41:52 PM
... and bishops are strongly encouraged to allow free use of both forms.
That ends that. "We already offer the indult at St. Euphemia's across town. So this new document is addressing a need not felt here."
Posted by: Rich Leonardi at Oct 11, 2006 3:48:37 PM
About priest's ditching the Novus Ordo (or English for the N.O.), let me repeat my question from the earlier thread...
How DOES it work?
Let's say you're a parish priest and you perceive the need to offer a Spanish language mass on Sundays and you have enough Spanish to do it. Can you just start doing it? Consult your parish council and do it?
Do you need to consult the bishop?
What if you perceive a strong need for a Vietnamese language mass but don't have any Vietnamese language ability - obviously you wouldn't just sound it out as you go along....
Understanding how THAT process goes on might allay some fears.
Posted by: Michael Tinkler at Oct 11, 2006 3:52:45 PM
I'm excited because the pastor at my parents' parish was the celebrant at one of their archdiocese's indult masses. Now, when I go to visit, I might be able to see my first Latin Mass!
Posted by: Mike at Oct 11, 2006 3:58:38 PM
MG,
One can say (to oneself) the prayers of the priest, making them one's own, silently, at either form of the Roman rite. I think this addresses Mr. Sarsfield's response, also.
As to dialogue at Mass, I find the NO rather chatty and didactic. Listen to this, respond with this. The priest (lector, cantor) is talking to me and I am supposed to listen and respond in a codified way. I prefer the freedom of the classical rite. (Free for the laity; the priests are constrained by the rubrics, are servants of the liturgy: I think that's why some priests don't like it. They'd rather the liturgy be at their service, be a tool they can use for whatever end, be it personal popularity or bringing people to God.) In the classical rite, the priest talks to God and we listen in and join our wills, our selves, to the offering. (This leaves aside for the time being the question of just how didactic the Liturgy of the Word (or Mass of the Catechumens-the first half of a classical rite Mass; they roughly correspond) is supposed to be. It seems it was very much so at first, then not for centuries, and maybe shall be again-certainly it is in the NO.)
Okay, I'm having way too much fun with parentheses and not responding, so let me just encourage people to give the classical rite multiple tries. One doesn't get it at first. I've found, from my experience, that first I was lost, then I followed along in my Latin/English missal, then I really joined myself to what was happening while following along in my missal, and now, finally, I am familiar enough with the Mass that sometimes I use my missal, sometimes no. A real freedom to pray the Mass, but to linger at parts that I feel called to meditate upon more deeply that day. I think some priests resent the laity's relative freedom at Mass.
And, regarding the silent Canon, the out-loud "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" clues me in to where we are as I strike my breast and find the right page in my missal.
Posted by: Boko Fittleworth at Oct 11, 2006 4:04:55 PM
The NO "Dialogue Mass" can, perhaps, encourage "full, active participation."
But it can also be a case of mindless, automatic memorized responses,
as indicated by the joke:
Bishop visiting parish comes up to santuary with wireless microphone, and has trouble with it. He thinks it is malfunctioning, but it is on.
He says, "There is something wrong with this mic."
And the congregation responds, "And also with you."
Posted by: Old Zhou at Oct 11, 2006 4:11:24 PM
