Brian Mershon
October 13, 2006
Freedom for Classical Roman rite in 2006?
By Brian Mershon

From the October 12, 2006, issue of The Wanderer.

The Holy See is preparing to issue a document affirming that the Classical Roman liturgy or Traditional Latin rite, has never been banned, abolished or abrogated, according to numerous news reports and sources close to the Holy See. The exact form of the document and its release date could not be confirmed by publishing deadline, but several sources have indicated that it could be promulgated perhaps as early as November or December 2006. The document will acknowledge what many Catholics held for nearly 40 years — that every Latin-rite priest has the unimpeded right to offer the Classical Latin rite Mass.

In several public interviews over the past few months, both Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, and Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, have affirmed that the Traditional Latin liturgy has never been banned. It now appears, according to both AP, Reuters, and UK and Italian news reports, that this affirmation, which will allow all priests to offer the Traditional Latin liturgy, will be officially recognized in a motu proprio, or officially promulgated by the Pope himself.

It has been widely reported, and confirmed by Alfons Maria Cardinal Stickler, that Pope John Paul II called together nine curial cardinals in 1986 requesting their opinions about whether the rite of Mass of nearly 1600 years had been abrogated (abolished or banned) by the introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae of Pope Paul VI. Reportedly, eight of the nine cardinals, one of which was our current Pope, stated that the Church had indeed never banned the Traditional Missal. Indeed, Sacrosanctum Concilium reads, "Lastly, in faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way."

Many Catholics believe the modern Roman rite is merely a translation of the previous missal. In fact, with the Latin originals of the prayers of the Mass, studies have shown that only 17 percent of the Traditional prayers remain unaltered in the 1970 missal, along with the introduction of at least 12 additional Eucharistic prayers, hundreds of new options not previously part of the Roman liturgical tradition, and a complete dismantling of the liturgical calendar.

Various news sources, citing knowledgeable Vatican sources, report that the new document will give all Latin-rite priests the right to offer Mass according to either Missal, with a recommendation that every large parish allow at least one Traditional Latin Mass each Sunday. Catholics attached to the Traditional rite have said it would be pastorally sensitive if the document would also recommend or require that these Masses be "at a convenient time and place," preferably at a normal morning Mass time, rather than at 6:30 a.m. (as is done at a parish in Florida) or at 3 p.m., or other afternoon times, as is done in numerous parishes where the Mass is offered, obviously effectively dissuading attendance.

Sources with apparent access to at least earlier drafts of the document said that instead of "granting permission," bishops will be required to specifically forbid individual priests from offering the Traditional rite if they choose to do so. While the difference here seems slight from current legislation, it is speculated that many bishops will be reluctant to publicly dissent from the Holy See on a rite of liturgy that has never been banned nor abolished. In fact, Quo Primum, issued in 1570 by Pope St. Pius V, said the following: "Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used."

Roger McCaffrey, Publisher of Roman Catholic Books and former Publisher of Latin Mass Magazine, said that he had not seen the Pope's official document yet, but, "The Holy Father's expected statement that 'no priest can be forbidden to celebrate the Missal of 1962 in Latin or vernacular' or that 'a priest does not need permission of his Ordinary to use this ancient Missal' sounds like the papal bull, Quo Primum, issued by St. Pius V.

"That wording was dismissed as irrelevant and no longer in force by the 'reform of the reform' advocates of one generation ago," McCaffrey said. "What will they be saying now?" he queried.

The October 11 issue of La Stampa, by Marco Rosati, said that there was still much internal struggle in the Roman Curia, particularly in the Cardinal Arinze-led Office of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, where someone had raised the required number of faithful needed to request the Traditional Mass from the original 30 to 100, thereby passing the Secretary of the Congregation, Archbishop Ranjith, with known sympathies toward the Traditional rite. According to the La Stampa account, Archbishop Ranjith amended the document in numerous places to bring it back into accord with the original intention. According to reports, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos has been the primary author of the document, along with Julian Cardinal Herranz, President of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts. Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale, specifically noted that "the process of the decree was made more difficult due to various internal obstructions at the dicastery."

Some have speculated that the media leaks and buzz weeks prior to the promulgation of this document has been organized by those within the Church, and perhaps even the Curia itself, to help create a firestorm against the document's promulgation. Indeed, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos and Archbishop Ranjith reportedly recently asked the new President of the International Federation of Una Voce specifically for prayers during this time of struggle prior to the promulgation of this document.

(A special acknowledgement to Father John T. Zuhlsdorf, weekly columnist for The Wanderer and for Rorate-Coeli.blogspot.com for their timely and accurate translations from the Italian original of these news stories, and for their insightful analyses.)



The Wanderer has conducted extensive interviews with several notable Catholics, both priests and laymen, who are involved in both the restoration of the Classical Roman liturgy, and an authentic reform of the current modern liturgy. It is the intention to provide perspectives consistent with the intentions of the Holy Father as expressed in many of his books — that is granting a wider venue to the Classical Roman liturgy, as well as a true organic reform of the modern Roman liturgy. Mr. Roger McCaffrey, Publisher of Roman Catholic Books and former Publisher of Latin Mass Magazine and Helen Hull Hitchcock of the Adoremus Bulletin, graciously responded to questions about the expected document freeing the Traditional Roman rite.

Q: One of the two preconditions the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X have requested since 2001 was an official Curial recognition affirming what nine curial cardinals told Pope John Paul II in 1986 (subsequently blocked due to concerns from various European bishops), that the Classical Roman liturgy has never been abrogated. Now that this first step has been granted, what do you predict will happen next?

Helen Hull Hitchcock (HHH): If the pre-conciliar rite is restored, the question of whether it was abrogated becomes moot.

Roger McCaffrey (RM): Benedict's document breaks the back of the liturgical revolution, although that will take a generation to become obvious. It promotes use of the only rite that existed — for 99.9 percent of the faithful in the Western Church — and this rite is counter to everything the revolutionaries inserted, sometimes with the help of useful idiots, into the Mass or its rubrics after Vatican II.

There is no place in the traditional rite for laymen in the sanctuary, communion in the hand, Mass versus populum, guitars accompanied by Pete Seeger-like voices, all the things that are distracting or that undermine a precise understanding of the Faith and undermine piety and reverence for the Eucharist. That this counter-blow is struck by the Pope himself is what makes it so devastating to the other side — which is not reproducing itself anyway.

In 10 years, the circulation of Latin Mass Magazine will be higher than that of America. If that doesn't illustrate the point, nothing does.

I have no idea how Benedict's new document will be applied, except that you can expect unfairness from many bishops who seem to specialize in that. Luckily, plenty of them are clever enough to catch the papal hint about the Missal of 1962.

Q: Do you think there is sufficient grounds for the Pope to grant the second precondition, lifting the decrees of excommunications (or declaring them null and void) against the bishops of the SSPX and Archbishop Castro de Mayer?

HHH: This is for the Pope to decide. We don't know all the facts. The SSPX apparently does not admit they are excommunicated. Would they accept absolution?

RM: No matter what the Holy Father does, the Society of St. Pius X will tend to want something extra. That has been their pattern.

Q: How do you think a freeing of the Classical Roman rite will aid in the restoration of the Church worldwide?

HHH: The historic Roman rite is a great treasure, but the effect will be confined to relatively small pockets of Catholics.

RM: I couldn't improve on what Msgr. Schmitz said a few months ago. [Ed. Note: Msgr. Michael Schmitz is the U.S. Superior for the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, whose interviews appeared in The Wanderer's March 23 and March 30 issues.] You cannot underestimate the power of the graces that are received through the Traditional Roman rite. It's the liturgy of the ages. But it also is the focus of a movement that is Catholic, and up to now scattered and in disarray because Rome has offered little support, thereby encouraging the bishops to neglect the movement, when not offending it.

So on a practical level, the old Mass will restore some of the equilibrium that was lost when it was suppressed by Pope Paul VI. It will continue to attract disproportionately young Catholics, compared to your average parish. That is where the priests of these religious orders you mention come into play. [Ed. Note: See question below regarding traditional religious congregations]

Q: The Pope and other notable priests and scholars have repeatedly emphasized the importance of having the Classical Roman rite of liturgy more widely available as an "anchor" so-to-speak to measure the reform of the Novus Ordo in order to bring it more in line with the true organic development. How much importance do you think the Pope gives to the Classical Roman rite's role in assisting in a true "reform of the reform" in accord with the Latin liturgical tradition?

HHH: I don't know what the Pope thinks about this. But he does not favor simply a return to the old Mass. He thinks some reform was necessary, in accordance with the Council.

RM: My guess, and it is only that, is that Pope Benedict sees the Missal of '62 — the frequent use of it everywhere — as very important in establishing the base necessary for restoring the liturgy.

Q: What role do you believe the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), the traditionalist priests of Campos, Brazil and a canonically regularized Society of St. Pius X can play in restoring and reforming the Church?

HHH: They will affect limited communities.

RM: If the Pope gives active encouragement and the support of a vicar in Rome, you will see in the Western world between 10 and 20 million people coalesce under the banner of traditional rite chapels and parishes in a decade at the most.

Q: Based on your knowledge of the younger diocesan clergy, do believe that many of them are interested in offering the Classical Roman rite? Do you have any evidence of this? Can you quantify it?

HHH: Very few of them know any Latin at all.

RM: Based solely on anecdotal information from a dozen priest friends around the country who work in parishes, who in turn have dozens of priest friends I haven't met, I'd say at least 10 percent of the diocesan clergy would want of celebrate Mass using the Missal of 1962.

For a priest tired of politically correct parish life and the implicit threats from the chancery if he does not do this and that odious thing, the Missal of '62 has to be just about irresistible. They will flock to it over time. And their desire for it, I might add, only helps those priests, like my friend Fr. Joseph Fessio, who favor a "reform of the reformed Mass," something very close to the interim Missal of '65 which preceded the Novus Ordo in 1969.

Q: I have been told by a source, that at one orthodox Pontifical college and seminary in the U.S., more than half of the students and seminarians desire to offer the Traditional Latin Mass? Would this surprise you? What do you think this might mean for seminary training in the future?

HHH: I assume you mean the Josephinum? [Ed. Note: Pontifical Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio] Since seminarians today have no personal prejudice against the Traditional Latin Mass, as an earlier generation did, it would not be surprising that a good many are curious about their Roman Catholic heritage and want to learn more about it. The study of Latin has already been recommended for all seminarians. This would surely focus on liturgical Latin, including the "Novus Ordo," the "classic" Mass, Divine Office, hymns, prayers, etc. I would think many would be interested in courses in the history of Catholic liturgy: the pre-conciliar "liturgical movement," and traditional Catholic devotions.

RM: The whole seminary issue is a huge can of worms but it would not surprise me to hear that a third of these young men are interested in the '62 missal. Half sounds too high.

Q: Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos' influence has obviously been great through his negotiations with the SSPX. When the new Pope was introduced by Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez, I wandered immediately about the connection of the last two Cardinals who were active at the Second Vatican Council and voted in this last Conclave, and their possible collaboration, and Cardinal Medina's influence on returning the Traditional Latin liturgy to its rightful place. Do you have any comments?

HHH: Cardinal Medina, as Prefect of the CDW (Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments) was obviously tremendously influential in his efforts to promote and assure authentic liturgical reform in accordance with the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. I do not know his views on the Traditional Latin Mass.

RM: I know Cardinal Medina has been helpful in this matter, but his conversion on the subject is less than about 8 years ago. Whereas, Joseph Ratzinger's views on the restoration of the missal of 1962, if you extrapolate from his amazing preface to Msgr. Klaus Gamber's highly controversial and reactionary book [Ed. Reform of the Roman Liturgy], date to the 1980s or indeed earlier. In fact, this cultured and prayerful man probably never endorsed the suppression of the old missal. I cannot find anything in his writings or speeches that indicate he did.

Q: Do you think Pope Benedict XVI will offer the Traditional Latin Mass from St. Peter's Basilica? Do you think he should?

HHH: I have no opinion. The Pope will do as he thinks best.

RM: Yes, I think he will. I think he'll ordain priests using the older ordination rite as well.

Q: As a closing note, is there anything you would like to add?

HHH: As we said in our founding mission statement, "Adoremus believes liturgical changes approved since the Council should be reviewed and measured against a deeper understanding of the Council's teaching. We believe the Church should reflect carefully on these changes, and evaluate them in the light of the original conciliar texts and of the experience of Catholic faithful since the Council."

We are deeply concerned about the vast majority of Catholics — most of whom have never even seen a Mass in Latin, whether the "Novus Ordo" or the "Tridentine" — and whose experience of Mass is too often limited to banal (or worse) celebrations. So we work for the restoration of beauty, truth, dignity, sacredness, holiness, mystery, and awe to all celebrations of Mass — whether in the vernacular languages or in Latin, in isolated parishes or great cathedrals. Beauty united with truth — as it should be in every single sacrifice of the Mass — has the compelling power to overcome hearts of stone and open them to Christ.

As then-Cardinal Ratzinger said in a 1998 address on the 10th anniversary of Ecclesia Dei:

"The authority of the Church can define and limit the usage of rites in different historical circumstances. But the Church never purely and simply prohibits them. And so the Council did ordain a reform of the liturgical books, but it did not forbid the previous books."

In the same address, he also observed that "There is often a greater difference between liturgies celebrated in different places according to the new books than there is between an old liturgy and a new liturgy when both are celebrated as they ought to be, in accordance with the prescribed liturgical texts."

In my article in the September Adoremus Bulletin, "Pope Benedict XVI and the Liturgical Reform," (http://www.adoremus.org/0906BenedictXVI.html) I quote extensively from this address, in which also he stressed, concerning the fear that old and new Mass coexisting might be a "stratagem or ruse to eliminate the old liturgy entirely": "Such anxieties and fears must cease! If in the two forms of celebration the unity of the faith and the unicity of the mystery should appear clearly, that could only be a reason to rejoice and thank the Good Lord."

RM: I have total confidence in Pope Benedict XVI. You cannot read him on the question of the Mass, nor hear as I have from friends who have spent several hours since 1990 talking to him — I think of the late Michael Davies and Fr. Josef Bisig [Ed. Note: Former Superior General of the FSSP] — and come to any other conclusion than that he will further the Latin Mass and ensure its availability for all who want it. I only wish Davies were around to enjoy the victory. As Benedict noted about Davies, and he said something similar about his friend Klaus Gamber, he "suffered from the Church in many ways in his time."

© Brian Mershon

 

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Brian Mershon

Brian Mershon is a commentator on cultural issues from a classical Catholic perspective... (more)

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