In a long-awaited overture to disaffected Catholic traditionalists, Pope Benedict XVI relaxed restrictions on the use of the Tridentine Mass, the Latin-language liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council.
The pope said Mass celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly known as the Tridentine rite, should be made available in every parish where groups of the faithful desire it.
He said that while the new Roman Missal, introduced in 1970, remains the ordinary way of Catholic worship, the 1962 missal should be considered "the extraordinary expression of the same law of prayer."
"They are, in fact, two usages of the one Roman rite," he said.
The pope's directive came July 7 in a four-page apostolic letter titled "Summorum Pontificum." The new norms will take effect Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
An accompanying explanatory letter from the pontiff to the world's bishops dismissed fears that the decree would foment divisions in the church or be seen as a retreat from Vatican II.
The pope said the new Mass rite undoubtedly would remain the church's predominant form of worship. Use of the old missal presupposes a certain degree of liturgical formation and some knowledge of the Latin language, and "neither of these is found very often," he said.
But the pope expressed sympathy with Catholics who are attached to the Tridentine rite and uncomfortable with the new Mass. In the post-Vatican II period, he said, excessive liturgical creativity often led to "deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear."
"I am speaking from experience, since I, too, lived through that period with all its hopes and confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the church," he said.
The pope said it is clear that, in addition to Catholics from that era, young people are also being attracted by the older form of the liturgy.
In his accompanying letter, Pope Benedict said the priests who celebrate according to the Tridentine rite cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating the new Mass.
"The total exclusion of the new rite would not, in fact, be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness," he said.
That could be an important point in the Vatican's ongoing reconciliation efforts with the members of the Society of St. Pius X, founded by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was excommunicated in 1988. The society rejects the new Mass and several important teachings of Vatican II.
In a statement July 7, the head of the Lefebvrite society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, welcomed the pope's decree and said it had created a "favorable climate" for ongoing dialogue with the Vatican. But he said doctrinal differences must be settled before there can be reconciliation with the Vatican.
The pope invited bishops to report on implementation of the new decree after three years. If serious problems emerge, "ways to remedy them can be sought," he said.
The publication of the decree came after nearly two years of review. Although it was issued "motu proprio," a phrase that signifies a pope is acting on his own initiative, Pope Benedict consulted on the question with the world's cardinals and bishops.
The Roman Missal of 1962 raises an issue in Catholic-Jewish relations. Although the phrase "perfidious Jews" was no longer in the 1962 version of the missal, it does contain a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews that asks God to end "the blindness of that people."
That led Abraham H. Foxman, U.S. director of the Anti-Defamation League, to call the papal decree a "body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations." He said it was disappointing and offensive to see such "anti-Jewish language" return to the liturgy after its removal nearly 40 years ago. The Roman Missal of 1970 changed the wording, asking prayers that Jews, as the chosen people, "may arrive at the fullness of redemption."
The text of the apostolic letter was officially issued only in Latin. The pope's accompanying letter was made available in several languages, including English. -- CNS |