VATICAN MOVES TO BLOCK OBSTRUCTIONIST BISHOPS
The Vatican has begun drafting a document to elaborate on Pope Benedict XVI’s recent liberalization of the old Latin Mass (now known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) because some bishops are either ignoring his move or misinterpreting it, Vatican officials said.
The Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said in comments published Thursday that the Vatican would be issuing an “instruction” on how to put the Pope’s document, Summorum Pontificum into practice, since there had been what he called some “uneven” reactions to it since it went into effect September 14, 2007.
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, appointed by the Holy Father, has ultimate authority over implementation of “Summorum Pontificum” and lay Catholics can appeal directly to Ecclesia Dei if their bishop restricts or obstructs rights granted under “Summorum Pontificum”.
“Summorum Pontificum” issued by the Holy Father in July removed restrictions on celebrating the formerly-called Tridentine Mass, the rite celebrated exclusively in Latin before the Second Vatican Council “permitted” use of the vernacular, though still maintaining Latin as the official language of the Mass.
In “Summorum Pontificum”, Pope Benedict XVI decreed that the Roman Rite is now divided into two forms of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of Mass - the Forma Extraordinaria (Extraordinary Form), that being what was formerly called the “Tridentine”, and the Forma Ordinaria (Ordinary Form), that was formerly called the “Novus Ordo” as decreed by Pope Paul VI upon development by Catholic and protestant liturgical commissions in the years following the conclusion of the Second Vatican Countil.
Following the 1960s, the Extraordinary Form could only be celebrated with an Indult from local bishops — an obstacle that had greatly reduced its availability. It was not uncommon for bishops, particularly in the United States, to spread the word that it was not wise for a priest’s future to even request the Indult to celebrate the Extraordinary Form.
Benedict removed that requirement in “Summorum Pontificum” by extending the Indult universally to all priests of the Roman Rite, and further granting extensive rights to lay Catholics in obtaining regular daily and Sunday celebration of the Extraordinary Form in every parish, as well for funerals, weddings and baptisms.
Implementation, however, has been uneven, with some obstructionist bishops issuing rules that “practically annul or twist the intention of the pope,” Monsignor Albert Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, said recently, according to the Vatican’s missionary news agency FIDES.
Such reactions amounted to a “crisis of obedience” toward the pontiff, he was quoted as saying, although he stressed that most bishops and other prelates had accepted the Pope’s will “with the required sense of reverence and obedience.”
Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said the upcoming instruction would lay out criteria for the Pope’s document to be correctly applied, according to an interview published Thursday in the Italian religious affairs weekly “Famiglia Cristiana”. He gave no date for release of the Vatican rules for implementation.
He asserted that reactions to “Summorum Pontificum” had included misinterpretations at each end of the spectrum.
“Some have even gone so far as to accuse the Pope of having reneged on Council teaching,” Bertone was quoted as saying. “On the other hand, there are those who have interpreted the (document) as authorization to return exclusively to the pre-Council rite. Both positions are wrong, and are exaggerated episodes that don’t correspond to the pope’s intention. Essentially, the Holy Father wishes only to see both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms of the Roman Rite made available in all parishes.”
Despite such incidents, the Rev. John T. Zuhlsdorf, who runs a blog that has charted implementation of the Pope’s document, said he had seen growth in both interest in and celebrations of the older form of the Mass, among all ages of Catholics.
“In some dioceses in the United States, bishops have been stepping up to the plate and not only learning the older form, but celebrating it themselves,” he said. “Younger priests are attending workshops. Several seminaries are offering training for their priesthood candidates.”
Both Una Voce and the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter have been instrumental in educating Catholics as to the rights of priests and lay Catholics under “Summorum Pontificum”, and the Fraternity has embarked upon massive training programs for priests.
Currently, within the Archdiocese of Mobile, only one valid Extraordinary Form Mass is celebrated each month, at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Whistler.
This state of affairs will change as “Summorum Pontificum” is gradually implemented, both by pastors of parishes as well as future instructions from the Ecclesia Dei Commission, which oversees all matters pertaining to implementation of “Summorum Pontificum”.
Una Voce Central Alabama is presently working toward the ultimate goal of seeing the Extraordinary Form made easily available to all Roman Catholics in the central Alabama portion of the Archdiocese and, in time, to all areas of the Archdiocese proper.
Great progress has been made in the Suffragan Diocese of Birmingham, under the leadership of Bishop Baker (see article below), and through the very hard work of Una Voce Northern Alabama.