Today Pope Francis promulgated legislation expressly designed to negate the provisions made by Pope Benedict in 2007, which made the Latin Mass more widely available. We shall have to wait to see how this new initiative works out, but I predict that, at least in England and Wales, it will have little impact.
Pope Francis is putting the onus on bishops to implement measures that will be deeply resented by the traditionalist community, and be seen as deeply divisive by mainstream Catholics. No doubt it will be applauded by some in the Church, but in numerical terms, these are few. Supporters of Stand Up For Vatican II and We Are Church, are now mostly octogenarians or have departed this world. I suspect that the majority of bishops will not be too keen to court the inevitable unpopularity. Probably, arrangements will continue much as they are, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, this is an attack on the Mass of Ages, and very unwelcome.
The text of the motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, can be found elsewhere, and I a few points:
1. Priests will have to have the permission of their bishop to celebrate the Latin Mass.
2. Latin Masses should not take place in parochial churches.
3. No new groups (locations) are to be set up.
It seems that the need for a strong Latin Mass So it seems that the need for a Latin Mass Society is as great as ever. Please consider joining. This can be done via the LMS main website.
How many Latin Masses are celebrated outside of parochial churches? Here in our diocese (Hexham & Newcastle) bishop Robert Byrne (who celebrates the EF Mass) has made it clear that things are at present unchanged & that Latin Masses will continue as before.
ReplyDeleteOne of my main difficulties in accepting the logic of the 'motus proprio' is that Pope Francis seems to be implying that the omniscient Holy Spirit is giving advice to both Pope Benedict in 'Summorum Pontificum" & himself in his motu proprio. Doesn't that seem strange to anyone else? Surely the Holy Spirit would have foreseen the difficulties caused by giving different guidance to 2 Popes