CLARIFICATORY 'INSTRUCTION' ON THE MASS MP EXPECTED SOON
I'm surprised Rocco Palmo does not have this item on his blog yet, but although this particular item is marked 'free' on the site of the Tablet, I am having trouble logging on, so here's a translation of the report from the Italian news agency ASCA:
VATICAN CITY, Nov. 16 (ASCA) - According to the British Catholic weekly,
The Tablet, the Vatican will be issuing 'before Christmas' an Instruction to clarify some aspects of the Motu Proprio
Summorum Pontificum.
It claims that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, presented the Instruction draft to Pope Benedict XVI at their meeting last Thursday.
The Instruction would clarify, for instance, what is meant by a 'stable group' of faithful who may request the parish priest to make the traditional Mass available to them.
Other clarifications have to do with aspects of canon law.
Such clarifications are deemed necessary because of lukewarm or even hostile reactions on the part of some bishops and bishops conferences to the Pope's full validation of the traditional Mass.
Such reactions have given rise to guidelines issued by some bishops which are considered restrictive rather than supportive of the Pope's Motu Proprio.
In recent interviews, Mons. Malcolm Ranjith, the number-two man at the Congregation for Divine Worship, has spoken about the 'rebellion' and 'disobedience' of some bishops against the Pope with regard to the Motu Proprio.
La Repubblica also has a similar story, quoting from Mons. Ranjith's interview with Fides (full transcript posted earlier on this page).
RELATED ITEM:
SEMINARIES WILL BE REQUIRED
TO TEACH THE TRADITONAL MASS?
The Italian news agency Adnkronos reports that the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei will soon publish an order addressed to seminaries "in which it is required that the celebration of the Latin Mass be taught to future priests
It is not clear whether the order will be an exclusive document or if it will be part of the general Instruction on implementing the motu proprio which is expected tyo be published soon.
=====================================================================
Apropos, here is what the Tablet said in its issue last week about the implementation of the Mass MP. The article reacts to Mons. Ranjith's earlier interview with PETRUS when he spoke of the 'rebellion' of some bishops and priests over the revalidation of the traditional Mass. The Tablet article gives a brief overview of the major 'objectors' to the MP so far.
Rebuke for bishops who resist Old Rite
By Robert Mickens
The Tablet
Nov. 9, 2007
A senior official at the Congregation for Divine Worship [and Discipline of the Sacraments] (CDW) this week said that bishops who were trying to curtail use of the Tridentine Mass were "in rebellion against the Pope" and guilty of pride, "one of the gravest sins".
Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, who serves as the CDW secretary, levelled his criticism at "theologians, liturgists, priests, bishops and even cardinals" who have written "interpretative documents that inexplicably try to limit the Pope’s motu proprio" – the document that liberalised use of the pre-Second Vatican Council Mass.
The CDW official told an Italian online news service that the bishops should especially "return to obedience" since they "have professed fidelity to the pontiff".
Pope Benedict issued his motu proprio last July despite concerns by many bishops that it could deepen divisions in the Church.
Since the motu proprio came into force on 14 September, entire national episcopal conferences – including those in the Philippines and Germany – have released explanatory letters that could be seen as placing conditions on the celebration of the Tridentine Rite and therefore limiting the implementation of the papal document.
A motion to issue such a letter by a group of Italian bishops was voted down by the conference’s permanent committee.
Some bishops around the world – including Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, and Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, chairman of the US bishops’ liturgy office
[As of Nov. 14, 2007, not any more!] – have individually written explanatory letters directly to priests in their own dioceses, and at least two Italian bishops have publicly stated that they would not permit the pre-conciliar liturgy in their churches.
Those who favour the Tridentine Mass have complained that such restrictions contradict the clear stipulations contained in the Pope’s motu proprio.
Archbishop Ranjith, who is close to the Pope and is expected by many to be the next prefect of the CDW, accused bishops who are limiting the Old Rite of being motivated by "prejudices of an ideological type or by pride".
Clergy who have voiced reserves about the motu proprio have been careful not to criticise the Pope directly and have sought subtle ways to justify their opposition to his decree.
The most prominent among them has been Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. The retired Archbishop of Milan made his point in a leading Italian paper last September by saying, that he would not celebrate the Tridentine Mass even if he counted himself among the most qualified to do so.
Others, such as Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, have downplayed the motu proprio by saying there was no interest in the Tridentine Mass in their countries, even though the head of the worldwide pro-Tridentine Mass organisation Una Voce is from Belgium.
Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi told priests in Milan that the document did not apply to the northern Italian archdiocese since it uses the Ambrosian Rite rather than the Roman one. [This, however, is sure to be clarified by the Pontifical Commission. It is said that the document will state that the Motu Proprio applies to the other Latin rites.]
In Augus,t Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow sent out a letter pointing out that the motu proprio required provision for "stable groups" who "adhered" to the earlier rite, and said he thought it unlikely there were such groups in his diocese (The Tablet, 25 August).
Archbishop Ranjith, a native of Sri Lanka, said the motu proprio was "an act of liberty and justice towards traditionalists". He then criticised celebrations of the New Rite Mass that are frequently "transformed into shows with dancing, singing and applause".
Meanwhile a small number of prominent bishops around the world have spoken in favour of the Tridentine Mass’s wider use. Cardinal George Pell became the first archbishop in four decades to celebrate the Old Rite in Sydney’s cathedral last Saturday morning.
When Father Z ran the above article on his blog, some readers asked what Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the CDW and Mons. Ranjith's boss, has had to say about the MP. A Father McAfee posted this answer:
Cardinal Arinze has spoken out before the motu proprio. He did so on EWTN. There, he said the classical roman liturgy (his name for the 1962 missal) should be celebrated whenever people want one.
However, he was not in favor of removing the requirment of the approval of the local bishop. When Benedict convened the meeting of the dicasteries, it was reported that Cardinal Arinze called for an expansion of the present indult but not a general de-restriction of the mass. The Pope chose to derestrict the Mass.
It would be interesting to find out how the cardinal envisioned expanding on the indult .How could you expand it without the removal of the major obstacle to it - the local bishop? Maybe I will ask him when I see him.
Comment by fr.franklyn mcafee
If anybody has seen anywhere any article about Cardinal Arinze's current attitude to the Motu Proprio, please share. I have been wondering about this myself, interpreting his resounding silence as disapproval, and if he does, then I feel very sorry indeed.
Fr. McAfee is right. The Pope had to bypass the local bishops in this case - doutless on solid canonical grounds that doing so through a decree with churchwide scope does not in any way challenge the bishop's authority within his diocese. At least, not one bishop or lay critic of the MP has questioned the Pope's right to issue the Motu Proprio.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/11/2007 01:18]