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Pope relaxes restrictions on use of Latin-language Tridentine Mass

Catholic News Service (http://www.catholicnews.com)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – 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 law of prayer."

This implies no liturgical division, he said, but simply "two uses of the one Roman rite."

The pope's directive came July 7 in a four-page apostolic letter to the world's bishops titled "Summorum Pontificum." The new norms will take effect Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

An accompanying personal letter from the pontiff 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 would certainly 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 noted that many older Catholics have a long connection with the 1962 Roman Missal. But in recent years, he said, it has been clearly demonstrated that young people are also being attracted by the old liturgy.

By widening its availability, the pope said, he hoped to make the new and old liturgical forms "mutually enriching."

The Tridentine Mass has been allowed as a liturgical exception since 1984, but Catholics had to request permission from local bishops, who did not always consent.

The new decree significantly altered the bishop's role, maintaining his general oversight on liturgy but removing him from initial decisions on Tridentine Masses.

The document said a priest who wishes to celebrate the Tridentine Mass alone "does not require any permission," and lay Catholics who spontaneously wish to attend such semi-private Masses may do so.

Local pastors are to handle more formal requests for scheduled Masses, the document said. The text does not require all parishes to automatically establish a Tridentine Mass schedule, but it said that where "a group of faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition exists stably," the pastor should "willingly accede" to their request to make the old Mass available.

In scheduling Tridentine Masses, the document said local pastors should balance these special requests with the ordinary pastoral demands of the parish. It offered some guidelines: On Sundays and feast days, parishes may offer only one Tridentine Mass; the old Mass can also be celebrated on weekdays and in particular circumstances such as weddings, funerals or pilgrimages. It said bishops may celebrate the sacrament of confirmation according to the old rite, too.

When a group of the lay faithful "does not obtain what it requests from the pastor," it should inform the local bishop, who is "earnestly requested to grant their desire," the document said. If the bishop is unable to provide for this kind of celebration, the matter goes to the Vatican's Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," which is charged with "maintaining vigilance over the observance and application" of the new decree, it said.

Religious orders may offer Tridentine Masses in conventual or community celebrations in their own oratories, it said.

The document also gave bishops the power to erect a "personal parish" for celebrations according to the old liturgy.

The text allowed for Mass readings in local languages, even when the 1962 missal is being used, using a Lectionary, or book of Mass readings, that has been approved by Vatican. In his personal letter, the pope also suggested that new saints and new prefaces should be inserted in the 1962 missal; that question will be studied by the "Ecclesia Dei" commission.

Priests may use the Roman Breviary of 1962 to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, including morning prayer and evening prayer, the document said.

Unlike the 1984 indult offered by Pope John Paul II, the new decree did not explicitly state that those requesting permission for the Tridentine Mass must accept the legitimacy of the new Mass. Vatican sources said such acceptance would be presumed, however.

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At a glance: Pope's letter, norms on Tridentine Mass
By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service (http://www.catholicnews.com)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Here at a glance are the central points of Pope Benedict XVI's July 7 letter and norms, which take effect Sept. 14, for the wider celebration of the Tridentine Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962:

- The current Roman Missal, published after the Second Vatican Council, continues to be the "ordinary" form for celebrations of Mass in the Latin-rite church. The 1962 missal is now considered the "extraordinary" form of the Mass.

- Any priest can celebrate Mass in private using the 1962 missal, except for the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, the Good Friday commemoration of the Lord's Passion and the Easter Vigil, which always must be celebrated with a congregation.

- Catholic laypeople may attend a priest's private Mass using the 1962 missal.

- If a recognized group of Catholic laity asks its parish priest to celebrate Mass according to the 1962 missal, he should do so. The 1962 missal can be used for Mass on any weekday, but no more than one Tridentine Mass should be celebrated in a given parish on Sundays.

- The 1962 missal can be used for baptisms, weddings, funerals and anointing of the sick, if the faithful request it.

- Even when the 1962 missal is being used, the readings can be proclaimed in the local language using a Lectionary, or book of Mass readings, recognized by the Vatican.

- If a parish priest refuses laypeople's request for celebration of the Tridentine Mass, the laypeople should turn to their bishop for assistance. If the bishop has difficulty fulfilling their request, he should seek advice and help from the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," which is responsible for coordinating pastoral care to Catholics attached to the Tridentine Mass.

- Bishops may celebrate the sacrament of confirmation using the rite that was in effect in 1962; the rite is found in a book called the "Roman Pontifical."