Rumors are flying about everywhere that Pope Benedict has already signed an order that would put in place a universal indult for the Tridentine Mass, allowing any priest to celebrate the Mass without having to receive permission from his bishop first. According to these rumors, the document will be presented at the meeting of the curial heads with the pope this April 7, a followup to their earlier meeting which discussed the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X.
Since his election, many people have speculated that a universal indult was around the corner, based on what Cardinal Ratzinger had written about liturgy in the years before. Could this finally be the fruition of that speculation? Well, there’s no way to know until he announces it.
On the one hand, you have to keep in kind that the loudest voices spreading this rumor are in the Italian media, which is not known for, shall we say, diligently separating fact from rumor. On the other hand, sources outside the Italian media, including some very reliable ones, say that they hear things are afoot, although they cannot say definitively what that is.
So we just have to keep waiting and watching.
Technorati Tags: Latin, liturgy, Mass, Traditionalist, Tridentine, vatican
Wouldn’t I love it? Haven’t I prayed for it? But I’ll believe it when I see it.
man with black hat: Critical Mass: Any Day Now…?
A universal indult for the Tridentine would be good. But I have to admit that if I had my choice, I would choose the NO in Latin either chanted, or if not chanted, the hymns would be sung in Latin and would be traditional. My chief reason for making that choice is the expanded lectionary. Prior to Vatican II, I didn’t know much about Scripture. Today it is much more familiar. I credit the expanded lectionary for that knowledge, and it would be a shame to give it up.
“The Eccleisia Dei Commission has also written that attending a SSPX Mass (so long as your intent was not to seperate yourself from the Church) would qualify for your Sunday obligation.”
Papabile, if that were true, couldn’t I attend an Orthodox liturgy with the same intent, given the motu proprio that declares the SSPX consecration of bishops “constitutes a schismatic act,” eh?
Actually it would under some circumstances. If you were in Siberia somewhere and there was an Orthodox parish, but no Catholic parish, you could fulfill your Sunday obligation there because the sacrament is valid despite the schism.
“Actually it would under some circumstances…”
I knew about that part. In fact, it happened to me years ago, though it wasn’t in Siberia. (Though there was a great deal of snow, and we had to walk.) I’m referring to the case of the SSPX chapel in particular, (and this is the important part) in light of the point I raised.
Considering the language of the Ecclesia Dei indult regarding attachment to the Tridentine such that it hinders people from being able to participate fulling in the Novus Ordo (my poor paraphrasing), I think it still would apply as a similar case.
“Considering the language of the Ecclesia Dei indult…”
Indeed, that is EXACTLY what I’m considering. I couldn’t quite follow the rest of what you were saying. And maybe that’s the problem. In all the attempts to parse the living daylights out of “the language,” we are overlooking the obvious—when a celebration of the Mass is outside of communion with Rome, it quite simply is not INSIDE communion with Rome.
Besides, if I can just attend an SSPX chapel and still fulfill my obligation, why in God’s name does it make a bit of difference to me what the Holy Father says or does after April 7?
Philip: The rumors actually began last week before April 1.
David: Good question. I don’t know that a definitive answer has been given by anyone in authority.
Papabile:
Thanks for the text. I gotta tell ya though, for a Commission that otherwise claims to have little authority to do what they were actually set up to do, they sound pretty sure of themselves in this area. Meanwhile, there is the matter of reconciling the content of the letter with this:
“[T]he unlawful episcopal ordination conferred on 30 June last by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre… was one of disobedience to the Roman Pontiff in a very grave matter and of supreme importance for the unity of the church… which implies in practice the rejection of the Roman primacy – [and] constitutes a schismatic act.”
Oh, and there’s this quote from another cardinal:
“If once again we succeed in pointing out and living the fullness of the Catholic religion with regard to these points, we may hope that the schism of Lefebvre will not be of long duration.”
—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3032
Now, I want this to wrap up as much as the next guy. But listening to Cardinal Perl, why should I care?