As you may know, today in Rome Pope Francis issued a new decree which expressly abrogates all prior permissions regarding the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 liturgical books. Under his new directive, the Traditional Latin Mass can still be offered, but with what appears to be tight restrictions, subject to the permissions of bishops and, it appears, Rome.
At this time, I do not know how this affects the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass at St. Remy. As I said a few minutes ago on our Facebook page:
It is with great sadness that I learn Pope Francis has abrogated prior permissions for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. He has mandated that priests must request permission to continue to offer the Mass according to the older form, and authorized bishops to continue to allow the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass; this morning I sent an urgent email to Archbishop Schnurr requesting permission so that we may continue to have the Traditional Latin Mass as we have done.
I am sure there are many questions and concerns; I really don't know much more than I've shared here. Archbishop Schnurr has always been very favorable toward traditional expressions of the faith, so I am confident he will respond as generously as possible. I suspect he, too, is trying to figure out the implications of this.
I ask that everyone pray for the Holy Father and for what happens now, as I think there will be a great deal of unhappiness and conflict. If you have strong feelings, I strongly urge you to think and pray before offering commentary that may be overheated.
Archbishop Schnurr is, I am sure, scrambling to figure out what permission he can give at this point: does my request for permission to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass need to be ratified in Rome? Meanwhile, there are Masses planned everywhere, and now everything is in suspense.
While I will greatly limit my own commentary on this for the time being, there is one point I see people making already: that all this was prompted by bad behavior on the part of those who love the Traditional Latin Mass. I think this is terribly unfair. Sure, there are bitter people who behave badly; they are everywhere.
For the time being, I'm going to refrain from further commentary. It is forseeable that some folks will react in unhelpful ways, and I do not wish to do that myself, or goad anyone into it.
13 comments:
Fr Fox, I believe that people like you will favorably influence Archbishop Schnurr to allow the old form to continue.
RCG:
I repeat: Archbishop Schnurr, in my experience, has been completely open and generous to those who are devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass. He responded very quickly to my email today, advising me that he appointed Father Ryan Ruiz to oversee how this whole thing will be carried out. Father Ruiz is an excellent choice and I know will also be generous.
That said, they are bound to obey the directives of the pope.
Yes, I remind people the he has allowed the FSSP to have Holy Family. I greatly respect and am grateful for that.
Father Fox,
Someone right will win out. This motu proprio is mean spirited and vile. Liberals show once again they cannot compete in the marketplace of ideas - suppression is their standard operating procedure. I like what Bishop Paprocki, a canon and civil lawyer, in Springfield did. He dispensed 2 parishes from following this motu proprio. He would not do this unless he was on firm ground. Reasonable and practical bishops must be scratching their heads
Father Fox,
The British bishops have elected to treat this motu proprio as guidelines and to maintain the status quo. Since American liberals think everything the Europeans do is superior to what we Americans do, surely they will follow the British bishops lead!!!
Father Fox,
The British bishops have elected to treat this motu proprio as guidelines and to maintain the status quo. Since American liberals think everything the Europeans do is superior to what we Americans do, surely they will follow the British bishops lead!!!
Is it your understanding, Father Fox, that TC and Mons Schnurr's interpretation thereof suppress a cleric's right (that had existed under Summorum Pontificum, I mean) to use the pre-Liturgy of the Hours Roman Breviary?
I am saddened that Pope Francis severely restricted the Extraordinary Form Mass. I am in mourning. It looks like that Holy Family Dayton OH is the only parish for the Extraordinary Form Mass now. Very sad.
Why did the Pope do this? I do not understand his motives at all.
Marc:
I haven't considered that specific question, as I do not use the Roman Breviary. I have read arguments pro and con about the full scope of this new motu proprio, but I have not taken sides.
Let’s hope and pray that Archbishop Schnurr gives permission to Holy Angels Sidney OH, St Remy Russia OH, St Mary Urbana OH, to celebrate the Extraordinary Form Mass publicly again. It is in God’s hands.
Marc:
I wrote my earlier comment rather quickly. Here's what I mean: I haven't figured out what I think the motu proprio allows or disallows. I am entirely in favor of people using the old breviary; but I don't know if the pope's edit allows it. I hope it does.
Thank you for taking the time to write your comments. I haven't lived in the C. archdiocese since the late 70s; can't really recall whether Old Saint Mary's celebrated a solemn TM Mass or a solemn NO Mass back then but that was the only church where either the one or the other was available. Quite a drive! The Oratory churches and the FSSP church in Dayton are an improvement beyond that one Mass once a Sunday, at any rate.
I do use the pre-LOTH Roman Breviary but since am not a cleric there's no way TC can impact my own habits.
Marc:
Last time I checked, Old Saint Mary's offered the TLM and it will continue to do so.
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