Here is a moment both dismaying and amusing in a piece by the excellent CNS Rome correpondent John Thavis. As you know, the bishops of Canada have been completing their ad limina visits. The bishops of Western Canada were just recently in Rome. That’s the lead up to the good bit in the CNS article (my emphasis):
Canadian Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, told Catholic News Service Oct. 10 that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, head of the Congregation for Clergy, had spoken briefly to Canadian bishops about the expected step [i.e., expanding use the 1962 Missale Romanum].
"It sounded to me like it was a sort of concession somebody has made," the archbishop said.
Archbishop Weisgerber said the new indult was apparently motivated by a desire to bring comfort to older people who may miss the old rite. But in his archdiocese, he said, the few people asking for it are "young people who never experienced it."
Yes, Your Excellency, young people. This is a common experience through the whole world. Young people want the older form of Mass too. It never ceases to amaze me that the form of Mass which nourished countless souls for centuries and had the power to capture the hearts and minds of so many generations of our ancestors, in good times and bad, across hundreds of different cultures, should still have the power to attract young people. Amazing.
But the truly fun part of Mr. Thavis’s article was the comment that the possible future "ïndult" is just…
"… a sort of concession somebody has made … "
Ya gotta love that!
Using this a model, I wonder if we can come up with other versions or explanations for the expansion of the use of the 1962 Missale Romanum. Let’s see. How about this?
In regard to what the late Pope John Paul II did in 1986 and 1988: "… a compassionate gesture for the sake of care of souls that the sorrowing Pontiff commanded be extended …"
Well, I guess that’s just living in the past, right? How about this?
In regard to what the present gloriously reigning Pope Benedict XVI may eventually issue: " … a prayerful and deeply pondered course correction promulgated by the Vicar of Jesus Christ … "
I wonder if you can come up with your own versions??
(Be nice!)
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