What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

What a day.

Priest: We give Thee thanks, Almighty God,
for all Thy benefits,
who livest and reignest world without end.

R. Aaaaaa….

The NYT has its coverage of the MP now.  Shall we look at it together?  My emphases and comments.

June 28, 2007
Wider Use of Latin Mass Likely, Vatican Officials Say
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and IAN FISHER

Pope Benedict XVI has signed a document that would allow more churches [Well…. okay, churches] to adopt the old Latin Mass that largely faded from use during the 1960s, when the groundbreaking Second Vatican Council opened the door to worship in the local vernacular, Vatican officials say.

The revival of what is known as [a distinction, good] the Tridentine Mass has long been promoted by Roman Catholic traditionalists, who say it is more moving, contemplative and historically authentic than the modern Mass.

But Pope Benedict has been hearing resistance from cardinals and bishops, many of them in Europe, who argue that the change would divide the church by promulgating two very different official rites.  [There are already more than one Catholic rite, of course, but we get the point.]

They say that it could create rifts in smaller parishes that cannot agree which Mass to use, and that it would burden already overburdened members of the clergy, many of whom do not know Latin and were never trained to perform the older rite’s more complex choreography.  [Odd that we find the word "choreography" both here and in the execrable editorial in The Tablet I fisked the other day.  At least there is an admission in the word that steps are blocked out and care is needed.]

In the Tridentine Mass, the priest faces away from the congregation and prays, sometimes in a whisper, [As they do also in the newer Mass] in Latin, a language unfamiliar to most of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics. [There are prayerbookd available.] The Vatican II reformers intended the modern Mass to be more accessible by allowing [another distinction, good] the priest to face the congregation and to involve the worshipers in prayer and song, [ouch… mistake here in what "active participation" is about] mostly in their native language but including some passages in Latin [another mistake here: the Council wanted the language of Mass to remain Latin, while sometimes the vernacular could be used for some parts.  We know what happened with that.].

The issue is not a compulsory return to the Tridentine rite [another distinction, good], which is named for the 16th-century Council of Trent that codified it. While it is increasingly popular in small pockets of the church, there seems to be no widespread demand for it [Okay… it is increasingly popular, but there is not… yet?... widespread demand?]. The document being discussed, [well, "finalized" probably] church officials say, would allow priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass without asking for permission from their bishops.  [sounds about right]

Under the current rules, priests must get permission. And while many bishops have granted it, some [most] have not, frustrating priests [This is about FAR MORE THAN PRIESTS.  Very often journalists covering the Church slip into a mistake of focusing on clergy.] who wish to make the Tridentine Mass more widely available.

Catholic experts agree that the debate is not merely about ritual, but about the legacy of the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965.  [Yes, there is wider issue.  Let’s see what they do with this.]

Some Catholic traditionalists regard the introduction of the modern liturgy as the start of what they see as the church’s slide since Vatican II and hope that the Tridentine Mass will rejuvenate the faith. Church liberals fear that if the pope undermines the modern Mass, it may lead to the reversal of other Vatican II reforms, like more open relationships with other faiths[read: ecumenism… it always comes back to that, doesn’t it.  However, I find it interesting that "traditionalists…. hope" and "liberals… fear".]. 

Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton in England said he had freely and happily given permission for the Tridentine Mass to be celebrated in his diocese but opposed a change in the rules.  [I wonder if this is so.  I will check with priest friends there.]

“It might be taken by some to infer [worthy of what I call "episcopal subjunctive"] that Benedict himself is not entirely behind the reforms of the Vatican Council,” Bishop Conry said. “For many it’s a symbol and a flag.”  [Yes, but a good bishop and his priests will be able to explain to their people how that is not the case.  RIGHT?]

Although this change has been rumored to be in the works for years, even under Pope John Paul II, who died two years ago, the church has only recently signaled impending action.

In recent weeks several top officials, including the No. 2 at the Vatican, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the secretary of state, were quoted in news reports as saying that the document would be issued shortly. Vatican officials say that the pope has already signed it and that it will be released and go into effect before the pope starts vacation on July 9.

Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos told a meeting of Latin American bishops in Brazil in May that Pope Benedict was motivated in part by his desire to bring back into the fold the members of the Society of St. Pius X, a schismatic group opposed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The society’s founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was excommunicated in 1988 after consecrating four bishops without Vatican consent. He died in 1991. Cardinal Castrillón leads a Vatican commission created to try to reconcile the archbishop’s followers, who reportedly number about one million, [!] with the church.

In recent months some bishops in Germany, Belgium, Britain and France have strongly urged the pope not to issue the document, arguing that it would undermine their authority [the real issue] and cement the perception of a church out of line with modernity [the red herring]. The main bloc of opposition, church officials say, has come from France, where the Society of St. Pius X is strongest.  [ironic, n’est-ce pas?]

In addition, Jews and Catholics involved in interfaith relations have expressed concerns to Vatican officials that the Tridentine liturgy still includes passages offensive to Jews. The liturgy for Good Friday, for instance, contains a prayer “for the conversion of the Jews.” [Yawn…. well… this is the NYT after all.]

The Rev. Keith Pecklers, a Jesuit liturgical scholar at the Gregorian University in Rome, said: “We’ve made tremendous progress in 40 years of Jewish-Christian relations since Vatican II. What will that mean now to return to a liturgy that prays for the conversion of the Jews on Good Friday? [Yawn…. well… this is the NYT after all.]

“I don’t think they’re considering all of the potential pitfalls.” [Yawn…. well… this is the NYT after all.]

It is possible that the document will be further delayed or even derailed, but those who know the pope say they doubt it.  [Yes, this is possible.  Until the day it is issued in the proper form, it is possible.]

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, an American Jesuit priest who has published the pope’s books, said: “Because he is such a deliberate person, it is hard for me to think that he will have done all these drafts and spent all this time and not publish it. If he really believes it would help the church and doesn’t do it because some bishops complain, then all he does is strengthen the position of those bishops who want to oppose him.”  [A very good point from Fr. Fessio.  To go back now would be disaster, worse than going forward int he face of opposition.]

The Tridentine Mass has loyal fans [UGH…. what is this, a Cubs game?] who will travel great distances to churches where it is still celebrated. In Rome last Sunday, about 30 people, many of them young foreigners, attended the 10:30 a.m. Mass at San Gregorio dei Muratori church.  [They didn’t see the much larger congregation at Gesu e Maria on the V. del Corso.]

“It feels alien when you first start doing it,” said Leah Whittington, 27, [Young… this is not about nostalgia.  Also, this is non-Roman finding a place in Rome with other non-Romans and Romans too.] an American graduate student. But, she said, “I just love Latin and feeling that 2,000-year connection to the church, and I find it easier to pray, because there is not a lot of conversation between the priest and the congregation.”

Peter Kiefer contributed reporting from Rome.

The French paper Le Croix confirms with a longer article what Kath.net and Die Welt reported.

Highlights of new items:

1)  It says that the bishops were representatives of bishops conferences.
2)  After the plenary meeting ofthe Pont. Comm. Ecclesia Dei security on the MP was tightened.
3)  Not only some French bishops but also some American bishops had complained to the Holy See about this.
4)  Bishops were concerned about losing some of their authority to oversee the liturgy.
5)  The MP should have some way to protect the bishop’s rights in disputes.

The rest rehashes some old issues, such as whether some Jews may be upset by "anti-semitic" prayers, etc.  Old stories.

Le motu proprio sur le missel de saint Pie V dévoilé aux évêques

Mercredi 27 juin se tenait une réunion au Vatican avec des représentants de conférences épiscopales, à qui le cardinal Bertone a livré le contenu du motu proprio visant à libéraliser l’usage du missel tridentin

Mercredi 27 juin dans l’après-midi, des cardinaux et archevêques de différents pays étaient réunis autour du cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secrétaire d’État, pour prendre connaissance du contenu du motu proprio visant à libéraliser l’usage du missel en rite tridentin, dit «de saint Pie V».

« C’est une forme de publication interne à l’Église», confie-t-on à la curie. La publication « externe », c’est-à-dire officielle, devrait intervenir sous peu, par le biais de L’Osservatore Romano, le quotidien édité par le Saint-Siège. Le texte, rédigé en latin, sera accompagné d’une lettre de Benoît XVI en plusieurs langues.

Avant cette réunion, les évêques ignoraient tout du contenu définitif du texte. En réalité, depuis la dernière réunion connue de la commission Ecclesia Dei, chargée du rapprochement avec les mouvements intégristes, le 12 décembre 2006, les arbitrages ont été rendus dans la plus grande discrétion.

Des garde-fous pour garantir à l’évêque le dernier mot
Le pape, qui souhaite faciliter le recours au rite de saint Pie V, avait demandé dès 2006 à la commission Ecclesia Dei de travailler à une solution. Avec un double objectif : favoriser le retour des communautés intégristes dans l’Église catholique, mais aussi encourager l’attachement des catholiques à une tradition liturgique à ses yeux malmenée depuis Vatican II.

Grâce à des indiscrétions de la presse, confirmées par le Saint-Siège, on sait depuis octobre dernier qu’un projet de motu proprio visant à libéraliser le rite tridentin est en préparation. Il mettrait ce rite sur le même plan de plein droit que celui dit «de Paul VI» et il n’y aurait plus, comme aujourd’hui, d’autorisation préalable nécessaire de la part de l’évêque.

Le projet a suscité les réserves d’un certain nombre d’épiscopats, dont la France et les États-Unis, pour qui ce biritualisme de fait présente un risque pour l’unité de l’Église. La crainte est que l’évêque, soumis à des pressions en faveur d’un rite, perde son autorité sur le diocèse. Inquiétudes entendues par le pape qui, dans l’exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis en mars, a précisé que c’est à l’évêque, « liturge par excellence de son diocèse », qu’il revient de « sauvegarder l’unité unanime des célébrations dans son diocèse ».

Le motu proprio devrait prévoir des garde-fous pour garantir à l’évêque le dernier mot, en cas de contentieux entre fidèles et prêtrs sur ce point.

Des critiques venues du judaïsme
D’autres, observant que le rite en vigueur est lié à Vatican II, s’inquiètent de ce que la « banalisation » de la messe en rite tridentin rende possible une acceptation seulement partielle du Concile, ce que demandent les intégristes (lire La Croix du 11 juin). En décembre 2005, Benoît XVI a expliqué qu’il fallait « interpréter le Concile à la lumière de la Tradition », mais sans renoncer à deux de ses apports principaux, la liberté religieuse et les rapports entre l’Église et le monde, contestés par les mouvements intégristes.

D’autres critiques se sont fait jour, aux États-Unis et en Allemagne, du côté du judaïsme. Ainsi, le Conseil international juifs et chrétiens (IJCIC) a exprimé au cardinal Walter Kasper, chargé du dialogue avec le judaïsme, ses craintes quant à un retour du missel de 1962, qui contient la prière du Vendredi saint « pour la conversion des juifs », supprimée dans le missel de Paul VI.

Les mêmes observent que l’ancien lectionnaire (textes bibliques de la messe), utilisé par les tenants du rite tridentin, ne donne aucune lecture de l’Ancien Testament, patrimoine commun aux juifs et chrétiens. Là encore, le motu proprio pourrait disposer que le lectionnaire soit, dans les deux rites, celui établi par Paul VI en 1967.

Isabelle DE GAULMYN, à Rome

On Wednesday afternoon the Secretary of State, Tarcisio Card. Bertone gave the Motu Proprio to 30 bishops from around the world on Wednesday afternoon in the Apostolic Palace.  The bishops were explicitly chosen and invited for this.  (I am guessing that they were heads of Bishops Conferences.)  Pope Benedict XVI later came to the meeting.   The document is three pages long, though what the format is in not revealed.  The Pope’s accompanying letter is four pages.

It is clear from the way this was done that the Holy Father wanted to make sure that bishops got this document in this way, rather than having to read about it in the paper.  I assume that what will happen now is that these bishops, if they are heads of conferences, will return home and distribute the document to the bishop members of the conference. 

[UPDATE: They are not only heads of conferences: H.E. Archbp. Raymond Burke of St. Louis and H.E. Sean Card. O’Malley of Boston was there, whether because of this meeting or a coincidental meeting is not clear.]

The general publication is 7 July.   Review the FIVE RULES.

Many thanks to Kath.net to whom I solemnly tip my biretta for the newsflash.   o{]:¬)

27. Juni 2007, 18:35
Motu proprio zur ‘Alten Messe’ am 7. Juli

    Kardinalstaatsekretär Tarcisio Bertone übergab am Mittwoch in Rom das Schreiben an 30 Bischöfe – Kardinal Lehmann in Rom – Papst bei Vorstellung dabei – 3-Seiten-Dokument und 4-Seiten-Begleitbrief – Von Paul Badde / Die Welt

Vatikan (www.kath.net/DieWelt)
Das Dokument, mit dem Papst Benedikt XVI. die alte tridentinische Liturgie aus eigenem Willen (lat.: „motu proprio“) für die gesamte katholische Kirche wieder freigibt, ist am Mittwochnachmittag rund 30 Bischöfen aus aller Welt in der Sala Bologna des Apostolischen Palastes von Kardinalstaatsekretär Tarcisio Bertone übergeben worden.

Die Bischöfe waren eigens dafür nach Rom eingeladen worden. Am Ende der Begegnung, in der das Papier zusammen mit einem erläuternden Begleitbrief vorgestellt wurde, kam auch Benedikt XVI. selbst zu der Vorstellung. Eine Diskussion der Entscheidung war jedoch nicht mehr vorgesehen. Das Dokument stellt auf knapp drei Seiten lang eine Epochenwende der katholischen Messfeiern dar.

Der Begleitbrief umfasst gut vier Seiten. Aus Deutschland war Kardinal Karl Lehmann, der Vorsitzende der deutschen Bischofskonferenz, zu der Übergabe eingeladen. Alle Umstände des Vorgangs machen deutlich, wie sehr dem Papst daran gelegen war, dass die Bischöfe den brisanten Inhalt „in einem besonderen Akt kollegialen Entgegenkommens“ von ihm selbst und nicht aus der Presse oder anderen Medien erfahren sollten.

Die allgemeine Veröffentlichung beider Dokumente ist für den 7. Juli vorgesehen. Die Erläuterungen des Begleitbriefs halten noch einmal ausdrücklich die Einheit des römischen Ritus fest. Der eine Ritus wird sich jedoch ab jetzt in eine ordentliche und eine außerordentliche Form gliedern, die sich fortan gegenseitig befruchten sollen.

Die ordentliche Form wird weiterhin der neue Ritus sein, den Papst Paul VI. 1969 mit einem beispiellosen Federstrich verfügt hat. Als außerordentliche Form bleibt nun aber auch der lateinische Ritus erlaubt, den Papst Johannes XXIII. zum letzten Mal 1962 im offiziellen „Missale Romanum“ niederlegte, dessen Grundzüge zum letzten Mal im Konzil von Trient (1545 – 1563) festgelegt worden waren. 

Partial translation.

Believe Fr. Z when he says he has a solid lead! o{];¬)

The good blog Pontifications has closed shop.

"Namárië" he wishes us.

Cura ut valeas!

Do you recall what I posted yesterday about appointments?   It seems Marco Tosatti was right.

#  RINUNCIA DEL GRAN MAESTRO DELL’ORDINE EQUESTRE DEL SANTO SEPOLCRO DI GERUSALEMME E NOMINA DEL PRO-GRAN MAESTRO

Il Santo Padre ha accolto la rinunzia presentata, per ragioni d’età, dall’Em.mo Card. Carlo Furno all’incarico di Gran Maestro dell’Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme ed ha nominato Pro-Gran Maestro del medesimo Ordine Equestre S.E. Mons. John Patrick Foley, Arcivescovo tit. di Neapoli di Proconsolare, finora Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali.

[00970-01.01]

# NOMINA DEL PRESIDENTE DEL PONTIFICIO CONSIGLIO DELLE COMUNICAZIONI SOCIALI

Il Papa ha nominato Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali S.E. Mons. Claudio Maria Celli, Arcivescovo tit. di Civitanova, finora Segretario dell’Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica.