MP statement of Diocese of Grand Rapids, MI (USA)

You can see a pattern to the diocesan statements being issued.    Most often, they will include statements along the lines of "we have had a place since [fill in date] for the older Mass" and that the provisions of Summorum Pontificum "won’t make much of a difference".   These elements are exemplified in the following statement of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in Michigan (USA).

DIOCESE OF GRAND RAPIDS

Office of Communications

Bishop Walter A. Hurley’s Statement on “Tridentine Mass”

“In his recent statement our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has shown his pastoral care and
that of the Church by making an accommodation for those members of the faithful who desire to
worship God with the Mass prayers and related sacramental celebrations of the 1962 Missal of
Blessed Pope John XXIII commonly known as the “Tridentine Mass.” In many ways it reflects
the ability of the Church to incorporate multiple expressions of the same sacramental reality.
The Missal of 1970 of Pope Paul VI and John Paul II (the post-Vatican II liturgy) remains the
“ordinary form” for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The 1962 (pre-conciliar) Missal of
Blessed Pope John XXIII is the “extraordinary form” for celebration of the Eucharist.

The Holy Father stated that this accommodation allowing a wider celebration of the 1962
version of the Mass should not be seen as calling into question the abiding significance of the
teachings of the Second Vatican Council. He understood the fact that the teachings of the
Council are in no way diminished by allowing a wider usage of the former (pre-conciliar) ritual
for the Mass and other sacraments.

In the Diocese of Grand Rapids we have already been offering this form of the Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus (and earlier at Our Lady of Sorrows) since 1990. This will continue as it has been. With this history and availability I do not foresee any significant change in the diocese.
The major change with the Motu Proprio is the elimination of the requirement that the priest
seek prior permission to celebrate according to the older traditional ritual.”

Most Reverend Walter A. Hurley
Bishop of Grand Rapids
July 8, 2007
Contact:
Mary H. Haarman
Director of Communications
616-475-1240
616-443-3860