Bishop of Augsburg very encouraging about older use of Roman Rite

I received a very informative e-mail from GK, to whom I tip my biretta o{]:¬)

 

As a follow-up on the email I sent you about the guidelines on the usus extraordinarius issued by H.E. Msgr. Walter Mixa, Bishop of Augsburg, I am happy to correct my former impression and to report that H.E., in the homily he gave in his Cathedral on yesterday’s solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, has made very encouraging statements about his stance on the usus antiquior and clarified some points of his guidelines. This teaches us how appearances may be fallacious and to be very cautious in "labelling" Bishops in particular, and fellow men in general.

H. E. said he supports Pope Benedict’s wish to cultivate anew the Mass according to missal of Bl. Pope John XXIII and to extend its celebration in dioceses and parishes. The general admission of the "old Mass" expressed  – he said – the unbroken tradition of the Sacrifice of the Mass as celebrated by the Catholic Church throughout the centuries and always, in its concrete form, object of special care of the Popes. He thanked the Holy Father for his initiative granting wider admission to the traditional Mass, which could again provide access to the entire treasure of the Church’s liturgy especially for younger faithful.

He stressed that it were his intention to grant in his diocese liberally (literally: wide-heartedly) and generously, according to the wish of the Holy Father, the possibility of celebrating the usus extraordinarius, which in a globalised world were also an expression of the world wide communion/connectedness of the Catholic Church. His guidelines were destined to serve this end. In a first step, a larger number of churches is to be selected for celebrating in the forma extraordinaria regularly, in order for the faithful not to have to travel great distances.  H.E. called the number of 25 faithful, contained in the guidelines, a point of reference, which, as the case may be, need not be reached. The Bishop expressly countered concerns of division in the Church brought about by to leges orandi.

The article from the official site of the diocese: http://www.bistum-augsburg.de/ba/dcms/sites/bistum/index.html?f_action=show&f_newsitem_id=7822&tm=1

Vatican Radio German service also reports: http://www.radiovaticana.org/ted/Articolo.asp?c=149827

 

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8 Comments

  1. Jayne K says:

    The Bishop’s comment “especially for younger faithful” reminds me of my sons reaction to the Sancta Missa site which I described in a post on COL: http://forum.catholic.org/viewtopic.php?t=45978
    I wrote:
    “I was surprised that my 12 and 6 year old sons seemed to share my interest. They found me watching the training videos and gathered round the computer to join me. The 12 year old had lots of “professional” comments from his perspective as an altar server. He even expressed his willingness to be trained as an altar boy if we do the extraordinary form at our parish. I hope we do.”

  2. Petrus Radii says:

    This is a radical turnaround for Bishop Mixa. He has been a persistent foe of the Traditional Roman Rite, despite the fact that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has its seminary in his diocese. Just a week or so ago, he had issued norms for implementing “Summorum Pontificum” which were in many respects “ultra vires” and extremely restrictive. He even demanded an explicit auto-da-fe from Catholics requesting or desiring the Traditional Latin Liturgy.

    Hmmm….

    Sounds like “higher authority” stepped in, to me. Those who can read German can find the stories at “www.kreuz.net”.

  3. Petrus Radii says:

    This is a radical turnaround for Bishop Mixa. He has been a persistent foe of the Traditional Roman Rite, despite the fact that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has its seminary in his diocese. Just a week or so ago, he had issued norms for implementing “Summorum Pontificum” which were in many respects “ultra vires” and extremely restrictive. He even demanded an explicit auto-da-fe from Catholics requesting or desiring the Traditional Latin Liturgy.

    Hmmm….

    Sounds like “higher authority” stepped in, to me. Those who can read German can find the stories at “www.kreuz.net”.

  4. Dan says:

    Fr. Z, it would be interesting to hear your overall reaction to the reaction of the bishops — whether it is line with what you expected, better, or worse — and to the reaction of the Catholic and non-Catholic world. In particular, it would be interesting to know if, as a consequnce of what has happened since the motu proprio was issued, you are more optimistic or less optimistic about the future of the extraordinary rite.

  5. laura says:

    Hey! No RED words this time! Woohoo!

  6. TAAD says:

    I wrote Bishop Mixa several months ago commending him for speaking out against increasing day care
    for children and making women feel the need to work. He was attacked for his remarks
    by the liberals (other bishops included). He actually responded and thanked me.

  7. G says:

    “He even expressed his willingness to be trained as an altar boy if we do the extraordinary form at our parish. I hope we do.”

    Jayne, HE should ask for it.

    (Save the Liturgy, Save the World)

  8. Jayne K says:

    G,
    Good idea. Although, having discussed it with our parish priest, I think he does not need much persuading to celebrate the older form of the Mass. He wants to do it, although he seems slightly daunted by the practical steps involved (obtaining missals and vestments,learning the rubrics, training altar boys, moving the altar, etc.). He was very interested when I told him about the Sancta Missa site. What a great resource it is! It has just the encouragement and practical help our priests need.

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