Card. Pell: 1st Syndey archbishop in 40 years to pontificate with 1962 Missal

Posted on 4 November 2007 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There is a good piecein Zenit about what Card. Pell did in Australia to support Summorum Pontificum.

Australia Celebrates Letter on 1962 Missal

SYDNEY, Australia, NOV. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal George Pell will be the first archbishop in the Sydney Archdiocese in 40 years to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, reports the Oriens Foundation.

The archbishop of Sydney will preside Saturday at a Mass said in the extraordinary form at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The event is a celebration on the occasion of Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter "Summorum Pontificum," published in July.

The letter, issued "motu proprio," on one’s own initiative, explained new norms allowing for the use of the 1962 missal as an extraordinary form of the liturgical celebration. The norms took effect Sept. 14.

The Australia-based Oriens Foundation, which promotes understanding of the Tridentine rite, said in a press statement that the Mass "represents a significant event in the life of the local Church."

Gary Scarrabelotti, the Oriens Foundation chairman, said that he hopes that "Summorum Pontificum" will provide the Church "with a splendid opportunity to draw to the attention of the Catholic people, and to the wider community, the great cultural and spiritual merits of the traditional form of Catholic worship."

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5 Comments

  2. Henry Edwards says:
    4 November 2007 at 5:02 PM

    Interesting details from Michael Pearce, well-known Australian traditional Catholic:

    “The Assistant Priest was Fr Michael McCaffrey FSSP. Significantly the Assistant Deacons were Fr Donald Richardson, the Archdiocesan Master of Ceremonies, and Fr Timothy Deeter, Director of the Archdiocesan Liturgy Office, who is an experienced celebrant of the Traditional Mass, and a top-notch preacher.”

    “I thought we were optimistic in providing 1000 booklets for the congregation. How wrong we were. There were upwards of 1800 there.“

  3. Tommaso says:
    5 November 2007 at 11:05 AM

    This is indeed encouraging because for all of his strengths in Moral Theolgy, Dr. Pell hasn’t been characterised as a strong liturgist.

    Does this mean the Cathedral’s wreckovation will have to wait till Benedict returns home?

  4. JohnK says:
    5 November 2007 at 1:01 PM

    This is a somewhat surprising development, and very welcome. A number of bloggers have excoriated Archbishop Pell, along with many other Australian bishops, as being less than receptive to any reforms. Perhaps the Australians are in better hands than some would believe.

    It’s less surprising that I’ve seen none of the bloggers reexamine the situation, much less retract their strident statements, in the light of Archbishop Pell’s actions here.

  5. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:
    5 November 2007 at 7:48 PM

    A number of bloggers have excoriated Archbishop Pell,

    Not WDTPRS! We have always thought this fellow was great!

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