Now that the intense days of Holy Week have passed and I have begun to catch up on my backlog, I have had some time to review a few back copies of the publication Mass of Ages, which the kind folks at the Latin Mass Society sent for my inspection.
In the November 2007 issue, there is an interesting piece by my friend Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro. It is also online.
The article touches on some points of recent discussion here at WDTPRS, for example, whether Communion in the hand is permissible at celebrations of the TLM.
Let have a gander with my emphases and comments.
The Implementation of the Motu Proprio
Writing from Rome, Mgr Ignacio Barreiro analyses the ideological objections to the Holy Father’s historic Motu Proprio and anticipates firm action by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to support the Holy Father’s will.
We have witnessed different reactions among bishops, groups of bishops or individuals who have publicly commented on this fundamental new law of the Church. Some of these reactions have been very positive and encouraging, others have been restrictive and erroneous. I am not surprised at this problematic interpretation; many of us predicted that the implementation of the Apostolic Letter, Summorum Pontificum of 7 July 2007 was not going to be easy. [That’s for sure!]
A very positive development that needs to be noticed is the appointment of Mgr Guido Marini of the Archdiocese of Genoa, as Master of the Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies. Monsignor Marini, even if he is relatively young at 42, has a very impressive curriculum vitae as a master of ceremonies, canonist and spiritual director. Most of those who know him underline that he is a very serious and dedicated person. It is significant that in the comments he released after his nomination he underlined his admiration for the conservative Cardinal Giuseppe Siri.
Perhaps the most egregious attack on the Motu Proprio has come from Bishop Raffale Nogaro of Caserta near Naples. He is reported as having made very demeaning comments on the Traditional Liturgy of the Church to the leading Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera. This bishop has a reputation of being particularly ‘tolerant’ and embracing all sorts of liberal causes, but after the Motu Proprio he has adamantly refused to permit the public celebration of the Extraordinary Use of the Mass. In his reaction we have a perfect case of ‘asymmetry of indulgence’, [Excellent phrase!] which is not unknown in other prelates who share his attitude.
Trying to counter media rumours [ehem… It’s called "spin" ... "damage control".] that some Italian bishops, members of the Permanent Council of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, had strongly criticised the Motu Proprio, Bishop Giuseppe Betori, Secretary General of the Conference, told the ZENIT news agency on 29 September that: “No Italian bishop is against the Motu Proprio; [Ho Ho!] if there is any bishop who refuses the application of the Motu Proprio, he is out of the line of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and even of…the Holy Father.” These comments can be interpreted at two levels; at their face value they are a denial that some members of the Permanent Council objected to the Motu Proprio, but they can also be interpreted as a warning to bishops like Bishop Nogaro who are ready to challenge the Motu Proprio.
Leaving aside the analysis of the concrete reactions of different bishops or individuals, it is useful to consider the substance of the various objections that have been presented against the Motu Proprio, and the different initiatives that have been put forward by bishops or groups of bishops to diminish the scope of application of this fundamental new law of the Church; this includes some erroneous legal interpretations.
Objections to the Motu Proprio
One of the most preposterous objections against the Motu Proprio is the claim that it is not yet in force because it has not been published in the Acta Apostolica Sedis (AAS), which is the official periodical of the Holy See. [This is now resolved.] This opinion clearly contradicts what is mandated in canon 8§1 of the Code of Canon Law, which, after setting the general principle that a law of the Church enters into force three months after publication in the AAS, establishes that a shorter or longer interval can be expressly prescribed in the new law itself. The Motu Proprio establishes that, “We order that everything We have decreed with these Apostolic Letters issued as Motu Proprio be considered as having full and lasting force, and to be observed from 14 September of this year, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary.” So it is absolutely clear that this law entered into force on 14 September and we do not need to wait for the publication of the text in the AAS.
In the opinion of some commentators, such as Fr Paolo Farinella in his book, The Return to the Ancient Mass, the Motu Proprio is not acceptable because it reintroduces in the Church an ecclesiology that was left aside by the new ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council. They underline how in their opinion, each Missal is connected with a different type of ecclesiology. The principle that these authors are unable to demonstrate is that the Council introduced a new ecclesiology in the Church. To state that the ecclesiology of Vatican II is incompatible with the previous theology of the Church would be a form of the “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” that Benedict XVI denounced in his address to the Roman Curia of 22 December 2005. In the same address the Holy Father demonstrates how the constitution of the Church could not be altered by the Second Vatican Council due to the fact that it is unchangeable, because the “essential constitution of the Church comes from the Lord and was given to us so that we might attain eternal life.”
Erroneous views of the twenty-first Council of the Church were denounced by the then Cardinal Ratzinger when he stated: “The Second Vatican Council has not been treated as a part of the entire living Tradition of the Church, but as an end of Tradition, a new start from zero. The truth is that this particular Council defined no dogma at all, and deliberately chose to remain on a modest level, as a merely pastoral council; and yet many treat it as though it had made itself into a sort of super dogma which takes away the importance of all the rest” (Address to the Bishops of Chile, July 1988).
Other critical reactions to the Motu Proprio are focused on the defence of the new lectionary and that the homily should be based on those readings. This can be seen in the brief book by Manlio Sodi, The Missal of Pius V – Why the Mass in Latin in the Third Millennium? or in comments by the Committee on the Liturgy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [headed then by H.E. Bp. Trautman] on the implementation of the Apostolic Letter, Summorum Pontificum. These criticisms are based on the contemporary assumption that the faithful benefit from the presentation of a wider selection of Scriptural passages [which to some makes Mass seem rather like a "didactic moment"] than that contained in the Missal of 1962, and that the homily of the Mass should refer mainly to the readings of the Mass. With regard to the use of a wider selection of readings it should be noted that many priests with long pastoral experience point out that few of the faithful, after participating in the Mass of Paul VI, have a clear and precise recollection of the four readings that are normally used on Sundays in this Mass. [Exactly!] With regard to the Sunday homily the code of Canon Law mandates that “the mysteries of the faith and rules of Christian living are to be expounded” (CCL 767). As a consequence, “A homily, therefore, need not necessarily be focused on the Gospel of the day” (Commentary on the Code by the University of Navarre).
Constraining the Motu Proprio
Some bishops have established stringent rules [This is the most troubling point.]
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