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MUST READ: Msgr. Pozzo’s comments on the Instruction “Universae Ecclesiae” in L’Osservatore Romano

Posted on 14 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The text of the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae appeared in the Saturday 14 May daily edition of L’Osservatore Romano.

In the Sunday edition of 15 May, there is a summary of a talk for the conference in Rome on Summorum Pontificum by Kurt. Card. Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity entitled “Dalla liturgia antica un ponte ecumenico… An ecumenical bridge from the old liturgy”. I am sure that Sandro Magister will have the indefatigable Matthew Sherry translate the text into English. I just don’t have the will to translate it myself. It is a fine piece and it sets up, in a way, what follows.

On the same page of L’Osservatore Romano is a piece by Msgr. Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesiae Dei” entitled “Il significato dell’istruzione «Universae Ecclesiae» … The meaning/significance of the Instruction ‘Universae Ecclesiae‘”.

I have taken the time to translate this piece by Msgr. Pozzo. It merited the effort and I think you find it very useful in your consideration of the significance of Summorum Pontificum in this pontificate and for our own corners of the Church.

Some preliminary remarks.

1. During my initial comments on the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae I made the observation that the Instruction placed Summorum Pontificum within the Magisterium of Benedict XVI. The Motu Proprio is not just juridical, but theological. It is teaching as well as law. Of course, it has to be teaching, doesn’t it? It concerns liturgy, and, as I have said a zillion times here, liturgy is doctrine. Faith, doctrine, liturgy, identity are all interlocked. They are facets reflecting the bright core of the same jewel of our beautiful and true Catholic Thing. At the core of the jewel, and any doctrinal formulation or definition which can be taught and memorized and studied, or within in any prayer or oration of our liturgical worship there is a single content convered to us: Jesus Christ, speaking, teaching, revealing, healing, raising, forgiving, saving.

2. I was convinced before that Summorum Pontificum aimed at promoting the use of the Extraordinary Form, not merely providing it for those who asked for it. Card. Castrillong, former President of the PCED, said this openly. The will of the Pope in the Motu Proprio included that people who don’t know the older form actually come to be exposed to it. The older, Extraordinary Form is a gift for all, not just those who know about it. For all. Every Catholic of the Latin Church – and also in the whole of the Catholic Church – has the Extraordinary Form as part of their heritage. It belongs to all of us. We must not be cheated out of our inheritance. If someone were to die and leave you a precious thing in his will, and the executor of that will kept from you, that executor would be robbing you, defrauding you, cheating you our of the treasure the person who wrote the will desired you to have. Bishops and priests: we have a responsibility now to mainstream the Extraordinary Form and those who don’t will be remiss in their responsibility.

3. In the piece by Msgr. Pozzo, below, note that he at a certain point talks about people, in celebrating the Extraordinary Form are actually celebrating the FAITH “in the same way by which the Church substantially did for centuries.

4. This whole this is about the promoting of a hermeneutic, an interpretive lens and approach of continuity over and against a false and harmful approach, an approach of discontinuity and rupture.

5. As I repeat all the time in the context of anything ecumenical, Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity. Benedict is holding up a new standard of ecumenical practice. It’s working in the ad extra point of view, our relations with those outside formal union with the Church. However, Benedict must also be the Pope of Christian Unity ad intra as well. Summorum Pontificum concerns unity among Catholics of centuries past with us today and in the future, and now of those who see the Council of 1963-65 as a break with the past and those who don’t.

I have a great deal more to say about Msgr. Pozzo’s piece, but here it is in my fast translation from the Italian original without any emphases or comments so that bloggers and others can more easily lift it and use it. NB: I may tweak it in the course of events.

The meaning of the Instruction “Univerae Ecclesiae”

The liturgical Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium of the Second Vatican Council, affirms that “the Church, when the faith or the general common good is not in question, does not intend to impose, not even in the Liturgy, a rigid uniformity” (n. 37). It has not escaped the notice of many people that today the faith is in question, for which reason it is necessary that the legitimate variety of ritual forms must recover the essential unity of Catholic worship. Pope Benedict XVI accurately called this to mind: “In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognize in a love which presses “to the end” (cf. Jn 13:1) – in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen” (Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Concerning the Remission of the Excommunication of the Four Bishops Consecrated by Archbishop Lefevre, 10 March 2009).

Blessed John Paul II in his own turn recalled that “Sacred Liturgy expresses and celebrates the one faith professed by all and, being the heritage of the whole Church, cannot be determined by local Churches in isolation from the universal Church” (Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 51) and that “Liturgy is never anyone’s private property, be it of the celebrant or of the community in which the mysteries are celebrated” (ibid. n. 52). In the Conciliar liturgical Constitution there is affirmed moreover: The sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way” (n. 4). Esteem for ritual forms is the presupposition of the work of revision from time to time becomes necessary. Now, the two forms, Ordinary and Extraordinary, of the Roman liturgy are an example of reciprocal growth and enrichment. Whoever thinks or acts to the contrary, undermines the unity of the Roman Rite which must be tenaciously protected, does not carry out an authentic pastoral activity or correct liturgical renewal, but rather deprives the faithful of their patrimony and their inheritance to which they have a right.

In continuity with the Magisterium of his predeceessors, Benedict XVI promulgated in 2007 the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, with which he made more accessible the Universal Church the riches of the Roman liturgy, and now has given the mandate to the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” to publish the Instruction “Universae Ecclesiae” in order correclty to favor its application.

In the introduction to the document there is affirmed: “With such a Motu Proprio the Supreme Pontif Benedict XVI has promulgated a universal law for the Church” (n. 2). This means that one isn’t dealing with an indult, nor with a law for particular groups, but with a law for the whole Church, which, given the subject matter, is also a “special law” which “derogate from those legislative provisions, inhering in the Sacred Rites, issued from 1962 onward and incompatible with the rubrics of the liturgical books in force in 1962” (n. 28). Let it be remembered here the golden patristic principle on which the Catholic communion depends: “every particular Church must be in harmony with the Universal Church, not only insofar as the doctrine of the faith and sacramental signs are concerned, but also concerning to uses universali received from the uninterrupted apostolic tradition, which must be observed not only in order to avoid errors, but also to transmit the totality of the faith, because the law of the prayer of the Church corrisponds to its law of the faith” (n. 3). The celebrated principle lex orandi-lex credendi recalled in this paragraph, is at the foundation of a restoration of the Extraordinary Form: Catholic doctrine of the Mass in the Roman Rite has not been changed, because liturgy and doctrine are inseparable. There can be in the one and the other form of the Roman Rite, accentuations, underscorings, clarifications which are more marked of some aspects in respect to others, but this does not undermine the substantial unity of the liturgy.

The liturgy was and is, in the discipline of the Church, a subject matter reserved to the Pope, while Ordinaries and Episcopal Conferences have some delegated responsibilities, specified by Canon Law. Moreover, the Instruction reaffirms that there are now “two forms of the Roman Liturgy, defined respectively as Ordinary and Extraordinary: that is, two uses of the single Roman Rite (…) The one and the other form are expressions of the same lex orandi of the Church. Because of its venerable and ancient use, the Extraordinary Form must be preserved with due honor” (n. 6). The following paragraph quotes a key passage of the Letter of the Holy Father to the bishops which accompanied the Motu Proprio: “There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful”(n. 7). The Instruction, in line with the Motu Proprio, does not regard only those who desire to continue to celebrate the faith in the same way by which the Church substantially did for centuries; the Pope wanted to help all Catholics to live the truth of the liturgy in order that, by knowing and participating in the old Roman form of celebration, they might grasp that the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium wanted to reform the liturgy in continuity with tradition.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Pope of Christian Unity, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The Drill, The future and our choices, Universae Ecclesiae | Tagged Archbp. Lefevbre, Benedict XVI, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Ecclesia Dei, Msgr. Guido Pozzo, PCED, Sacrosanctum Concilium, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Univerae Ecclesiae
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The Feeder Feed: ancient Greek edition

Posted on 14 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I picked this up from the Laudator today, somewhat rearranged.

The Laudator is a great tree lover, by the way.

The text in question is Aristophanes, Birds 1058-1071.

ἤδη ᾽μοὶ τῷ παντόπτᾳ
καὶ παντάρχᾳ θνητοὶ πάντες
θύσουσ᾽ εὐκταίαις εὐχαῖς.
πᾶσαν μὲν γὰρ γᾶν ὀπτεύω,
σῴζω δ᾽ εὐθαλεῖς καρποὺς
κτείνων παμφύλων γένναν
θηρῶν, ἃ πάν τ᾽ ἐν γαίᾳ
ἐκ κάλυκος αὐξανόμενον γένυσι παμφάγοις
δένδρεσί τ᾽ ἐφημένα καρπὸν ἀποβόσκεται.
κτείνω δ᾽ οἳ κήπους εὐώδεις
φθείρουσιν λύμαις ἐχθίσταις·
ἑρπετά τε καὶ δάκετα < πάνθ᾽> ὅσαπερ
ἔστιν, ὑπ᾽ ἐμᾶς πτέρυγος
ἐν φοναῖς ὄλλυται.

Aristophanes, Birds 1058-1071 (sung by the birds, tr. Jeffrey Henderson):

To me, the omniscient
and omnipotent, shall all mortals
now sacrifice with pious prayers.
For I keep watch over all the earth,
and keep safe the blooming crops
by slaying the brood of all species
of critters, who with omnivorous jaws
devour all that in soil sprouts from the pod
and the fruit of the trees where they perch;
and I slay those who spoil fragrant gardens
with defilements most offensive;
and upon creepers and biters every one
from the force of my wing
comes murderous destruction.

The same, tr. Benjamin Bickley Rogers:

Unto me, the All-controlling,
All-surveying,
Now will men, at every altar,
Prayers be praying;
Me who watch the land, protecting
Fruit and flower,
Slay the myriad-swarming insects
Who the tender buds devour
In the earth and on the branches with a never-satiate malice,
Nipping off the blossom as it widens from the chalice.
And I slay the noisome creatures
Which consume
And pollute the garden’s freshly scented bloom;
And every little biter, and every creeping thing
Perish in destruction at the onset of my wing.

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962), chapter 8 (And No Birds Sing):

The feeding habits of all these birds not only make them especially vulnerable to insect sprays but also make their loss a deplorable one for economic as well as less tangible reasons. The summer food of the white-breasted nuthatch and the brown creeper, for example, includes the eggs, larvae, and adults of a very large number of insects injurious to trees. About three quarters of the food of the chickadee is animal, including all stages of the life cycle of many insects. The chickadee’s method of feeding is described in Bent’s monumental Life Histories of North American birds: “As the flock moves along each bird examines minutely bark, twigs, and branches, searching for tiny bits of food (spiders’ eggs, cocoons, or other dormant insect life).”

Various scientific studies have established the critical role of birds in insect control in various situations. Thus, woodpeckers are the primary control of the Engelmann spruce beetle, reducing its populations from 45 to 98 percent and are important in the control of the codling moth in apple orchards. Chickadees and other winter-resident birds can protect orchards against the cankerworm.

Posted in Lighter fare, The Feeder Feed | Tagged Aristophanes
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WDTIRS: Universae Ecclesiae 32: Drilling into the Latin and English (reciting the Breviary)

Posted on 14 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I had a question from a priest about Univerae Ecclesiae on the topic of recitation of the office, and a cleric’s obligation. I also had conversations with three priests yesterday during which the topic of our daily office came up.

UE 32:

32 – Omnibus clericis conceditur facultas recitandi Breviarium Romanum anni 1962, de quo art. 9, § 3 Litterarum Apostolicarum Summorum Pontificum, et quidem integre et Latino sermone.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
32. Conceded to all clerics is the faculty of reciting the Breviarium Romanum of the year 1962, dealt with in 9, § 3 of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, and indeed (of reciting it) wholly and in Latin.

RELEASED TRANSLATION:
32. Art. 9 § 3 of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum gives clerics the faculty to use the Breviarium Romanum in effect in 1962, which is to be prayed entirely and in the Latin language.

The more you look at the Latin alongside the English, the clearer it is that the document was not composed in Latin.

In any event, the LATIN is what we go by in the case of juridical documents.

For the sake of being complete, SP says: 9 § 3. It is lawful for clerics in Holy Orders to use also the Breviarium Romanum promulgated in 1962 by Bl, John XXIII.

A first observation. The Breviarium Romanum is not the Breviarium Monasticum in its various uses (Benedictine, Cistercian & Carthuisian).

My reading of the English suggests that the cleric who reads the Breviarium Romanum has to, must, read the whole of the day’s office and he must read it in Latin, not in an English translation.

My reading of the Latin suggests that the whole of the Breviarium can be read and the Breviary can be read in Latin.

So, in reading the English it seems that once the priest picks up the Roman Breviary for his in the morning, he has to use that book for the rest of the day, instead of switching to the Liturgy of the Hours for, say, Vespers and Compline.

In reading the Latin of UE 32 it seems as if the cleric can read the whole office from the Roman Breviary. That is, he has the faculty to read it wholly and in Latin, not the obligation to read it wholly and in Latin.

Moreover, the law is to be interpreted in such a way that it favors the people to whom favorable things are given. This is one of those cases. Interpret it UE 21 favorably.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Mail from priests, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Universae Ecclesiae | Tagged breviarium romanum, Liturgy of the Hours, Roman Breviary, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Univerae Ecclesiae
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Fr. Finigan on Universae Ecclesiae

Posted on 14 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

His Hermeneuticalness, P.P. of mighty Blackfen, the Dean of Bexley, Fr. Tim Finigan has a good roundup about Universae Ecclesiae, looking at different blogs which looked at the document.

Also, Fr. Finigan offers this sporting analogy analysis:

Fr Z has been searching for an alternative to the American Rounders [Crickey! He is a traditionalist!] expression “no hitter.” I admit to having woefully failed to understand this expression. May I therefore offer some cricketing analogies for some of the paragraphs mentioned above?

The PCED were first to bat and their first innings was not too exciting although n.4 was a deliberate edge just outside third slip for four. In to bowl, PCED stamped its authority with n.7, an obvious but dangerous fast delivery on target for middle stump by the fresh bowler, while n.8a added a little seam and n.8b moved a worryingly towards leg stump. n.10.1 was a bouncer that made an orange-sized bruise, while n.13 was the work of a timely spin bowler who made the batsman’s heart beat nervously. In the second innings, nn. 20 and 21 were a series of perfectly executed square cuts to the boundary against a lacklustre medium-pace bowler and n.28 was the devastating punishment of a short ball hooked for six over the head of long leg. n.33 was a cheeky run taken while mid-off was fumbling and n.34 was one of those drives that made the umpire dance to avoid stopping the ball. PCED declared with every chance of bowling out the liberals easily.

There. I have not the slightest clue what most of that means, but I’m sure that says it all.

Posted in Lighter fare, Linking Back, Mail from priests, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Universae Ecclesiae | Tagged Fr. Finigan
12 Comments

WDTIRS: Universae Ecclesiae 21: Drilling into the Latin and English (training of priests and seminaries)

Posted on 13 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A question came in about what the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae really says, in paragraph 21.

Since we look at texts here, lets see UE 21.

21 – Ordinarii enixe rogantur ut clericis instituendis occasionem praebeant accommodatam artem celebrandi in forma extraordinaria acquirendi, quod potissimum pro Seminariis valet, in quibus providebitur ut sacrorum alumni convenienter instituantur, Latinum discendo sermonem et, adiunctis id postulantibus, ipsam Ritus Romani formam extraordinariam.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
21 – Ordinaries are strenuously (enixe) asked that they offer to clerics (clericis) to be trained up (instituendis) opportunity for acquiring adequate ars celebrandi… art of celebrating… in the Extraordinary Form, which point is has force above all (potissimum) for Seminaries, in which provision will be made that the students of holy things are to be suitably (convenienter) trained, by learning the Latin language, and, as additional circumstances demand it (adiunctis id postulantibus), the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite itself.

RELEASED TRANSLATION:
21. Ordinaries are asked to offer their clergy the possibility of acquiring adequate preparation for celebrations in the forma extraordinaria. This applies also to Seminaries, where future priests should be given proper formation, including study of Latin and, where pastoral needs suggest it, the opportunity to learn the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite.

Clerici includes deacons. Deacons includes permanent deacons and transitional deacons. Transitional deacons may be still in seminary. Thus, Ordinaries are strenuously asked to make sure that their clergy, including deacons in seminary, are given the opportunity for training. That would have to be – logically – either in the seminary itself or, obviously, elsewhere. But deacons are to be trained, not just priests.

Note that the released translation ignores the Latin adverb enixe.

Also, the gerund form clericis instituendis suggest that this is something which must be done. They are to be trained up.

Note that the released translation ignores the Latin adverb potissimum, “, chiefly, principally, especially, in preference to all others, above all, most of all”. This applies “in preference to all others… especially” seminaries.

WDTPRS asks…

Was the old lame-duck ICEL team reassembled?

Did those who prepared the English version not think that adverbs are important?

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Universae Ecclesiae, WDTPRS | Tagged clerics, Extraordinary Form, seminaries, UE 21, Universae Ecclesiae
22 Comments

WDTPRS KUDOS to the Bishops of England and Wales: meatless Fridays re-established

Posted on 13 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

If perhaps the Conference of England and Wales won’t be enthusiastic about Universae Ecclesiae I read this with pleasure from the site of Peter Jennings:

Fish on Friday re-established by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales

By Peter Jennings · May 13, 2011

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have re-established the Friday Penance of abstaining from meat on a Friday. [Do I hear an “Amen!”? Catholics are bound to do penance on Fridays, but conferences play a role in establishing what that penitential practice is to be.]

The law will come into force on Friday 16 September 2011, the First Anniversary of the State Visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom in 2010. [Is it therefore reasonable to connect this move with Pope Benedict’s wishes? Perpend.]

Following their Spring Meeting at Hinsley Hall, Leeds, Monday 9 to Thursday 12 May 2011, the Catholic media office issued the following statement (13 May 2011) under the heading Catholic Witness – Friday Penance:

By the practice of penance every Catholic identifies with Christ in his death on the cross. We do so in prayer, through uniting the sufferings and sacrifices in our lives with those of Christ’s passion; in fasting, by dying to self in order to be close to Christ; in alms-giving, by demonstrating our solidarity with the sufferings of Christ in those in need. All three forms of penance form a vital part of Christian living. When this is visible in the public arena, then it is also an important act of witness.

Every Friday is set aside by the Church as a special day of penance, for it is the day of the death of our Lord. The law of the Church requires Catholics to abstain from meat on Fridays, or some other form of food, or to observe some other form of penance laid down by the Bishops’ Conference.

The Bishops wish to re-establish the practice of Friday penance in the lives of the faithful as a clear and distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity. [Do I hear an “Amen!”?] They recognise that the best habits are those which are acquired as part of a common resolve and common witness. It is important that all the faithful be united in a common celebration of Friday penance. [May we all soon be well-known in all society for our Friday penance, as of old.]

Respectful of this, and in accordance with the mind of the whole Church, the Bishops’ Conference wishes to remind all Catholics in England and Wales of the obligation of Friday Penance. [Huzzah!]

The Bishops have decided to re-establish the practice that this should be fulfilled by abstaining from meat.

Those who cannot or choose not to eat meat as part of their normal diet should abstain from some other food of which they regularly partake. [Or… perhaps go hungry.]

This is to come into effect from Friday 16 September 2011 when we will mark the anniversary of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom.

Many may wish to go beyond this simple act of common witness and mark each Friday with a time of prayer and further self-sacrifice. In all these ways we unite our sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ, who gave up his very life for our salvation.

WDTPRS KUDOS to the Bishops of England and Wales in their resolution.

This is a small thing, perhaps, but then also not so small. You might say that there are many other things which need the attention of the bishops there, and their strong, bold, resolve. But all journeys begin with first steps and, even well along the way, small steps still carry you forward when the ground itself is treacherous.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Brick by Brick, Clerical Sexual Abuse, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices | Tagged abstinence, Conference of England and Wales, fasting, friday, meat, meatless Fridays, penance
55 Comments

Archbp. Nichols (Westminster) on Universae Ecclesiae and seminarians

Posted on 13 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I have been watching Twitter about Universae Ecclesiae. Anna Arco, the persistent feature writer of the UK’s best Catholic Weekly (full disclosure – they print my stuff each week), quotes the reaction of His Excellency Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster said concerning training of seminarians.

A verbatim quote:

Personally I don’t think it needs to be added to an already crowded seminary programme… because it’s a skill that can be learned later in a priest’s life.

“Hmmmm….” quoth I. “Can’t be.”

Then I received this from a renowned figure of my acquaintance:

Archbishop Vincent Nichols addressed Universae ecclesiae in the press conference covering the biannual Bishops’ Conference meeting, drawing attention to paragraphs 13, 15 and 19 of the document: which respectively assert the bishop’s authority, define that enigmatic “stable group” and spell out that the Mass in the Extraordinary Form cannot be requested by people who are against validity or legitimacy of the ordinary form or who suggest the Pope is not the Church’s supreme pastor.

[Ad rem…] When asked whether seminaries in England and Wales would teach the Extraordinary form as is recommended by the Vatican document, Archbishop Nichols answered that this depended on the phrase “where pastoral need suggests it” [Exactly as I predicted.] and said the requirement was “provisional” not “absolute”. He added that the document was the product of a “process of consultation conducted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in which every bishop around the world was asked, how this was going, and was asked to assess to the needs”. The diocese of Westminster, he continued, asked if any priests were willing to learn—and there were “plenty”—and therefore the needs were met. [What is not addressed in this answer is whether or not Latin Church priests ought to know the liturgical rites of their Church.]

He said: “Personally I don’t think it needs to be added to an already crowded seminary programme because it’s a skill that can be learned later in a priest’s life.” [Later?]

I don’t post this in order to criticize the Archbishop of Westminster, but rather to underscore something that my experience as confirmed again and again.

I would bet that a great many of the young seminarians in England and Wales want to learn and are going to learn the older forms one way or another. Just a guess.

Posted in SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Universae Ecclesiae | Tagged Archbp. Nichols, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Universae Ecclesiae, Westminster
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Reason #42564 for Universae Ecclesiae

Posted on 13 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Benedict XVI is a kind man of generous spirit. His desire to bring healing to a Church divided in every sphere if its life, and to lend to all, both on the liberal and the traditional side, a better lens through which to interpret the Council, is surely at the heart of his provisions in Summorum Pontificum and his approval of Universae Ecclesiae.

There are, however, those motives which arise from less than happy circumstances.

Here is a story from CNA I post with emphases but without comments.

One priest’s story

Rome, Italy, May 13, 2011 / 12:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Father Stephen Dunn had a very personal reason for wanting to learn the Tridentine Mass.

“My father, who attends the Tridentine Mass every Sunday, has stipulated in his will that he is to be buried to the Tridentine Mass and no other Mass. So as his only son who’s a priest I hated to think I couldn’t bury my father through incompetence and lack of knowledge of the traditional Mass of the Church.”

So when Pope Benedict XVI called for a more generous provision of the Tridentine Mass in his 2007 document “Summorum Pontificum” Fr. Dunn thought the time had finally come to learn the traditional liturgy. Hence the priest from Glasgow, Scotland, quickly signed up for a course in Oxford, England, organized by the Latin Mass Society.

Crucially “Summorum Pontificum” lifted the requirement upon priests to receive episcopal approval before saying the old Mass. However, Fr. Dunn explained, soon all the priests in Glasgow received a four page advisory document drafted by the chancellor of the archdiocese, Monsignor Peter Smith.

Fr. Dunn said the advisory note seemed to interpret the Pope’s instructions in a way that effectively turned many of them on their head. In fact, the renowned blogger Fr. John Zuhlsdorf described the advisory document’s interpretation of “Summorum Pontificum” as the “coldest, most hostile I have read so far.”

“There were three Glasgow priests signed up to the course in Oxford. After that note came round, two dropped out. They felt really intimidated. My own response, though, was to stick it out and attend.

“Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster said the first Mass. When I told him I was from the Archdiocese of Glasgow he said, ‘My goodness, you’re a brave boy’.”

That’s why Fr. Dunn welcomes today’s official clarification from the Vatican as to how “Summorum Pontificum” should be authentically interpreted and applied. So much so that he’s traveled to Rome for its publication and to attend the first traditional liturgy celebrated at the high altar of St Peters Basilica since 1969.

The Mass will take place this weekend.

“It’s really great. The fact that Rome is being so clear and precise about what the document really means. There now has to be obedience on all sides. It gives me great cause for hope and I pray by the grace of the Holy Spirit and through the intercession of Our Lady that Pope Benedict and his advisors are firm in applying this to bishops around the world and don’t accept any wavering.”

There are now only two parishes in Glasgow offering the Tridentine Mass but Fr. Dunn says that five other priests are now learning how to say the traditional liturgy.

Meanwhile, the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica will be offered this Sunday morning by Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Summorum Pontificum is Benedict XVI’s great gift to priests, part and parcel of his “Marshall Plan”, then perhaps Universae Ecclesiae is some wrapping and a bow.

Posted in Brick by Brick, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The future and our choices, Universae Ecclesiae | Tagged Glasgow, Marshall Plan, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, Universae Ecclesiae
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QUAERUNTUR: More questions about Universae Ecclesiae

Posted on 13 May 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

I have a couple of questions [Looks like more than a couple.]
!. In regards to Breviarium Romanum. “Summorum Pontificum gives clerics the faculty to use the Breviarum Romanum in effedt in 1962, which is to be prayed entirely and in the Latin language.”
What if used by the faithful, in replacement of the LOTH. Can the Breviarum Romanum be prayed in vernacular. What if the faithful gather together without a priest, can it be prayed in vernacular, if no one understands or can speak Latin good enough. [Those who are not bound to say the office may do as they please.]
2. In regards to 19. The faithful who ask for the celebration of the forma extraordinaria must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria or against the R
Roman Pontiff etcc”.
Will this also apply to the faithful of the forma ordinaria. They as well must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma extraordinaria. [Neither Summorum Pontificum nor Universae Ecclesiae concern themselves with the faithful during celebrations of the Ordinary Form.]
3. In regards to 34. The use of the liturgical books proper to the Religious Orders which were in effect in 1962 is permitted.
Will this allow say a Franciscan OFM. To privately or publicly to use the liturgical books of their Order in 1962, or will they need permission from their superiors. [I think this will depend on the particular law of the orders in question.]
4. Will this document apply to the Ambrosian Rite. And what if the Ordianriates wish to use the Sarum Rite?. Will this document apply to these circumstances. Or will another document have to address these issues. [No. No. Yes.]

I believe that the Sarum Rite was not one of the Rites grandfathered in. The music associated with the Sarum thing was, however. Use as much as possible.

Another reader writes:

I noticed Universæ Ecclesiæ mentions the Sacrament of Confirmation (§29), but what about Matrimony? Suppose one wants to get married outside his home parish at a church that permits Ordinary Form weddings for non-parishioners. Could the pastor of that church legitimately forbid a wedding in the Extraordinary Form (EF) from occurring in his church? My wife and I faced this problem when we were looking for a church in which to marry because our EF parish did not have its own church yet. This is an exceptional and probably rare situation, so I doubt Universæ Ecclesiæ can help at all in this case, but I thought I’d ask to be sure. Thanks

When you get into the subject of marriages, the playing field shifts a bit. No one has a right to be married in church X. You have to deal with the pastor, rector, etc. This is not just a matter of which book is used for the rites. However, people can certainly be married with the older rite, provided that there is a priest willing and able and everything is done within what is reasonable at the church.

Just because Universae Ecclesiae is out, that doesn’t mean people don’t have to exercise charm and diplomacy and have all their ducks in a row when dealing with priests.