Catholic World News News Feature
The motu proprio: What is new? September 13, 2007
Summorum Pontificum states flatly that the old form of the Mass, the 1962 Missal, was never abrogated. Implicitly the Pope is recognizing that many faithful Catholics have suffered a grave injustice, since they were told that the old form of the liturgy was now forbidden.
At present-- until the new norms established in the motu proprio take effect on September 14-- Catholics who seek access to the old Mass must petition their diocesan bishop, who may grant permission of the use of the 1962 Missal, under the terms of Pope John Paul's Ecclesia Dei-- or he may choose not to allow it.
With his new norms Pope Benedict recognizes that many bishops have not allowed the "wide and generous" access to the old form that his predecessor had encouraged. Citing St. Paul's words to the Corinthians (2 Cor 6), the Pope now exhorts all bishops: "Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows."
But Pope Benedict goes beyond exhortation, and establishes the rights of the faithful in terms of canon law. Every priest has the right to use the "extraordinary form," and needs no further permission. Wherever a "stable group" of parishioners asks for the old Mass, their pastor should "willingly accept" their request, the Pope adds.
In short, whereas Ecclesia Dei treated the celebration of old Mass as an unusual concession that the diocesan bishop could grant, Summorum Pontificum establishes the "extraordinary form" as a normal usage of the Roman rite. For the past two decades the presumption has been that the 1962 Missal could not be used, and the bishop has had the authority to make exceptions to that norm. Now the presumption is that the 1962 Missal can be used, and bishops have the burden of explaining why it should not be available-- as, for instance, when no priest is adequately qualified to celebrate the old Mass.
If the faithful do not have access to the "extraordinary form," because of particular circumstances in their parishes, Pope Benedict says that they should approach the bishop. And if their bishop does not satisfy their request, he invites them to bring their problem to the Vatican's Ecclesia Dei commission-- where, one assumes, they will find a sympathetic hearing.
Pope Benedict does insist that priests who use the extraordinary form of the Mass should recognize the validity of the new liturgy. He writes that "priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books." However, he allows for the celebration of the other sacraments-- confirmation, ordination, weddings and funerals-- according to the old rubrics.
The Pope stipulates that the "extraordinary form" of the Mass should be celebrated using the Roman Missal of 1962-- that is, in accordance with the old liturgical calendar. He does suggest that the readings from Scripture could be done in the vernacular. Otherwise he makes no change in the old liturgy.
The Pope allows for the possibility that some "personal parishes" will be created in which the old liturgy is the regular usage. He allows religious institutes to choose the old liturgy for their own communities. In ordinary parishes he envisions the use of the "extraordinary form" for one Sunday Mass. He stipulates that the 1962 Missal should not be used for private Masses during the Easter Triduum, since during the Triduum the entire parish is drawn together for the celebration in the ordinary form. (Note that this does not mean the 1962 Missal is banished during the Easter Triduum; presumably it would be used in those parishes or institutions devoted primarily to the extraordinary form. But in the typical parish where the Novus Ordo is the regular usage, the old Mass would not be celebrated privately because the whole community would come together for the celebration of the Easter Triduum. In short the Pope is barring the private celebration of Mass, not the use of the old Missal.)
