Catholic World News News Feature
The motu proprio: future tests September 13, 2007
Pope Benedict is not the first Pontiff to authorize wider use of the 1962 Missal. Pope John Paul II called for a "wide and generous" application of the indult he provided in Ecclesia Dei in 1988. But that "wide and generous" application was not forthcoming from the world's bishops. In all too many cases the bishops discourage the use of the old liturgy, and offer permission only under very limited circumstances-- in some cases clearly hoping to make it inconvenient for the faithful to attend the Latin Mass.
During the last year many bishops-- especially in France, Germany, the US, and Great Britain-- actively opposed the Pope's plan to release Summorum Pontificum. Will their resistance now manifest itself within their own dioceses, despite the Pope's extra efforts to answer their concerns?
The motu proprio gives diocesan bishops far less discretion in enforcing the liturgical norms, since the Pope emphasizes that priests have the right to celebrate the older form of the Mass without any special permission. The practical test of the motu proprio, then, may be whether bishops put pressure on their priests to discourage the extraordinary form.
Informed sources believe that the Pope plans to augment the authority of the Ecclesia Dei commission, enabling that Vatican bureau to answer complaints about resistance to the motu proprio as well as to help with its implementation. No doubt the powers of that pontifical commission will be tested soon after the September 14 date when the new norms go into effect.
In America, the liturgy committee of the US bishops' conference has already released a special newsletter dedicated to Summorum Pontificum, including both the papal documents themselves and a series of questions and answers about the new norms and the extraordinary form of the liturgy. In light of the hostility that the US bishops' committee has sometimes exhibited toward liturgical norms from Rome, the newsletter offers a remarkably even-handed and sympathetic perspective on the motu proprio.
In particular it is gratifying to read that the US bishops' liturgy committee recognizes the many Catholics have been troubled by the Novus Ordo liturgy because of "the false sense of creativity unfortunately practiced by some in the celebration of the post-conciliar liturgical rites." Citing the words of Pope Benedict, the newsletter notes that this "creative" approach has led to "deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear." Insofar as the US bishops are now officially recognizing that experimentation has deformed the liturgy, Summorum Pontificum is already yielding rich fruit.
To be fair one must acknowledge that although many bishops have shown themselves unfriendly toward tradition-minded Catholics-- despite the pleas of John Paul II in Ecclesia Dei-- some traditionalists have been every bit as unfriendly in their attitude toward their bishops. Some traditionalists pounce on any opportunity to criticize the new liturgy, and a few-- a minority, certainly, but a very outspoken and divisive minority-- question whether the Novus Ordo liturgy is valid. The response to Summorum Pontificum in traditionalist circles will be another key test. If the motu proprio is warmly welcomed, that positive response might encourage bishops toward a generous implementation; if traditionalists fall into a pattern of carping criticism, bishops will feel that their hostility is justified.
In his explanatory letter, Pope Benedict is writing to bishops, not to lay traditionalists. So he can only urge the bishops to make an extra effort to accommodate reasonable requests. "It is true," he concedes, that there have been and at times social aspects unduly linked to the attitude of the faithful attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition. Your charity and pastoral prudence will be an incentive and guide for improving these."
