The old Mass now

by Editor · July 18, 2007

Pope Benedict’s moto proprio Summorum Pontificum may be seen as a pastoral masterstroke which will solve some thorny problem. But it might also create new predicaments.

It would be a mistake to view the document as the act of a pope rolling back time. As Pope Benedict rightly notes, the Tridentine Mass of 1962 was never abrogated to be replaced with the new Mass. As such, there is a legitimate contingency to make available, within reason, what remains a licit Mass.

It is a peculiar circumstance that this particular liturgical rite is loaded with political baggage. Summorum Pontificum is a way of dropping that ballast.

One effect of the decree, calculated or not, is that lay and ordained adherents of traditionalist groupings operating outside communion with Rome now have a choice: if their only impasse with Rome resided with liturgical matters, then they no longer need to exercise their liturgical life in separation from Rome. If they however continue to reject the legitimate reforms introduced by the bishops of the Church in the Second Vatican Council, then they will remain in schism with Rome.

The superior-general of the traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX), which was founded by excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, has made it clear that reforms of the Church Council, not the Tridentine Mass, continue to separate his society from the rest of the Catholic Church. It is difficult to see how the SSPX can find common ground with the postconciliar Church without making remarkable concessions.

Summorum Pontificum will therefore not necessarily hasten a healing of the schism on a structural level, but it might very well do so between some individuals and the Catholic Church. This in itself must be a source of joy for all Catholics.

However, in our joy we must also beware of the hazards which new realities could create.

Pope Benedict’s decree is designed to guide the bishops, clergy and faithful in the long-term. Those eagerly awaiting September 14 (the day when the document takes effect) to present their local parish priest with requests for Tridentine Masses will be disappointed if they set their immediate expectations too high.

While Pope Benedict has instructed the clergy and bishops to comply with his instructions, he also acknowledges that this may not always be possible less so when the demand for minority liturgies conflicts with a pastor’s mandate to provide for the pastoral and liturgical needs for the majority.

Moreover, most priests today are not trained in the preconciliar liturgy. No good will come from inadequately trained priests performing a liturgical rite for which they have little empathy in a manner that does not do justice to its full beauty and substance (just as one might not expect a priest of the SSPX saying a Novus Ordo Mass with great conviction).

Instruction in the Tridentine rite will require the allocation of scarce resources, including time. There may well be more urgent priorities for priests and their diocese to meet.

There is also the potential that Summorum Pontificum will create grounds for conflict between some members of the faithful and pastors or bishops, with liturgy being used as a pretext for denunciations. Should such fears be realised, then this would be a scandal quite contrary to the Holy Father’s generous intentions. One may expect that in its arbitrations, the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission would take a very dim view of any activity that undermines the communion or episcopal authority in a diocese.

Summorum Pontificum presents the Church with opportunities and challenges. Bishops, clergy and the faithful alike must be prepared to meet these with love and charity, ensuring that the sacrifice of the Eucharist does not become a battleground.