These are great days worry in the Catholic world more tied to tradition. Those faithful who have found full acceptance or who have begun to love the so-called Latin mass after the liberalization desired by Benedict XVI in 2007 with the Summorum Pontificum they read with concern an indiscretion published by the international blog Rorate Coeli. According to the site, in fact, the Holy See is about to issue a new document intended to completely suppress the celebrations in what Joseph Ratzinger he defined the extraordinary form of the single Roman rite.
The rumors
The rumors give an account of “serious, heavy and persistent voices” coming from sources “very reliable” and close to Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the dicastery for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments on the basis of which a new document ready to to forbid “in a rigorous, radical and definitive way” the celebrations in Vetus Ordo. There is already a hypothesized date for the release of this latest tightening: July 16th. This is not a random date because on the same day, three years ago, the motu proprio was promulgated Custodian traditions which effectively abrogated the liberalization granted by Benedict XVI, breaking hearts, according to the formula used in an interview by his secretary Monsignor Georg Gänsweinto the elderly Pope who was still alive at the time.
The application
Despite Custodian traditions granted the bishops the task of supervising the celebrations according to the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint John XXIII in 1962, in recent years the Holy See seems not to have been satisfied with the application of the provision. Thus, in February 2023, there was a further squeeze with a rescriptum signed by Cardinal Roche who, overturning the basic principle behind Custodian traditions, he reduced the role of the diocesan bishops by centralizing more decision-making power in the dicastery he led. Insistent rumors of an even more extensive ban seem to suggest adissatisfaction by the Holy See for the results of the application of these two provisions. Recently an influential liturgist as Andrea Grillogiving an interview to the blog Messainlatino.it, he explained the reasons of those who are against allowing there to be space in the Church for those linked to the ancient liturgy. For the professor of the Pontifical University S. Anselmo “the discipleship of Christ is not membership in a high society club nor an association to speak a strange language or to identify with the past, cultivating reactionary ideals” And “since the Church and faith they are seriouscannot be reduced to the association of those who cultivate nostalgia for the past”.
Faithful and priests on the increase
Images of the Pentecost mass of pilgrimage of over 100km starting from the church of Saint-Suplice in Paris to the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres have impressed many. Thousands of faithful, presumably 18 thousand, participated in the event dear to the world of Catholic tradition. Even in Italy, the Sunday solemn mass in the parish of Trinità dei Pellegrini, where it is celebrated according to the 1962 missal, continues to record a very high participation and a very low average age of the faithful. From the United Kingdom to the United States, there is no doubt that – despite the restrictions – so-called traditionalist communities are experiencing a flourishing moment. The large youth participation in Latin masses is an indication that the predilection for this type of liturgy is not an ideological choice against the Vatican Council II and the priests who celebrate according to the extraordinary form have no problem celebrating also in the ordinary form.
Considerations which, however, do not convince those who believe that the survival of the ancient liturgy could generate confusion and division in the Church. Could a possible new document from the Dicastery for Divine Worship intended to ban this type of celebration forever have a truly beneficial effect on ecclesial communion?