There’s considerable being said about the anticipated “official” release of the motu propio anticipated tomorrow (7-7-07,) in the midst of it all is the concern for outdated references to outside the Catholic/Christian tradition:
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“Pope Benedict XVI is expected in a directive tomorrow to encourage priests to use the traditional Latin mass, even though its Holy Week liturgy includes prayers for the "faithless Jews," Protestants and "heathens."
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“Cristina Borges, development director for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a society of priests, says the Latin missal, or Catholic book of worship, includes a Good Friday service with prayers for: "the Church, for the Pope, For Clergy and People ... for those afflicted and in danger; For the Heretics (Protestants) and Schismatics (Eastern Orthodox), For the Jews, For the Heathen. ...
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"Let us pray also for the faithless Jews, that our God and Lord would withdraw the veil from their hearts that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ.
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"Almighty and eternal God, who drivest not away from Thy mercy even the faithless Jews, hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people, that acknowledging the light of Thy truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness ...."
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But Whispered in the Loggia says: “While “a priest does not require any permission” to celebrate the 1962 form “without the people,” the faithful “who spontaneously request” its celebration “may be admitted” to said Masses, but no such "private" liturgies may be performed during the Paschal Triduum.” So that seems to preclude the use of the 1962 Missal for Good Friday, eliminating the above concern.
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Another issue referenced on the Internet is that the 1962 Missal “presupposes a certain degree of liturgical formation and some knowledge of the Latin language,” something not taught in seminaries in the US for the past 25 years. Although I have parishioners who are willing to pay to send me to “Tridentine Summer School,” it’s simply not a valid option. What’s going to happen is that some priests will be railroaded into poor celebrations of the Mass of the 1962 Missal.
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Sean Cardinal O'Malley of Boston wrote in his blog about a recent visit to Rome where the pope spoke about the directive. "(The Pope) was very clear that the ordinary form of celebrating the mass will be the new rite, the Norvus Ordo. But by making the Latin mass more available, the Holy Father is hoping to convince those disaffected Catholics that it is time for them to return to full union with the Catholic Church. ... The Motu Propio is his latest attempt at reconciliation.”
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But Father Francis Berna, director of the graduate program in theology and ministry at La Salle University in Philadelphia, said "there really is no appeasing them." He believes conservatives want more than a Latin mass. They also want to go back to a "triumphant Catholicism."
Interestingly, Benedict apparently believes that 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. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”
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Tomorrow will give us all a chance to study the motu propio and the explanatory letter that accompanies it. Then the debate over what exactly it means will begin. It’s important to recall that it is going to be designated an “extraordinary” form of the Mass, understanding that the word does not mean “better than” but rather “outside or beyond” the norm. The Novu Ordo Mass will remain normative. Anyone who has a problem with that need only recall that the “ordinary” ministers of Holy Communion are the Bishop, Priest and Deacon. The Laity are the “extraordinary” ministers.
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