Vatican official sees broader use of Latin Mass

[popestpiusx]

Rome, Sep. 26 (CWNews.com) - An influential Vatican official believes
that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) could soon expand permission for
priests throughout the world to celebrate Mass using the Tridentine rite.

However, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez cautions that serious doctrinal
issues, as well as liturgical questions, must be resolved before the
traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) can be fully reconciled with
the Holy See.

Cardinal Medina, the former prefect of the Congregation for Divine
Worship, is a member of the Ecclesia Dei commission, set up by Pope John
Paul II (bio - news) to serve the needs of Catholics who cling to the
Latin Mass. In an interview with the I Media news service, the
Chilean-born prelate said that the Pope could act soon to liberalize
Church regulations, allowing all priests to use the Tridentine rite.

Questioned about the outcome of the Pope's August 29 meeting with Bishop
Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the SSPX, Cardinal Medina
observed that the meeting was preceded by "many other contacts" between
Vatican officials and representatives of the Lefebvrist group. Cardinal
Dario Castrillon Hoyos (bio - news), the prefect of the Congregation for
the Clergy, had met repeatedly with Bishop Fellay, he said. And the
Chilean prelate added that he, too, had met with the traditionalist
leader during his term as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Consequently, the cardinal said, "you could not say that the meeting
with the Holy Father was unexpected." He added that SSPX leaders are
well aware that Pope Benedict "is concerned about full communion among
all Catholics-- all Christians-- and particularly those who uphold the
decisions and positions of Archbishop Lefebvre."

Reconciliation between the Vatican and the breakaway traditionalist
group, the cardinal continued, would require "addressing a list of
doctrinal difficulties." He said that a working group could be set up to
discuss those problems.

"But within the Society [SSPX], there are different currents," Cardinal
Medina observed. While some members of the traditionalist group are
"inflexible," others are more inclined toward dialogue with Rome, he
said. He said that when some traditionalists refer to the Novus Ordo
Mass as "heretical" or "invalid," they create "an extremely difficult
situation." The Vatican will insist that SSPX members acknowledge the
validity of the post-conciliar Mass, he said; they will also be required
to accept the teachings of Vatican II.

After his meeting with Pope Benedict, Bishop Fellay suggested that a
first step toward reconciliation could be a Vatican recognition of the
right for all priests to celebrate the Tridentine-rite Mass, using the
liturgical form codified by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent.
Cardinal Medina saw "no difficulty" in expanding access to the Latin
Mass. But he reiterated that such a step 'would not resolve the
fundamental problems with the SSPX."

Questioned on whether Vatican II intended to abolish the Tridentine
rite, Cardinal Medina said that the arguments were inconclusive on that
point. However, he said, each rite is valid, and "the missal of St. Paul
V and that of Paul VI are both perfectly orthodox." He observed that
each ritual appeals to "different sensibilities," and noted that the
Offertory prayers of the old rite are particularly useful in their
emphasis on "the sacrifical character of the Mass: an essential aspect
of the Eucharistic celebration." The restoration of universal permission
to use the Tridentine Mass would involve canonical and liturgical
questions, but no major theological concerns, the cardinal said. "So I
hope that, little by little, the possibility of celebrating the old form
of the Roman rite will be opened," he said.

As a member of the Ecclesia Dei commission, Cardinal Medina reported, he
is sometimes asked to celebrate a Tridentine-rite Mass. When he receives
such a request, he said, "I do it, without asking anyone's permission."

[Theoketos]

Awesome.

[little_angel202]

sounds good to me !!!

[Oik]

[quote]As a member of the Ecclesia Dei commission, Cardinal Medina reported, he
is sometimes asked to celebrate a Tridentine-rite Mass. When he receives
such a request, he said, "I do it, without asking anyone's permission."
[/quote]



Cardinal Medina already has his Bishop's approval...

I think it would be good if some Bishops of SSPX would submit to Rome and then they could in a since have their own hierarchy. They could answer directly to the Pope, so as not to have to loose fidelity. this would require on the part of the Society to have utmost assent to the Vatican and approave the normative mass as well as accept Vatican II, as Cardinal Medina says.

The difficulty in allowing the Mass is that some Bishops will not allow it. That is why I think the Society should have their own Bishops, if they were to coem back into Communion with Rome. This way, thier own could take care of thier own.

[dspen2005]

correction -- the article makes reference to the "MIssal of Paul V and Paul VI" -- uhm, it should be Pius V and Paul VI

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='Oik' date='Sep 27 2005, 02:39 PM']


I think it would be good if some Bishops of SSPX would submit to Rome and then they could in a since have their own hierarchy. They could answer directly to the Pope, so as not to have to loose fidelity. this would require on the part of the Society to have utmost assent to the Vatican and approave the normative mass as well as accept Vatican II, as Cardinal Medina says.

The difficulty in allowing the Mass is that some Bishops will not allow it. That is why I think the Society should have their own Bishops, if they were to coem back into Communion with Rome. This way, thier own could take care of thier own.
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[/quote]
I agree.

[cappie]

[quote name='Oik' date='Sep 28 2005, 04:39 AM']

Cardinal Medina already has his Bishop's approval...

I think it would be good if some Bishops of SSPX would submit to Rome and then they could in a since have their own hierarchy. They could answer directly to the Pope, so as not to have to loose fidelity. this would require on the part of the Society to have utmost assent to the Vatican and approave the normative mass as well as accept Vatican II, as Cardinal Medina says.

The difficulty in allowing the Mass is that some Bishops will not allow it. That is why I think the Society should have their own Bishops, if they were to coem back into Communion with Rome. This way, thier own could take care of thier own.
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[/quote]

Would that mean subscribing to the notion of "flying Bishops' as they have adopted in the Anglican Communion ?

This is the notion that certain congregations in a diocese of the Anglican Church that cannot accept say women priests would come under the "jurisdiction" of a nother bishop. Is that what you mean?

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='cappie' date='Sep 27 2005, 11:09 PM']Would that mean subscribing to the notion of "flying Bishops' as they have adopted in the Anglican Communion ?

This is the notion that certain congregations in a diocese of the Anglican Church that cannot accept say women priests would come under the "jurisdiction" of a nother bishop. Is that what you mean?
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[/quote]

No. They would be placed in an apostolic administration or personal prelature which would essentially create a separate diocese, much like the eastern Catholic churches have.

[popestpiusx]

Also, they would be directly under the Holy Father.

[cappie]

Same as Opus Dei ?
OK

[popestpiusx]

A little different. The same as the Society of St. John Vianney in Campos, Brazil.

[son_of_angels]

Yes, yes, let the SSPX bishops return to Rome, then arrest them in the Vatican City, try them, and make them Archbishops of various Antartican sees, or a good old fasioned heretic burning (grinning ingeniously).

[popestpiusx]

Schismatics, perhaps; heretics, no. However, I'll not debate this here.

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='son_of_angels' date='Sep 28 2005, 12:24 AM']Yes, yes, let the SSPX bishops return to Rome, then arrest them in the Vatican City, try them, and make them Archbishops of various Antartican sees, or a good old fasioned heretic burning (grinning ingeniously).
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[/quote]

By the way, what an utterly absurd post.

[son_of_angels]

Why thank you!

[Theoketos]

It makes me drool to think of having a Trindentine Mass avalible.

[son_of_angels]

Me too, I love and regularly attend the Tridentine Mass when I am in an area where it is available. It's just that, as someone who converted to Catholicism, and thus to papal primacy, through attending such a rite, the notion that the Tridentine Mass could be used to drive people AWAY from Rome makes me angry. The SSPX attitude is such a sore spot for me because what they are doing is a perversion of our faith, the faith which has adopted me, making me an co-heir with the Church in Christ. The Tridentine rite is SO beautiful, but, like an illicit NO mass, when abused and perverted it becomes hideous.