Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Of his own accord: Motu Proprio liberates Tridentine Mass

From kath.net
The motu proprio liberating the Tridentine Mass for the entire Catholic Church has been given to about 30 bishops from all over the world in the Sala Bologna of the Apostolic Palace by Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone.

Gerald's report is here.

Interesting caveat, maybe:

Safeguards to guarantee the last word to the Bishop

The Pope, who wishes to ease the access to the rite of Saint Pius V, had asked the Ecclesia Dei commission to work towards a solution since 2006. With a double objective: favoring the return of integrist communities to the Catholic Church, but also to encourage the attachment of Catholics to a liturgical tradition mishandled, in his eyes, after Vatican II.
...

The motu proprio should predict safeguards to guarantee the last word to the bishop, in case of a disagreement between faithful and priests on this matter.

While I understand that the bishops should have the last word on the matter, I'm hoping they won't cave to the faithful and priests. I don't think they will—certainly not all of them—and let's pray that I'm right.