Pope authorizes wider use of old Latin Mass

(July 7, 2007) Pope Benedict XVI issued a papal decree on Saturday authorizing greater use of the old Latin Mass, assuring Catholics worldwide, especially bishops, that there is no clash between the old and the new and that nothing is detracted from the bishop’s authority. The Tridentine Mass, also called the old Latin Mass, derives its name from the 16th Council of Trent that codified the Latin mass from earlier liturgies and approved the Roman Missal, or the mass prayer book, that was used from 1570 until the mid-1960s. Pope Benedict’s authorization that permits wider use of the Latin Mass came in the form of an Apostolic Letter "motu proprio," meaning ‘on his own initiative’, titled "Summorum Pontificum." The ‘motu proprio’ is accompanied by an explanatory letter by the Pope to the world’s bishops rejecting criticism within the Church that his long-awaited move could split Catholics and roll back the clock on reforms introduced in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, and which are opposed by many traditionalists. The Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965 replaced Latin with local languages in the liturgy. "This fear is unfounded," the Pope said in the letter. "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," the Pope said. While the old Latin Mass was never abolished, its use became restricted after the New Mass was introduced. Up till now, local bishops had the power to authorize or deny use of the Latin mass but now any priest to celebrate the Tridentine Mass without this approval. Catholics around the world can also request their local priest to celebrate Mass in Latin – and even get baptized or married according to the old Latin rite. If the priest refuses, they can appeal to their bishop who, the Pope said, "is strongly requested to satisfy their wishes". If still unsuccessful, they can go all the way to the Vatican. The Holy Father also chastised parts of the Church for taking the reforms of the Second Vatican Council too far, saying that some clergy had misunderstood them as "authorizing or even requiring creativity" and causing deformations "hard to bear". The Pope said his intention was to reconcile with traditionalists, some of whom were so angered by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council that they broke from the Church, causing the first schism of modern times. Among them is the Society of Saint Pius X, founded by the late French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and which claims about one million members. The Vatican excommunicated Lefebvre in 1988 after he consecrated four bishops without Rome's consent _ a move that then-Pope John Paul II called a «schismatic act.» The bishops were excommunicated as well.