Vatican instruction on Latin mass

Reuters - Vatican instruction on Latin mass
(May 13, 2011) The Vatican told Catholic bishops around the world on Friday they had to obey a papal order allowing priests to say the old-style Latin mass for traditionalist Catholics who want it. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a 5-page instruction titled “Universae Ecclesiae” on how to apply Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 document "Summorum Pontificum”, authorising the wider adoption of the Latin Mass, which was in universal use before the 1962-1965 Vatican Council introduced masses in local languages. The re-instatement of the Latin mass was one of the demands of ultra-traditionalists whose leaders were excommunicated in 1988, prompting the first schism in modern times. The Pope satisfied many of them in 2007 when he allowed a wider use of the Latin mass, in which the priest celebrated the liturgy with his back to the faithful for most of the service. But some bishops around the world said privately it was a headache because of the scarcity of priests trained in Latin, and logistical problems inserting Latin mass in their schedule. "It is the task of the Diocesan bishop to undertake all necessary measures to ensure respect for the 'forma extraordinaria'," the instruction said, using a Latin term for the old liturgy. It said pastors of parishes should show "a spirit of generous welcome" to whose who wanted the old mass and had to "permit such a celebration".