Almost four years after Benedict XVI's "Summorum Pontificum" expanded
use of the 1962 Missal, clarifications on its use were released today
by the Vatican.
The July 7, 2007, document on the "extraordinary
form" of the Roman Rite made the liturgy used before the reforms of the
Second Vatican Council more accessible to the universal Church.
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
clarified "Summorum Pontificum" today with "Universae Ecclesiae."
Jesuit Father Federico, director of the Vatican press office, also
released a statement about the new document.
"Universae Ecclesiae"
carries the signature of the Ecclesia Dei president, Cardinal William
Levada.
"Universae Ecclesiae" reiterates what the Pope said in
2007: "There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman
Missal. In the history of the Liturgy growth and progress are found, but
not a rupture."
It also recalls that "Summorum Pontificum"
aimed to offer all the faithful the "precious treasure" of the
extraordinary form, guaranteeing it for all those who ask of it. The
Pope thus wanted to promote "reconciliation at the heart of the Church."
The
35 points of "Universae Ecclesiae" offer various clarifications on
concrete points. For example, it stipulates that a group of faithful
that wants to have Mass in the extraordinary form can be small, and from
various parishes or even more than one diocese.
A priest is presumed
capable of celebrating the extraordinary form as long as his knowledge
of Latin is sufficient so that he will pronounce the words correctly and
know their meaning.
Bishops are asked to ensure that
seminarians are prepared to celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form,
and any priest is allowed to celebrate it even without a congregation.
The
document also affirms that the Breviary in effect in 1962 can be used,
and that the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum can be celebrated in the
extraordinary form.
Simple
"The document is written in a simple language and is easy to read," Father Lombardi observed in his statement.
He
noted the instruction's proposal of a "spirit of 'generous welcome'
towards groups of faithful who request the forma extraordinaria or
priests who request to occasionally celebrate in such a form with some
of the faithful."
The Vatican spokesman said that a
clarification in No. 19 is "most important."
That number states that the
faithful who request the extraordinary form "'must not in any way
support or belong to groups that show themselves to be against the
validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in
the forma ordinaria' or against the authority of the Pope as Supreme
Pastor of the universal Church."
Such an attitude would be "in
flagrant contradiction to the motu proprio's very aim of
'reconciliation,'" Father Lombardi stated.
The spokesman called
"Universae Ecclesiae" a "very balanced text" that seeks to promote "the
peaceful use of the liturgy that predates the reform by those priests
and faithful who feel a sincere desire for their own spiritual good,"
and "aims to ensure the legitimacy and effectiveness of such use as much
as reasonably possible."
The text also "insists very strongly,"
the Jesuit noted, "on the spirit of ecclesial communion which must be
present in everyone -- faithful, priests, bishops -- so that the purpose
of reconciliation, as it is present in the Holy Father's decision, is
not impeded or frustrated, but encouraged and achieved."
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"Universae Ecclesiae": http://www.zenit.org/article-32564?l=english
Explanatory note: http://www.zenit.org/article-32565?l=english