THIS BOMBSHELL SHOULD BE MORE LIKE A CHILL PILL IN TERMS OF POPE FRANCIS' APPRECIATION OF TRADITION IN THE LITURGY AND THE HOLY FATHER IS SOON TO APPROVE THE ANGLICAN ORDINARIATE MASS WHICH INCORPORATES MUCH OF THE "REFORM OF THE REFORM OF THE LITURGY" THAT POPE BENEDICT INITITATED, AND IT WILL BE THE TEMPLATE FOR THE LATIN RITE REVISION OF THE REVISED POST-VATICAN II MASS NOW CALLED THE ORDINARY FORM

The New Liturgical Movement reports the following, my comments at the end:

Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Pope Francis on the Divine Liturgy: "The center is God..."
by Peter Kwasniewski

With all the talk of Pope Francis, this item, courtesy of Robert Moynihan (http://themoynihanletters.com) should greatly interest the readers of NLM. (Note that this excerpt is from Letter #78, which is not yet available at the above-mentioned website.)
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Toward the end of the interview, a Russian journalist asks the Pope to comment on the 1025th anniversary, currently being celebrated in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, of the baptism of the Rus', the ancient Russian people, centered at the time (988 A.D.) in Kiev.

In response, the Pope makes a very positive judgement on the liturgy of the Orthodox. To my knowledge, this response has been little noted.

"They [Orthodox] have conserved that pristine liturgy, no?" Pope Francis says. "So beautiful. We [i.e., the Latin Christians] have lost a bit the sense of adoration, they conserve it, they praise God, they adore God, they sing, time does not count. The center is God and that is a richness that I would like to emphasize on this occasion as you ask me this question."

(Original Italian: "Hanno conservato quella pristina liturgia, no?, tanto bella. Noi abbiamo perso un po’ il senso dell’adorazione, loro lo conservano, loro lodano Dio, loro adorano Dio, cantano, il tempo non conta. Il centro è Dio e quella è una ricchezza che vorrei dire in questa occasione in cui Lei mi fa questa domanda.")

At a moment when many are continuing to wonder about Francis' attitude toward the old liturgy of the Church, it is important to note these words of the Pope, which as far as I know have not been noted by any journalist commenting on this long interview.

[Thank you, Mr. Moynihan, for rescuing this statement from the oblivion of the mainstream press!]

MY COMMENTS: Many are concerned about the actions approved by Pope Francis against the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in terms of the EF Mass. I'm not completely sure what the brouhaha is in this community other than the EF Mass has been a source of division in the community. The main point of the decree is that their Superior of the Order can allow their priests to continue to celebrate the EF Mass with his permission. I think that is fair in a religious community that does both forms, otherwise you have each priest doing his own thing and I suspect this is the problem that the Vatican addressed. I could be wrong.

But back to Pope Francis remarks on the Eastern Orthodox liturgy and by way of that on the Eastern Rite Liturgy--He's like Mikey, he likes it! What a relief!

What the Holy Father implies in his answer to the Russian reporter is the Holy Father's continuity with Benedict on the Liturgy and that the current expression of the revised Mass after Vatican II, what is now called by some as the Ordinary Form, is that the Ordinary Form lost a bit the sense of adoration, the EF conserves it, they praise God, they adore God, they sing, time does not count. The center is God and that is a richness that I would like to emphasize in comparison to the OF Mass.

I've put a few words into the Holy Father's mouth but isn't that really what is implied and what Pope Benedict's critique of the fabricated liturgy of Vatican II?

From what I hear, Pope Francis is allowing the work of the Congregation for Divine Worship to continue to work unabated. There have been rumors that eventually we will get a revised, revised Roman Missal more like the EF Mass, but revised nonetheless.

Richard Malcolm makes the following comment from the Praytell blog:

Is the reform of the reform dead? It’s plain that Pope Francis is not liturgically minded in the way that Joseph Ratzinger was and is; it is not on his radar in the same way. He has a Jesuitical impatience, I think, with it all. To the extent that RotR remains alive, it will certainly receive less of its animating impulse from Rome – how much remains to be seen. Key Ratzingerians remain in key places in the Curia: to take but one example, the interdicasterial commission on the Ordinariate Missal is wrapping up its work unhindered, and on early evidence it certainly embodies an RotR mindset to a degree scarcely anything else in the last pontificate did.

My clairvoyance tells me that the work that is being done for the Anglican Ordinariate Missal will mirror or be the template for the reform of the current revised post Vatican II Mass along with its calendar. Of course the Anglican Ordinariate Mass will maintain some Anglican elements that won't be in the pristine Latin Rite revision of the post Vatican II revised Mass.

All of this will have the support of the Supreme Pontiff, the Bishop of Rome, the Universal Pastor, Pope Francis I.

Press here for the Anglican Ordinariates Calendar which will be the template for our revised calendar. It has the season of Septuagesima restored, as well as the Octave of Pentecost amongst other traditional elements.

AND GUIDELINES FOR THE ANGLICAN USE MASS AS OF EASTER 2013, PRESS HERE!