The good Archbishop wrote this prior to the bombshell news about Pope Francis Traditionis Custodes and the election of Pope Leo. One can only imagine what he thinks about that! Press title for full First Things article.
Here’s a Moneybyte:
Pope Francis’s purpose in issuing Traditionis Custodes was to unite the Church in one form of worship. It has to be admitted that having two forms of the Mass for the universal Church is anomalous in the history of the Church. In reality, though, there are not simply two “forms” of the Mass, but a whole variety of forms due to priests taking liberties to do things their own way in violation of the liturgical norms—a clear vulnerability of the ordering of the Mass currently in force, and one that risks bringing great harm to souls.
Now we have extremely divergent forms of the Roman Rite. A video of a German priest rapping at the Mass recently went viral. On the other hand, for example, there’s the Mass of the Americas, which I celebrated as a Solemn High Pontifical Latin Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., in November 2019.
8 comments:
Archbishop Cordileone should be made a Cardinal and then head up the Dicastery for Divine Worship.
The entire Novus Ordo either needs to be suppressed or brought in line with the 1965 Missal: One form of introductory rites with the Confiteor and the Roman Canon, that is, if the Church is truly interested in promoting unity. The current Novus Ordo is a hydra-headed creature which promotes disunity of worship
Agree on Abp Cordileone.
We Byzantine Rusyns/Ruthenians use three liturgies, St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great and Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.
Within the Russian patriarchate, I believe the Divine Liturgy of St. James might still be used, but more rarely.
Same liturgy, slightly different forms, no problems.
Same can be achieved in the Roman Church.
I really think the current NO missal needs to be suppressed such that a clean break/fresh start is possible, like the '65 missal as you, TJM, suggested. There's entirely too much baggage there to successfully recapture lost patrimony. As there is likely little appetite to do this, I do not see an end to the liturgy wars anytime soon.
Byz, it does seem rather different with the Eastern Liturgies — I suspect most wouldn’t be able to tell you whether they’d just stood through the liturgy of St John or that of St Basil… but my feet sure can tell the difference!
The Presanctified liturgy of St Gregory is vastly different, of course. But it is my personal favorite of the Orthodox liturgies. Although, I’ve never seen the Liturgy of St James, and I suspect I never will. Alas!
I feel badly for Catholics who are undergoing this difficult liturgical situation. I wonder, though, how many “typical” Catholics take any notice of it. Among the Catholics I know, they seem all in the modern turn their church has taken and would likely only notice if those modern things were taken away, which they would perceive as a major negative.
Marc,
Agree, however, as I'm a cantor, differences stand out, at least to me.
Also agree, typical Catholics likely have little interest in liturgy and what's missing. Their bishops and priests have done them a profound disservice in making the temporal paramount with theosis and perfection almost being guaranteed. Even here, liturgy has been replaced by bulletin announcements as a means of preparation and externals are simply styles. As a point of concern, I find many RC's to be unfocused being more concerned with social justice as opposed to sin, supplication, study and a general spirituality. There seems to be little one can do to make them see otherwise.
That said, and despite my own personal efforts, I hold no particular high ground and I am a sinner as any other in our human frailty.
Well said, Byz. It seems that many Catholics are as you describe, and the vanishingly small minority of Catholics who are thinking about the form of the mass have made of it an idol. So there appears to be an emptiness to the faith on either side.
Of course, I'm certain that there are many, many "normal" Catholics who are following the tenets of their faith and who have no time for these criticisms and concerns. Having not been to a "normal" Catholic parish in more than a decade, I have no relevant experience of it... My more recent experience of Trad Cathdom has me convinced there is something strange about that world that I didn't find to be particularly healthy spiritually.
The NO seems to be a nod to the ecumenism that does in fact exist in Vatican II. But it succumbed to the heart of darkness and went native. I think with proper supervision, the NO could be a good Mass for inquiring congregations or even Youth Groups in universities where wild oats are being sown. But restraint and avoidance should be enforced and practiced along with some contrasting sense of dignity.
This sums up Traditiones Custodes (Crudelis) perfectly:
Don't even like to think about the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum.
Francis having done what he did, and lying in the way, while Benedict was STILL alive and living next door, was the ultimate cruelty.
It's heartbreaking to see the talents of this good archbishop go to waste while a bunch of highly unworthy men with highly disordered appetites continue to inflict their vision of mediocrity and collapse on the Church.
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