I was amused to see, in the opening party of their letter, these "loyal traditionalists" praise the new Holy Father for the text of the Blessing he chanted, "Urbi and Orbi," [to the City and to the World] after the announcement presenting him on the loggia of St. Peter's.
They said that such sentiments had not been heard in years.
I guess they would be shocked to find out that the ancient formula used - and the modern book containing it - have now been made official in the first official book of conclave rites to be published in centuries - precisely by a man whom most of the Traditionalists despise:
Archbishop Piero Marini, is chief among the Papal Masters of Ceremonies and the head of the "Officium de Liturgicis Ceebrationibus Summi Pontificis" (Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff) and was responsible for compiling both the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (Order of Burial Rites for the Roman Pontiff) and the Ordo Rituum Conclavis (Order of the Rites of Conclave), both of which were approved by Pope John Paul II in 1998 and which are easily available from the Vatican Bookstore (www.paxbook.com).
He is also a first rate scholar on the history and theology of Roman liturgy: he's the one who made sure that ancient form of Blessing would be the FIRST BLESSING and new Pope gives; he's also responsible for restoring the Pallium to its more ancient form (the new Pallium with the red crosses that Pope Benedict received).
The Traditionalists, no doubt, would be shocked to find that someone they consider a "Novus Ordo litnik" actually did all the work to bring those rites to fruition.
You might say, when asked if JPII would restore a few token traditions his response was, "Over my dead body"
He certainly wasn't anxious to do anything traditional during his calamitous pontificate.
Thanks for your post. It appears that Ratzinger will retain Marini as Papal Master of Ceremonies, which is a good thing.