Free Republic

1. PrinciplesThe motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes” was issued by Pope Francis on 16 July 2021, along with an accompanying letter.As a restrictive decree, this present motu proprio of Pope Francis should be interpreted strictly, in accord with the legal maxim Regula Juris 15 (odiosa restringenda, favorabilia amplificanda). Interestingly, there is no vacatio legis on the document either.Pope Francis indicates in the first paragraph that the bishops constitute the principle of unity of the particular churches and govern them through the proclamation of the Gospel. As the specified end of the document is the “constant search for ecclesial communion”, it would...

Old Rite Priests Warns: Its Again Five to TwelveRumours of an impending abolition or amendment of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum are to be taken seriously, Father Glen Tattersall, a diocesan priest of Melbourne, Australia, wrote in a statement on Saturday. Tattersall heads an Old Rite parish in Melbourne, the Newman Parish. He was the founder of the Australian Ecclesia Dei Society and organised an Old Rite Pontifical Mass in Melbourne Cathedral in 1992 which was celebrated by then Auxiliary Bishop George Pell. This was the first Old Rite Pontifical Mass in the Cathedral after more than 20 years of...

Sources inside the Vatican suggest that Pope Francis aims to end Pope Benedict XVI’s universal permission for priests to say the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. While the course of action would be in tune with Pope Francis’ repeatedly expressed disdain for the TLM especially among young people, there has been no open discussion of it to date. Sources in Rome told LifeSite last week that liberal prelates inside the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith were overheard discussing a plan ascribed to the Pope to do away with Pope Benedict’s famous...

Last Friday, Father Adolf Mohr (86) of Rheinbollen, Germany, died from cancer. After his retirement he returned to the Old Latin Rite of his youth. In his will he expressed the wish to be buried in this rite. His parish priest guaranteed him in writ that his wish would be respected. But Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann forbad the requiem. Ackermann is considered a radical who likes to speak about mercy. Fr Mohr's funeral will be on Friday, against his wish, in the new rite. Please help to prevent this disrespect of a priest's llast will. Protest now by writing in...

In yesterday’s blog post, we examined some reports on the revised Rite of Baptism being proposed in the Church of England. Many argue, I think rightly, that the new Rite results in a watering down of many essential truths. The longer is sin nor the devil explicitly renounced. You can read more of that here: COE Waters Down Baptismal Rite??But for our own purposes, as Roman Catholics, I think it is only fair, and worth examining that our own Rite of Baptism underwent substantial changes as of 1969. Frankly, I was unaware of how substantial the changes were until I...

(Rome) The unrest has not remained hidden among Traditional Catholics from the Vatican, that has developed from the treatment of the Traditional Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. The need to intervene and reassure. However, the justification offered here is hard to believe. . The exemplary Franciscans of the Immaculata, which was canonically erected in 1990, will, by a decree dated the 11th of July be placed under provisional administration by the Congregation of Religious. It was also arranged that all the priests, would celebrate the liturgy according to the New Rite. It is a serious attack against the...

Via Eponymous Flower and Messa in Latino comes something from World Youth Day not covered by the mainstream Catholic media. And one must ask why that is.My emphases: Traditionalist Bishops [Not the SSPX bishops. Bishops with actual faculties and authority.] Celebrate the Immemorial Mass With 1500 WYD Pilgrims(Madrid) Msgr. Marc Marie Max Aillet, the Bishop of Bayonne, Lescar and Orlon since 2008 in France will celebrate the Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Parish Church of San Eduardo in Madrid with more than 1500 youth. This church has been allocated to the youth who are attached to Tradition...

Pope Benedict XVI / Photo Credit Mazur Vatican City, May 13, 2011 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Local dioceses should give a “generous welcome” to any laity who wish to attend Mass in the “extraordinary form” and to priests who wish to say it.  That’s the key message of new Vatican guidelines regarding the extraordinary form of the Mass – often popularly referred to as the “Tridentine Mass” or “old Latin Mass.” The “extraordinary form” is the rite of Mass contained within the Roman Missal which was universally used from 1570 to 1962. It was almost always celebrated in...

Pope May Offer the Society a Personal Ordinariat Msgr Galarreta leads Rome Talks for SSPX Editor: More speculation arising, surrounding Bishop Williamson's statement last year about the possibility of a Motu Propio. The Holy see is ascertaining the possibility of the unifying of the Society of St. Pius X by erecting a Personal Ordinariat.As far as concerns the question of a form in church law for the Society founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Vatican appears to be considering the erection of a Personal Ordinariat. since Autumn 2010 Canon lawyers have been studying this idea. One such canonical solution for...

From Robert Moynihan's most recent "Inside the Vatican" newsflash:Will the Vatican soon issue a document calling for some restrictions on the use of the old rite of the Mass? The internet, especially in traditional Catholic circles, is abuzz with reports that this may be about to happen. But for the moment, these reports are based only on rumors. Officially, no one yet knows the content of the upcoming Vatican Instruction to give guidelines for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum -- the dramatic and controversial July 7, 2007 papal motu proprio in which Benedict XVI, after long hesitation, granted wider use of the old,...

A map of Traditional Latin Masses in Central Europe.

Good news from Rome: the Vatican has further underlined the freedom of priests to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form whenever they choose. Two important points have been clarified by Ecclesia Dei, which will make it more difficult for the English, Welsh and above all Scottish bishops to stall the implementation of Summorum Pontificum: 1. A priest does NOT have to be approached by a “stable group” of the faithful in order to schedule a PUBLIC celebration of the Extraordinary Form – he may choose to do so, for example, in order to introduce his parishioners to this ancient form...

In a private conversation before the release of the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum," a leading personality of U.K. Catholicism predicted that the reinstatement of the Traditional Latin Mass would grant again such an abundant flow of graces that it would even effect the restoration of society on sound Christian principles. While that outcome remains to be seen, the release of the motu proprio has certainly sparked a series of controversies and debates — especially in Italy, the heart of Catholicism, and that goes a long way in showing how sensitive the issue is among faithful and non-faithful alike. The...

There is an interesting development in the matter of Summorum Pontificum and the use of the vernacular in celebrations of the TLM. The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei reponded to a questions proposed concerning Art. 6. The questions were: "Can readings be given in the vernacular in the context of the Liturgy?  Does Article 6 uphold the practice of duplicating the readings reading them in the context of the Liturgy in Latin, then before a homily in the vernacular, or does it allow them to be read from the Altar in the vernacular?Also, can local editions of the Missal that refer...

Why everyone logs on to ‘Father Z’ He was once a long-haired Lutheran. But now, says Anna Arco, he is a legend in the conservative Catholic blogosphere29 February 2008 The legendary Fr Z Fr Z walks through the bitterly cold Oxford night with the firm, fast steps of a man who has relentless energy, determination and strong convictions. With his black trilby tilted at a raffish angle and his black scarf firmly tucked into his black coat, he looks like a character out The Matrix. With three mobile devices on him he certainly carries enough electronic kit to warrant the...

CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 1:25 pm The highly estimable Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, His Excellency Most Reverend Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige gave an interview to Bruno Volpe of Petrus where you can find the original Italian. Rorate has their own translation, but here is mine with my emphases: Your Excellency, what kind of reception has Benedict XVI´s Motu Proprio which liberalized the Holy Mass according to the Tridentine Rite had? Some, in the very bosom of the Church, have got their noses bent out of shape… "There have...

Bp. Trautman issues his own norms for the older form of Mass CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:57 am WDTPRS’s favorite critic of the Holy See’s liturgical translation norms, His Excellency Most Reverend Donald W. Trautman, the outgoing Chair of the USCCB’s liturgy office has determined it best to issue his own norms for the use of the 1962 Missale Romanum in the Diocese entrusted to him by the Supreme Pontiff, the Successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ whose own provisions were published for the Universal Church in Summorum Pontificum. The document released by Bp....

No more permission needed for Latin Mass, cardinal says Rome, Sep. 14, 2007 (CWNews.com) - With the formal implementation of Summorum Pontificum, the Pope's motu proprio providing wider access to the 1962 Roman Missal, diocesan priests do not need permission to celebrate the Latin Mass, a top Vatican official has stated. Cardinal Dario Castrillon-Hoyos-- the president of the Ecclesia Dei commission, which supervises Vatican outreach to traditionalist Catholics-- says that "from this point, priests can decide to celebrate the Mass using the old rite, without permission from the Holy See or the bishop." In an interview with Vatican Radio on...

Be not afraid!Two forms of the Rite of the Massby Archbishop Raymond L. Burke [Note: The Archbishop writes on the MP and on NFP in this column; for space considerations and in the interests of getting the word out on his thoughts about the traditional Mass, I will only post the Summorum Pontificum-relevant parts. Full article here, and I will post on the other later in the coming week] Introduction: Two different but related subjects In writing to you this week, I want to address two different but related subjects of concern to us all. The first is the recent...

The Vatican says that Pope Benedict concelebrates his daily morning Mass in Italian using the current edition of the Roman Missal, denying claims that he is using the Tridentine rite. Claims that the pope celebrates his private Mass using the Tridentine rite are incorrect, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi said, according to Catholic News Service. The Tridentine Mass is the Latin-language liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council; it was last revised in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal. Less than 10 days after Pope Benedict issued his letter on 7 July providing greater opportunity for the celebration...