"Let
the war of rites cease" Allow me, however, to give voice to the very great
dismay of very many faithful, especially the young, who write to us in
their hundreds from all over France of their sadness at the silence of
the bishops in response to the "cry of the poor". As far as some priests
are concerned, they have been
marginalized as if they were second-class citizens for choosing the
traditional catechism and form of worship. Many faithful have in any case
abandoned the Church (or, at least, the churches), quietly slipping away.
The damage is so obvious that you yourself, Eminence, wrote: "I am convinced
that the ecclesial crisis in which we find ourselves today is largely owing
to the collapse of the liturgy, which is sometimes conceived 'etsi Deus
non daretur' ..." 1.
But a solution to the crisis was provided by the Holy Father on July 2, 1988 in the Apostolic Letter, Ecclesia Dei, which states: "To all these faithful Catholics who feel bound by some previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradition, I would like to express my own will - and I ask bishops and all those who fulfill the pastoral ministry in the Church to join their will with mine - to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of measures to guarantee respect for their just aspirations . . . Furthermore, the spirit of all those who feel tied to the Latin liturgical tradition must be respected everywhere by the far-ranging and generous application of the directives which the Apostolic See already issued some time ago on the use of the Roman Missal according to the editio typica of 1962"2.
Unfortunately, too few bishops have joined their
will with that of Pope John Paul II and so, in France, only half of the
dioceses have conceded at least one place of worship for faithful attached
to the traditional forms of the Latin liturgy. I must also stress that
a restrictive interpretation of the motu
proprio Ecclesia Dei has resulted in most bishops' limiting the
use of the place of worship to the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice
only and to the Sacrament of Penance, to the exclusion of all the other
Sacraments. In general, furthermore, Mass is allowed to be celebrated
only on Sundays
and sometimes even only on one Sunday in the month. Few bishops authorize
priests engaged in the "traditionalist" ministry to take catechism, to
prepare couples for marriage and so on. So can one still talk about
"respect for our just aspirations" and "far-ranging and generous application"?
Fortunately, there are exceptions such as the dioceses of Versailles, Paris,
Lyons, Saint-Dié, Fréjus-Toulon, Perpignan-Elne, Gap and
Strasbourg to name just the major ones. Some bishops argue that a more
liberal attitude would cause division in their dioceses. But does this
not mean, perhaps, that they are forgetting what Ecclesia
Dei declares when it says that "all pastors and other faithful
should be aware not only of the legitimacy but also of the richness that
the different charisms represent for the Church, as well as the traditions
of spirituality and apostolate also constituting the beauty of unity in
variety: of the 'symphony' that, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit,
the earthly Church raises to heaven"?3 So, why are they being rejected
without any consideration of their requests as Catholics who seek a different
liturgy from that usually practised? And, in any event, are we really sure
that there is only one of this liturgy? In how many French parishes is
Paul VI's liturgy still celebrated in strict conformity with the 1970 edition
of the Missal?
In his Apostolic Letter Apostolos suos, His Holiness reminds us that "'It is the task of the diocesan Bishop in the diocese assigned to him to apply all the ordinary, proper and immediate authority required for the exercising of his pastoral office except for causes which, by right or decree of the Supreme Pontiff, are the reserve of the supreme or other ecclesiastical authority'"4.
An urgent request, then, must go out to the supreme
authority for an authentic interpretation which would define how Ecclesia
Dei should be applied from the juridical point of view. For example,
a letter from the Holy See to all diocesan bishops could indicate various
and proper solutions. I would now like to illustrate some of these potential
solutions. At a higher level, it seems vital to extend the powers of the
Pontifical "Ecclesia Dei" Commission to unblock the numerous situations
of stalemate. At a lower level, we would cite a statute inspired by that
of the military ordinaries and developed by the Apostolic Constitution,
Spirituali militum curae. This juridical figure which is extremely
open
would have the advantage of allowing those faithful who wish to answer
to the authority "of traditionalist rite" as far as the "traditonalist
acts and places of worship are concerned, and to continue to answer to
the diocesan bishop for other acts and places of worship. We regret that
this
solution, already proposed by our American friends, was not further
explored either at national or international levels.
Another solution similar to the latter could be the
creation of a sort of apostolic vicariat for the "traditionalists" and
this would put the motu
proprio, Ecclesia Dei, into practice. Still today, we do not know
the Holy See's position on this proposal which dates back to 1990. More
blandly, one
could also envision an apostolic delegate answering to the Pontifical
"Ecclesia Dei" Commission and who would be an itinerant representative,
so to speak, proposing to local bishops either a solution devised by them
themselves (as has been the case in many dioceses) or, should they prefer
to have nothing to do with "traditionalist" worship, a solution that does
not come from them but from the apostolic delegate who would consider each
case on an individual basis. In this new form, this hypothesis is extremely
interesting to us.
Three further solutions may be considered which have
already been put into practice successfully at local level. The first envisions
that the parish be shared by two priests in solidum, one of whom guarantees
the celebration of the new rite while the other celebrates according to
the old. This system has been functioning for the past nine years in the
Church of Saint-Eugène in Paris. The second proposes that the parish
priest guarantees both rites and this is the solution currently applied
in that same church. The third hypothesis is that a quasi-parish be entrusted
entirely and exclusively to the care of a community of priests subject
to the Pontifical "Ecclesia Dei" Commission. This is the case of Notre-Dame-des-Armées
and of Port-Marly in the diocese of Versailles. We must thank the bishop
there, Jean-Charles Thomas, for devising these solutions which meet with
our approval. But what to do when a bishop refuses to apply such solutions?
And here we find ourselves with the
problem I mentioned at the beginning. But if the Holy See were to prove
to so far reticent bishops that these solutions function in the best possible
way, then no doubt others would be persuaded. It would be preferable,however,
if the possibility of all priests to celebrate either by freely following
the 1962 Missal or the 1970 version were to be given new consideration.
As we await the enactment of this disposition, we would like at least
that the 1962 Ordo Missae be included as a supplement ad libitum
in all the editions of the new Missal for priests in their celebration
of Holy Mass. This would have the advantage not only of satisfying
in part the aspirations of faithful who have affection for the old
rite but would also sustain in their piety the priests who celebrate
according to the new one. It has happened that about 200 priests,
French and non and above all the young, have come to our monastery
to learn5 how to celebrate Mass according to the old Missal. They
include an American priest who has confessed to us that his initiation
in the classical rite allowed him better to celebrate the new one, to which
he usually had to adhere. This example demonstrates the extent and the
educational virtue of our great traditional liturgy.
To conclude, we insist in our request that this war
of the rites which is lacerating individuals and families cease once
and for all. The faithful called into play by the motu
proprio Ecclesia Dei hope with all their hearts that the currently
widespread persecution may give way to a period of stable and lasting liturgical
peace whereby no one can be accused of betrayal and whereby, in keeping
with the Holy See's promises, "all measures will be taken to guarantee
their identity in the full communion of
the Catholic Church"6. The scandal provoked by the division must cease
so that concord, harmony and unity may be restored. It was in this
spirit of peace and communion that, on April 27 1995, I agreed to
celebrate Mass together with the Holy Father. It had been my desire
to show that all of us who fight to conserve the old Missal believe
in the validity and orthodoxy of the new rite. However as Joseph
Madec, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, put it: "A review of the liturgical
reform is ... feasible and something one hopes will happen: for it
would, perhaps, restore peace to souls and hearts"7.
To summarize the three main solutions which we continue to propose: 1) an extension of the powers of the Pontifical "Ecclesia Dei" Commission, or the institution of an intermediate authority answerable to the Commission and taking the form of an apostolic delegation which would regulate each case at the local level together with the diocesan bishops; 2) the creation on the part of the episcopal authorities or of the Holy See of quasi-parishes of a personal nature in every diocese where a minimum number of faithful have requested them; 3) the insertion of the old Ordo Missae "ad libitum" in all the new Missals if not the granting of permission to all priests to celebrate according to the 1962 Missal.
We would conclude by quoting the famous adage, Opus iustitiae pax. Liturgical peace is also the work of justice and, we would add, of charity.
Notes
1. J. Ratzinger, La mia vita (My Life) Cinisello
Balsamo, Ed. San Paolo 1997, pages 112-113.
2. Motu proprio Ecclesia Dei, Nos. 5c and
6c. Calvet's italics.
3. Ibid. No. 5a.
4. Canon 381 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law
quoted in the Apostolic Letter in the form of motu proprio, Apostolos
suos, No. 19. Calvet's italics. This is, however, an appeal to a dogmatic
truth.
5. Or re-learn in the case of older priests.
6. Informative Note of the Holy See on the Lefebvre
Case, June 16 1988. Calvet's italics.
7, J. Madec, Enquête sur la messe traditionnelle,
Paris, la Nef, 1998, page 74.