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Following almost 15 years of suppression, the Traditional Latin Mass commonly known as the "Tridentine Latin Mass", was restored to the liturgy of the Church on October 3, 1984, when, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for Divine Worship issued a Circular Letter to the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, which responded to the many requests for a restoration of the liturgical form used prior to implementation of Vatican II's renewal of the liturgy. As a result, diocesan bishops were authorized to grant an "indult . . . whereby priests and faithful . . . may be able to celebrate Mass by using the Roman Missal according to the 1962 edition . . ."
The first US diocese to avail itself of this "indult" was the Diocese of San Diego. In San Diego, the Traditional Latin Mass was restored in December 1984, when the late Bishop Leo T. Maher granted an Indult and appointed Monsignor Tullio Andreatta, K.C.H.S., to provide the Traditional Latin Mass for the faithful of the diocese regularly on Sundays, Holydays and other occasions. On Sunday, February 24, 1985, the Traditional Latin Mass Congregation gathered for the first time at St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Mission Hills community of San Diego where Monsignor Andreatta offered the Traditional Latin Mass as authorized by Pope John Paul II and Bishop Maher.
In keeping with the provisions of the Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter, Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, which urged "a wide and generous application" of the permission for the Traditional Latin Mass, shortly after his installation as Bishop Maher's successor, in 1990, His Excellency, Bishop Robert H. Brom, renewed the Indult granted by Bishop Maher and appointed the Reverend Harry Neely, O.S.A., and the Reverend Burt Boudoin, to serve as Chaplains to the Traditional Latin Mass Congregation.
In 2004, following nearly 15 years of service as chaplain, Father Neely was reassigned to other duties elsewhere in California and the Norbertine Priests of St. Michael's Abbey, Silverado, California, assumed responsibility for the apostolate. In 2005, Bishop Brom appointed the Rev. William Dillard as Chaplain to be assisted by the Norbertine Priests.
Several major events have marked our history. Foremost among them were the Solemn Pontifical High Masses offered at Holy Cross Chapel by the Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone, S.J.D., Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego on February 23, 2003, Sexagesima Sunday, on September 14, 2003, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and again on January 16, 2005, the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. It also was with great joy that we celebrated Fr. Neely's Golden Jubilee on December 21, 2003, at The Immaculata on campus of the University of San Diego, with a Solemn High Mass Coram Episcopo. With Bishop Cordileone, nearly 100 priests and well over 1,000 members of the faithful in attendance we gave thanks for the blessings of the Traditional Latin Mass and the priesthood of Fr. Neely.
On July 7, 2007, the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass was completed when Pope Benedict XVI in his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, given motu proprio, established that although "[t]he Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the Lex orandi (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same Lex orandi, and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage. . . . It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church."
Thus, on September 14, 2007, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the effective date of the Holy Father's Apostolic Letter, a daily Traditional Latin Mass was initiated to be offered, Monday through Friday at St. John the Evangelist Church, in central San Diego, by the Reverend Reginald De Four, C.S.Sp.
Having rejoiced in over 22 years of the regular celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of San Diego, the members of the Traditional Latin Mass Congregation wish to express our profound gratitude to the Holy Father for his generous response to us. We also wish to express our appreciation to the late Bishop Leo T. Maher, and to Bishop Brom, Bishop Cordileone, Monsignor Andreatta, Father Neely, Abbot Eugene Hayes, O.Praem., Father John Caronan, O.Praem., Father Victor Szczurek, O.Praem., Father Rex De Four, C.S.Sp., and the other priests who have generously provided for the spiritual needs of our Congregation.
We strive to make available the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of San Diego as regularly and as often as possible and to maintain the high liturgical and artistic standards which alone are appropriate to this most magnificent instrument of Divine Worship.