A new crossroad for the Latin Mass
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff
A decade-old community of priests seen as the standard bearer for
the Latin Mass movement is facing serious new strains, in the form of both
Vatican setbacks and internal dissent.
Observers say the new developments create one of the most
important crossroads for adherents of the Latin Mass since the 1988
excommunication of French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the reforms
adopted at Vatican II.
Some of Lefebvres followers joined him in exile from the
church, while others gravitated to traditionalist communities that remain in
communion with Rome. A new Vatican ruling may force these communities,
including the largest and most influential -- the Priestly Fraternity of St.
Peter -- to allow priests to celebrate the post-Vatican II Mass as well as the
older rite.
Rome also canceled a special session of the fraternitys
general chapter meeting in August, instead calling an open meeting of all
members in November. The site has not yet been determined.
Meanwhile, 16 members of the fraternity from France have written
the Vatican warning of a spirit of separatism brewing in its
ranks.
Since 1990, the number of U.S. dioceses allowing traditional
Masses has leaped from six to 131 out of a total of 191. More than 150,000
Catholics attend them each week.
Diocesan or religious order priests operating under special
permission from the local bishop say most of those Latin Masses. Members of
religious communities such as the Fraternity of St. Peter, specifically erected
for that purpose, celebrate the rest.
In July, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments ruled that priests in communities devoted to the Latin Mass
cannot be barred by their superiors from saying Mass according to the new rite.
The ruling is known by its Vatican file number, Protocol 1411.
Some observers believe the ruling will help bishops when
traditionalist priests refuse requests to cover assignments on the grounds they
cannot celebrate the new Mass. Latin Mass advocates worry that the ruling will
gradually make the older Mass an exception rather than the rule in
traditionalist orders, thereby undercutting the reason for their existence.
Traditionalist priests are actually expected to celebrate the new
Mass under certain circumstances, according to the ruling, such as the Holy
Thursday chrism Mass in which priests usually concelebrate with the bishop, or
when called upon to officiate in a parish accustomed to the new rite.
The ruling does not mention any communities by name, but its
impact is likely to be most acute for the Fraternity of St. Peter, which asks
members to celebrate the Tridentine Mass exclusively.
Officials of the fraternity say they are appealing the ruling
before the Roman Rota, the judicial branch of the Vatican.
The fraternity has approximately 100 members in nine nations
(mostly North America and Western Europe), and operates in 20 U.S. dioceses. It
is currently building a seminary in the Lincoln, Neb., diocese. Fraternity
officials say they expect it to house approximately 100 seminarians.
The decision to cancel the chapter meeting came from the
pontifical commission on Ecclesia Dei, John Pauls 1988 document
authorizing the celebration of the Latin Mass. Instead, a plenary session of
all priest members will occur in November, and sources expect it will focus on
tensions within the fraternity.
Those tensions came to a head on June 29, when 16 French members
signed a letter to the commission warning of a constant progression
towards a spirit of separatism. The 16 priests complained of increasing
rigidity, offering examples such as seminarians who refuse to serve the Masses
of visiting professors, or members who are ostracized because they choose to
concelebrate a Mass according to the new rite.
When a canonical visitor came to the fraternitys
headquarters in Germany, the priests charge, seminarians were told to keep
silent to preserve the interior unity of the fraternity.
The stiffening as regards liturgy appears to be only an
external demonstration of a more serious opposition to the visible church, its
current teaching and hierarchy, even if official declarations try to persuade
to the contrary, the letter says.
One finds step by step, in this constant progression towards
a spirit of separatism, the same gradual drift which led the Fraternity of
Saint Pius X to refuse the 1988 Roman proposals, it says.
The 16 priests asked Rome to send a new canonical visitor to
make an account of the exact reality within the fraternity and to
appoint an apostolic administrator to take in hand the destiny of our
society.
The 16 priests claim to represent one-third of the members, but a
spokesperson for the fraternity disputed the assertion. Julia Ann
OSullivan, special projects manager for the U.S. branch, said that all 40
priests in the United States and Canada have signed a letter of support for Fr.
Joseph Bisig, the present superior of the fraternity who lives at the
fraternitys headquarters in Wigratzbad, Germany.
Theres no overt indication that these concerns exist
outside this group [the 16 priests who produced the letter],
OSullivan said.
OSullivan said that since the Fraternity of St. Peter
originated in a protocol signed by the Vatican with Lefebvre in May 1988 (which
he subsequently abrogated), and because its constitutions say it is founded
around the older rite, it is under a particular law. Thus the
ruling on celebrating the new Mass should not apply to its members, she
said.
A canonist contacted by NCR was skeptical. The ruling
is obviously written with them in mind, he said. Whom else would
Rome be referring to?
The U.S. bishops expert on liturgy called the ruling a
most welcome clarification. Fr. James Moroney said he knew of
situations in which fraternity priests had declined requests from bishops to
cover Masses in parishes that use the new rite.
A bishop might have a rural parish where the priest needs a
day off, and a fraternity priest staffs a nearby parish. In instances like
this, fraternity priests have said theyre not allowed to celebrate the
Mass, Moroney said. He said he also knew of cases in which fraternity
priests had declined to concelebrate the chrism Mass with the bishop.
OSullivan noted that under canon law, no priest can be
forced to concelebrate. Nevertheless, she said some bishops, especially in
France, treat the willigness to concelebrate as proof of communion.
Its a false suspicion that the community rejects the
validity of the new Mass, OSullivan said. But our purpose is
to keep alive the heritage of the ancient liturgy, so its not lost to
history.
Obviously the concern is that over time the language could
shift from a benevolent kind of should to must,
she said.
Despite the concern in the traditionalist camp over the new
ruling, the canonist contacted by NCR said it may work to the advantage
of some members. If priests of the fraternity can preside in parishes
using the new rite, theres nothing stopping them from becoming bishops
like members of any other order, he said.
National Catholic Reporter, September 17,
1999
|