Vatican officials favor elements of older
Mass
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff
In statements sure to fuel Catholicisms already fierce
debates over liturgy, two high-ranking Vatican officials have signaled support
for changes that would either restore elements of the pre-1970s Latin Mass or
make the older rite itself more widely available.
Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, head of a papal
commission charged with overseeing use of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, told
an Austrian newsmagazine in June that he favors wide freedom to celebrate the
older rite. At present, the rite, often referred to as the Tridentine
Mass, can be celebrated only with permission from a local bishop.
Several supporters of the older rite took Castrillón Hoyos
to mean that the Vatican is considering issuing general permission for priests
to celebrate it, eliminating the need for approval from the bishop. In effect,
such a move would leave the church with two Roman rites, with priests and
parishes to decide which to employ.
Since 1990, the number of U.S. dioceses allowing traditional
Masses has grown from six to 131 out of a total of 191. More than 150,000
Catholics attend them each week.
Meanwhile Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vaticans
powerful doctrinal office, has written a new book in which he suggests that
priests turn away from the people in order to face east during portions of the
Mass. He also supported placing tabernacles in a central location in churches
and endorsed a renewed appreciation of kneeling. All are customs
associated with pre-Vatican II liturgical piety.
The comments, which carry no official weight, come in
Ratzingers book The Spirit of the Liturgy, to be published by
Ignatius Press in the fall.
Prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), Catholics
celebrated Mass in Latin according to rules codified by the 16th-century
Council of Trent (thus the older Mass is sometimes called
Tridentine). Pope Paul VI decreed a new order of Mass in 1969, and
some Catholics fond of the older rite have long lamented the change. Some
conservatives have also faulted the new Mass for what they see as liturgical
and theological deficiencies.
In 1988, John Paul II authorized celebration of the pre-Vatican II
rite with the permission of the local bishop. He created a pontifical
commission, Ecclesia Dei, charged with overseeing its use.
The new comments by Castrillón Hoyos, who is also prefect
of the congregation for clergy, came in an interview with the Austrian magazine
Profil.
Is it a problem to give wider permission today to celebrate
the Latin Mass, which for so long was the norm? Castrillón Hoyos
asked. I believe that people who take pleasure in the old rite have a
sense for the holy and for the mystery of the Mass, and a respect for custom.
Why not, therefore, give people the freedom to celebrate the Mass?
Asked if he hopes to coax followers of the late Archbishop Marcel
Lefebvre, who broke with Rome over the suppression of the Latin Mass, back into
the church, Castrillón Hoyos said, Christs will is the unity
of the church.
A general permission for the pre-Vatican II Mass would
inspire vocations and restore the joy to Catholic families who would no longer
have to drive long distances to other chapels, some not so good, said
Steven Hand, editor of Traditionalist Catholic Reflections, an online
journal with a conservative editorial stance. He called the comments by
Castrillón Hoyos wonderful news.
In his new book, Ratzinger calls for priest and people to face
east during the eucharistic prayer, the point during the Mass when Catholics
believe the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of
Jesus.
Before Vatican II (1962-65) the priest faced away from the people
during the eucharistic prayer, a custom some felt disconnected the laity from
the liturgical action. After the council, priests generally turned to face the
people, a move criticized for treating the Mass too much as a communal meal and
not enough as a transcendent act of worship.
Less and less is God in the picture, Ratzinger writes
of the way the Mass is celebrated today. More and more important is what
is done by the human beings who meet here and do not like to subject themselves
to a predetermined pattern.
Ratzinger argues that facing east has a long history in Christian
worship. Early Christians regarded east, because of the rising sun, as the
direction of the risen Christ and as the direction from which Christ would
return.
What corresponds with the reality of what is happening is
not the closed circle, but the common movement forward expressed in a common
direction for prayer, Ratzinger writes.
As a practical matter, where it is impossible for priests and
people to face east, Ratzinger recommends that they face an altar cross, which
would symbolize the interior east of faith.
Ratzingers positions on tabernacles and kneeling are both
likely to provoke controversy. Progressive liturgists often argue that devotion
to the consecrated elements in the tabernacle distracts from the action of the
Mass, and that kneeling is a posture of abasement not suited to a communal
celebration.
Ratzinger has long been a critic of the move away from the
pre-Vatican II Mass. The prohibition ... introduced a breach into the
history of the liturgy whose consequences could only be tragic, Ratzinger
wrote in his 1997 memoirs. I am convinced that the crisis in the church
that we are experiencing today is to a large extent due to the disintegration
of the liturgy.
National Catholic Reporter, June 30,
2000
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