Last night I was on with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN to talk about the “survey” to be sent out to the world’s bishops about the implementation of Summorum Pontificum in their dioceses. One point I made is that a survey is nothing new. It was done in 2010. It seems to me that 10 years later is another good milestone to check.
That said, the questions in English, probably not written by a native speaker of English but rather by someone with strong English skills – I don’t know – had a certain slant to them that suggested answers. Perhaps I’m over reading them. I know a lot of people have.
There are a pair of questions, however which popped out at me.
For example,
“6. For the celebrations of the Mass, do you use the Missal promulgated by Pope John XXIII in 1962?”
See what I mean about the awkward wording? Put that side by side with…
“9. Thirteen years after the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, what is your advice about the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite?”
Think about this for a moment. If a bishop doesn’t know how to celebrate the Extraordinary Form, how can he give useful advice about the Extraordinary Form?
Another point before launching into the new bit of news.
Had there been discussion about eliminating the use of the 1962 Missale Romanum, the decrees would not have been issued whereby the calendar was made flexible for the celebration of recently canonized saints and for new Prefaces. It doesn’t make sense.
That said, at the German site Die Tagespost there is an article about this survey. Here it is with computer assisted translation that I touched up.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launches survey on “old Mass”
No “ban” to be feared: the canonist Markus Graulich sizes up the process for the “Tagespost”.
The Roman canon lawyer Markus Graulich rejects speculation that the “old mass” could be abolished. “In my opinion, it’s about taking stock, nothing more and nothing less,” Graulich told the “Tagespost” today. On behalf of the Pope, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is supposed to raise the current situation of the “extraordinary form” of the Roman rite 13 years after Summorum Pontificum.
Contrary to various speculations in traditionalist circles, which feared a further restriction of the “old Mass”, the responsible section of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had in no way been overlooked, said Graulich, the under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legal Texts. Graulich suggests that the groups that maintain the traditional liturgy should help the bishops answer the survey. They should provide information that the bishops would need to respond to in the questionnaire.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was commissioned by Pope Francis to conduct a worldwide survey on the implementation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. As early as 2010, the effects of the re-admission of the pre-conciliar liturgical books as an extraordinary form had been surveyed by the then Commission “Ecclesia Dei”. Now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, responsible today, asks the bishops worldwide, among other things, about the situation in the dioceses, the observance of the applicable liturgical books and the effects on the renewed liturgy.
Markus Graulich makes it clear: The old Mass is not in danger.
It seems to me that we can calm down.
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