The Ecclesia Dei Commission to prepare a document on the interpretation of the Motu Proprio Summmorum Pontificum

In an interview granted to the Italian website of religious information Petrus, Mgr Camille Perl stated that the Ecclesia Dei Commission of which he is the secretary “is currently writing an instruction-document on the correct interpretation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum” on the liberalization of the use of the missal of Saint Pius V. This text has been made necessary because of the loss “of the sense of obedience and respect for authority,” according to the Roman prelate, alluding to the opposition of bishops and priests to the Roman directives. The document should specify, among other things, the exact notion of the “stable group” who may ask for the celebration of the Mass according to the old rite.

In the magazine 30 Days of June-July, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos had already attempted to forestall opposition. To the question: The motu proprio does not set a minimum number of faithful necessary in order to request to be allowed to celebrate the Mass of Saint Pius V. However, rumor had it that there was a question of a minimum of thirty faithful…, he answered: “We have here a blatant example of the vast amount of bogus-news which has been spread around by people who had not read the draft, or who, out of self-interest, sought to influence the formulation of the Motu Proprio. I followed the whole process which led to the final document, and as far as I remember, no minimum number of faithful, either of thirty, or twenty or one hundred, ever appeared in any of the proposals.”

To the question put by the 30 Days journalist Gianni Cardinale: Was the Mass of St. Pius V ever abolished by the Novus Ordo?, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos declared: “The Vatican Council II never did this, and afterwards there never was any positive act to implement this. Hence, the Mass of Saint Pius V was never formally abolished. It is quite astonishing that those self-proclaimed authentic interpreters of Vatican II give about it, in the liturgical domain, an interpretation so restrictive and so little respectful of the faithful’s liberty. They thus end up making this Council appear even more coercive than the Council of Trent.”

A little earlier in the same interview, the President of the Commission Eccclesia Dei acknowledged: “Curiously enough, it would seem that even among the younger generations of lay people as well as of clerics, an interest and an esteem for the old rite is flourishing. They are priests and simple faithful who sometimes have nothing to do with the disciples of Archbishop Lefebvre. This is the reality, a reality of the Church, and pastors cannot ignore it,” and he added: “Those who say such things (that the pope is going against his predecessors, Ed.) should read the thousands of letters which arrived in Rome to petition for liberty to attend a Mass to which they feel so attached.”

The cardinal was here rejecting the arguments against the Motu proprio in the face of the evidence : clergy and lay people from the younger generation are showing an interest in the Tridentine Mass and what is more, thousands of letters were sent to Rome expressing the same desire… In other words: contra factum not fit argumentum, you cannot argue with the facts… Benedict XVI made the same observation in the letter which accompanied the Motu Proprio: “Immediately after the Second Vatican Council it was presumed that requests for the use of the 1962 Missal would be limited to the older generation which had grown up with it, but in the meantime it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them.” (Sources: CIPA/30 Days)