Rorate Caeli gives us the latest from Le Figaro. According to their translation, the motu proprio is on the Pope’s desk awaiting his signature. Of course, we’ve suspected that to be the case for some time now. The more interesting part I found was this (accent mine):
The Roman Curia is divided. … Benedict XVI thus takes his time to prepare the publication and reception of the text. He could have therefore changed the juridical nature of the decree.
Now…maybe I’m just reading a little to closely between the lines, but this does suggest the possibility that the Pope is taking his time to “soften” the opposition to the motu proprio such that the previously understood limitation as only for “private masses” may be removed. In the end, that is where this must go if it is to be successful. In order for the TLM to have the desired effect on the celebrations of Pauline Mass it must not be restricted to the corner but allowed to breathe freely that its proper dignity might be restored.
As I’ve said before, both the Pauline and Pian rites have their place in the proper diversity of a Church that is catholic as well as Catholic. There is certainly much house cleaning to be done in the way an unfortunate portion of the Church celebrates the Pauline rite and I believe allowing the Pian rite to breathe freely is one of the tools we will need sweep the dirt out from under the rugs. All in time. In the mean time, pray for the Pope, for those who support him and those who oppose him. And pray for those priests who have lost the sense of reverence in their celebration of any Mass anywhere. As Fr. Z would say, “save the liturgy, save the world”.
Update: The Catholic blogosphere is a fast place. As soon as I hit “publish” on this one I saw this post from Fr. Z where we find the following (the reference is to this article in Envoy Magazine):
According to Mershon’s account of what Msgr. Schmitz communicated in the talk, the M.P. will allow every priest of the Latin Rite to say the older, “Tridentine” Mass not only privately (which he says priests can do now even without special permission) but also publicly. Many have wondered just how that would work, since seemingly it doesn’t allow much room for the rights of local bishops.
According to Mershon’s piece, if a bishop wants to block a priest from using the older Mass he would have to write to and get approval from the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei“. On the other hand, priests would have recourse to the Commission in case of trouble. It remains to be seen if that is really the solution to the dilemma, but, while still problematic, it is not bad.
