De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

 Things have moved quickly this week. There are quite a few things worth drawing attention to and all relating to the Pope's Motu Proprio : Traditiones Custodes . As a Catholic who attends the Novus ordo — the "Ordinary Form" as Pope Benedict XVI termed it, I feel wounded by this document. I feel it is extremely harsh, lacks justice and integrity and seeks to promote a worrying political element within the Church which works against, not promotes, the unity the document purports to foster. My initial reading left me scratching my head about several issues. How are bishops supposed to obtain oaths of fidelity from Latin Mass goers? Verbally? In writing? If the Latin Mass is banned from Churches ( see §2: "not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes" ) where are those who gather for the Vetus ordo supposed to gather? Are they banned from Churches? Thankfully, The Latin Mass Society has published a document which prov...

As I mentioned yesterday , the former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Gerhard Cardinal Müller authored an analysis July 19 of Traditionis custodes , Pope Francis’ July 16 motu proprio on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. I think it's well worth a deeper look at what he said if only because his erudition and scholarship provide a perfect antidote to the dim-witted person who wrote the flawed motu proprio text. Presumably not even bothering to have it checked by a Canonist...but why would you when you are omniscient!? As I pointed out in my last post , Pope Francis explained his decision in an accompanying letter to bishops, in which he wrote: “In defense of the unity of the Body of Christ, I am constrained to revoke the faculty granted by my Predecessors.” The pope said he was saddened that the celebration of the extraordinary form was now characterized by a rejection of the Second Vatican Council and its liturgical reforms. This des...