Please find the Guidelines for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum for the Diocese New Orleans. My emphases and [comments]. (Note, I had to do a bit of editing as the original was a little messy, format wise. HT to Ellen in the Combox)
GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM
The Holy Father wrote to the bishops with great trust and hope that his apostolic letter Summorum pontificum would be accepted in the best positive light as the Church’s attempt to be more inclusive in our worship of God as he welcomed the faithful who are committed to the form of worship practiced in the Church before the reforms of the liturgy according to mandate of the Second Vatican Council in Sacrosanctum Concilium.[Run on sentence. Sorry] With that same trust and hope, I offer to you a positive framework for establishing a process in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to guide those who wish to celebrate the Holy Mass using the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII. [So far, so good.]
Precis of the Holy Father’s apostolic letter Summorum pontificum
The Holy Father expressed multiple purposes in his letter which should be of note to all. He issues the letter:
- to re-emphasize that the Missal of Pope Paul VI is the ordinary text of the Mass in the Latin rite;
- to grant legitimate freedom in the choice and use of liturgical texts which have been judged by the Church to be faithful doctrinal expressions of liturgical prayer;
- to present the Missal of Bl. John XXIII as an extraordinary text approved for use as long as there is full acceptance and use of the ordinary text of the Missal of Pope Paul VI and of the Second Vatican Council;
- to recognize that the extraordinary form of the Latin rite is attractive to some people because of a perceived loss of a sense of the sacred in some celebrations using the Missal of Pope Paul VI; [Other reasons as well, we should not be so limiting]
- and, to specify parameters for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass, specifically:
- Any priest has the option to celebrate a private Mass using the extraordinary form;
- The Archbishop and the pastor may grant requests for Mass using the extraordinary form to any group of stable faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical form; [I wonder if this is a Freudian slip? Instead of any stable group of faithful, he states a group of “stable faithful”. I realize this is probably just a slip, but still funny. Further, what does adhere mean? This does not mean exclusively.]
- The celebration of the Mass using the extraordinary form takes place under the oversight of the Archbishop; [No more or less than any other liturgy]
- Any group of stable lay faithful [There it is again!] may petition the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” to have Mass celebrated in the extraordinary rite if the pastor or the bishop cannot satisfy them.
Process to be used in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to make for a smooth introduction and use of the “extraordinary form” of celebrating Holy Mass.
1. St. Patrick’s Church, where Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII is already celebrated is the first locus of the extraordinary form of Mass.
# At St. Patrick’s the Sunday Mass is celebrated using the extraordinary form.
# The other sacraments and sacramentals are also celebrated, according to their extraordinary forms, at St. Patrick’s Church.
# Pastoral care can be and is appropriately provided to the people attracted to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite at St. Patrick’s. [Status quo, but good!]2. The Archbishop will consider a public or parish Mass in the extraordinary form wherever there is a stable group of lay faithful attracted to the extraordinary form of the Mass. [Why just the Archbishop, the Motu Proprio granted this liberty to priests and pastors?]But before authorizing such a Mass, the affected deaneries are to meet and discuss the best way to accomplish regularly scheduling such a Mass.
# The Dean(s) may want to offer opportunities to the/a community claiming to be a stable group of lay faithful to meet with them to determine size and commitment to the extraordinary form. [This is kind of like when immigration checks on a couple to see if they are really married If they are faking it, deported. Again, this should be up to the pastor.]
# The Dean(s) are to recommend a location/parish at which services according to the extraordinary form will be offered.
# The Dean(s) will recommend two priests to the Archbishop who will be the celebrants of the extraordinary form of the liturgy. [These last two are fine as long as they don’t overrule the liberty of the pastor. If he willing and able and has a group that wants it. He need not ask anybody.]3. All priests who wish to celebrate according to the “Extraordinary” form are to have appropriate formation and education for this purpose.
# Prior to any training programs being developed, the Pastoral Practices Committee of the Presbyteral Council will survey the priests to determine who, and how many, priests desire to celebrate the “extraordinary” form of the Mass. They will also determine which churches are properly equipped for the celebration of the ‘extraordinary” form of the Mass. [Not sure what properly equipped means. This can vary from the reasonable and practical considerations (e.g. vestments) to the unreasonable (must have high altar and communion rail)]
# Notre Dame Seminary, with the participation of the Office of Worship, will develop a program to provide training to and to determine the competency of, priests who wish, or are approved by the Archbishop, to celebrate the ‘Extraordinary” form of the Mass.[All this just smacks of being overly controlling and bureaucratic]A. Training is to be a practicum/workshop designed by the Liturgist [Uh Oh] and Latinist who teach at the seminary. Other help may be brought in if needed. The practicum/workshop will have a tuition charge.
B. At the completion of the practicum/workshop, assessment will be made of the competency of the priest as regards the Latin language, and familiarization/knowledge of rubrics and requirements for vesture, plate and furnishings. Remedial work, including attendance at the seminary’s Latin class (2 years) will be recommended if necessary. Tuition will be charged. This judgment is based on the Holy Father’s statement that Apriests who use the Missal of Bl. John XXIII must be qualified to do so@ (Art. 5’4)
C. One practicum/workshop will be provided in the fall semester and one in the spring semester.# Approval for a parish Mass to be celebrated is conditioned on the acceptance of the Holy Father’s and the Ordinary’s policies regarding celebration of the “extraordinary form” of the Mass.[Signed in blood?]
# Priests will celebrate the “extraordinary form” at St. Patrick’s Church with Fr. Stan Klores in attendance to “fine tune” the celebration. Fr. Klores will give an analytical critique to assist the priest.4. Deacons who wish to participate in the extraordinary form of the Mass will need to attend a special training program sponsored by the Office of the Permanent Diaconate and staffed by Notre Dame Seminary personnel. The Office of Worship and Fr. Klores will assist in this training program as called upon.
5. Costs for all vesture and other items needed are to be borne by the priest(s) who wish to celebrate the “extraordinary form” of the Mass, except in those instances where the Archbishop designates/approves a parish for the celebration of a Sunday Mass using the “extraordinary form”. [In other words, you will get absolutely no help from the Diocese!]
6.. It is recommended that worship aids, such as the Latin-English Booklet Missal for praying the traditional Mass published by the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei, be purchased for each parish or church where the Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII is used.
7. Administrative records of priests approved to celebrate and deacons approved to assist in the celebration of the “Extraordinary”form of the Mass will be handled in the Office of Worship and forwarded to the Office of Priests Personnel and the Permanent Diaconate Office. [They sure do seem to love their paperwork down there. I thought it is called the Big Easy. Not so much].
Leave a Reply