THE “FORBIDDEN” MASS MYTH
The Supreme Pontiff has finally put an end to the BIG LIE, the lie that has been perpetuated by ecclesiastical authorities for forty years! Pope Paul VI did NOT forbid the Tridentine Mass, nor was there ever a requirement to petition bishops for it. Some of us have heard about the indult, most Catholics don't even know about it, scarcely few could ever attend it or dared to ask for it. It would have been frowned upon and would have been a futile exercise in most cases anyway. In all of British Columbia where I live, there was just one place in Vancouver where the Tridentine Mass was celebrated. Try to get there for Sunday Mass from Prince Rupert or Nelson! This province is larger than most countries, never mind the mountain passes. But Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio and Explanatory Letter to the bishops sets things right and hopefully not long from now all Catholics in this province can worship God in the Mass of their fathers. The Pope left no room for debate; the Missal of 1962 was never abolished, therefore no permission was ever required for its use:
From the Motu Proprio:
The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the Lex orandi [Law of prayer] of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same Lex orandi, and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage….
It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church…. (Article 1)
From the Explanatory Letter:
As for the use of the 1962 Missal as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted…. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.
Make no mistake, the Motu Proprio is not “universal Indult”; it does not give permission for something that was “never abrogated” and “was always permitted.” Therefore the Motu Proprio does NOT expand on the 1984 and 1988 indults; those have been abolished by substitution.
