På bloggen «What Does the Prayer Really Say» er det ei svær samling av biskopelige kommentarer til pavens motu proprio om den tradisjonelle latinske messen – og jeg har lest nesten alle med stor interesse. Noen av disse er ikke særlig interessante, noen er åpne og positive til pavens initiativ, mens andre er noskå restriktive og negative. (Noen legger bl.a. restriksjoner på prestenes bruk av den tradisjonelle messen som de knapt har lov til – siden paven har sagt at prestene ikke trenger å spørre om tillatelse til å bruke den gamle messen.)
I dag trykker bloggen en kommentar til pavens motu proprio fra fra kardinal Egan i New York, som både kan sin kirkerett og sin latin meget godt. Det er interessant at han ikke krever at prestene som skal lese den gamle messen trenger å være eksperter i latin, som noen biskoper har påstått.
In briefest terms, here is what the document, which is entitled in Latin «Summorum Pontificum,» provides:
I. There is one Eucharistic liturgy for members of the Roman Catholic Church of the Latin Rite. It has two forms («expressions») – an «ordinary» one that is to be found in the Missal of Pope Paul VI published in 1970, and an «extraordinary» one that is to found in the Missal of Blessed John XXIII published in 1962.
II. The «ordinary» form (usually identified as the Missal of Pope Paul VI) is the one to be used regularly.
III. The «extraordinary» form (usually identified as the Missal of Blessed John XXIII) may, however, be used:
A. in Masses where the priest does not have a congregation, except on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, B. in Masses of religious communities in their chapels and oratories and C. in parishes where a group of the faithful requests it, but only once on a Sunday or feast day.
There are, though, three more provisions in the new norms which are of interest mostly to the clergy. All the same, it might be well to at least mention them here.
I. Pastors are to agree «willingly» to the «extraordinary» form in their parishes. If, however, there is a problem in this regard, the matter should be referred to the local bishop; and if there is a further problem, to the Holy See.
II. Pre-Vatican II rites may be used for Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Matrimony and the Anointing of the Sick, «as the good of souls suggests.»
III. When Mass is celebrated in the «extraordinary» form, the Readings may be in the vernacular.
And to all of this our Holy Father, in a letter to the bishops of the world, added three further points.
I. The changes in the liturgy do not in any sense detract from the authority of the Second Vatican Council.
II. Priests who choose to celebrate Mass in the «extraordinary» form must have a sufficient knowledge of the Latin language to pronounce the words correctly.
III. The changes in the liturgy must not be the occasion of divisions in the Church. They are rather to strengthen the unity of that community of believers for whom the Lord prayed on the night before he died that «they may be one as You, Father, in Me and I in You» (John 17:21).
Les hele kommentaren her.