DOSSIER ThE LITuRgy In ThE ChuRCh TODay
TRADITIONES CUSTODES AND CANON 87 HOW IS THE JULY 16, 2021 MOTU PROPRIO BEING IMPLEMENTED AROUND THE US AND THE WORLD? n BY BRIAN KOPP*
Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, celebrates the Eucharist in the extraordinary form with Benedictine monks in Norcia, Italy. (CNS photo/courtesy Populus Summorum Pontificum). Below, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois
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he publication of Pope Francis’ July 2021 motu proprio Traditiones custodes has caused an uproar in the Catholic world, seemingly outsized given the small global prevalence of the Traditional Latin Mass. Otherwise known as the “Tridentine Rite” or “Extraordinary Form,” this latter title was first coined by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in his July 7, 2007 apostolic letter Summorum pontificum, a term since abrogated by Traditiones custodes. Summorum pontificum sought to restore the right of priests to offer the Traditional Latin Mass in its 1962 form, admitted that right was never abrogated with the introduction of Pope Paul VI’s Novus Ordo Missae in 1970, and recognized the right of laity to request it and the duty of bishops to positively respond to such requests. Traditiones custodes sought to reverse these freedoms recognized and granted by Summorum pontificum, citing as its necessity a need for Church “unity” in its worship and the possibility of a rejection of Vatican II among Traditional Latin Mass adherents. The relative merits of Traditiones custodes have been debated at length in the period following its publication, with many laity, bishops and cardinals clearly displeased with it and its tenuous grounding in Canon Law. Its intention was to strictly curtail the use of the 1962 Missal, slowly 26
INSIDE THE VATICAN MAY-JUNE 2022
cese’s Traditional Latin Masses were suppressed as a result. Furthermore, it documents any relevant statements from local bishops or chanceries, and, tellingly, whether a bishop employed Canon 87 in justifying their actions.
bringing its adherents into an embrace of the Novus Ordo Missae and preventing seminarians and newly ordained priests from learning or offering the old Mass. The impact of this motu proprio on the actual prevalence of the Traditional Latin Mass since July 2021, however, has proven difficult to quantify. The earliest and, so far, most comprehensive attempt to evaluate its effects and the actions of local bishops as a result was that of the website traditioniscustodes.info. This survey-based website, established within days of the publication of Traditiones custodes, summarizes whether all, some, or none of a dio-
Canon 87 of the Code of Canon Law Canon 87 states: “§1. A diocesan bishop, whenever he judges that it contributes to their spiritual good, is able to dispense the faithful from universal and particular disciplinary laws issued for his territory or his subjects by the supreme authority of the Church. He is not able to dispense, however, from procedural or penal laws nor from those whose dispensation is specially reserved to the Apostolic See or some other authority.” Since Traditiones custodes represents disciplinary law not reserved to the Holy See, bishops may dispense their diocesan territory from it. According to the survey, about a half-dozen US bishops, as well as one from Jamaica, have specifically employed Canon 87 in permitting the continued presence of the Traditional Latin Mass in their diocese. A typical example was the July 19, 2021 statement of Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois: “Where as ac-
