We'll climb that mountain

Joseph Shaw raises a glass in thanksgiving for a decade of Summorum Pontificum

Ten years ago Pope Benedict XVI promulgated ‘motu proprio’ – ‘by his own initiative’ – the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum: it was published on 7 July 2007, and came into force on 14 September. For those readers who have encountered the ancient Mass only since 2007, and perhaps have had experience of difficulties which still impede its celebration today, it may not be easy to imagine what things were like before that date, and therefore what difference this document made.

If so, allow me to enlighten you. Under the previous legal situation, as then understood, the celebration of the Traditional Mass was possible under an ‘indult’: that is, a permission which lifted, under certain circumstances, the force of a general rule.

Pope John II, mindful of the work of the Society of Pius X, described the desire for the ancient Mass as a ‘rightful aspiration’, and pleaded with bishops to be ‘generous’ in their permissions, but, having given them the power to give permission for the Vetus Ordo, he left the ultimate decision in their hands.

The result could not be described in any sense as ‘generous’ provision, for a number of reasons I can’t explore here. This practical difficulty was joined by a theoretical one for Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass: conservative and liberal Catholics alike frequently criticised us for wanting something which was, in the last analysis, banned, and banned, presumably, for our own good.

These problems, which added greatly to the suffering of those who remembered, or had somehow discovered, the riches of the old Mass, were summarised by Cardinal Ratzinger, before his election as Pope Benedict. He wrote in 2000:

Anyone who nowadays advocates the continuing existence of this liturgy or takes part in it is treated like a leper; all tolerance ends here. There has never been anything like this in history; in doing this we are despising and proscribing the Church’s whole past. How can one trust her at present if things are that way?

(Spirit of the Liturgy)

Readers may think this statement exaggerated the problem, but really it does not. I experienced myself good and faithful Catholics, highly educated and courageous defenders of the Magisterium, recoil from me on learning I attended the old Mass, as if I had announced that I was the bearer of a deadly and highly contagious illness: and one, moreover, which implied serious moral failings on my part, like some kind of spiritual syphilis.

In the same way, the attitude that everything in the liturgy before the Second Vatican Council was darkness, was the solemn and unquestionable presumption of serious Catholic programmes of study in universities and seminaries.

It is true that such attitudes can still be found lingering today, here and there, but they can easily be put on the defensive simply by referring to the Motu Proprio. The peculiar distortions of what this document said, which were attempted when it was first published, can be challenged by reference to the short, clear, text, which is available to everyone with access to the internet.

Looking at the practical results of the Motu Proprio, we can refer to the Society’s Mass Listings for an objective measure.

They tell us that in 2007, the Traditional Mass was celebrated at least monthly in 26 locations; today there are 147. In 2007, there were 20 places in England and Wales where it was possible to attend the Mass every Sunday; today, there are 40. For Holydays of Obligation, there were 13 celebrations for All Saints in 2007; there were 36 last year. There were 10 Masses of Christmas in 2006; in 2016 there were 71.

Contemplating the mountain we have to climb before we will be able to say that the Extraordinary Form is genuinely available to Catholics in England and Wales who want it, or who would benefit from discovering it, we should remind ourselves what an incomparably woeful situation obtained before the Motu Proprio: and that itself was the result of 40 years of tireless work and sacrifice by the Society’s members and friends.

So this season raise a glass in thanksgiving for a decade of Summorum Pontificum, and Pope Benedict XVI! If you have not already done so, join the Anniversary Supporters advertised in this issue of Mass of Ages, and together we’ll climb a bit more of that mountain.

‘Let’s see now... how does the Hail Mary go again?'

Taken from Cracks in the Clouds by Dom Hubert Van Zeller (Brother Choleric), 1976