San Francisco Faith | April 1998 News

San Francisco Faith | April 1998 News:

"YOUNG CATHOLICS SHOULD NOT ATTEND THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS, according to Bishop DuMaine. In a letter to San Jose Catholics rejecting a petition for a weekly Traditional Latin Mass, DuMaine wrote that the Latin Mass indult is intended only for a dying generation: 'the Holy Father's intent was to give comfort to those who grew up with the old forms (as I did) and remain deeply attached to them. The intent was not to introduce a new generation of Catholics to forms now disallowed, except by indult.'

But if this is true, why has the Holy Father given explicit confirmation to permanent Latin Mass priestly societies like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest? 'We don't know why the Pope did that,' said Roberta Ward, the director of media relations for the San Jose diocese. So the bishop does not have an answer to the question? 'No,' she said, adding that the bishop had never even heard of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest"

This is an unfortunate incorrect statement. I respect the Bishop's right to do what he wants in his diocese, but I have not found that language either in the Holy Father's published remarks or the Ecclesia Dei Commission. I am sure the San Jose Diocese makes room for all sorts of inovative liturgies as most large diocese do. Let the Holy Father and the Ecclesia Dei Commission say what the "intent" was. I can quote more than one Cardinal, Bishop or the Holy Father to the effect that the 1962 liturgy is a valid and continual source of grace and instruction for the post Vatican II church.