Responsa ad Dubia concerning Traditionis Custodes
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,079
    Providing a thread for discussion.

    Here's a link to the English translation of the Responsa ad Dubia:
    https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2021/12/18/0860/01814.html#ing

    LifeSite's reaction:
    https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/rome-drops-new-bombshells-on-traditional-mass/?utm_source=featured&utm_campaign=usa

    PrayTell's initial reaction:
    https://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2021/12/18/clarifications-concerning-traditionis-custodes/

    The Trad websites are already blowing up about it. Won't link to those.

    I'm not surprised at all by the clarifications. It was clear as day in Traditionis Custodes and the accompanying letter to bishops that Church authority is intent on phasing out the use of the 1962 Missal, eventually deauthorizing its use in the Roman Rite, in favor of liturgical unity celebrating exclusively the reformed, postconciliar rites.

    My hope is that these clarifications will persuade bishops and priests to cease expending futile effort and resources promoting and perpetuating the TLM in the Roman Rite, and instead redirect those efforts and resources to beautifying the Novus Ordo Mass so that its celebration is more in continuity with preconciliar liturgical Tradition and more faithfully adheres to the directives of Vatican II and other liturgical norms.
  • My hope is that these classifications will persuade more and more of the truth, that there are two Rites, and since one of them is immemorially ancient, it cannot be suppressed.
  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    My hope is that these clarifications will persuade bishops and priests to cease expending futile effort and resources promoting and perpetuating the TLM


    There's no good reason to stop promoting that which is good and holy. If anything, this latest document will persuade anyone with an open mind that this is a desperate move by men who have no good arguments against what they're fighting and who simply resort to force and authoritarianism.
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,079
    The bishops at Vatican II disagreed. They expressly called for a reform of the then-existing liturgy, as good and holy as it was. The 1962 Missal was supplanted by the 1970 Missal, which was duly authorized and promulgated by papal authority in response to the Council's mandate for liturgical reform. Pope Francis is now directing that the Roman Church commit herself unwaveringly to the Council's call for liturgical reform and commit herself exclusively to liturgical unity in celebrating the reformed rites. No more liturgical bifurcation in the Roman Church.

    The Holy See has sole authority over the Church's liturgical rites.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    Anyway to celebrate this persecution which has always strengthened the Faith, I am redoubling my efforts to spread Tradition.

    The present regime in Rome is playing a dangerous game (for them), by saying that the Church before Vatican II was 'effectively' defective, and the ancient Rites need to be banned is an interesting position, and brings the following questions,
    1. So did the 'church' only begin after Vatican II ?
    2. Was the Church mistaken for almost 2000 years?
    3. If the Church was defective before Vatican II does this mean that the present Church is also defective?
    4. Is it of any interest that Pope Benedict is still alive?
    5. If Traditionalists are the biggest problem in the Church right now, what was the question?
    6. Does the present regime in Rome really want us Traditionalists to turn up to the local N.O. Mass parish, with our old Hand Rite missals, mantillas, large families, Traditional books of prayers, Kneel through mass, ignore the secular songs... etc. ?

    Anyway Pope Francis is mortal, the Cardinals are watching, this will surely influence their choice for the next Pope.

    Also the Remnant of the Faithful will always be with us unto the end of time, they hid in the catacombs, we disappeared from view in the 1970 and 80's, what is a few more years in the wilderness? With the internet we are not alone anymore, and the SSPX continues to grow!

    @MarkB The Roman Church has committed itself to the deform reform for 50 years and where has that got them?
  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    MarkB, did they indeed? Sacrosanctum Concilium states "Lastly, in faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way." That's what we're doing for our own traditional Latin Rite. If there's anything traditionalists and the folks in Rome agree on, it's that we have two distinct rites. Pope Francis said as much in an interview "[It’s] a sort of permission of bi-ritualism which only Rome can give, as a priest that celebrates in the Oriental Rite and the Latin Rite, is bi-ritual with Rome’s permission"
  • redirect those efforts and resources to beautifying the Novus Ordo Mass so that its celebration is more in continuity with preconciliar liturgical Tradition and more faithfully adheres to the directives of Vatican II and other liturgical norms.

    It’s odd to read that you’re happy about the suppression of the ancient rite and simultaneously want to make the new rite more like it.

    All I can unequivocally say is that TC and these dubial clarifications are evil. Good, old-fashioned evil.
  • The present regime in Rome is playing a dangerous game (for them), by saying that the Church before Vatican II was 'effectively' defective, and the ancient Rites need to be banned is an interesting position, and brings the following questions,
    1. So did the 'church' only begin after Vatican II ?
    2. Was the Church mistaken for almost 2000 years?
    3. If the Church was defective before Vatican II does this mean that the present Church is also defective?
    4. Is it of any interest that Pope Benedict is still alive?
    5. If Traditionalists are the biggest problem in the Church right now, what was the question?
    6. Does the present regime in Rome really want us Traditionalists to turn up to the local N.O. Mass parish, with our old Hand Rite missals, mantillas, large families, Traditional books of prayers, Kneel through mass, ignore the secular songs... etc. ?


    All of this strikes me as highly intellectually dishonest. I say this because basically every question here is some mix of logical fallacy and factual misrepresentation of reality. Could all of y'all self identified traditionalists be real with us and say what you really think rather than sharing things that you think score points but deep down know aren't true?

    Let's address these:

    1. So did the 'church' only begin after Vatican II ?


    No practicing orthodox Catholic believes this. To believe otherwise is heresy. Only formal heretics believe this statement. I've attending Novus Ordo parishes my whole life and have never met anyone who thinks this. [And yes, there were some prominent formal heretics who thought this in the 1960s, but like, let's be real, how much influence does this heresy have at the present moment?]

    Hence, this is a straw man fallacy. This appears to be an attempt to smear the opposition by putting words in their mouth. As someone who comes to this board hoping to have real and genuine dialogue, I expect better than this.

    2. Was the Church mistaken for almost 2000 years?


    This is another straw man fallacy. No one who attends the Novus Ordo views the matter this way, and this is thus another attempt to smear the opposition.

    I think everyone, when being intellectually honest, recognizes that when the Church updates the Roman Missal, which has occurred many times, that the Church is attempting to improve the Roman Missal. Improving something and making it better is absolutely not equivalent to saying that the previous version was "wrong."

    Of course, if you actually believe this logic, and attend Mass according to the 1962 Missal, you believe that the church was wrong for nineteen hundred and sixty two years before the 1962 Missal was made.

    3. If the Church was defective before Vatican II does this mean that the present Church is also defective?


    Straw man again, for the same reasons as listed above. No one who attends the Novus Ordo thinks that revised versions of the Roman Missal create any kind of change to the nature of the Church. And if people who attend the TLM believe such things, well, that makes you the formal heretic.

    4. Is it of any interest that Pope Benedict is still alive?


    If Pope Paul VI was still alive, would that make any of you who love the TLM hold off on what you believe to be true, right and just to keep the old Pope happy? I think not, and I think that deep down everyone on this board agrees that pursuit of truth and justice should not be delayed in the name of Pope Benedict's feelings.

    5. If Traditionalists are the biggest problem in the Church right now, what was the question?


    This is a false choice fallacy. It is the responsibility of the Pope to address all the problems in the Church. You don't get a free pass by being some defined amount "less bad" than whatever the worst problem in the Church is.

    6. Does the present regime in Rome really want us Traditionalists to turn up to the local N.O. Mass parish, with our old Hand Rite missals, mantillas, large families, Traditional books of prayers, Kneel through mass, ignore the secular songs... etc. ?


    Please come! Yes, we want you to be actively involved in the mainstream Church. It makes me sad to see traditionalists segregating themselves off into ghettos. The Church will be better off when you regularly interact with every other type of Catholic, and I think that both sides would benefit from this.

    It's wonderful to see large families at Mass. It makes me sad to think that some of them feel a need to segregate themselves outside of mainstream Catholicism. You are welcome in a normal Catholic parish, and if you are made to feel otherwise, that deeply saddens me as well.

    Your old rite missals won't be of much use at a Novus Ordo Mass, so I'm not sure why anyone would show up to one with one, unless their attention is to create a scene. I presume all of you have nobler intentions than this.

    You are free to wear mantillas. If you think this is important for the future of the Church, segregating the people who do so outside of mainstream Catholicism is incredibly self-defeating.

    The GIRM for the Novus Ordo specifies the posture for the laity in many places, and I think that most trads have nobler intentions than to disobey the GIRM and kneel the whole time. But, even if you feel a need to do this, please come, it's so much better to have you integrated into the mainstream practice of Catholicism.

    The GIRM also highly encourages congregational singing. I presume that you have nobler intentions that to not sing songs you don't like, but even if you feel a need to do this, again, please come.
  • MarkB, did they indeed? Sacrosanctum Concilium states "Lastly, in faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way." That's what we're doing for our own traditional Latin Rite. If there's anything traditionalists and the folks in Rome agree on, it's that we have two distinct rites. Pope Francis said as much in an interview "[It’s] a sort of permission of bi-ritualism which only Rome can give, as a priest that celebrates in the Oriental Rite and the Latin Rite, is bi-ritual with Rome’s permission"


    This is a factual misrepresentation of the meaning of SC.

    It's clear that SC is referring to the fact that the Eastern Rites have equal dignity to the Roman Rite in this passage.

    SC calls for a committee to revise the Roman Rite.

    No one who understands what the plain meaning of the text of SC says thinks that it in any way intended for the non-revised Roman Rite to continue to stand alongside the revised version after the revision.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Good or bad, it can't be argued that the church has not followed through with what the council actually called for liturgically. If you read the council documents on liturgy and music, it is abundantly clear those documents are not followed or enforced. If the NO could be required to follow the directives, it would certainly be an improvement.

    As for the Trads, learning a few people skills and how to interact with the church bureaucracy could only help you.
  • Also the Remnant of the Faithful will always be with us unto the end of time, they hid in the catacombs, we disappeared from view in the 1970 and 80's, what is a few more years in the wilderness? With the internet we are not alone anymore, and the SSPX continues to grow!


    Is this forum a safe space to promote the SSPX? I had kind of thought that this forum would have a stark red line at public affiliation with pseudo-schism.

    But, if those of you who identify as traditionalists really have agreed with the SSPX the whole time and would join the SSPX in a heartbeat if Rome didn't allow your preferred liturgy, well, I guess it's best to be intellectually honest about what you stand for.
    Thanked by 1toddevoss
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    And the people of God sang:

    We are many parts,
    One screwed up body....
  • This all reminds me of what the professor of Biblical and Church History said in class one day, concerning the topic of "what's it going to take to get the Church to stop [insert liturgical abuse] here and return to its senses?" This cantankerous old Argentinian priest held up his hand and said, "My boys, in the long and varied history of the Church, problems have never been solved by Rome admitting to errors of any sort. She has simply promoted the truth, alongside whatever mistakes she has made, until the latter are simply abandoned."

    I think this example applies to the current situation as well. If the Novus Ordo is the legitimate expression of the faith of the Church (and it might very well be, for all we know), then Rome should have the confidence to let it operate on its own, without placing these sort of handicaps on what it perceives to be its competition. If it is meant to be, the TLM will fade away - or the Novus Ordo. Time will tell.

    But the Novus Ordo is "too big to fail", in the mind of most bishops. Hence, liturgy by diktat. And we all know how well those work out.

    This whole scenario brings to mind Bishop Ireland (one of the foremost Progressives of his day, mind you) and his piss-poor treatment of the Byzantines in America. There's a reason he was called the "Father of Orthodoxy in America." The last thing we need is Pope Francis begetting something similar on a global scale.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    @contemporaryworship92
    Is this forum a safe space to promote the SSPX?

    Perhaps you should spend some time looking into Pope Francis's pronouncements with regard to the SSPX. He has given them faculties!

    As for this Forum it is for Church Music... so this thread is not really of any relevance to this forum.

    Also thank you for answering my questions, I have received very different responses from others that attend the N.O.
    Thanked by 1StimsonInRehab
  • Is this forum a safe space to promote the SSPX?


    This forum is a safe place to promote Sacred Music.


    I had kind of thought that this forum would have a stark red line at public affiliation with pseudo-schism.

    But, if those of you who identify as traditionalists really have agreed with the SSPX the whole time and would join the SSPX in a heartbeat if Rome didn't allow your preferred liturgy, well, I guess it's best to be intellectually honest about what you stand for.


    There are quite a few on this forum who have, either currently or in the past, acted as music directors for the chapels of the SSPX. Not to mention seminarians or religious belonging to communities affiliated with the Society. I have yet to see any of them make comments promoting 'pseudo-schism' as you so facilely term it.

    There are also those among us who support the spirit and charism of the Old Archbishop, while at the same time realizing that their path would be best suited elsewhere in the Church. One doesn't have to become a Dominican to pray the Rosary, or a Franciscan to pray the Stations, to make a few 'limping' examples.

    Does everyone on this forum share the same view as to what the ideal sacred music program should look like? Or in which rite or use or form or whathaveyou such a program would take place? Not by a long shot. But I should hope we have enough sympathy to help fellow musicians where they are in making the most beautiful, prayerful service in their corner of the Church.

    I think it would be best for intellectual honesty to go both ways - instead or trying to paint those opposed to you as "outside the church" because they find the recent declarations from Rome to be unnecessarily draconian.
  • And for the record, contemporary - I do appreciate you trying to encourage 'trads' to interact with 'mainstream' Catholics. As well as your efforts to encourage congregational singing. And the invitation to come is extended both ways!
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    The 1962 Missal was supplanted by the 1970 Missal
    but first it was supplanted by having the rubrics altered, and published in editio typica in 1965. After that the use of the 1962 as it stood was abrogated in due legal form, just as certainly as 1962 abrogated 1920.
    Furthermore a formula of concelebration was added, and additional changes to the rubrics in 1967. Archbishop Lefebvre was able to accept all those changes (though some of his followers were restive, I believe). A major problem was that some bishops imposed a ban on Latin in 1967, quite without authorisation from Rome (and of course incurring the anathema imposed by the Council of Trent). In my own native diocese of Westminster, continued use of Latin was encouraged, and still is, but not of the abrogated rites.
    [ADDED]Although it is correct to say "the 1970 Missal", the picture is horribly confused by it having been implemented only when a translation was authorised. So in England we had none of it until Advent 1973; apart of course from the Calendar. Given that mess, which coincided for me with minimal observance, it is hardly surprising that bishops were so reluctant to correct the Missal.
  • I think the recent actions by Rome prove the theory that they are looking to phase out the EF. For those who would be upset by this (I think justly), the only course of action would be to work to beautify the OF. The Reform of the Reform movement could actually result in something if the EF is suppressed (as appears likely) and if the trads are willing to work to beautify the OF. This would be their only option besides schism.

    And Stimson is right, for this to happen, both sides need to compromise. The trads need to realize that they are not more correct than Rome. While you may not like what Pope Francis does and may find him confusing sometimes (as I do), he was chosen by the conclave which was guided by the Holy Spirit. The progressives need to realize that what they are doing is not in accordance with church teachings on liturgy, and submit themselves to what Vatican II actually said. Liturgy is not a place for our own opinions or preferences, it is the public prayer of the Church and should be done according to the Church's directives. Anyone on either the trad side or the progressive side who strays from these directives is wrong.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    RotR: I suggest a test - watch a High Mass from Walsingham Cathedral in Houston, and ask whether you could live with that style. If you could, then note that Bishop Lopes there is now chair-elect of USCCB Liturgy Committee.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    I have wondered about forbidding the use of parochial churches. If the Vatican follows through on that, many, maybe most TLM groups will have to find other quarters.
  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    This is a factual misrepresentation of the meaning of SC

    I don't see how. "...all lawfully acknowledged rites" means "...ALL lawfully acknowledged rites." It's the principle behind this statement that matters even if the context is one of reassuring the Eastern Churches of the Roman Church's esteem for their rites.

    No one who understands what the plain meaning of the text of SC says thinks that it in any way intended for the non-revised Roman Rite to continue to stand alongside the revised version after the revision.

    What was intended and what, in fact, happened are two completely different things. A new rite was developed. And the non-revised rite did continue to stand. And, as I showed in my previous comment, there's agreement between "trads" and the Pope that we're dealing with two distinct rites here. The situation in which we're now working is not that of the 1960s and it's only reasonable that some practical proposals from that time won't be fitting in ours. That's why I appealed to the principle behind the sentence I quoted from Sacrosanctum Concilium.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    @CharlesW Well our diocese will need to close 1/3rd of our parishes within the next 5-10 years, and 2/3rd within 15 years. Our Seminary closed this year due to no vocations, and only a handful at most for the last few years. 2/3rds of our diocesan priests are heading for retirement... We will have plenty to choose from!

    My friends in Switzerland now outnumber those that still attend the N.O., they have a choice of former Parish church to use for their Masses.

    @contemporaryworship92
    N.B. For those that do not know me and the my many responsibilities, I have just received a very kind letter from my archbishop thanking him for my services. He wrote "because you have served the Lord in His Church through the exercise of your gifts, and because the Body of Christ has been enriched by your faithfulness and dedication". So it would be news to him that I am not part of the Mainstream Church.
  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    The Reform of the Reform movement could actually result in something if the EF is suppressed (as appears likely) and if the trads are willing to work to beautify the OF. This would be their only option besides schism.

    For me personally, I'll accept neither option. I think this whole operation to get rid of the Roman Rite and forcefully replace it with the Novus Ordo will fail spectacularly.
  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    As for the Trads, learning a few people skills and how to interact with the church bureaucracy could only help you.

    The Institute and the FSSP have 19 and 54 apostolates respectively in North America. Plus, there are many more diocesan TLM apostolates. Either the church bureaucrats like being abused, or the relationships between "trads" and said bureaucrats isn't nearly as bad as you make it out to be.
  • As for the Trads, learning a few people skills and how to interact with the church bureaucracy could only help you.


    Definitely agreed, trads need to be more 'sociable' - but when you're dealing with a bureaucracy which obsesses over minutiae like printing mass times in the bulletin, it appears that there's room for improved people skills on both sides.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    it appears that there's room for improved people skills on both sides.


    Definitely agreed on that.
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,048
    My hope is that these clarifications will persuade bishops and priests to cease expending futile effort and resources promoting and perpetuating the TLM in the Roman Rite, and instead redirect those efforts and resources to beautifying the Novus Ordo Mass so that its celebration is more in continuity with preconciliar liturgical Tradition and more faithfully adheres to the directives of Vatican II and other liturgical norms.

    I know we've all gone over this many times before, but if the past 50 years has shown us anything, the choice isn't between the TLM and a beautiful Novus Ordo.

    I've worked my entire career to beautify the NO, as have most of the others on this Forum, and we all know the story: more often than not our efforts have been met with opposition or just plain cancellation and suppression of Latin, chant, better music, or adherence to liturgical norms. There have been some success stories, but then it's often difficult to sustain things beyond a single pastor.

    This comment makes it sound like those could have been working to beautify the NO have been distracted by the TLM, but now we can get on with the true liturgical agenda of Vatican II. But what has been stopping anyone from doing so for the past 5 decades? Certainly not the TLM. One the contrary - it's no accident that many of the places with a beautiful NO also celebrate the TLM. Why not both / and?
  • francis
    Posts: 10,816

    [34] But one in the council rising up, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, respected by all the people, commanded the men to be put forth a little while. [35] And he said to them: Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do, as touching these men.

    [36] For before these days rose up Theodas, affirming himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all that believed him were scattered, and brought to nothing. [37] After this man, rose up Judas of Galilee, in the days of the enrolling, and drew away the people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as consented to him, were dispersed. [38] And now, therefore, I say to you, refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this council or this work be of men, it will come to nought; [39] But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God. And they consented to him. [40] And calling in the apostles, after they had scourged them, they charged them that they should not speak at all in the name of Jesus; and they dismissed them.

    [41] And they indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. [42] And every day they ceased not in the temple, and from house to house, to teach and preach Christ Jesus.

    You'll find this in the Fifth Chapter of Acts.
  • "Lastly, in faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way."


    This doesn't (in contradiction to Contemporary ) mean only the "Eastern" Rites. The Dominican Rite, for one, underwent its own, entirely distinct change. It wasn't identical to the rite under discussion in TC.
    Thanked by 2tomjaw ServiamScores
  • There seem to be two contradictory streams of thought running here.

    The first stream of thought is that the TLM and/or traditional liturgy generally is unstoppably popular:

    There's no good reason to stop promoting that which is good and holy. If anything, this latest document will persuade anyone with an open mind that this is a desperate move by men who have no good arguments against what they're fighting and who simply resort to force and authoritarianism.


    I think this example applies to the current situation as well. If the Novus Ordo is the legitimate expression of the faith of the Church (and it might very well be, for all we know), then Rome should have the confidence to let it operate on its own, without placing these sort of handicaps on what it perceives to be its competition. If it is meant to be, the TLM will fade away - or the Novus Ordo. Time will tell.

    But the Novus Ordo is "too big to fail", in the mind of most bishops. Hence, liturgy by diktat. And we all know how well those work out.


    For me personally, I'll accept neither option. I think this whole operation to get rid of the Roman Rite and forcefully replace it with the Novus Ordo will fail spectacularly.


    The second stream of thought is that the TLM is needed because traditional liturgy is highly unpopular:
    I know we've all gone over this many times before, but if the past 50 years has shown us anything, the choice isn't between the TLM and a beautiful Novus Ordo.

    I've worked my entire career to beautify the NO, as have most of the others on this Forum, and we all know the story: more often than not our efforts have been met with opposition or just plain cancellation and suppression of Latin, chant, better music, or adherence to liturgical norms. There have been some success stories, but then it's often difficult to sustain things beyond a single pastor.


    These viewpoints appear to me to be in pretty stark contradiction.

    It seems to me that reality is much closer to the latter viewpoint.

    It seems clear to me that much of the trad liturgical program is highly unpopular among the population of Catholics who attend Mass every Sunday. If you polled a representative sample of such individuals, I strongly suspect that you would find that "organ only", "chant only", "male altar servers only", and "compulsory chapel veils for women" would poll way below 50%, perhaps on the order of getting 10% support.

    So, it appears to me that the central problem of achieving the trad liturgical program is that it is centered around a set of changes that 90% of Mass attending Catholics do not want. So, any time someone in power attempts to impose these changes on a congregation that is 90% against them occurring, most of the time the majority viewpoint is going to win out.

    Trads have attempted to address this problem by segregating themselves off from the rest of the Catholic Church. This makes me sad, and I think that this is ultimately destructive to the long term goals of traditionalists. Yet, in the short term, especially if you are in a major metro area, you can very easily create a special parish for the 10% of the population that shares these liturgical preferences. And then if you are crafty, you can spin the success of this special parish into a narrative that actually everyone wants what only 10% of the population wants, because look how many people came to the specialty parish.

    Something on the order of 2% of Catholics attend a TLM on Sunday. If there was vastly greater availability of the TLM, perhaps this number could get up to 5% or 10%. There appears to be little hope that the TLM could ever possibly become a majority or near majority liturgical preference, at least in most of the parts of the world that practice Catholicism. The actual hard data about how many Catholics want very traditional liturgy is pretty bleak for the traditional liturgy program.

    I think that the segregation strategy is defeating for the ultimate goals of the traditional music program because it gives up on convincing the general population of Mass attending Catholics and surrenders into catering to those already possessing a niche interest.

    If you can't sustain liturgical reform when implemented in a parish, you need to think harder about why this is. Why is traditional liturgy not creating a strong majority preference for it, if all people need to come to prefer it is a bit of exposure? Why can't a strong enough culture be built around it to survive a priest transfer, and why are so many priests not supportive?

    If your answer to this is that there is some kind of conspiracy by the priests to stop the tradition that the majority really wants, I just really doubt that many priests are so principled on the topic of liturgy that they will deny the collection-paying majority something they deeply care about.

    As someone coming from the opposite side of the aisle, here is some advice I have for you:
    1. Be intellectually honest that you are deep in the minority as it relates to the opinions of practicing Catholics.
    2. Recognizing that you are deep in the minority, think hard about how minorities can score a win. Demanding that an entire parish adopt a change that only 10% of the congregation wants is probably a losing fight. On the other hand, asking that one of the Masses on Sunday be a much more traditional celebration of the Novus Ordo might be pretty achievable, especially if coupled with:
    3. In many places, motivated minorities can have more influence than majorities that don't care that much. You can get your viewpoints to be statistically overrepresented in the music program if people who love traditional liturgy are super motivated to sing in the choir. The same can be said for various other areas. Most parishes are starving for volunteers and if people who share your views are doing disproportionately more of the volunteering, that gives you leverage over the decisions that the parish makes. Of course, the hard part here is that it takes long hard labor and years of compromise and getting along with people who have very different views from you, and to be straight with you, a lot of the rhetoric surrounding traditional liturgy encourages a no compromises ideological purity that makes it impossible to score a win with this method.



  • these clarifications will persuade bishops and priests to cease expending futile effort and resources promoting and perpetuating the TLM in the Roman Rite, and instead redirect those efforts and resources to beautifying the Novus Ordo Mass so that its celebration is more in continuity with preconciliar liturgical Tradition and more faithfully adheres to the directives of Vatican II and other liturgical norms.

    Are there many bishops who expend effort and resources on promoting TLM? I think most of them merely tolerate that the interested faithful spend theirs. Therefore, they (bishops) had all the resources needed and 50 years of time to beautify NO. The results have not been impressive. Why then would the prohibition of TLM make difference and fire up their enthousiasm? The reaction of some among Latin American hierarchy does not look promising.
    The bishops at Vatican II disagreed. ... No more liturgical bifurcation in the Roman Church.

    It appears that the bishops at Vatican II actually wanted liturgical bifurcation. SC, 49: "For this reason the sacred Council, having in mind those Masses which are celebrated with the assistance of the faithful, especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation, has made the following decrees in order that the sacrifice of the Mass, even in the ritual forms of its celebration, may become pastorally efficacious to the fullest degree." The "having in mind ... especially..." clause would not make sense if uniformity was in mind (hat tip to canonist Fr. G. Weishaupt for noticing this).
    Be intellectually honest that you are deep in the minority

    If so why not just let this small minority in peace and, if it be the case, let it die natural death rather than euthanize it?
  • "Why can't a strong enough culture be built around it to survive a priest transfer, and why are so many priests not supportive?"

    Because liturgical formation of priests is pitifully abysmal. Why is it abysmal? Because we threw out most of the rubrics concerned with proper ars celebrandi when the Mass was wreckovated. The TLM needs to live and breathe alongside the NO so that clergy and laity alike can look to it as an example of how Mass ought to be celebrated, even if those clergy and laity don't want the TLM itself. Its total loss would be absolutely tragic. It would be like removing all art from before 1960 from all art museums.
  • The prefect of CDW who signed this response to "dubia" quite recently has said something different: https://www.ccwatershed.org/2021/12/18/archbishop-roche-what-the-ordinary-form-has-to-learn-from-the-extraordinary-form/
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Comparing how the Extraordinary Form is celebrated today by a tiny minority of liturgically minded clergy with the worst examples of the Ordinary Form and using this to "prove" that the Extraordinary Form demands sacrality in and of itself is rather weak in my eyes.
    If you can't sustain liturgical reform when implemented in a parish, you need to think harder about why this is. Why is traditional liturgy not creating a strong majority preference for it, if all people need to come to prefer it is a bit of exposure? Why can't a strong enough culture be built around it to survive a priest transfer, and why are so many priests not supportive?
    Because catechesis is at an all-time low and yet the Church is a highly counter-cultural force in an increasingly banal world. In addition, the literal clown shows of the 1970s are not too far removed from the present.
    That said, I agree with the remainder of your points. I view the segregation strategy as self-defeating at best and shamefully selfish at worst.

    Also, the defense of the SSPX by some here is absurd. There is no free pass for breaking from Church hierarchy just because of your traditionalism.
  • The really sad thing about all of this is that the Western Orthodox Churches are the only ones who are preserving the ancient Rites of the West because they appreciate the variety and beauty that they hold. Really niche, really odd and really disheartening.
  • The really sad thing about all of this is that the Western Orthodox Churches are the only ones who are preserving the ancient Rites of the West because they appreciate the variety and beauty that they hold. Really niche, really odd and really disheartening.
    I would gleefully attend orthodox [in communion with rome] rites if they were anywhere to be found...
  • KARU27
    Posts: 184
    Oh, Contemporaryworship92,
    I too love intellectual honesty.
    How many dioceses have you heard of that are closing and merging parishes?
    How many dioceses are declaring bankruptcy from various lawsuits?
    How many dioceses are struggling with falling numbers of priestly vocations? And falling numbers of all religious vocations?
    How many dioceses have had to close many schools?
    Have you compared this to the number of vocations coming from TLM parishes?
    Have you seen the typical range of ages who attend TLM?
    I don't think anyone said that the TLM is unstoppably popular right now.
    It's just that the TLM movement is growing, and the rest of the Catholic Church appears to be in a free fall since the 1960s. I often think, sadly, that I am observing the decline of the thriving Roman Catholic Church.
    Let's be intellectually honest --can you prove me wrong? I would be happy if you could!
  • I'm late to the flurry of activity from yesterday, but here goes:
    I've attending Novus Ordo parishes my whole life and have never met anyone who thinks this.

    I have. I just had someone say to me —literally one week ago— "you know... about all the latin... I grew up with that... but I really thought we left all that behind. It's not for me."

    Even VII would disagree with this woman's statement to me.

    2. Was the Church mistaken for almost 2000 years?

    This is another straw man fallacy. No one who attends the Novus Ordo views the matter this way, and this is thus another attempt to smear the opposition.

    I think everyone, when being intellectually honest, recognizes that when the Church updates the Roman Missal, which has occurred many times, that the Church is attempting to improve the Roman Missal. Improving something and making it better is absolutely not equivalent to saying that the previous version was "wrong."


    There are many people who believe that anything that predates the council is anathema apart from veneration of the saints. I know this, because I meet resistance whenever I try and do anything remotely traditional.

    As for the second statement: the issue at hand here isn't that there was a slight tweaking to rubrics or the addition of an optional memorial or a new holy day of obligation... the old books were literally tossed out and replaced wholesale with something 'other'. So you can't claim that the novus ordo is a mere "revision" or update of the old missal. It's entirely new, which is why Paul VI termed it the 'novus ordo' rather than the 'updated missal'. Your observation on this particular point seems to be the straw man argument.

    Please come! Yes, we want you to be actively involved in the mainstream Church. It makes me sad to see traditionalists segregating themselves off into ghettos. The Church will be better off when you regularly interact with every other type of Catholic, and I think that both sides would benefit from this.

    It's wonderful to see large families at Mass. It makes me sad to think that some of them feel a need to segregate themselves outside of mainstream Catholicism. You are welcome in a normal Catholic parish, and if you are made to feel otherwise, that deeply saddens me as well.


    TLM parishes were not "outside" the mainstream church. Minority, yes. "Outside", decidedly not. I will repeat this until the day I die: the onus of the burden of proof is upon those who enacted and support the changes, not on those who choose to uphold immemorial custom. Statistically speaking, the novus ordo is still barely a blip on the map, so in the grand scheme fo things, the novus ordo is outside the historical "mainstream" of the church.

    It should also be noted that most TLM groups don't actively try and silo themselves away from everyone else. Usually they are forced to the extremities because no one would have them. Believe-you-me there are countless souls who would love nothing more than to go to their local, neighborhood church to enjoy their TLM rather than having to drive 90 minutes one way with small children in tow. The problem is, the "mainstream" church wouldn't have them or help them in any way. So, they drive. And drive, and drive. But it's not because they want to be in an ivory tower... it's just because they didn't (don't) have any other choice. Sure, there are a handful of independent chapels dotted about... but they are the extreme minority, even within the TLM world. So in this case, the exception proves the rule.

    Also, don't think that "rigid" tlmers are the only people who come off as unwelcoming. My cousin no longer attends her own parish because she had her young son in tow on a saturday evening and was told, point blank, by another parishioner, that she and her son "[were] not welcome here". All because he made some noise because he was a small child.

    And while I'm glad to read that you'd be happy to see women dawning mantillas, I can assure you there are many people for whom this is not the case, which probably explains why some women I know are uncomfortable with the idea of wearing them in the novus ordo. They tend to feel very conscious about it even though they aren't doing it for show.
  • Is this forum a safe space to promote the SSPX? I had kind of thought that this forum would have a stark red line at public affiliation with pseudo-schism.

    As has been mentioned, this isn't really the right thread (or forum) for this discussion. Suffice it to say, if PF gives them faculties (which he doesn't to other groups... don't tempt him, lol), and the excommunications were rescinded, and Fellay regularly goes to Rome (or at least, he was in the habit of doing so) and they receive official envoys from Rome, and Bp. Athanasius Schneider (said official envoy) does not believe them to be outside the church and has stated so publicly numerous times, and elsewhere Muller (I believe it was Muller anyway) said that their status was a "disciplinary matter" which is to say, not a matter of schism, but of canonical status—then we can safely put the tired old tropes that SSPXers are "schismatics" to bed.

    Again, I repeat: the onus of the burden of proof is on those who try to change things... not those who maintain tradition, which is the SSPX's whole schtick. (For the record, I do not attend an SSPX chapel, although I have on numerous occasions in the past.)

    Trads have attempted to address this problem by segregating themselves off from the rest of the Catholic Church. This makes me sad, and I think that this is ultimately destructive to the long term goals of traditionalists.

    Again, I reiterate: trads have only done this out of necessity because they are spurned. I know of cases where the diocese refuses to sell churches that are closing to trad groups, but will then sell the same property to a developer to be torn down, or to a protestant group to be turned into a protestant church. And the trads are left to find some property out in God's country and build a tiny chapel on some parishioner's land. Hardly their fault that they then call the SSPX to have a priest sent since the local ordinary refuses to give them even one priest for one mass a week.

    And you know what? Some trads are indeed defensive and have their guard up, but that's only because they have been maltreated for five decades. Even I can see that and I work full-time in a novus ordo parish and only rarely have the opportunity to attend TLMs due to my own mass obligations. But to me it seems a bit cruel to accuse groups of being segregationists when they were cast out. It's a bit like claiming your child is a "runaway" after you kicked them out for doing nothing wrong.
  • Hawkins, I would be more than happy if that became the norm.
    Thanked by 2a_f_hawkins CHGiffen
  • If you can't sustain liturgical reform when implemented in a parish, you need to think harder about why this is. Why is traditional liturgy not creating a strong majority preference for it, if all people need to come to prefer it is a bit of exposure? Why can't a strong enough culture be built around it to survive a priest transfer, and why are so many priests not supportive?

    If your answer to this is that there is some kind of conspiracy by the priests to stop the tradition that the majority really wants, I just really doubt that many priests are so principled on the topic of liturgy that they will deny the collection-paying majority something they deeply care about.


    You don't have much experience in parish ministry, do you?

    While I won't accuse you of being callous here, I must call you out for at least being uninformed, even if through no fault of your own.

    First, priests are like princes. They have enormous leeway to do whatever they want. And they have proclivities and preferences just like anyone else. The difference is, they have the power to implement these desires in a way that few of us laypeople do.

    Permit me a moment to share my story: I was once organist at a parish with a traditionally-oriented priest. He grew the parish, had a communion rail installed (you came up to the rail to receive communion but he would administer it in whatever forms were permitted by the church: standing/kneeling, hand/tongue, and any combination thereof). He had new religious artworks installed, ushered in a new (sorely needed) organ, and had me begin chanting the propers in the vernacular. He implemented new devotions, and revived old ones: we prayed the rosary before every single mass, chanted the angelus weekly, introduced the seasonal marian antiphons... he restarted and newly-founded a KoC group. We welcomed pilgrims once a month since we were a national shrine, and much, much more. He convinced a retired bishop to come celebrate a pontifical mass, brought in an orthodox bishop to lead divine liturgy once, and that bishop came early and gave us all lessons the night before on how to properly chant the liturgy... he had 100 country bumpkins in the middle of nowhere chanting an orthodox liturgy. It was incredible. He even managed to convince Cdl. Burke to come although that plan had to change after he was reassigned to another parish.

    This was well-received on the whole, although like in any circumstance, there were some growing pains. Nevertheless, the situation was good, and getting better all the time. He also took the time to teach the people why we were doing what we were doing. He once laid all the vestments out on the altar in reverse order, and started mass 20 minutes late so he could teach everyone about each piece and share the traditional prayers associated with them, so they would understand why he was dressed the way he was.

    Then he was reassigned.

    Our new priest was very different. He was once a refugee and had a very difficult upbringing. This was surely very formative (how could it not be) and I suspect his seminary formation was lacking too.

    Within three weeks of his arrival:
    • The pulpit was no longer used. (He was a wander around to homilize type priest.)
    • 4 of the 6 altar candles were stripped away
    • I was no longer permitted to do any chanting, including in the vernacular, even though this was only in addition to the normal four-hymn sandwich, and not in opposition to it.
    • I would have to go find him in the rectory when pilgrims came for confession because he wouldn't sit in it during the appointed times
    • all the beautiful silk vestments that the previous priest had purchased were retired for the most plain, ugly cotton he could find.
    • use of the communion rail was banned. There was only a single parishioner who insisted on still using it, and she would have to wait until the very end, and then he would give her communion in the corner, begrudgingly
    • marion antiphons were suppressed along with the angelus and St. Michael prayer at the end of mass
    • I was dismissed from playing for our sister parish (the priest and organist were assigned to both) so they went to complete silence every sunday
    • he refused to even buy a new paschal candle before the easter vigil, instead pulling out an old oil-filled one from the 70's (these are illegal, in case you're curious) and the beautiful bees-wax candle that had already been ordered by the previous pastor was returned.
    • no more sung liturgy of any kind
    • he purged the rectory of anything that wasn't bolted down, including many things donated by parishioners for the comfort of our priests. He even got rid of the humidifier.
    • no more decorating the outside of the parish (on a highway) at Christmas
    • no more stations in the garden during Lent (the previous pastor had sourced beautiful fully-sculpted free-standing stations and had them installed in a special garden with a walking trail next to the parish
    • no more corpus christi procession
    • He didn't even want to do incense on EASTER MORNING; the only reason we had it was because a server asked if he could bear the thurible, and he acquiesced.

    and the list goes on.

    This man had no respect for the culture that existed prior to his arrival, nor did he give two thoughts to what the priest coming in after him would need, to say nothing of the fact that he clearly didn't have the slightest respect for even the most basic liturgy.

    This man, single-handedly, DESTROYED the liturgical and devotional culture at this parish in a matter of WEEKS. And people were NOT happy about it. I had ladies speak to me with tears in their eyes about what was going on. We had made SO MUCH progress in the last few years and it was all ripped away from us.

    When the priest decided to dismiss me because I was still trying desperately to cling to any vestige of traditional liturgy that I could, I was told by a member of the parish council that they pleaded with him not to fire me because they all loved what I was doing and wanted me to stay. (I even had parishioners ask me personally to start chanting again, wondering why I ever stopped.) This priest decided to find my replacement anyway, going against the explicit request of the pastoral council. He had the power to do so, and he did it. I caught wind of what was happening and decided to tender my resignation since it was clear we couldn't work together, and when I asked to speak to him (with members of the parish council present) I tendered my resignation, and he sat there twitching, and then rose, without speaking a single word to me and walked out. 10 minutes later the parish secretary came back, asked for my keys, said I was never to come back, and had someone follow me out.

    For two years after my departure, I would still hear from parishioners decrying all of the horrible things that happened, and how sad they were about it all.

    All this to say: the priest has a very large impact on the life of a parish, for better and for worse.

    So you can't just blame it on the people. Some parishes are happy to be led to greener pastures. But when the only man in the room who can give us our Lord leads another way, what choice do they have?
  • There is no free pass for breaking from Church hierarchy just because of your traditionalism.


    Is there a free pass for ignoring Canon Law in suppressing them just because of your "forward-mindedness"?
  • Captain Contemporary, a few thoughts to consider:

    It seems clear to me that much of the trad liturgical program is highly unpopular among the population of Catholics who attend Mass every Sunday. If you polled a representative sample of such individuals, I strongly suspect that you would find that "organ only", "chant only", "male altar servers only", and "compulsory chapel veils for women" would poll way below 50%, perhaps on the order of getting 10% support.


    It's not as unpopular as you think. In my experience, the majority of people attending the New Mass, upon mentioning the TLM to them, are supportive of it. The most common expression I've heard is that they enjoy the atmosphere of contemplation. They wouldn't make it a regular mass, at least right now, but they appreciate that it's there.

    And the picture you paint of TLM culture is nowhere near as monolithic as all that. Outside of the altar servers, the other items mentioned are negotiable. I've been to many 'trad' masses where there are orchestral masses, masses with polyphony (for the ordinary or the propers) and *gasp* churches where veiling is optional!

    You're gonna get people who love chant only, or polyphony sometimes, or polyphony all the time - and this demographic isn't only going to skew across the 'trad' sector (I'm thinking of groups like the St. Louis Benedictines, who incorporate chant, polyphony, etc, into the NO, or the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit, who celebrate both the TLM and Charismatic Masses.)

    The actual hard data about how many Catholics want very traditional liturgy is pretty bleak for the traditional liturgy program.


    Yes, and the actual hard data for those who believe in the Real Presence in the mainstream church is pretty bleak, too. Does that mean we need to scrap belief in that doctrine?

    Imagine what the Church would look like today if the Pew Survey had existed in St Athanasius's time, and he decided it was pastoral to appeal to 'current trends'.

    I just really doubt that many priests are so principled on the topic of liturgy that they will deny the collection-paying majority something they deeply care about.


    Perhaps they don't want to deny the pension-paying minority something they deeply care about.

    Why is traditional liturgy not creating a strong majority preference for it, if all people need to come to prefer it is a bit of exposure?


    I'll be honest on this point - it really takes more than a bit of exposure. That's why I always recommend that people interested in theVetus Ordo commit to going at least six Sundays before making a judgement, because nine times out of ten it's not a Damascus Conversion. (It took two months for me to see it as anything besides watching a Fellini film, rear projected and without subtitles.) A lot of the attraction isn't just the Mass or the Office itself - it's living in the culture that is promoted by the 'ethos', if you will, of this rite.

    You keep returning to this concept of being "intellectually honest". To be frank, I think it's impossible for ANY of us to be 100% intellectually honest. No one says that they are intellectually honest, just the same as (quoting Stephen Fry) no one says that they have a bad sense of humor. All the same, we are. Why? Because we are emotionally invested. And -as we all know that pastors love to remind us of this - church musicians can be the most emotionally invested lot of the whole parish, simply due to their nature. And we are invested in what we love. And trying to find justification for a type of music or liturgy which we do not like is - hard. But that's what is going to be necessary, if we have any hope of really 'moving forward'.

    [This thread reminds me of the only article which C.S. Lewis wrote on the issue of Church music - which name escapes me right now. Perhaps some member of this forum whose Anglo-Catholic membership card hasn't expired knows the article I'm talking about?]
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    CS Lewis: Probably this, which I think is OCR'd from a scan which had problems with "seem".
  • Contemporary,

    Perhaps you didn't catch the tone of TC and the Responsium. Is this an accurate summary: "You're a minority already, but you're getting uppity, so you need to be reminded of your place; by the way, the Scripture says that the one who has little will have what little he has taken away"?

    St. John was in a minority, so I'm not sure what point you're aiming to make:

    He was the only male follower of Christ who attended the Crucifixion. He was also the only one of the four Evangelists to witness the whole of the public ministry of Jesus.

    As to the question of whether small minorities can/should impose their will on the whole of a parish, perhaps you've read The Renovation Manipulation? Or you know that Communion in the hand was introduced by breaking with centuries of practice, and in direct violation of the law by a minority of bishops?

    The presence or absence of a minority doesn't, in itself, demonstrate anything.
  • It seems clear to me that much of the trad liturgical program is highly unpopular among the population of Catholics who attend Mass every Sunday. If you polled a representative sample of such individuals, I strongly suspect that you would find that "organ only", "chant only", "male altar servers only", and "compulsory chapel veils for women" would poll way below 50%, perhaps on the order of getting 10% support.


    I echo stinson here; a large part of the issue is the lack of catechesis. I can't tell you how many times I've had conversations with people about the reasons and tradition behind ad orientem, say, and they've been shocked at all of the good reasons for it. The unwavering response is always, "wow... I had no idea..."

    Most people have no idea St. Paul said women should be covered and shouldn't even speak in church. Most people have no idea why ad orientem (I love Athanasius Schneider's preferred term: versus deum) is a thing. Most people have no idea that a communion rail isn't just a fancy ornament but it helps delineate the sanctuary from the nave (and all the theological ripples contained therein). Most people don't understand True Presence, and even if they do believe it, they don't understand many of the finer details about it (that it is dogmatically declared that receiving under one species is sufficient and counts as receiving the whole of our Lord, for instance). Most people have no idea the historical significance and scriptural basis for incense. Most people don't understand that chanting goes all the way back to the jewish temple, and far beyond, and that it's not just some boring, made up medieval stuff. People don't understand that Latin is a sacred language; heck, they are so used to hearing priests boom into mics at every opportunity, they don't even realize that the collect isn't directed at them.

    But when you explain these things, people tend to come around. Or they at least stop begrudging.

    Like Stinson, it took me a number of exposures to TLM before I "got it". I did have a minor Damascus moment in that I immediately realized it was good and holy, but I didn't understand a lick of it. It actually took me conducting a schola for a solemn missa cantata before I really began to even feel comfortable, and even then it was tenuous.

    In the end, I think it's not smart to go off the polls; it's a bit like saying, "polls show: babies don't like steak, so we shouldn't have steak; move along... mealy applesauce is the way to go". Seems fine (honest, even), at first blush anyway, until you realize that once that baby gets older and develops its palate, it might very well grow into a man that will devour steak, if only it has time to grow and if it is exposed to it.

    The average parish has no latin, (certainly hasn't seen a TLM in decades), has never had a mass versus deum, and probably hasn't had any chant sung in decades either. If this be the case, who can fault those parishioners for polling that those things are not high on their list of priorities? Of course they aren't! Some people (converts and the young, for instance) might not even know that those other things even exist (or if they do, it's etherial, because they've never actually experienced it). They have to be formed in proper liturgy and theology. And what a coincidence, then, that the young that are exposed to these things are flocking to traditional parishes in droves.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    As a Byzantine, I have no dogs in this fight. However, if Pope Francis follows through on this - who knows what the next pope will do - the Trads don't have sufficient numbers to sway the church to their way of worshipping. It looks to me like they will have to either go along, influencing the NO to become better, or leave and become a cult outside the church. My own thoughts are that this is not a fight worth having when so many other things are out of kilter and need fixing.
    Thanked by 1StimsonInRehab
  • or leave and become a cult outside the church.

    Some have speculated that this is precisely what the powers in Rome are trying to make happen, so then they can accuse the “rigid” trads of being schismatic, and then formally censure them, but make it appear as though the trads are at fault. I find this a convincing (if frightening) theory.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    I must admit all of this is Jesuitical to the core. I would say, SS, that you are correct.

    Coming from the east, I tend to take popes with a grain of salt. They come, they go, blessed be the name of the Lord. Easterners have, for the most part, not fallen into the "semi-divine pope" mentality. Perhaps the ultra-montanies believe popes are a direct result of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But you know, the Spirit can be ignored and not followed. This pope's term will end but I am not hopeful the next will be much different since he will come from the pool of cardinals Francis has appointed.

  • tandrews
    Posts: 174
    This only applies to TLM, right? Not the Ordinariate? Bishop Lopes should be having a field day with all the potential TLMers he could get when churches suspend their Latin Masses.
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,232
    It's clear that SC is referring to the fact that the Eastern Rites have equal dignity to the Roman Rite in this passage.


    Actually, it's not.

    If it were all that clear, SC wouldn't have gone on thus:

    holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way.


    In the present instance, the EF is a 'lawfully acknowledged rite' no matter the obiter dicta of Cd. Turkson, claiming that the EF is 'abrogated.' Indeed, SC would not have had to 'wish to preserve....and foster...' Rites which were abrogated.

    The EF was not abrogated by SC, and has not been abrogated since then. Therefore, the church holds the EF to be of equal right and dignity. And she holds the same for the Eastern Rites.