Pope Francis has once again stood his ground on limiting Latin mass and is pushing to modernize the Catholic traditions and the way worship is celebrated. On Tuesday, Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, published a new legal decree which reasserted the Holy See's authority over celebrating the Latin Mass.
The decree emphasized that the Vatican must approve any new celebrations of the old rite by signing off on bishops' decisions to designate different parish churches for the Latin Mass or to allow newly ordained priests to celebrate it.
Understanding What Latin Mass Is, and Why Pope Francis Wants to Restrict it
According to an article in Saint Mary Church, the term "Traditional Latin Mass" or "TLM" refers to a type of mass that follows the Missal of 1962. Pope Benedict XVI declared this form of the group as the "Extraordinary Form" in 2007 through Summorum Pontificum. Before 1970, this was the standard way the mass was celebrated worldwide, and it had nourished the souls of saints and sinners for centuries.
During this mass, the priest would face the altar alongside the people and offer a sacrifice to God, who was believed to be present in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle. Except for the sermon to the people, the mass was entirely spoken, chanted, or sung in Latin.
Pope Francis recently has been asserting a new legal decree that allows approving new celebrations of the old rite. According to a shared story by Yahoo! News, the ruling emphasized that the Vatican must support any new celebrations of the traditional ceremony by signing off on bishops' decisions to allow other parish churches to hold the Latin Mass or to permit newly ordained priests to celebrate it.
The Vatican's liturgy office, led by British Cardinal Arthur Roche, is responsible for evaluating these requests on behalf of the Holy See, as stated in the decree. Additionally, all requests from bishops for the celebration of the Latin Mass must go through this office for evaluation and approval.
Traditionalist Critics Attacked Pope Francis and Labeled his Newly Signed Decree as "Grave"
According to AP News, the new decree does not explicitly restrict the celebration of Latin masses but to accept modernization and also repeats what was later declared. Pope Francis signed off the decree on Monday with a private audience, including Roche. This move of the pope has sparked controversy, and some of his critics, that are traditionalists have attacked the pope because they said that he focuses more on the environment, social acceptance, and justice.
The chairman of the Latin Mass Society in Britain labeled the decree as "grave" since it says that a permit is needed from Roche's office for parish churches to conduct Tridine Masses. He noted that this dilemma would lead to unfair circumstances, as old masses would be limited, and the adaption of modernized would be more rampant. Also, alternative locations would be accessible to some places but not to some others.
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