Thursday, September 2, 2010

Should be irrelevant, but the answer is NEED it

According to the Latin Mass Tallahassee blog, a diocesan official was "essentially asking" if Catholics in the diocese who desire the TLM "actually just WANT the Mass, or do we NEED the Mass". Apparently, diocesan officials have some difficulty with the plain language of Pope Benedict's 'Summorum Pontificum' which clearly states that...
"In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonizes with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with canon 392, avoiding discord and favoring the unity of the whole Church."
And...
"If a group of lay faithful, as mentioned in art. 5 § 1, has not obtained satisfaction to their requests from the pastor, they should inform the diocesan bishop. The bishop is strongly requested to satisfy their wishes. If he cannot arrange for such celebration to take place, the matter should be referred to the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei'."
There is no talk in this papal document about 'need' vs. 'want'. Nevertheless, for many Catholics, the answer is an overwhelming "NEED it."
The blog is asking Catholics who 'need' the TLM to write to the bishop.
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