Summorum Pontificum Reloaded

«Myth #2: The Apostolic Constitution is going to be sabotaged by the local Bishops, not always supportive of the present Pope’s reforming policies. Archbishop Hepworth is deluded in thinking that any specific norms to apply the Constitution to the TAC are forthcoming.»

In the wake of the Holy Father’s promulgation of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (liberalizing the celebration of Holy Mass and the other Sacraments according to the liturgical books in force in 1962), liberal prelates rushed to issue “clarifying statements” and “local norms” designed to impede its implementation in their dioceses. The motu proprio represented a dramatic departure from past policy, guaranteeing to every priest in the Latin Rite the permission to celebrate the older rites without having to seek the consent of the local ordinary. Having resisted earlier papal initiatives to provide for traditionalists (in the circular letter Quattuor abhinc annos and the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei adflicta), modernist bishops believed (and many still do!) that they could continue to defy the will of the Holy Father. Summorum Pontificum was a dead letter in many dioceses, as bishops deliberately misconstrued the provisions of the motu proprio to maintain their power to frustrate the efforts of priests inclined to offer the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Anglicanorum Coetibus is not the first attempt by the Holy See to accommodate those married Anglican clergy and congregations interested in entering the Catholic Church in a corporate fashion...

Read the rest of this post, including Christian Campbell's assessment of the BBC interview with Msgr. Faley, at The Anglo-Catholic.