This summer, Vatican tradition brings flurry of decisions, documents

Published: 2007-07-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Before Pope Benedict XVI took off for his summer vacation in the Italian Alps, he engaged in a time-honored Vatican tradition: clearing his desk. That resulted in a flurry of decisions and documents, some long-awaited and some complete surprises. Their common denominator, apparently, was that no one wanted to deal with them again when they returned to their offices in September. Topping the list was the pope's July 7 apostolic letter on wider use of the Tridentine Mass. The document had been floating around so long that the Latin term "motu proprio," which refers to the form of the text, actually was making it into mainstream news reports. The pope began consulting on the Tridentine question in late 2005, and in early 2006 he discussed a draft text with members of the Roman Curia and the world's cardinals. The document then went into hibernation, and some people are still wondering why. After all, very few changes were made in the course of its preparation, according to Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a strong supporter of the pope's decree.

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