Vatican official criticizes narrow reading of Tridentine ruling

Published: 2007-11-07

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments criticized bishops and priests who have given a narrow interpretation to Pope Benedict XVI's permission for the wider celebration of the Tridentine Mass. Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don told an Italian Internet news site that he found it difficult to understand the action "and even rebellion" of churchmen who have tried to limit access to the older Mass. "On the part of some dioceses, there have been interpretive documents that inexplicably aim to limit the 'motu proprio' of the pope," he told the Web site Petrus Nov. 5. Pope Benedict's apostolic letter, published in early July, eased restrictions on the use of the 1962 Roman Missal, which governed the liturgy before the new Order of the Mass was introduced in 1970. The papal document said the Latin-language Tridentine Mass should be available when a group of the faithful requests it and should be celebrated by qualified priests. However, differences exist over what the precise characteristics of the group should be and over what specific knowledge and training a priest must have before he can celebrate the older Mass.

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