by John L. Allen Jr.
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PARIS -- On his way to Paris this morning, Pope Benedict XVI called fears his recent authorization for wider celebration of the old Latin Mass marks a rollback on reforms associated with the Second Vatican Council “absolutely unfounded.”
“There is no opposition at all between the liturgy approved by Vatican II and the liturgy celebrated according to the old rite,” the pope said.
Instead, the pope insisted that his 2007 ruling constituted an “act of tolerance” towards Catholic who feel attached to the rite of the Mass in use before Vatican II (1962-65).
The comment to journalists came in response to a question aboard the papal plane.
Debate over Benedict XVI’s 2007 ruling on the Latin Mass has likely caused more ferment in France than virtually anywhere else in the Catholic world, in part because there’s a strong traditionalist element in French Catholicism that has long objected to the liturgical reforms associated with the council.
It was a French prelate, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who launched the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X that broke with Rome in 1988, and still today Lefebvre’s society has its strongest membership base in France.
Recently, French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue, acknowledged that a slight uptick in priestly vocations in France is largely due to the impact of the traditionalists.
“Certainly, there are different accents” between the two rites of the Mass, Benedict said, but fundamentally they express the same faith. He also said that “development” in the liturgy is a natural feature of church life in every century.
The Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, had asked journalists travelling with the pope to submit questions in advance. He then read four in Benedict, all in French, and the pope responded in French. He spoke for roughly nine minutes
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John Allen is filing stories throughout the pope's visit to France and Lourdes. Read all the stories in his daily news column: John L Allen Jr Daily Column. Stories he has already filed include:
Sept 15
• Pope in France: A lesson in 'Marian cool'
Sept 14
• Pope offers prayerful meditation on Eucharist: Jesus 'past, present and future'
• Pope in France: Traditionalists deserve 'a place in the church'
• The Cross, Mary, and hope for 'new vigor' in the Church
Sept 13
• Pope tells shrunken church, 'Don't be afraid'
• Lourdes: Nothing says 'Catholic' like the Virgin Mary
• Explaining Benedict's discretion on Islam
Sept 12
• No reference to Muslims, but pope makes a call to resist 'disaster for humanity'
• Benedict makes a case for 'healthy secularism'
• Pope in France: Averting a secular Iron Curtain
• Pope in France: Latin Mass an 'act of tolerance'
Earlier stories
• Extracts from Sarkozy on church/state relations in France
• Cardinal Tauran on the pope's trip to France
• The Marian Papacy of Benedict XVI
• Benedict hopes to tap the 'creative minority' of French Catholics
(Editor's Note: Some stories are double posted, on NCRonline.org and on NCRcafe.org.)
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(John Allen is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.)
