Traditionalist Catholic

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Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics, or persons who identify as Roman Catholics, who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentation of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Roman Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).[1]

Contents

[edit] Terminology

Traditionalist Catholics generally prefer to be referred to either simply as Catholics or, if a distinction must be made, as "traditional Catholics" (with a lower-case T). However, since Roman Catholics in general consider themselves to be "traditional" in the sense of being faithful to historical Catholic teaching,[2] the terms "traditionalist Catholics" and "Traditional Catholics" (with an upper-case T) are used in this article. It is not intended thereby to imply either that adherents of the traditionalist position are not true members of the Catholic Church or that "Traditional Catholic" is a formal title.

[edit] Different types of traditionalists

Traditionalist Catholics may be divided into four broad groups.

  • Traditionalists not enjoying the favour of the Holy See: traditionalist priests and laypeople who practise their faith outside the official structures of the Church, though they vehemently affirm their loyalty to the Church and to the papacy. The largest priestly society of this tendency is the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which was established in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a founding figure of Catholic traditionalism. Members of this category view the post-Conciliar changes as being unacceptable and doctrinally unsound. The fact that they recognise the official Church hierarchy while rejecting its decisions draws accusations of disloyalty and disobedience from the preceding group - whom this group in turn accuse of blind, un-Catholic obedience.
  • Sedevacantists: priests and laypeople who regard the Pope and the bishops of the "official" Church as having fallen into heresy and having therefore forfeited their authority. Such people neither possess nor seek the approval of the present Church hierarchy. The terms sedevacantist and sedevacantism derive from the Latin phrase sede vacante: "while the chair [of Peter] is vacant", a term which is normally reserved for the period between the death or retirement of a bishop and the consecration of his successor. Sedevacantists usually date the vacancy of the papacy from the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, though some regard Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) as a true pope. Sedevacantist groups include the Society of St. Pius V (SSPV) and the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI).
  • Conclavists: priests and laypeople stemming from the sedevacantist movement who have given recognition to a nominee of their own as the true Pope. Since they hold that the see of Rome is no longer vacant, they are not, strictly speaking, sedevacantists, but they are often classified as such, since they reject the official papal succession (and do so for the same reasons as sedevacantists). Conclavist groups include the true Catholic Church, the Palmarian Catholic Church, and the followers of David Bawden ("Pope Michael I").

There is some tension between the different groups at the official level - the SSPX, for example, condemns the FSSP and attendance at its Masses[3] - but the divisions are sometimes less pronounced at the lay level, with some happily attending Masses celebrated by priests of any group. Divisions between sedevacantists and other traditionalists are generally somewhat more pronounced.

Many traditionalist Catholics associate themselves with a particular priestly society. Other small groups of traditionalists sometimes form around an individual "independent" priest who has no ties with any particular organisation. Other Catholics again, known as "Home Aloners" do not associate themselves with any priests, and attempt to practise their faith individually in the privacy of their own homes.

Some leaders of Independent Catholic Churches also claim to be traditionalist Catholics and to be preserving the Tridentine Mass and ancient traditions.

[edit] Validity of holy orders of traditionalist clergy

Catholic doctrine holds that any validly ordained bishop can, with the required intention and using a valid form, validly ordain any other baptised male to the priesthood (and, indeed, to the episcopacy), even if the ordination is performed without official permission or approval, and even if the individuals involved are not Roman Catholics.[4]

Clergy belonging to the first category of traditionalists mentioned above are, naturally, ordained with official approval and in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Canon Law (see especially Canons 1012-1023). However, some members of the second and especially of the third and fourth groups consider that ordinations conferred using the revised rite of ordination promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1968[5] are invalid or of doubtful validity.[6] Some therefore take the view that there are now very few validly ordained bishops and priests left in the world. On the other hand, the validity of the orders of some sedevacantist and conclavist priests, many of whom have been ordained by episcopi vagantes, is questioned by others.

The Holy See rarely comments on the validity of the orders of traditionalist clergy who are not in good standing with it. However, without pronouncing on the question of validity, it has declared devoid of canonical effect the consecration ceremony conducted by Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục for the Carmelite Order of the Holy Face group at midnight of 31 December 1975, and any later ordinations by those bishops.[7] On the other hand, it recognizes the validity of the controversial episcopal consecrations that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre conferred in 1988, while declaring Lefebvre and the other five bishops involved in the ceremony to have incurred automatic excommunication. It views ordinations performed by the bishops of the SSPX as being valid but illicit, and it sees those involved as being automatically suspended from exercising their orders.

[edit] Traditionalist positions

Traditionalist Catholics believe that they are preserving Catholic orthodoxy by not accepting certain changes officially introduced since the Second Vatican Council, changes which have been described as amounting to a "veritable revolution". They claim that the positions now taken by mainstream Catholics - even conservative mainstream Catholics - would have been considered "modernist" or "liberal" at the time of the Council, and that they themselves hold positions that were then considered "conservative" or "traditional".

Pope Benedict XVI has contrasted the "interpretation of discontinuity and rupture" which many traditionalists apply to the Council with the interpretation of "reform and continuity" put forward by the Church authorities. After quoting John XXIII's statement that the Council was intended to "transmit [Catholic] doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion", he continued:

"Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands of us...". It is necessary, Pope John XXIII said, that "adherence to all the teaching of the Church in its entirety and preciseness..." be presented in "faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine, which, however, should be studied and expounded through the methods of research and through the literary forms of modern thought. The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another...", retaining the same meaning and message. [1]

Traditionalists, however, believe that errors have crept into the presentation and understanding of Catholic teaching since John XXIII spoke those words. They attribute the blame for this to liberal interpretations of the Conciliar documents, to harmful post-Conciliar pastoral decisions, to the text of the Conciliar documents themselves, or to some combination of these.

Most traditionalist Catholics view the Second Vatican Council as a valid, albeit problematic, Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church, though most sedevacantists regard it as wholly invalid. It is common for traditionalists in dispute with Rome to affirm that the Council was "pastoral", and hence that its decrees were not absolutely binding on Catholics in the same way as the dogmatic decrees of other Ecumenical Councils. Support for this view is sought in Pope John XXIII's Opening Address to the Council, Pope Paul VI's closing address, and the lack of formal dogmatic definitions in the Conciliar documents. On the other hand, Paul VI subsequently emphasised the authoritative nature of the Council's teachings.[8]

[edit] Traditionalists' claims of "discontinuity and rupture"

Traditionalists' claims that substantive changes have taken place in Catholic teaching and practice since the Council often crystallise around the following specific alleged examples:

  • A new ecclesiology which they claim fails to recognise the Catholic Church as the one true church established by Jesus Christ, and instead holds that the true church "subsists in" the Catholic Church in an unclear way. They claim that this contradicts Pope Pius XII's Mystici Corporis Christi and other papal documents.
  • A new ecumenism which they see as aiming at a false pan-Christian religious unity which does not require non-Catholics to convert to the Catholic faith. They see this as contradicting the teachings of the Bible, Pope Pius XI's Mortalium Animos, Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis and other documents.
  • An acceptance, in the Second Vatican Council's decree Dignitatis Humanae, of the principle of religious liberty, which they claim was condemned by Pope Pius IX in Quanta Cura and the Syllabus of Errors.
  • A new rite of Mass, which they refer to as the "Novus Ordo". They regard this as de-emphasizing the central Catholic doctrines that the Mass is a true sacrifice and that the bread and wine employed in the rite truly become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They further contend that the revised liturgy is man-centered rather than God-centered; that it is less beautiful and spiritually edifying than the earlier liturgy; and that it omits certain texts that mention hell, miracles or sin. Traditionalists hold differing opinions on the validity and acceptability of the revised rite of Mass:
    • Some see it as valid, and as acceptable when necessary, though the older rite should be attended when possible.
    • Some, including adherents of the Society of St. Pius X, hold that it is in principle valid as a sacramental rite, but maintain that the revisions in the liturgy are displeasing to God, and that it is often celebrated improperly to the extent of being sacramentally invalid. They therefore generally refuse to attend it.
    • Some, including most sedevacantists, see it as invalid in principle and entirely unacceptable.[9]
  • An inappropriate emphasis on the "dignity of man", which they claim ignores original sin and the need for supernatural grace, and which they also claim has led to a sort of utopianism that sees world peace as possible without recognizing the kingship of Christ. They see this orientation as contradicting Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas, Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, and other papal and conciliar documents on social matters.
  • A teaching on collegiality that attributes to the bishops of the world a share, with the Pope, of responsibility for the Church's governance in a way that they claim is destructive of the authority of the Pope over the other bishops as the final arbiter of Catholic issues of faith and morals and which is alleged to encourage a "national" church mentality that also undermines the authority of the Holy See.

[edit] Mainstream Catholics' criticism of traditionalists' claims

Mainstream Catholics responding to claims of "discontinuity and rupture" have made the following points:

  • Such claims are stated to be false, exaggerated, or lacking appreciation of the organic character of Tradition. They argue, for example, that Dignitatis Humanae does not in fact contradict the Church's earlier teaching on religious liberty, [2] and that the revised rite of Mass represents a legitimate development of the earlier liturgy.
  • Traditionalists are said not to distinguish properly between changeable pastoral practices (such as the liturgy of the Mass) and the unchangeable principles of the Catholic faith (such as the dogmas surrounding the Mass). Traditionalists deny this claim.
  • Traditionalists who declare the decisions of Church authorities to be incompatible with the Church's unchanging Tradition are said to be acting against the teaching of Pope Pius XII that to "the Teaching Authority of the Church ... has been entrusted by Christ Our Lord the whole deposit of faith - Sacred Scripture and divine Tradition - to be preserved, guarded and interpreted" (emphases added).[10] Traditionalists reply with the words of the First Vatican Council: "The Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine" (emphases added).

[edit] Sedevacantists' claims

Sedevacantists claim that they avoid much of the mainstream Catholic critique of traditionalism because they believe that there is at present no Pope or body of bishops whose teaching must be accepted. They also criticise non-sedevacantists for recognising the recent Popes, on grounds such as the following:[11]

  • By declaring that the revised liturgy of the Mass promulgated and defended by these Popes is evil, they teach that the Church can and has decreed evil.
  • By declaring that the teachings of the Second Vatican Council contradict the Church's Tradition, they either repudiate the teaching of the First Vatican Council on the infallibility of even the ordinary and universal magisterium of the Pope and the bishops or they implicitly deny that the Pope and bishops at the Second Vatican Council were truly the Pope and truly Catholic bishops.
  • By refusing subjection to a supposedly legitimate Pope, they contravene the famous Bull Unam sanctam in which Pope Boniface VIII stated: "... we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff."

[edit] Practices of traditionalist Catholics

[edit] The rite of Mass

The best-known and most visible sign of Catholic traditionalism is an attachment to the form that the Roman Rite liturgy of the Mass had before the liturgical reform of 1969-1970. This form is generally known as the Tridentine Mass, though traditionalists usually prefer to call it the Traditional Mass. Many refer to it as the Latin Mass, after the language that almost everywhere was the only one authorized for its celebration (see Tridentine Mass#Language).

Different traditionalist priests use different editions of the Roman Missal to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. Most use that of 1962, the last before the post-Conciliar reform and the only one for which the Holy See gives authorisation. Since this edition was promulgated by Pope John XXIII, sedevacantists naturally reject it and generally use the 1920 Missal, with some modifications (some even reject the revised rites for Holy Week promulgated by Pius XII in 1955, though they regard Pius XII as a true pope). A series of modifications to the 1962 liturgy introduced in 1965, which are used by some traditionalists in good standing with Rome, explain the references that are sometimes encountered to "the 1965 Missal", though no new edition of the Roman Missal was published in that year.

Linked with the celebration of the Tridentine Mass is the observance of the liturgical calendar of saints' days as it existed before the revision of 1969. Some also ignore the revisions of 1960 (by Pope John XXIII)[12] and 1955 (by Pope Pius XII), preferring the General Roman Calendar as in 1954.

[edit] Individual and private devotions

Traditionalist Catholics lay stress on strict following of customs prevailing in the Latin Church immediately before the Second Vatican Council, such as the following:

  • Abstaining from meat on Fridays.[13] Present discipline maintains Fridays and Lent as days and times of penance, declares that abstinence from meat or some other food as determined by the local episcopal conference is to be observed on all Fridays (unless a solemnity falls on the Friday) and on Ash Wednesday, and allows episcopal conferences to permit other practices of personal penance to take the place of abstinence from meat (canon 1249-1253 of the 1983 Code).[14] No group of traditionalists advocates returning to the pre-1917 discipline.
  • Fasting from midnight before receiving Holy Communion. This discipline was modified in 1953, several years before the Second Vatican Council, by Pope Pius XII, who reduced the fast period to three hours.[15] So only those who reject the changes made by this Pope insist on this matter.
  • Kneeling to receive Communion directly in the mouth in the form of consecrated bread alone, and from the hand of a cleric rather than a layperson.[16]
  • Women wearing a headcovering in church. Canon 1262 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law[17] mandated that, in church, women should cover their heads and men should uncover theirs "unless this is in contrast with approved customs of peoples", but the practice was not universal even prior to the Council.
  • Frequent confession, a practice that grew in the first half of the twentieth century, when, following the Holy See's rejection of the opinion of "certain theologians of good repute ... that daily Communion could be permitted to the faithful only rarely and subject to many conditions",[18] frequent communion led to frequent confession, although the only strict obligation was that "all the faithful who have reached the age of discretion are bound faithfully to confess their grave sins at least once a year".[19]
  • Prayers such as the Stations of the Cross and the Rosary in the form in use before the late twentieth century.[20]

[edit] Traditionalism and the Eastern Catholic Churches

The Second Vatican Council's decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum encouraged the 22 Eastern Catholic Churches to return to their own past traditions and practices, which in some cases had been overlaid with elements taken from the Latin Church. Subsequent Vatican documents reinforced this tendency. Some of the Latinizing modifications to be undone date back decades or even centuries, and the process of reviving older traditions is ongoing. This process is has been opposed by some, perhaps most notably by the Priestly Society of Saint Josaphat which claims to be part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and which has close links with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).

[edit] Number of traditionalist Catholics

According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Catholic Church's worldwide recorded membership at the end of 2005 was 1,114,966,000.[21] Estimates of the total number of traditionalists within this population have ranged from 1 million to 7 million.[3] [4] It has also been claimed that there are upwards of 2 million traditionalists in dispute with Rome, and a similar number in good standing with Rome.[5] Estimates of the number of supporters of the SSPX range from 600,000 to 1 million. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

There are roughly 500,000 Catholic priests in the world. The two most prominent traditionalist organisations are the SSPX and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP); the SSPX has around 500 priests, and the FSSP has roughly 200.

For purposes of comparison with mainstream Catholic organisations, the Knights of Columbus in the United States are stated to have 1.7 million members, the Neocatechumenal Way is reported to have around 1 million members,[22] and Opus Dei is claimed to have 87,000 members.

[edit] Places of worship

A pre-Vatican II Latin-rite altar with reredos
A pre-Vatican II Latin-rite altar with reredos

Some traditionalist Catholics attend Mass celebrated in the pre-Conciliar rite by priests in good standing with the Church authorities. Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, the President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, occasionally celebrates the Tridentine Mass in public, and other cardinals (including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI) have also done so in recent years.

Altar of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, as arranged in 1700 and still used, without modification, today. It faces both east and versus populum (towards the people)
Altar of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, as arranged in 1700 and still used, without modification, today. It faces both east and versus populum (towards the people)

Many other groups and individual priests, including the Society of St. Pius X, celebrate the Tridentine Mass in a situation of schism or separation[23] from the Church. Traditionalists who worship outside the Church's official structures justify their position on the grounds that they must do so in order to ensure they are able to administer or receive all of the Sacraments - not only the Eucharist - in the traditional way, and to be able to give and hear sermons that contradict the teaching of the diocesan bishops.

Priests in good standing with the Church offer the Tridentine Mass according to the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, as do many other priests, notably those of the SSPX. Others offer Mass according to earlier editions.

[edit] List of Tridentine Masses in North America

A publication bearing the name Official Traditional Catholic Directory: Listing All Traditional Latin Masses and Traditional Resources for North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico) and giving contacts for similar information on Asia (India, Malaysia) and Europe (England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland) has been published since 1994. It distinguishes between what it calls the "Traditional Latin Mass and Divine Office, as before the 'modernizing' revisions of 1960, and 1962" and "the Modernized Mass and Divine Office of 1962" (the form used by the SSPX and the only form authorized by the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum). It warns against "Mass under the auspices of a diocese adhering to the New Order, including Masses under the auspices of 'motu' organizations, such as the Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King, High Priest", stating: "Most diocesan services are not even the Vatican II 'Mass of 1962', but a pseudo-traditional service mixed with the invalid Novus Ordo (New Order) service of 1969, which should be scrupulously avoided by the faithful." It advises to choose in the following order: "Independent", "Society of St. Pius V, Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen" (sedevacantist), "Society of St. Pius X", "Diocese".

[edit] Relations with the Holy See

The Holy See recognizes as fully legitimate the preference for the traditional forms of worship shown by those traditionalist Catholics who do not dispute the authority of the Holy See. This was apparent most recently in Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (2007), and also in Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei (1988).

Summorum Pontificum was issued in July 2007, following months of rumour and speculation. In this document, Pope Benedict XVI provided that priests of the Latin Rite can freely choose between the 1962 Roman Missal and the modern rite of Mass when celebrating their private Masses (which, in spite of the name, laypeople may also attend). Priests in charge of particular churches can permit stable groups of laypeople attached to the Tridentine Mass to have Mass celebrated for them in that form, provided that the celebrating priest is "qualified to [celebrate] and not juridically impeded" (this would exclude traditionalist priests not in good standing with Rome).

Various traditionalist groups welcomed Summorum Pontificum. The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales applauded the Pope's decision,[24] and the Latin Mass Society of Ireland also expressed its gratitude.[25] The Catholic Publishing House Baronius Press issued a similar response, and prepared to publish a special print run of their edition of the 1962 Missal around 14 September 2007, the date of the coming into effect of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum. The Society of St. Pius X, which was consulted by Pope Benedict prior to the publication of the motu proprio, also thanked the Pope,[26] though it also referred to "difficulties that still remain", included "disputed doctrinal issues" and the notice of excommunication which still affects its bishops.

A fiercely debated question is whether traditionalists who operate outside the ordinary structures of the Church and in dispute with the Church authorities are schismatic and excommunicated.

The clearest cases of schism are provided by the sedevacantists and conclavists, who openly refuse communion with Pope Benedict XVI and his bishops. Many other traditionalists are also regarded by the Holy See as schismatic, though their schismatic status derives, on a case-by-case basis, from their attitudes and conduct as individuals rather than from their association with any particular group such as the SSPX. In fact, the situation of the SSPX has been described as a "situation of separation ... even if it was not a formal schism".[11] With regard to the 1988 episcopal consecrations that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer performed for the SSPX against the orders of Pope John Paul II, the Holy See recognizes their validity, but sees the bishops involved as automatically excommunicated. It views the priests of the SSPX whom these bishops ordain as validly ordained, but, in accordance with canon 1383 of the Code of Canon Law, prohibited from exercising their priestly functions. The Ecclesia Dei Commission has stated that attendance at Masses offered by such priests is "morally illicit" for Catholics in normal circumstances, though attendance is not, of itself, an act subject to ecclesiastical penalties such as excommunication. [12] [13] [14]

[edit] The Ecclesia Dei Commission

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was founded in July 1988 in the wake of Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei. Pope Benedict XVI was a member of the Commission during his tenure as Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Speaking on 16 May 2007 to the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, Cardinal Castrillón, the current head of the Commission, stated that his department had been founded for the care of those "traditionalist Catholics" who, while discontented with the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council, had broken with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, "because they disagreed with his schismatic action in ordaining Bishops without the required papal mandate". He added that at present the Commission's activity is not limited to the service of those Catholics, nor to "the efforts undertaken to end the regrettable schismatic situation and secure the return of those brethren belonging to the Fraternity of Saint Pius X to full communion." It extends also, he said, to "satisfying the just aspirations of people, unrelated to the two aforementioned groups, who, because of their specific sensitiveness, wish to keep alive the earlier Latin liturgy in the celebration of the Eucharist and the other sacraments."[27]

While Cardinal Castrillón has indicated that it is intended to make the Commission an organ of the Holy See for the purpose of preserving and maintaining the traditional liturgy, he has stated that this is not with the purpose of "going backward, of returning to the times before the 1970 reform.... What is in question is instead a generous offer of the Vicar of Christ wishing... to place at the Church's disposal all the treasures of the Latin liturgy that for centuries nourished the spiritual life of so many generations of Catholic faithful. The Holy Father wishes to preserve the immense spiritual, cultural and esthetic treasure linked with the old liturgy. Recovery of these riches goes together with the no less precious riches of the Church's present liturgy."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Traditionalist Catholics usually belong to the Latin Rite. See, however, the article on the Priestly Society of Saint Josaphat
  2. ^ TheCatechism of the Catholic Church, 84. states that "the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles."
  3. ^ What are we to think of the Fraternity of Saint Peter?
  4. ^ Peter Kreeft: Introduction to the Sacraments, section 13: What is required for a valid sacrament?
  5. ^ Apostolic Constitution Pontificalis Romani of 18 June 1968
  6. ^ See for instance Is the Apostolic Succession Intact? by Rama P. Coomaraswamy.
  7. ^ "As for those who have already thus unlawfully received ordination or any who may yet accept ordination from these, whatever may be the validity of the orders (quidquid sit de ordinum validitate), the Church does not and will not recognise their ordination (ipsorum ordinationem), and will consider them, for all legal effects, as still in the state in which they were before, except that the ... penalties remain until they repent" (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree Episcopi qui alios of 17 September 1976 - Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1976, page 623). A similar declaration was issued with regard to Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo's conferring of episcopal ordination on four men - all of whom, by virtue of previous Independent Catholic consecrations, claimed already to be bishops - on 24 September 2006: "the Church does not recognise and does not intend in the future to recognise these ordinations or any ordinations derived from them, and she holds that the canonical state of the four alleged bishops is the same as it was prior to the ordination"({Citation | last = | first = | author-link = Bollettíno sala stammpa della Santa Sede | title = Testo in lingua inglese | date = 29 September 2006 | year = 2006 | url = http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/18881.php?index=18881&po_date=26.09.2006&lang=sp#Testo%20in%20lingua%20inglese | accessdate = 20071107 }}
  8. ^ "In view of the pastoral nature of the Council, it avoided any extraordinary statement of dogmas that would be endowed with the note of infallibility, but it still provided its teaching with the authority of the supreme ordinary Magisterium. This ordinary Magisterium, which is so obviously official, has to be accepted with docility, and sincerity by all the faithful, in accordance with the mind of the Council on the nature and aims of the individual documents." [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/audiences/1966/documents/hf_p-vi_aud_19660112_it.html General Audience of 12 January 1966
  9. ^ See, for example, Official Traditional Catholic Directory: Listing All Traditional Latin Masses and Traditional Resources for North America
  10. ^ Humani Generis 8
  11. ^ Cf. a talk available as audio files at this sedevacantist website
  12. ^ The calendar as revised by Pope John XXIII can be consulted on pages XLV-LIII of the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.
  13. ^ Before the twentieth century, it was customary to abstain from meat not only on Friday but also on Wednesday, a custom which is still followed in most, if not all, Eastern Churches. In the Latin Church, abstinence was once obligatory also on Saturdays - a law that was only abrogated by the 1917 Code of Canon Law. According to Canon 1252 of that Code, abstinence from meat was obligatory not only on Fridays, but also during the whole of Lent from Ash Wednesday to noon on Holy Saturday (except on Sundays and holy-days of obligation), on Ember days and on four vigils of feasts: seehere.
  14. ^ Code of Canon Law
  15. ^ Motu proprio Sacram communionem
  16. ^ Some would refuse to receive even from deacons, who, before the reforms of Pope Paul VI, were allowed to give Holy Communion only if there were a serious reason for permitting them to do so. The 1917 Code of Canon Law included canon 845: "§ 1. Minister ordinarius sacrae communionis est solus sacerdos. §2. Extraordinarius est diaconus, de Ordinarii loci vel parochi licentia, gravi de causa concedenda, quae in casu necessitatis legitime praesumitur." (The ordinary minister of Holy Communion is only a priest. The extraordinary minister is a deacon with permission from the Local Ordinary or the Parish Priest to be granted for a serious reason and which is lawfully presumed in cases of necessity.)
  17. ^ Codex Iuris Canonici 1917
  18. ^ Decree Sacra Tridentina Synodus of 20 December 1905
  19. ^ Canon 906 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 989 of the 1983 Code
  20. ^ Pope John Paul II's recommendation, in Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 19, to include the Luminous Mysteries in the Rosary is seen as an innovation.
  21. ^ Central Statistics Office (2007). Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2005. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 978-88-209-7928-7. ]].
  22. ^ report of 27 May 2007 from Zenit News Agency
  23. ^ cf. comment by Cardinal Castrillón on SSPX situation
  24. ^ "Thirty-seven years ago, the Latin Mass Society was denounced by The Universe newspaper for its attachment to the Traditional Latin Rite under the banner headline, 'Latin Madness'. Today, the loyalty, determination and sufferings of the Traditional faithful have been vindicated by Pope Benedict XVI's wise and pastoral motu proprio. This (decision) puts an end to the discrimination, marginalization and exclusion which, too often, Traditional Catholics have suffered. ... However, now is the time for the 'interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church' for which Pope Benedict calls."
  25. ^ "We are very grateful to the Pope for enriching the life of the Church in this way and for enhancing legitimate liturgical diversity. In doing this Pope Benedict is building on the foundation laid by his predecessor Pope John Paul II in his 1988 Indult Ecclesia Dei Adflicta: Latin Mass societies welcome Pope's Motu Poprio 'Summorum Pontificum' ICN, July 9, 2007.
  26. ^ The Society stated that it "extends its deep gratitude to (Pope Benedict) for this great spiritual benefit" and "rejoices to see the Church thus regain her liturgical Tradition, and give the possibility of a free access to the treasure of the Traditional Mass ... (for those) who had so far been deprived of it" - Press Release from the General Superior of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X Press release, July 7, 2007.
  27. ^ The text of Cardinal Castrillón's speech, in the language in which he gave it, can be consulted at Intervención sobre Ecclesia Dei-16 de mayo de 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] Doctrinal and liturgical issues

[edit] Notable Traditionalist Catholics

[edit] Canonically recognized traditionalist groups

[edit] Traditionalist organizations that the Catholic Church considers irregular

[edit] External links

[edit] Media

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