A good reminder from Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican magazine:
Three years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" ("Of the Supreme Pontiffs," from the first words of the original Latin text), allowing the "old Mass" (the Tridentine Mass of Pope St. Pius V, codified and promulgated in 1570, 440 years ago) to be more freely celebrated throughout the Catholic Church.And so one period in history of our Church came to an end.(Some would say that one winter, and that a severe one, came to an end.)A new springtime had come.The Pope had long hesitated. In the months before the official promulgation, when the text was known to be already finished, but the date for its publication had not yet been set, officials in Rome close to the Pope confirmed to me that the opposition to this document was intense, and that the Pope was hesitating."You must pray for him," I was told.And then, the Pope took his decision, and issued the document.
I still believe, three years later, that it was one of the most important moments of his pontificate thus far, perhaps the most important one.Read more. And if you haven't read it, see George Neumayr's recent editorial for Catholic World Report about Summorum Pontificum. Finally, on a somewhat related note, Catholic News Agency is reporting that the Holy Father will be spending his vacation working on a third volume on Jesus of Nazareth, as well as his fourth encyclical, quite possibly about the theological virtue of faith.
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