CBCP welcomes Pope Benedict XVI’s “restoration” of the Tridentine Mass

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has welcomed “with respect and appreciation” the latest Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI that relaxes restrictions, and thus revived the use of Tridentine Mass in Catholic churches.

The pope’s directive, titled Summorum Pontificum, was issued last July 7 allowing the use of this decades-old Mass in Latin language in every parish whenever it is desired.

The Apostolic Letter will take effect September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, according to the online site of the Catholic News Service.

CBCP president, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, said in an official statement that the Tridentine Mass “continues to be fully permissible as an extraordinary form of the Mass…was never forbidden or abrogated.”

Lagdameo said the pope “clarifies for us the status of the Tridentine Mass in the Latin Language”, the use of which in the past years must need permission first from local bishops.

“This permission given by Pope Benedict XVI means that the Mass in Latin and in accordance with the formula of the Council of Trent, hence Tridentine, with the celebrant's back to the faithful may be celebrated,” Lagdameo said.

Restrictions on the use of this type of Mass may have been lifted but Pope Benedict XVI stipulated that priests who would do so must be qualified or have been trained for its proper celebration.

Lagdameo said Catholic priests now can celebrate Tridentine Mass in private, conventional or community settings, upon request of the faithful and under the guidance of the bishop.

This does not however discourage the continued use of the so-called “New Mass” that was approved by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and has since then become popular among the faithful because of its being done in popular languages and dialects, said Lagdameo.

The Tridentine Mass, or the Pontifical High Mass, refers to the Roman Rite Mass of the Catholic Church as contained in the successive editions of the Roman Missal promulgated from 1570 to 1962.

Today, there are two forms of celebrating the liturgy of the Mass. The first one is the “New Mass” while the second is the extraordinary form, the Tridentine (Latin) Mass, which was approved by Blessed Pope John XXIII in 1962.

 “The two forms will have their way of leading the faithful to the true worship of God in prayer and liturgy; and may even be a factor for unity in the Church,” Lagdameo said. - Gerome M. Dalipe/RAE