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Rebuke for bishops who resist Old Rite

A senior official at the Congregation for Divine Worship this week said that bishops who were trying to curtail use of the Tridentine Mass were "in rebellion against the Pope" and guilty of pride, "one of the gravest sins".

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, who serves as the CDW secretary, levelled his criticism at "theologians, liturgists, priests, bishops and even cardinals" who have written "interpretative documents that inexplicably try to limit the Pope's motu proprio" - the document that liberalised use of the pre-Second Vatican Council Mass. The CDW official told an Italian online news service that the bishops should especially "return to obedience" since they "have professed fidelity to the pontiff".

Clergy who have voiced reserves about the motu proprio have been careful not to criticise the Pope directly and have sought subtle ways to justify their opposition to his decree ... In August Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow sent out a letter pointing out that the motu proprio required provision for "stable groups" who "adhered" to the earlier rite, and said he thought it unlikely there were such groups in his diocese.

Full story at The Tablet.