From Tom Masty

I have a question.

Can you comment on all the changes we are hearing from the Vatican? I am quite unsettled by them from limiting the Latin Mass to seemingly working with the Chinese communists to give them authority over who becomes a bishop, etc.
Thank you

Tom,
Regarding the “changes in the Vatican”. First the mass.
The mass of St. Pope John Paul II CAN be said in Latin and was promulgated in Latin. I know of several places that do the mass of Pope John Paul II in Latin.

Regarding the mass and the local bishop. In Canon Law, which was revised under St. Pope John Paul II, the regulation of all liturgies in a diocese are under the authority of the local bishop. This is not really a new policy as it goes back even prior to Pope Pius V who promulgated the so-called “Tridentine Mass”. Pius V also recognized this tradition when he proposed his new mass. The only blip in this tradition came under Pope Benedict XVI when he permitted priests to disregard the desires of the local bishop regarding the use of this mass. Part of his hope at the time was to get Lefebvre’s followers to return to the fold, which never happened. Pope Francis merely returned the authority to the local bishop to oversee the liturgies in his diocese. following the ancient tradition of the authority of the local bishop.
Keep in mind that even the revised Missale Romanum, issued in 2000 A.D. under St. Pope John Paul II, needed to be promulgated by the local bishop before it could be used in a given diocese. In my diocese that took almost 10 years. I often ask people why the mass was in Latin. It was initially in the “sacred language of Greek” prior to being translated into the “vulgar language” of Latin. It was translated into Latin so that the people in the west could better understand, as they didn’t speak Greek. This is the same understanding that came out of Vatican II so that, in a global church, people can understand the mass, as most people in the world do not speak Latin. Some of the rubrics were changed in the mass of St. Pope Paul VI, as they were in the mass of Pope Pius V, to be more in line with a modern global Church.

Second, regarding the concordat with China. If you check your history, the local government proposing candidates to be bishops is not novel. Numerous European monarchs in centuries past and present had the same agreement with the Bishop of Rome. I agree it may not be the optimal, however, it is certainly not unique or unprecedented or foreign to the way the Vatican has functioned in centuries past.

I hope this answers your questions. If I did not, please let me know and I will try to respond better.
Thanks for checking out my website.
May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may your cancer go into remission again.
Peace and Love
Fr. Paul