Bishop of El Paso reacts to the Motu Proprio [Fr. Z]

[Catholic Opinion]

His Excellency Most Rev. Armando Ochoa of El Paso has issued a statement on the Motu Proprio
My emphases and comments.

Bishop Armando Ochoa’s Message

August, 2007

Decision on Tridentine Mass not a burden [!] for diocese

Dear Friends in Christ, Recently, Our Holy Father Benedict XVI, issued an Apostolic Letter, a ‘Motu Proprio’ entitled Summorum Pontificum. A ‘Motu Proprio’ is a document issued by the Pope “on his own initiative” concerning serious matters and is addressed to the Universal Church . In this particular document, the Pope seeks an “interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church” with a very small, but active, minority insisting that they want only the Tridentine Rite of the Mass. [I don’t think so. First, the number may not be "very small". Second, some people might not want "only" the older form of Mass. They may want it "sometimes".] This extraordinary form of the Mass is a concession making “it possible for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew.” The ordinary form of the Mass, is the Mass that the vast majority of Roman Catholics, loyal to Our Holy Father Benedict XVI and to the decisions of the Second Vatican Council, attend on any given day here in El Paso and worldwide. Unlike the extraordinary form which is celebrated only in Latin, the ordinary form is celebrated on any given day in English, Spanish, Korean, or in Arabic, [But not Latin?] here in the Diocese of El Paso

The Second Vatican Council [and Pope’s before the Second Vatican Council] has called all Catholics to full, active participation in the liturgy, that is the Mass and in the mission of the Church. In the Mass which was celebrated before the Council, the extraordinary form about which the Pope writes, the priest did almost everything by himself. He was assisted by the altar boys, but the people were present in a passive role. [ARGH!] The celebrant said all the prayers in Latin, proclaimed all the Scriptures in English, [sometimes] offered the canon or Eucharistic Prayer in silence, and distributed Holy Communion by himself or with the help of another priest. It was only the altar boys who responded to the prayers of the priest; the assembly remained silent. [Except when they didn’t.] On the other hand, the choir sang some of the parts of the Mass in Latin, Gregorian Chant. The laity was not allowed to read the Scriptures or to say any of the prayers or even to assist with Holy Communion. [You mean except to receive it, which is the supreme expression of full, conscious and active participation] What may surprise many people, who are not familiar with the previous missal, is the fact that only the priest alone said the “Our Father.” [Except for the fact that Pope’s before the Council even urged that people could recite it with the priest. I will admit that that was not often done.]

For us, in the Diocese of El Paso , as in the vast majority of the roughly 189 dioceses in the United States , and I might add, worldwide, this will not be considered burdensome. [Would it really be a burden to follow the Motu Proprio’s provisions otherwise?] As the Pope says clearly, “the new Mass rite undoubtedly would remain the church’s predominant form of worship.” In other words, the Mass that is celebrated daily in English, Spanish, Korean, or in Arabic, in El Paso , will continue to be the norm. We are not being asked to revert back to the Latin Mass. In reality, I can foresee that this might only affect one out of the 55 parishes in our Diocese. In that parish, only one Mass will continue to be celebrated in Latin if the conditions set forth in the Motu Proprio are fulfilled. The remainder of the scheduled Masses, will continue to be offered in English and Spanish. The Apostolic Letter will go into effect for those concerned, on September 14, 2007, the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross.

Sincerely in Christ,
Armando X. Ochoa, D.D.
Bishop of El Paso

This is a nearly textbook example of The Party Line.

First, there is a very tenuous idea of what "active participation" is and there is no integration of the fact that the Novus Ordo is also in Latin.

The elements of The Party Line are present: "Only a tiny group of people want this stuff! We are already doing enough for these people! this document doesn’t really affect us!"



Full entry...

[jorgem]

Only one church San Juan Bautista 1st and 3rd Sunday of month at 2:00 pm.

[NMJenny]

I don't know about the diocese of El Paso, but if it's anything like the size of the one I live in, having one Mass on Sunday could mean that people would have to drive a couple of hours one way to get there!

Of course I'm not very optomistic about having even one Mass where I live...