On the night before he suffered Our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. In that meal He instituted the Holy Eucharist to give His body and blood in the form of bread and wine for our salvation. The disciples who received...
On the night before he suffered Our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. In that meal He instituted the Holy Eucharist to give His body and blood in the form of bread and wine for our salvation. The disciples who received His Body and Blood at that meal, later celebrated the Holy Eucharist according to the intention of Jesus Christ who said, "Do this in memory of me"<Luke 22,19; 1Cor 11,24~25>, They did this in all the places where believers who accept the Good News gathered.
The Holy Catholic Church based on Apostolic succession has always regarded this command as applying also to herself when she gives directives about the preparation of people's hearts and minds, and of the places, rites, and texts for the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist. These regulations arose according to the culture and sentiments of the area in which evangelization took place and the ceremonies were celebrated according to regional characteristics. Responding to the demands of the times the Church reworked the style and prayers of the liturgy. By doing so she adapted Jesus' Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to the situation of the times. In this way liturgical reforms enabled the people of a particular time to understand the mystery and belief of the Eucharistic Liturgy according to their own level.
In fact, when they reformed the liturgy one can see very new elements being introduced. Some of them had never been seen before. Notwithstanding, the reforms were made in accordance with the apostolic succession and the traditions of the Fathers of the Church, so that they did not seem like something different. Rather, they were received in gratitude as coming from God through the liturgy. Also, just because a new liturgy was promulgated doesn't meant that the old liturgy should be abrogated or that it is no longer relevant to the present times. The main reason for this is that the Holy Liturgy handed down through the ages is to be considered free of error and the new liturgy that has been adopted is adopted simply as a response to the demands of the times. (And not because the old liturgy was full of error.) Therefore, the celebration of the Old Rite of Mass brings back to mind the traditions of the liturgy that had been accumulating over the ages. With this in mind we can understand the continuity of the new liturgy (with the old one.)
The Catholic Church entering the third millennium, under the providence and the grace of God, chose as Pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, at the time head of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was installed Pope and took the name Benedict 16th. Even before he was elected Pope, Benedict the XVI emphasized Church's tradition and reform. Based on this understanding of liturgy he issued a new Motu Proprio called Summorum Pontificium, on July 7th 2007.
The contents of the Motu Proprio has as its main focus that people who want to celebrate the so-called 'Tridentine Mass' which was celebrated before Vatican Council II, can do so freely according to the old liturgical rite without any dispensations or any privileges. It also established the legal conditions for the concrete execution of the liturgy.
However Motu Proprio issued by Pope Benedict 16th lead to controversy. And the non-Catholic press accused the Catholic Church of turning too conservative again. In reality, the Motu Proprio which is issued by Pope Benedict 16th isn't a new one entirely. Even before Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul II issued the Motu Proprio ‘Ecclesia Dei(the church of God)’ about the celebration of 'Tridentine Mass.' The contents of this Motu Proprio were amended and supplemented by Pope Benedict 16th. He did this in order lay a solid legal foundation and guarantee for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
Pope Benedict 16th anticipated arguments about the Motu Proprio both inside and outside of the Church. In an unprecedented move, before issuing the Motu Proprio he therefore, showed his reasons for doing so in a letter to the bishops. In fact, even though the Catholic Church allows the celebration of the Mass according to Tridentine rite, the church cannot be logically considered as changing conservatively. Likewise it is illogical to openly criticize the Church as if she had gone against the liturgical spirit of Vatican II. To take the holy sacrifice of the Mass which exists for the glory of God and the salvation of humankind and divide into conservative and progressive camps is to politicize the sanctity of the common worship of the Church and debase it to therealm of a social problem. Even if only a minority of the faithful and priests are desirousof celebrating the Tridentine Liturgy, to disallow them this right in the name of the Second Vatican Council and to consider them as traditionalistswould mean that one is denigrating the Tridentine Mass which was the established form of worship for 400 years before Vatican II.
On the other hand, although the Motu Proprio issued by Benedict XVI allows for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, it I no way disregards the liturgical spirit of Vatican II. The Motu Proprio even specifically states that the missal issued by Paul VI as a result of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II is the general liturgical norm for the Church. From this we can see that the Motu Proprio certainly does not damage the spirit of liturgical reform. This theses, by showing the true meaning of the Motu Proprio, "Summorum Pontificium" of Benedict XVI, hopes to clear up misunderstandings about it. At the same time, by comparing the new rite with the old, this thesis hopes to show today’s faithful who have been born after Vatican II that the two rites contribute to the fullness of the Church.