Liturgy and Unity...

Monsignor Nicola Bux, the well-known litugical scholar who is Consultant to the Office of Liturgical celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff (and also to the Congregation for Divine Worship and he Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) was the featured speaker at a recent conference in Versailles. Amongst his comments he noted that that the Extraordinary Form is for all of the People of God, and not just a minority, and that it ought to serve as a training for the better celebration of the Ordinary Form. He admonished priests to be courageous in the implementation ofSummorum Pontificum, and added that the refusal of the Extraordinary Form could be considered as a rupture of communion with the Pope.

If you think about it, he's right. The Holy Father has declared the traditional Mass to be a form of the Roman Rite, and made it available to all who desire to celebrate it or worship at it. As Msgr. Bux stated, the Pope wants this Mass available for the whole Church. For a priest or bishop to intentionally and deliberately thwart the pope's will for the People of God is indeed a rupture of communion. This might sound "judgmental" but it's just plain speaking. The pope isn't simply analogous to a secular C.E.O., he is the Vicar of Christ and the Successor of Peter. One opposes his will at their own risk.

[N.B. Msgr. Bux is NOT denouncing anyone who simply prefers the Ordinary Form, he is referring to bishops or pastors who without a valid reason obstinately deny good-faith requests from their flock - including their clergy - for the Extraordinary Form.]