GREGORIVS MAGNVS The Voice of the Fœderatio Internationalis Una Voce Third Issue - for the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, 2013 “He who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps” - St. Gregory the Great Saint Gregory the Great, Jacopo Vignali (1592-1664), Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MA, USA 0 In this issue of GREGORIVS MAGNUS: IS THE TRADITIONAL From the President’s Desk: Is the Traditional MOVEMENT THE REMEDY FOR Movement the Remedy for the Crisis in the Church? by Mr. Leo Darroch, President, THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH? International Federation Una Voce … …page 2 Given in Warsaw, Poland – 9th April 2011 FIUV Position Papers: Précis of ‘Latin as a By Mr. Leo Darroch Liturgical Language,’ ‘Prefaces’ and President, International Federation Una Voce ‘Silence and Inaudibility in the Extraordinary Form’ … … … … … page 12 REV. Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all may I thank Arkadiusz Robaczewski for Open Forum Papers: UNA VOCE: Looking inviting me to speak at this conference and Back and Looking Ahead by H.E., Dr. giving me the opportunity to make my first Helmut Ruckriegel … … … … … … ..page 13 visit to Poland. Open Forum Papers: Sacred Music and the Since its formal erection in 1967 the Centenary of the Pontifical Institute for International Federation Una Voce has been the Sacred Music by the Right Rev. Monsignor leading lay movement within the Church Valentín Miserachs, President of the Pontifical striving for the equal right and dignity of the Institute for Sacred Music … … … … .page 20 Traditional Roman rite and working to preserve and foster the liturgical books in use in 19621. Dossier Michael Davies: Defending the Our primary concern has always been for the ancient Roman Rite: a proud legacy by Mr. liturgy and so my talk will touch upon the James Bogle … … … … … … … … ..page 24 changes to the sacred liturgy, the response of the International Una Voce movement to these Around the FIUV World: Profiles of FIUV changes, and our hopes for the future. Members in the Western European Region The Reasons for the Crisis? GREGORIVS MAGNVS is published by the Before we can look for a remedy to overcome Fœderatio Internationalis Una Voce. The the crisis, we need to identify the reasons for FIUV is a lay movement within the Catholic the crisis. In my opinion the root cause began Church, founded in Rome in 1965 and erected with the appointment of the Consilium, under formally in Zürich in January 1967. the secretaryship of Father Annibale Bugnini, to interpret the minds of the Fathers of the The principal aims of the FIUV are to ensure Second Vatican Council. This single act took that the Missale Romanum promulgated by away from the Congregation for Rites, the Blessed Pope John XXIII in 1962 is legitimate body for the regulation of the sacred maintained in the Church as one of the forms liturgy, the responsibility for implementing the of liturgical celebration, to obtain freedom of decrees of the Council Fathers. Despite the use for all other Roman liturgical books fact that the Consilium was merely an advisory enshrining "previous liturgical and disciplinary body, it is now clear that the leading members forms of the Latin tradition" and to safeguard had their own agenda and were given the and promote the use of Latin, Gregorian chant freedom to impose their own ideas of the faith and sacred polyphony. on to an unsuspecting Church at the time. 1 The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’ 4 December 1963: “Finally in faithful Image on front cover used by kind permission obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that of Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognised rites USA. Photo©The Walters Art Museum, to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to Baltimore. preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way.” [Art.4]. 2 There is no need to list all the changes that A very dear friend of mine, an Archimandrite, were imposed in the middle to late 1960s said that the liturgy is an eloquent example of because they are now well known but it does the mindset of the liberal, modernist Catholic. seem remarkable to me that the bishops of the They have the most violent fits of apoplexy at world collectively voted during the Council for the mere mention of the old liturgy. They a moderate revision of the liturgical books but imagine that the Second Vatican Council voted then returned home and imposed such for liturgical reform, and that this liturgical spectacular changes that the public worship, in reform created a shift of liturgical emphasis. the new form of Mass, was unrecognisable to However, Cardinal Ratzinger, in October 1998 that which it replaced. Even as early as 1964 on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the some of the laity were becoming concerned Fraternity of St Peter, reminded us that: about the proposals in the Council documents and began forming societies to work initially “The Council did not itself reform the liturgical for the retention of Latin. This is the origin of books, but it ordered their revision, and to the name of the Latin Mass Society in England this end, it established certain fundamental and Wales started in late 1964. rules. Before anything else, the Council gave a definition of what liturgy is, and this definition I hope I am not repeating what previous gives a valuable yardstick for every liturgical speakers may have said but if I may just celebration. Were one to shun these essential suggest a few examples to identify the crisis in rules and put to one side the normae generales the liturgy which may not be known to younger which one finds in numbers 34 – 36 of the Catholics. On 3rd April 1969, Pope Paul VI Constitution De Sacra Liturgia (SL), in that promulgated his Apostolic Constitution case one would indeed be guilty of Missale Romanum concerning the introduction disobedience to the Council.“ 2 of the new form of Mass. A group of theologians, liturgists, and pastors of souls The crisis has been caused by those members undertook a critical study of the new Mass and of the Consilium, the ‘liturgical experts’, an it was presented to Pope Paul VI by Cardinals advisory body only, who rejected the will of Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci on 3rd the Council Fathers and imposed their own September 1969 - the feast of Pope St Pius X. ideology. Cardinal Ottaviani had been the Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Much of the rejection of the traditional liturgy and Cardinal Bacci was a leading expert on is based on a faulty premise; that Vatican II Latin. They warned Pope Paul: required that the Church’s public cult be ‘catechetic’ in nature. This is erroneous since “To abandon a liturgical tradition which for Our Lord continues to pray and offer Himself four centuries was sign and pledge of unity of in a bloodless sacrifice to the Father in the worship and to replace it with another which sacred liturgy of the Church. Catechesis is only can only stand for division, given the endless subordinate and cannot, therefore, justify a licence it implicitly authorises and which teems radical transformation of the sacred liturgy; with oblique attacks and downright errors otherwise the Church’s public cult would against the integrity of the Catholic faith, can become dramatised religious education lessons. only be described – in the most restrained Unfortunately, this is what has happened on a terms – as a mistake likely to have incalculable large scale and where we now have parish consequences.” liturgical committees, where the prime qualification for appointment, seems to be that That which they prophesied has come true. The they must have no knowledge whatsoever of integrity of the Catholic faith has been shaken Catholic liturgy. Cardinal Ratzinger also said to its very foundations. If the bishops of the in 1998: world were failing in their duty then it was necessary for the laity to act in defence of the liturgical traditions and the faith. 2 The Ergife Hotel, Rome, 24th October 1998. 3 “Moreover, one must say this: that the freedom Father Antonelli (later archbishop and cardinal) which the new order of Mass gives to creativity was a leading member of the Consilium which is often taken to excessive lengths.”3 prepared the new form of Mass, and after his death Fr Giampietro examined his journal and In my own diocese we have had the bizarre the official papers of the time. From someone situation at Youth Masses where the children who was active in the preparation of the new have processed forward at the Offertory to sign liturgy, Fr Antonelli’s negative comments are their names in a bowl of water, and on another quite remarkable. First of all he could not occasion to bring forward tins of baked beans understand why the implementation of the and toilet rolls as the gifts. This kind of Liturgy Constitution had been given to a new excessive creativity, taken to extremes, group, the Consilium, an advisory body, when perverts the Liturgy of Holy Mother Church the proper organ of government of the liturgy into an event for the entertainment and was the Congregation of Rites. He said it would gratification of those who take part, and is a create confusion – which it did. He was not betrayal of those young people who have the enthusiastic about the way the work progressed right and expectation to be taught the fullness because he thought the people involved were of truth about Catholic liturgy, especially the incompetent and ‘advanced’ in promoting Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.