AGM of Pro Missa Tridentina in Worms, Germany on Sat. 5th April 2008
Speech by Leo Darroch, Executive President - Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce
Una Voce – The Transition from Past to Future.
Rev Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all may I thank Mrs Rheinschmitt and the Board of Pro Missa Tridentina for inviting me to speak to you today. I consider it a great honour to be here in Germany, the home country of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. I only wish we had someone of his stature among our English bishops.
Before I say anything further I must congratulate pro Missa Tridentina on the magnificent Solemn High Mass this morning; the majesty and dignity of the celebration, the serving, the singing, the organ playing, truly created a heaven on earth.
For the members of the International Federation Una Voce, the promulgation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum on 7th July 2007 was a great turning point in our history. Our former President Michael Davies told us on more than one occasion that Cardinal Ratzinger would help us if he ever was in a position to do so, and he has been proved right. Much of what I say today has been gleaned from papers of previous Federation General Assemblies given to me by Mr Davies.
Many traditional groups and priestly societies have entered the good fight in defence of Tradition over the past forty years, and we can all have our interpretations of recent events, but I think, at this particular moment when we are taking part in an event arranged by a member of the Una Voce Federation, it is not unreasonable to reflect on the role and the impact of the International Federation Una Voce in the cause for the restoration of the traditional Mass and liturgy to our altars; to reflect on what, with God’s grace, we may have achieved. But we must not only look backwards; like the Roman God Janus, we must also look forward and consider the transition from past to future.
For the first 36 years the Federation had the great fortune and blessing to be led by two great men – Dr Eric de Saventhem and Michael Davies. The first meeting of the Una Voce Federation in 1967, under the leadership of Dr de Saventhem, decided that we must strive to maintain the Tridentine rite “as one of the recognised rites in the liturgical life of the universal Church.” The first test of the leadership came as early as 1969 with the promulgation of the New Mass. The choice was to accept the new Mass and work for the inclusion of as much Latin as possible, or insist on the retention of the traditional Mass as a recognised form of celebration within the Roman rite?
There was no hesitation in choosing the second option. For this decision we should all be eternally grateful.
In a speech in New York in June 1970 Dr. de Saventhem said that the suppression of the traditional Mass had been achieved de facto only and not de jure. It would be unthinkable, he said, for the older form of Mass to be forbidden as one would have to argue that it had been wrong or bad – either doctrinally or pastorally. He thought it perfectly legitimate to ask that the new Ordo Missae should, in the same way, be offered as an additional, alternative way, of celebrating Mass. This was an argument that he used regularly when in Rome. And so we look at the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Pope Benedict has stated that the Missal of 1962 was never juridically abrogated and was always permitted, and may be offered on a daily basis, as an alternative - as an Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite.
Dr. de Saventhem, as President, always gave priority to representing the common interests of the federated associations with the central authorities of the Church. Over all the years of his presidency Dr and Madame de Saventhem kept the maintenance of the traditional Mass alive on the Holy See’s agenda – either by countering threats of suppression or proposing various measures of liberalisation. They obtained audiences with every Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and gained the respect and even confidence of many other senior Roman prelates. ‘Everybody in the Vatican knows the de Saventhems,’ a cardinal of the Curia said in 1992, ‘and those who dislike the old Mass hate them’
Following the publication of the Knox Enquiry in 1981 – which said, effectively, that no one wanted the old Mass any more, Dr de Saventhem engaged the services of the world-renowned Demoscopic Institute of Allensbach to conduct an objective survey among German Catholics on current attitudes to post-conciliar reforms, including the reform of the liturgy. This survey proved conclusively that the Knox Enquiry was completely invalid. Dr de Saventhem subjected the Enquiry to such devastating criticism that it lost all credibility even in the eyes of the Vatican. Thus the way was opened for the first measure of liberalisation, the “Indult” of 1984. Although the 1984 “indult” contained extremely restrictive conditions, which almost vitiated its purpose, it nevertheless signified an important break-through for the Federation in that the traditional Mass was now again a form of Eucharistic celebration recognised in universal liturgical life. This development was accelerated after 1988, when national Ecclesia Dei associations were founded in a number of countries.
In 1985 Cardinal Mayer - then Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship - asked Dr de Saventhem to provide world-wide information on the practical implementation of the 1984 Indult - a task which took several months. As a result, Cardinal Mayer obtained the Pope's agreement to convoke a special Cardinals' Commission to evaluate the working of the Indult and to suggest amendments thereto. The Cardinal then invited Dr de Saventhem to prepare minimum and maximum proposals for new rules to govern the use of the 1962 Missal. The ‘norms’ which the Commission itself elaborated in December 1986 for submission to His Holiness indicate that the Federation's texts had been regarded as highly constructive.
Michael Davies became President in January 1995 and during his tenure of office he made regular visits to Rome to confer with the Ecclesia Dei Commission, and Cardinal Ratzinger and others in the Curia. In February 1996 he was told by Cardinal Ratzinger that the radical reform of the traditional order of Mass in the 1970 Missal was not the reform envisaged by the Council Fathers but if such a Missal be compiled and authorised it would have no restriction on the Missal of 1962. Cardinal Ratzinger was always unswerving in his support for the Federation and insistent that those who requested Mass according to the 1962 Missal should be granted it. He even sent a message of congratulation to the Federation for all the work it was doing to have the traditional Mass celebrated.
In the year 2000 it became clear that some in the Ecclesia Dei Commission were working to modify the Missal of 1962 by adopting the 1965 revisions, by using the 1970 calendar, and supporting such practices as Communion in the hand. In a lengthy correspondence between Michael Davies and Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, it was made clear that the Federation would not even contemplate accepting such innovations. Because of the intervention of Una Voce these proposals were completely abandoned.
I think it worth mentioning that a great number of priests who celebrate the traditional Mass do so today under the auspices of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. On 22nd March 2001 Pope John Paul convened a meeting with his curial heads to discuss the question of dialogue with the SSPX and two solutions were presented: that of a personal prelature identical to that of Opus Dei or that of an apostolic vicariate which would offer the movement almost total autonomy from diocesan bishops. It is reported that two cardinals were opposed to this idea, one of which was Cardinal Walter Kasper whom you will know well here in Germany. On 3rd April 2001 Cardinal Ratzinger, when asked about the society said: “I wish, I hope, and I pray that this wound will be healed. But we still have a long way to go.” I am sure that the member associations will agree that while the Una Voce Federation must still adhere to the prudent policy of Dr de Saventhem in maintaining its autonomy, it should also encourage a reconciliation between the Priestly Fraternity and the Holy See. Such a reconciliation would result in inestimable benefits for the Church and for the traditional movement
At the Una Voce General Assembly of October 2003 our President d’Honneur Dr de Saventhem spoke about the homily given by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos during the historic Mass in St Mary Major earlier that year. He said that the Federation had been given a new horizon by the Cardinal who had spoken with great respect about the old rite, the most venerable rite, and who cited verbatim article 4 of the Constitution on the Liturgy which says equal right and honour should be accorded to all legitimate rites. So, in a sense, he endorsed the position we have adopted for more than thirty years in that the old rite retains its full right of citizenship in the Church – there is the old rite and there is the new one, but they are on an equal footing. In Summorum Pontificum Pope Benedict said, “it is not appropriate to speak of these as two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were ‘two rites’. Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite.”
It was at this General Assembly in 2003 that the benefits of the Federation coming under the protection of an apostolic administration were first discussed. A small committee worked diligently and produced a report but it was never taken forward. However, in the middle of 2005 a small group consisting of Count Neri Capponi, Dr Helmut Rückriegel, Fra Fredrik Crichton-Stuart, and myself, under the guidance of a sympathetic prelate, agreed on a very detailed document about the erection of a traditional international personal apostolic administration. This was seen as the most effective way of ensuring a secure future for the traditional Mass and liturgy. A detailed legal structure was prepared – a codex particularis. The group was granted prima fila at a General Audience on 11th January 2006 and spent some minutes talking to Pope Benedict and we presented him with a copy of our proposal. We were told later through channels that His Holiness was deeply moved by our letter and proposal. We believe that our proposal was mentioned in the meeting of cardinals in March 2006. You might be interested to know that in that part of our proposal concerning liturgical observance it was written: “members of the Roman Rite of this Apostolic Administration would have the habitual use of all the liturgical forms of the Roman Rite approved by Blessed Pope John XXIII; that is to say, the Extraordinary Roman Rite.” Perhaps it is just a coincidence that this terminology appeared in the Motu Proprio? I would urge any priest or religious who might like more information on a traditional international personal apostolic administration to contact me in confidence on president@fiuv.org.
The leadership of the Federation has continued to visit Rome to represent the views of its members.
In September 2006 Jack Oostveen, Monika Rheinschmitt, and I attended meetings with Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith, and various curial officials. We visited again in November 2006 and presented a dossier of the reality of life in many countries under the restrictions on the celebration of the traditional Mass imposed by the bishops’ conferences. In reply, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos said: “Thank you for the documentation regarding the situation of the Mass celebrated according to the 1962 missal in several countries, produced by you. I assure you, the Holy See is labouring with regards to the priests and faithful to find a solution that will do justice to all who it concerns. Therefore several options are being examined in View of the good of the whole Church.”
In June 2007 we had the privilege of speaking to Pope Benedict personally at the end of a General Audience who informed us that the Motu Proprio would come “soon”. It was published within the month
Recent contacts have been made in Rome about the ‘clarification’ document that is being prepared by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. On 14th February of this year I received a response from the Secretariat of State in reply to my letter to the Holy Father on behalf of the Una Voce General Assembly. Included in the letter is the statement: “At the same time, the Sovereign Pontiff exhorts you to carry on with your laudable goals toward preserving the venerable traditions of the Catholic Church.”
Now, of course, since the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, the role of the International Federation Una Voce has changed and we must adopt a different approach. The propaganda put forth incessantly by some bishops’ conferences that the ‘old’ Mass had been abolished has finally been exposed as false by the Supreme Legislator of the Church. The Pope has declared that all priests have the right to celebrate the Extraordinary Form so the Federation must use all its expertise, accumulated over the past 40 years, to assist any priest who asks for our assistance. Bishops who try to thwart the wishes of the Holy Father in his pastoral concern for his priests and faithful must be reminded respectfully, but firmly, of their responsibilities in this matter. The Federation is in a much stronger position than priests to perform this task as we cannot be penalised in the way that the clergy can be. While still fighting for the cause as a lay organisation we must build a new partnership with our clergy. I believe also that it must be one of our roles to defend the integrity of the Missal of 1962 and challenge any moves towards incorporating the novelties of 1965 and later editions of the Missal
We must pledge our services to our Holy Father Pope Benedict in his efforts to reform ecclesial life and perhaps this can best be achieved by a traditional international personal apostolic administration. It is clear that in Rome, and elsewhere in the Church, forces are at work attempting to isolate the Holy Father and stifle his intentions. I believe that in giving us Summorum Pontificum our Holy Father has opened a door to us and he is looking out to see where we are. It is imperative that we do not miss this moment and we must respond to his call. Some of our member associations have already responded to the new situation and have arranged training courses in their own countries for priests, young and old, who wish to learn – or re-learn – the traditional Mass. These initiatives will increase as the months pass by. The Federation has started to receive more enquiries from lay people around the world who wish to discover or return to the riches of the Extraordinary Form of the liturgy. We must encourage and respond to all these enquiries and capture this enthusiasm so that no one is disappointed.
One of the signs of the vitality of the traditional movement today is manifested by the surge of vocations to the traditional orders of priests and religious sisters. This has to be the result of men and women being entranced by the classical liturgy and especially the traditional Mass. The more Masses celebrated in the usus antiquior the more vocations there will be, and more vocations will result in even more Masses, and so it will grow. Another sign is the increase of places where the ‘old’ Mass is being celebrated and the increasing numbers attending these celebrations
My own opinion is that, as we are all fighting for the restoration of Tradition in the Church we love, we should all be working together towards a common goal. If the Fraternity of St Peter, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, the Priestly Society of St Pius X, the traditional monasteries, all the newly-formed societies, and the lay movement of Una Voce International formed a united traditional body (with each retaining their own autonomy) we would have a much stronger force to fight against the liberals who are determined with all means to block the return of Tradition to Holy Mother Church
That wonderful Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi (article 68) states:
- “Our union with Christ arises first of all from the fact that, the Christian commonwealth being by its Founder’s will a perfect social body, all its members must be united by a common aspiration to the same end. Now the nobler the end towards which this common aspiration is directed and the more divine the source from which it proceeds, the more sublime, evidently, is the unity which results.”
I can think of a no more “nobler end towards which our common aspiration is directed” than the restoration of the usus antiquior to our altars. During my term of office I will be working tirelessly within our lay Federation to achieve this objective and to co-operate, as discreetly as necessary, with all the traditional priestly societies in the Mystical Body of Christ