| Our Holy Father, Pope
John Paul II, has great pastoral concern and compassion for all the faithful.
Because of this concern, in October 1984, he granted permission for the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to be offered again in Latin with approval of
the local bishop. This is the traditional Latin Mass as was celebrated
in Catholic churches around the world until after Vatican II.
In a more recent Apostolic Letter, Ecclesia Dei ( July 2, 1988 ) his
Holiness expanded these earlier directives, calling for their "wide
and generous application." Pertinent excerpts include: |
| "To all those
Catholic faithful who feel attached to some previous liturgical and disciplinary
forms of the Latin tradition, I wish to manifest my will to facilitate
their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarantee
respect for their rightful aspirations. In this matter I ask support
of the Bishops and of all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the
Church." "By virtue of my Apostolic Authority I Decree ... respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition, by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See, for the use of the Roman Missal ... of 1962." (Emphasis added.) |
| This means that the Catholic faithful may now ask their bishop that the traditional Latin Mass be offered every Sunday in their parish or other nearby churches. |