Damian Thompson believes English Catholic bishops are resisting Benedict’s recent measure to allow the mass to be celebrated in Latin here in England. Here he is on ‘the shabby attempts by various English bishops to block the Pope’s liturgical reforms‘
He urges us to complain about the English bishops’ ‘disastrous attempts to block the reform‘
You do not have to be a fan of the Tridentine liturgy in order to make a protest. What is at issue here is obedience to the Pope – and truthfulness.
Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum gives parishes the right to choose the ancient liturgy, now known as the Extraordinary Form (EF). Yet English bishops, including the Archbishop of Westminster and the Bishop of Leeds, are behaving as if power to grant permission for the EF is still in their hands.
Their unhelpful attitude (to put it mildly) is sowing confusion among the faithful and causing great distress. Moreover, there are reports that the English bishops have consulted their own canon lawyer to see how they can get round the Pope’s ruling. That’s disgraceful.
