Originating on June 17 from the well-informed traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli, this rumour has since spread rapidly. Some are even suggesting the date of July 16, the anniversary of Traditionis Custodes, published in 2021 by the pope, to restrict the use of the rite significantly.

However, according to several Vatican sources interviewed by La Croix, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, responsible for the liturgy, is not preparing such a document.

"These are just idle chatter," complained a senior Vatican official. The same person denounced these as "fantasies." Another source explained that these rumours are entirely "unfounded."

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"We shall return", a buoyant Fr Glen Tattersall said at the final Traditional Latin Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne on Wednesday evening.

The Australian reports the Cathedral was packed for the Mass - it estimated there was a congregation of around 850 people.

"They came in business suits, in strollers, on trams and in fluoro tradie gear. Most were rugged up in heavy coats against the Melbourne winter which did not dim the spirit of the cathedral lit with candlelight and optimism" reports Tess Livingston in The Australian.

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli sat in the Sanctuary, but did not address the crowd.

On Monday Comensoli received the news that the Vatican had denied his request to hold the Traditional Latin Mass at Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral.

The decision from the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments was published on Monday on the news portal "Zenit".

"While we recognise that Mass according to the Missale Romanum of 1962 has been celebrated in the Cathedral Church for some time, we are nonetheless constrained to deny this request" the response stated.

The Vatican stated that liturgies in a bishop's church should serve as a model for the entire diocese.

"It does not seem appropriate for the antecedent liturgy to be celebrated in the place that should serve as an example for the liturgical life of the entire diocese" said the statement.

The Dicastery's Secretary, Bishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, signed the response.

Viola emphasised that "The Cathedral is the first place where the celebration of the liturgy must use the current liturgical books, which form the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite".

Lex orandi refers to what is prayed.

It is often used in conjunction with lex credendi which together translated from the Latin means: "the law of what is prayed [is] the law of what is believed".

It is also sometimes expanded as lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi, which again translated from the Latin means "the law of what is prayed [is] what is believed [is] the law of what is lived".

Congregation at St Patrick's Melbourne final old rite Latin Mass

Latin Mass restrictions

While the cathedral request was denied, the Vatican allowed the Traditional Latin Mass to be celebrated at Saint Michael and Saint Philip parishes in Melbourne for two years.

After this period, Comensoli must seek renewed permission from the Vatican to continue these services.

The Vatican suggested that a contemporary form of the Mass could be celebrated in Latin at the cathedral for the group favouring the Traditional Latin Mass, potentially using the same altar as the pre-conciliar form.

Archbishop Comensoli's request, made in June 2023, came in the wake of Pope Francis's 2021 Motu Proprio "Traditionis custodes" ("Guardians of the Tradition"). This publication restricted the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

The rules were further tightened in February 2023, mandating that bishops need the Holy See's permission to authorise such Masses in parish churches.

Sources

Katholisch

Zenit

The Australian

CathNews New Zealand

The Lectionary includes the scripture readings for Mass and the sacraments.

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has confirmed approval for the updated Lectionary.

Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery, has written to Cardinal Vincent Nichols confirming the new Lectionary's translation.

Nichols is Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

The new translation was made in collaboration with the Bishops' Conference of Scotland.

"The use of the English Standard Version - Catholic Edition, already in use in India, along with the Abbey Psalms and Canticles, will help to ensure that the Word of the Lord reaches God's holy people without alloy" says Roche.

"The collaboration of the Episcopal Conference with the Bishops' Conference of Scotland is another notable feature of this project which highlights the importance of different episcopal conferences within a small geographical area working together for the overall good of the Catholic population in the British Isles.

"What has now been achieved ensures that a stable version of the Lectionary will endure in Great Britain for years to come. Both Conferences are to be commended for this cooperation."

The Lectionary was revised after advice from the Second Vatican Council.

Paragraph 51 of the Second Vatican Council document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, says: "The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God's word."

Welcome change

Archbishop Emeritus George Stack of Cardiff is welcoming the dicastery's ‘confirmatio' for the Lectionary:

"As we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council we can see that the Lectionary is one of the great fruits of the Council.

"It fulfils the mandate of the Council Fathers to open up the scriptures for the faithful so that Sunday by Sunday Christ himself speaks to us in the word.

"The new Lectionary gives us an opportunity to hear that word with fresh ears as we engage with a text which is intended for public proclamation and reflects up-to-date biblical scholarship.

"I hope that parishes and other communities will engage in preparation for the Lectionary so that all the faithful will hear the word of God with deepened faith and understanding."

The new Lectionary will be published by the Catholic Truth Society (CTS).

Source

• Universe Weekly