"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 Diocese of Ballarat says it will remove ribbons tied outside St Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday morning so the ageing wrought-iron fence can be painted.

It is unclear at this stage whether the ribbons will be returned to the fence or how they may be stored in the future.

Bishop Paul Bird's office says the parish will continue to consult with survivors of sexual abuse and Loud Fence organisers to decide the best outcome.

The Loud Fence movement began in Ballarat in 2015 during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Read More

The incident is understood to have taken place near St Patrick's Cathedral in Wyndham St.

Police received a report of a person with a gunshot injury at 7.30 am on Thursday. Read more

The dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Auckland, Father Peter Tipene has already announced that he is suspending all Sunday Masses.

He says the 7 am and 12.15 pm weekday Masses will continue to be celebrated, as the threshold of 100 is not often passed at these Masses.

Thursday, the New Zealand Minister of Health, David Clark announced the cancellation of all indoor events of more than 100 people.

This will likely have significant country-wide implications not only for Sunday Masses but also for the likes of confirmations, first holy communion, funeral and marriage services.

Reacting to the Government's decision, the Catholic Bishop of Auckland says he wants to keep people regularly informed of the measures the diocese is taking to keep us all safe.

"As we know, this is a rapidly-changing situation," Dunn said on his Facebook page.

"We are carefully and calmly reviewing the advice from the Ministry of Health and will keep you informed of all decisions we have been obliged to make."

Dunn said that while the Mass is the core and source of Catholic identity, people who are ill, self-isolating or believe that attending Mass would put others at risk should stay at home.

He said such people in the Auckland diocese are dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass under these circumstances.

"Older adults, people with underlying medical conditions, and family members of such individuals should take special care in discerning Mass attendance."

"At times like these, our faith will help sustain us, and united with Christ we are never alone. Just as Jesus will never abandon us, so too is the Church committed to walking alongside all who are distressed and suffering."

Communications adviser for the NZ Catholic Bishops, David McLoughlin says the New Zealand Bishops will issue national guidelines in response to Thursday's announcement.

The new measures announced by the government, do not apply to workplaces, schools, supermarkets or public transport.

In Australia, where the limit placed on indoor gatherings is 100, there has been a wide-spread cancellation of Sunday masses.

Many dioceses in the United States have stopped having Sunday mass.

The New Zealand restriction on outdoor gatherings remains 500.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• rnz.co.nz
• facebook.com
• facebook.com
• nzcatholic.org.nz
• Image: facebook.com