The Minister of the Pope: Liturgy is not a property of the priests
Interview of Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos published in Il Giornale Monday May 31st, by Andrea Tornielli
The admonition of Castrillón: The Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy: The Eucharist is a gift of Jesus that deserves the deepest respect.
“The faithful attached to the old rite are not “second class” citizens. And with the Lefebrists we leave the dialogue open.”
An invitation to discover the sense of the sacred in liturgical celebrations, a call to the bishops so that they do not reject the requests of traditionalist groups that ask for the celebration of the Mass in accordance with the Tridentine rite, an open hand to the Lefebvrists (SSPX) so that they might regularise their position as soon as possible, re-entering into full communion with Rome. After the publication of the recent document on liturgical abuses, Redemptionis Sacramentum, Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and President of the Pontifical Commission, ‘Ecclesia Dei’ breaks silence and tells Andrea Tornielli how traditionalists are considered today inside the Catholic Church.
AT: Your Eminence, the document on liturgical abuses has been received with people making fine distinctions and it has been considered by some as a step back to the time before the Second Vatican Council. What do you think?
CCH: It is a disciplinary document which is very important for all the Church. The pope wanted it precisely to protect the most precious gift that Jesus has given to us: his body and blood, really present in the Eucharist. This instruction is a call to maintain the sense of the sacred and due respect for the Eucharist, which some seem to have lost. The document has a particular importance for priests; indeed, by the will of Christ himself, they are the guardians of the Most Holy Sacrament. The history of the Church shows us how so many priests have risked and offered their lives to celebrate and defend the Eucharist. Thus this occurred during the last century, when totalitarian regimes wanted to eliminate the Church. I think of the hosts of priests jailed in concentration camps and I recall the splendid figure of Cardinal Van Thuan, who died recently. In his memoirs he recounts that the most beautiful Eucharists were the ones that he celebrated with some few drops of wine and some bread crumbs in the darkness of his isolation cell in prison, with the palm of his hand serving as an altar. From these he received the strength to endure incredible sufferings and to forgive those who were causing them.
AT: Regrettably, as Il Giornale has documented with a series of photographs, it happens that on many occasions the Mass is reduced to a show…
CCH: The Eucharist is not and cannot be considered ‘private property’, subject to the free will of single individuals! It is the great gift of Jesus to the Church, and its celebration is regulated by the successors of the apostles with Peter. But how can you discover this gift without adoring it? How can you contemplate it without loving it? How can you adore and love it without a deep sense of individual and liturgical respect?
AT: With last year’s encyclical (Ecclesia de Eucharistia) the Pope wanted to re-introduce a sense of the sacred in the liturgy. Are these traditionalist positions?
CCH: These are positions of the one and uninterrupted Tradition of the Church. Today more than ever the need is felt of not losing the historical memory of what we are as individuals and nations. The Church never loses the strength that has led her throughout history to transform cultures. For this reason the pope is not afraid of speaking again of eucharistic “wonder”, which comes from the contemplation of the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread and wine. For that reason this document is a providential gift to us priests and to the faithful.
AT: You are the President of the Commission desired by John Paul II to help the groups that follow the Missal of St Pius V. What is being done in their favuor?
CCH: When you hear talk about so-called ‘traditionalists’, some think that they are a group with a stubborn and nostalgic attachment to the past. That is not true. In fact, here we find ourselves before a dynamic Christian view of the life of faith and devotion, shared by so many families and their children, who are attached to those ancient liturgical and devotional forms which have accompanied the Church through centuries of her history and have formed legions of saints. John Paul II in 1988 wanted to protect this particular sensibility within the Church, asking that there should be granted “a wide and generous application” of the use of the old missal. To this other signs of benevolence from the Pope have been added, like the permission for the private celebration of the Mass of St Pius V in the Hungarian Chapel of St Peter’s Basilica. It was already clear that any priest can celebrate it with the permission of his bishop.
AT: Why, despite the indult, is the possibility of celebrating in the old rite refused in many dioceses?
CCH: In my view, it is a problem of understanding. The traditionalist ‘phenomenon’ is not always seen in the right light, as a richness that can be properly inserted with other positive realities that form the texture of the Church. True, it is not always possible to grant immediately a special place for that liturgy or the possibility of Mass in the rite of St Pius V, either because of the small number of faithful or because of the lack of a priest. In everything patience is needed. It is necessary to have patience even with the bishops who do not easily open themselves to the reality of their faithful who are attached to the previous tradition, because up to now they have not considered it opportune for the pastoral unity of their dioceses.
AT: It is curious to note that in many dioceses churches are made available to the Orthodox, but the doors are closed to the traditionalist faithful…
CCH: Yes, it is true an appeal is made to be tolerant in some cases, but there is intransigence with the faithful who to all effects belong to the Catholic Church. Here I am sincerely of the opinion that with them even greater understanding is necessary. In fact, the pope has recognised the validity of their liturgical sensibility, which can be more or less shared, but never suppressed. Frequently the traditionalists complain of this intransigence. I will continue to repeat that the faithful attached to the ancient liturgy are not “second class” faithful, nor should they be treated as if they were. On their part, however, patience it is also required in their requests and they should not give way to exasperated forms of criticism that create trouble for the diocesan community.
AT: How do you live the relationship with those faithful attached to the ancient liturgy and for whom a year ago you celebrated a Mass in the Tridentine rite?
CCH: In the Church there are legitimate diversities that are not to be considered in opposition to each other, but complementary. The pope has recognised the aspirations of the faithful attached to the ancient liturgy as legitimate. I am grateful for the effort that they make to maintain a historical memory that should be strongly respected. The Mass in St Mary Major a year ago gave an additional sign of appreciation for this legitimate diversity. The rite of St Pius V, as I stated in the homily of that Mass, enjoys a “right of citizenship” in the Latin Catholic Church, because in fact it is not extinct insofar as it exists due to the generous grant made by John Paul II.
AT: Don’t you believe that this can be seen as a backwards step with regards to the post-concilliar liturgical reform?
CCH: No, it absolutely does not mean a counter-position critical to the Mass of Paul VI. This is the rite in which I celebrate every day, that I love and I find rich, in harmony with Tradition understood in the broadest sense. In the aspects that allow a legitimate adaptation, I find the new rite culturally close to the men of today, accessible to the less educated who can follow in their own language the sacred depth of the Mass. It is obvious that the abuses to which I was referring before should be excluded. But that does not take away from the fact that there are a considerable number of faithful, even young, who love the Mass according to the previous rite. This sensibility, recognised as legitimate by the pope, has to be protected in the best possible way.
AT: In the last months the Lefebvrists (SSPX) presented in Rome a document against the ecumenism of Pope Wojtyła: has the dialogue with the Holy See been interrupted?
CCH: I would not say that the dialogue has been interrupted. Bishop Fellay (Superior of the SSPX) himself, said in the press conference that he does not want to break the dialogue with Rome. I keep this hope strongly in my heart and I share it with the pope, who continues to await with open arms the Fraternity of St Pius X. I’m sorry, however, to observe the hesitations of the superiors of the Fraternity regarding their regularisation. The internal dialogue will always be possible on matters that need to be clarified. Nevertheless I can reaffirm that the pope and his close collaborators do everything possible to help the authorities of the Fraternity to grasp that this is the favourable time for the much desired return.
Acknowledgement: Il Giornale.
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