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Summorum Pontificum
Summorum Pontificum (English: 'Of the Supreme Pontiffs') is an apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued on 7 July 2007. This letter specifies the circumstances in which priests of the Latin Church could celebrate Mass according to the "Missal promulgated by Pope Saint John XXIII in 1962" (the last edition of the Roman Missal, in the form known as the Tridentine Mass) and administer most of the sacraments in the form used before the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council.
It granted greater freedom for priests to use the Tridentine liturgy in its 1962 form, stating that all priests of the Latin Church may freely celebrate Mass with the 1962 Missal privately. It also provided that "in parishes where a group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition stably exists, the parish priest should willingly accede to their requests to celebrate Holy Mass according to the rite of the 1962 Roman Missal" and should "ensure that the good of these members of the faithful is harmonised with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the governance of the bishop". It also granted use of the preconciliar Rituale Romanum and the Pontificale Romanum, for the celebration of all the seven sacraments, as well as allowing the Breviarium Romanum as revised under Pope Saint Pius X to clergymen ordained (deacons, priests, bishops).
On 16 July 2021, Pope Francis abrogated Summorum Pontificum with the motu proprio Traditionis custodes which imposed new restrictions for celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.
The Roman Rite of the Catholic Mass has undergone, especially in the early centuries, various developments. In response to Sacrosanctum Concilium, the 1963 document of the Second Vatican Council, the rite was systematically revised, leading to the publication in 1970 of Pope Paul VI's revision of the Roman Missal, which some Traditionalist Catholics claimed constituted a rupture with what went before.
Such concerns led French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to found a seminary and society of priests – the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) – dedicated to the exclusive celebration of sacraments according to the traditional Roman Rite, in 1970. Canonically suspended by the Holy See in 1976, Lefebvre continued negotiations with Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II over the following decade. While these negotiations did not produce a regularization of the SSPX, they did induce John Paul II to issue a decree in 1984, Quattuor Abhinc Annos, providing a limited permission, or indult, to celebrate the traditional Roman Rite. However, many traditionalists, frustrated with the unwillingness of most bishops to implement the indult in their dioceses, demanded what they called a universal indult whereby all priests would be allowed to use the former rite even publicly without seeking any specific authorisation.[citation needed]
The SSPX, whose founder Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 following the Ecône Consecrations, thereafter made permission to use the Tridentine Mass as a preliminary condition for engaging in any doctrinal dialogue with the Holy See.
As is customary for papal documents, the motu proprio (which has no title) is referred to by its incipit, the opening words of the (Latin) original text: Summorum Pontificum. "Supreme Pontiff" is a title of the popes, and the opening sentence states that it has always been a concern "of the Supreme Pontiffs" that the Church should offer fitting worship to God.
Pope Benedict XVI released the document after "much reflection, numerous consultations, and prayer". In article 1 of the document, he spoke of "the typical edition of the Roman Missal, which was promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962", as "never abrogated". In the letter he specified this as "never juridically abrogated". In article 2 he stated that, "in Masses celebrated without a congregation, any Catholic priest of the Latin rite, whether secular or regular, may use either the Roman Missal published in 1962 by Blessed Pope John XXIII or the Roman Missal promulgated in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, and may do so on any day, with the exception of the Easter Triduum". For such a celebration with either Missal, the priest needs no permission from the Apostolic See or from his own Ordinary. In article 4, he said that these Masses celebrated without a congregation "may be attended also by members of the lay faithful who spontaneously request to do so, with respect for the requirements of law".
Summorum Pontificum
Summorum Pontificum (English: 'Of the Supreme Pontiffs') is an apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued on 7 July 2007. This letter specifies the circumstances in which priests of the Latin Church could celebrate Mass according to the "Missal promulgated by Pope Saint John XXIII in 1962" (the last edition of the Roman Missal, in the form known as the Tridentine Mass) and administer most of the sacraments in the form used before the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council.
It granted greater freedom for priests to use the Tridentine liturgy in its 1962 form, stating that all priests of the Latin Church may freely celebrate Mass with the 1962 Missal privately. It also provided that "in parishes where a group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition stably exists, the parish priest should willingly accede to their requests to celebrate Holy Mass according to the rite of the 1962 Roman Missal" and should "ensure that the good of these members of the faithful is harmonised with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the governance of the bishop". It also granted use of the preconciliar Rituale Romanum and the Pontificale Romanum, for the celebration of all the seven sacraments, as well as allowing the Breviarium Romanum as revised under Pope Saint Pius X to clergymen ordained (deacons, priests, bishops).
On 16 July 2021, Pope Francis abrogated Summorum Pontificum with the motu proprio Traditionis custodes which imposed new restrictions for celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.
The Roman Rite of the Catholic Mass has undergone, especially in the early centuries, various developments. In response to Sacrosanctum Concilium, the 1963 document of the Second Vatican Council, the rite was systematically revised, leading to the publication in 1970 of Pope Paul VI's revision of the Roman Missal, which some Traditionalist Catholics claimed constituted a rupture with what went before.
Such concerns led French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to found a seminary and society of priests – the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) – dedicated to the exclusive celebration of sacraments according to the traditional Roman Rite, in 1970. Canonically suspended by the Holy See in 1976, Lefebvre continued negotiations with Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II over the following decade. While these negotiations did not produce a regularization of the SSPX, they did induce John Paul II to issue a decree in 1984, Quattuor Abhinc Annos, providing a limited permission, or indult, to celebrate the traditional Roman Rite. However, many traditionalists, frustrated with the unwillingness of most bishops to implement the indult in their dioceses, demanded what they called a universal indult whereby all priests would be allowed to use the former rite even publicly without seeking any specific authorisation.[citation needed]
The SSPX, whose founder Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 following the Ecône Consecrations, thereafter made permission to use the Tridentine Mass as a preliminary condition for engaging in any doctrinal dialogue with the Holy See.
As is customary for papal documents, the motu proprio (which has no title) is referred to by its incipit, the opening words of the (Latin) original text: Summorum Pontificum. "Supreme Pontiff" is a title of the popes, and the opening sentence states that it has always been a concern "of the Supreme Pontiffs" that the Church should offer fitting worship to God.
Pope Benedict XVI released the document after "much reflection, numerous consultations, and prayer". In article 1 of the document, he spoke of "the typical edition of the Roman Missal, which was promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962", as "never abrogated". In the letter he specified this as "never juridically abrogated". In article 2 he stated that, "in Masses celebrated without a congregation, any Catholic priest of the Latin rite, whether secular or regular, may use either the Roman Missal published in 1962 by Blessed Pope John XXIII or the Roman Missal promulgated in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, and may do so on any day, with the exception of the Easter Triduum". For such a celebration with either Missal, the priest needs no permission from the Apostolic See or from his own Ordinary. In article 4, he said that these Masses celebrated without a congregation "may be attended also by members of the lay faithful who spontaneously request to do so, with respect for the requirements of law".