Motu Proprio Watch II

Die Welt, one of Germany's major dailies, reports that "The pope from the land of Luther will restore the old Latin mass."


Paul Badde's story in Die Welt was reported by Catholic World News via The New Liturgical Movement. Catholic World News says this confirms stories that have appeared in French and Italian papers and adds the additional detail that a letter to accompany the motu proprio has already been drafted.

Die Welt reports major opposition in the curia and in the European hierarchy to Benedict's liberation of the ancient mass.


A motu proprio is a special pronouncement made by the pope on his own initiative. It is widely expected that the document will universally permit the old "Latin mass." Thus any priest, anywhere in the world, who wishes to say the mass according to the Mass of John XXIII may then do so without asking permission of his local bishop.

The Mass of John XXIII follows the rubrics as they were in 1962 before the changes made after the Second Vatican Council. This ritual was little changed over the previous four centuries and closely resembles the mass of fourteen centuries ago. While the current liturgy may be said in Latin, it is almost always celebrated in the vernacular. The Mass of John XXIII may only be said in Latin.

The Mass of John XXIII is sometimes referred to as the Tridentine mass, alluding to the Council of Trent which reformed it in the sixteenth century.