Can the twain ever meet?

The liturgy wars of the 1970s and 1980s have erupted again in recent years, starting with the motu proprio of Pope Francis, Traditionis Custodes, seeking to reverse the course set by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum, which gave wide berth to a celebration of Holy Mass according to the Usus Antiquior.

More recently, the harsh and hard-hearted attacks on the “Old Mass” by the Bishop of Charlotte and Archbishop of Detroit (along with their clearly uncanonical overreach to control legitimate “conservative” options in the Usus Recentior) have caused me to revive and bring to fruition a project on which the late Father Nicholas Gregoris, my decades-long colleague and spiritual son, worked on for several years. This was a project inspired by Pope Benedict’s stated expectation that the two “forms” of the Roman Rite could, and should, be “mutually enriching.”¹

In this endeavor, we have been guided by the desideratum of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council:

That sound tradition may be retained, and yet the way remain open to legitimate progress careful investigation is always to be made into each part of the liturgy which is to be revised. This investigation should be theological, historical, and pastoral. Also the general laws governing the structure and meaning of the liturgy must be studied in conjunction with the experience derived from recent liturgical reforms and from the indults conceded to various places. Finally, there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 23)

That same conciliar document, presumably in keeping with its own stated principle enunciated above, called for the following liturgical developments: a broader use of the vernacular for the instructional parts of the Mass (while retaining Latin throughout, as well as the maintenance of Gregorian chant, nn. 36, 116); a wider exposure to Sacred Scripture (n. 35); the restoration of the prayer of the faithful); a limited access to Holy Communion under both species for the lay faithful (n. 55); a revival of the ancient practice of priestly concelebration on certain occasions (n. 57).

Cardinal Kurt Koch, who has headed the dicastery for Christian unity since 2010, has suggested that a synthesis of the two forms might emerge in the future. In a 2020 interview with German Vatican News, he proposed that there “be a reconciliation of the two forms, so that at some point we will have only one form as a synthesis, instead of two different ones.” I think that was likewise the thinking of Pope Benedict.

It seeks to address the problem rather graphically described by Dr. Randall Smith in this way:

But instead of a broad-based, historically grounded conversation, mostly what we get are two opposed partisan groups banging their heads against one another like two male rams banging their heads for a chance at becoming ‘alpha male.’ Such head banging only makes one dizzy–and stupider.²

Before launching into any suggestions for rubrical or textual modifications, let me state clearly that certain practices which have become institutionalized in the so-called “Ordinary Form” need to be eliminated forthwith—namely, Communion-in-the-hand, recourse to the non-ordained for distribution of Holy Communion at Mass, and female servers–none of which were sanctioned by the Council Fathers or even remotely envisioned.

That said, the reader is encouraged to read our “wish-list”¹³ by comparing the two columns. If these changes were enacted, somewhere up the line, that “reconciliation” hoped for by Cardinal Koch could become a reality, but accomplished in an organic manner.

This project really took on life because both of us celebrated both forms of the Roman Liturgy, enabling us to see the benefits and drawbacks in both forms. I hope this proposal meets with a desire to continue the conversation, not as “alpha males” wishing to dominate, but as loyal sons and daughters of the Church desirous of a reverent liturgy fostering ecclesial unity.

While cognizant of the stated intention of the Council Fathers to introduce some changes, we also kept in mind the salutary admonition of the soon-to-be Doctor of the Church, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman: “Rites which the Church has appointed, and with reason,–for the Church’s authority is from Christ,–being long used, cannot be disused without harm to our souls.”⁴

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