Hope springs eternal……

From the inimitable Msgr. Charles Pope:

A Modest Proposal

A few bishops in our country have adopted a stance that I think can help. It involves teaching the faithful and encouraging — but not requiring — priests to adopt certain practices designed to foster greater reverence, more solemn demeanor and increased focus.

For example, a few bishops have informed their priests that they may gradually reintroduce the ad orientem stance for the Eucharistic Prayer.

The same can be said for the gentle reintroduction of other pious traditions, such as kneeling for Holy Communion and receiving on the tongue, restoring altar rails, the wider use of Latin, and more silence.

It’s going to be a long journey. I realize that some who read this will say, “Why don’t we just admit that the Mass of 1970 was a failure and put everything back the way it was — now!” But that just isn’t realistic. The ordinary form is here to stay; more than 90% of Catholics attend Mass in the ordinary form. Parishes are diverse, and people have differing sensibilities. Within this complex reality, it is prudent to reintroduce things gradually and by way of offering more options. It is an important step toward loosening the grip of the liturgical police and permitting greater freedom to pastors and parishes under the guidance of their bishops who, I pray, will see wisdom in this gentle way forward. SOURCE

Notwithstanding that Msgr Pope recognizes that after 40+ years the “reform of the reform” has been a total failure: The once-hoped-for “reform of the reform,” wherein the ordinary form could retain advantageous aspects, such as the new lectionary and a wider use of the vernacular while benefiting from the reintroduction of a more reverent ars celebrandi, a healthy dose of Latin, wider use of kneeling for the reception of Holy Communion, and the ad orientem stance for the Eucharistic prayer, seems to have stalled.

Notwithstanding that the current supreme pontiff has specifically rejected these practices and has actually prohibited the use of the term “reform of the reform.”

Notwithstanding that the principal advocate of this approach, Benedict XVI, was able to accomplish absolutely nothing in this direction in the course of his pontificate.

Notwithstanding that the existence in Europe of selected but prominent churches (e.g., those of the Oratorians in the UK, major baroque churches and cathedrals in South Germany and Austria) that celebrate Novus Ordo liturgies which retain many of the trappings of the Traditional Mass has done nothing to prevent an even more rapid collapse of the faith there than in the US.

But on the bright side – and truly solid ground for hope: am I to deduce from Msgr. Pope’s remarks that he believes that up to 10% of Catholics now attend Mass in the extraordinary form? That’s an amazing shift in a little over ten years!