Papal Authority

[Matthew_Holford]

I have read on numerous occasions that the traditional Latin Mass must be maintained because of St Pius V’s bull Quo primum tempore, which states that the Mass can be never changed.

This gives rise to two questions:

1. If it could never be changed why were parts of it changed by subsequent popes? In fact why do those who choose to celebrate/attend the traditional Latin Mass use Blessed John XXIII’s 1962 missal rather than St Pius V’s 1570 missal.
2. Although Quo primum tempore said the Mass could never be changed don’t all papal bulls say something similar about the precepts in the bull remaining in force for perpetuity. However, as the Pope is the supreme legislator for the whole Catholic Church I understand that he cannot be restrained by his predecessor’s; therefore, Pope Paul VI had the valid canonical authority to change the Mass even if anything he did was contrary to Quo primum tempore.

Don’t we as Catholics accept the supreme authority of the Pope? Don’t we believe that the Church can never err because it is guided by the Holy Spirit? So, why then do those who call themselves traditional catholics reject the authority of Pope Paul VI and for that matter John Paul II and why do they assume that the Church has been abandoned by the Holy Spirit during and after Vatican II and that it is now in error.

If we want to celebrate the traditional Mass then we should be carrying out historical research and find out how the Eucharist was celebrated in Apostolic times. I am sure that the Apostles and their disciples would not recognise either the so-called traditional (or Tridentine) Mass or the so-called Novus Ordo.

As for the vernacular I want to be able to take an active participation in worshipping the Lord my God and I cannot achieve that in a language that I do not understand. And, of course when Mass was first celebrated in Latin it was being celebrated in the vernacular.

 

[MarkThompson]

For a fairly recent and reasonably thorough discussion of Quo Primum, its implications, and the various modifications made to the Mass by subsequent popes, see this thread.