Traditional Rite of Ordination

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Can a seminarian who wants to become a priest be ordained in the traditional rite of ordination instead of the newer one if he so chooses?
 
Hmmm… so if a future priest really wanted to be ordained in the traditional rite it all depends on their bishop? Why would some not allow it?
 
Alainval said:
Hmmm… so if a future priest really wanted to be ordained in the traditional rite it all depends on their bishop? Why would some not allow it?
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Off the top of my head, some seminarians would be perfectly fine with the current rite, and the bishop (being a busy person) doesn’t have time (or merely doesn’t want) to perform two different ordinations if he doesn’t have to.
 
Great question… in time when shortage of priests is very high. Such an aspiring seminarian would probably want to join the FSSP.
 
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Everything a priest will ever do must be in accord with his Bishop. They make promises of obedience to their Bishop and successor. If a man does not want to follow the directives of his Bishop, he should not present himself for ordination.

That said, the OF is just that, the ordinary form of the Mass, that most priests will be saying most of the time. What reason would there be to use the old form of ordination?
 
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I think if you joined the FSSP with it mainly in mind that this is how you’re going to get an old rite ordination, that would probably be a bit of a red flag. You should join the FSSP because you are called by God to do so, not because of what rite you wish to be ordained in. If God calls you to serve as a Diocesan priest, you should serve as a Diocesan priest.
 
Most likely because the Bishop has not been taught to do the ordination in Latin.
 
Angel_Bradford said:
Most likely because the Bishop has not been taught to do the ordination in Latin.
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Doubt it. There are several bishops in the US that are more than capable of celebrating the EF that still use the OF ordination rite.
 
Maybe because some might prefer it. If the seminarian asks and the bishop agrees, what’s the problem?
 
CilladeRoma said:
That said, the OF is just that, the ordinary form of the Mass, that most priests will be saying most of the time. What reason would there be to use the old form of ordination?
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Perhaps he feels a greater connection to the old, perhaps it better appeals to his spiritual thirst, perhaps he feels that it will help him to receive even more grace. Perhaps he seeks a greater connection to predecessors who were ordained in the same manner. Perhaps he wants to go above and beyond good enough, or the “ordinary, which is just that,” as you put it. Perhaps he seeks to better position himself towards a path that will help him serve those who share his ideological/spiritual leanings. We can speculate all day, ultimately its between him and his Maker. Either way, if that is his calling and it is available, there is no reason why the church shouldn’t be supportive.
 
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ThomasMT said:
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CilladeRoma:
That said, the OF is just that, the ordinary form of the Mass, that most priests will be saying most of the time. What reason would there be to use the old form of ordination?
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Perhaps he feels a greater connection to the old, perhaps it better appeals to his spiritual thirst, perhaps he feels that it will help him to receive even more grace. Perhaps he seeks a greater connection to predecessors who were ordained in the same manner. Perhaps he wants to go above and beyond good enough, or the “ordinary, which is just that,” as you put it. Perhaps he seeks to better position himself towards a path that will help him serve those who share his ideological/spiritual leanings. We can speculate all day, ultimately its between him and his Maker. Either way, if that is his calling and it is available, there is no reason why the church shouldn’t be supportive.
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Many concerning comments here. If he feels that somehow there is “more grace “ in the extraordinary traditional Latin form of ordination, what does that say about his attitude toward the Ordinary Form of the Mass, which as a diocesan priest, would be what he would say most often? Or perhaps he has bought into the not-uncommon belief that seems to be found in certain traditionalists that the revised Rite of Ordination is defective and invalid? Perhaps he doesn’t fully appreciate what it means to pledge obedience to his Ordinary. Perhaps his Ordinary might take a dim view of having to conduct two separate ordinations some Spring day, one in the revised form for his class, and one in the traditional form for him. Finally, in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, I don’t think “ordinary” means what some people think it means.
 
Respectfully, such an alarmed concern comes as no surprise, unfortunately. Please allow me to put it at ease, as there is no reason to feel threatened. Just as some folk having a preference for the EF of Mass does not necessarily equate their questioning the validity of the OF, the same idea applies here. As far as grace goes… similarly, if one finds a given Rite more appealing and spiritually satisfying, the open heart is widened further, allowing the potential for more grace… or more absorption of the same amount of grace. With regard to you other points… as I mentioned earlier, we don’t know what the specifics of his intentions entail. However, there may or may not be some that may give cause for him to consider FSSP.
Pitcairn17 said:
Perhaps his Ordinary might take a dim view of having to conduct two separate ordinations some Spring day, one in the revised form for his class, and one in the traditional form for him
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Fair enough. Nonetheless, given the dismal number of priests today, it might be worth accommodating, dim views aside. Especially if there are at least a few that have such a preference.
 
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TLDR: don’t make life more complicated than it already is.

I’m sympathetic to the udea, insofar as I think that a guy should really be able to have what he wants at his ordination - within the limits of liturgical norms of course. So, if this means bears on roller skates doing liturgical dance then so be it (the logistics are another matter of course). That said, a priestly ordination is, at the same time, not an individual celebration but a diocesan one. Put another way, a priest is ordained for the diocese and so any ordination needs to be a community focussed celebration. So the problem with using the EF rite (besides questions over the bishop’s familiarity with it)is that using a rite which is not normally or commonly used in the diocese will tend against this community focus. Notably, Summorum Pontificum refers (in the context of EF masses in parishes) to “avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church.”

Besides this, I couldn’t be sure that SP actually allows the use of the EF ordination rite in a diocesan context. I’m well aware that EF ordinations happen in the FSSP and ICKSP all the time but Societies of Apostolic life are a very different context.
 
No, you don’t have to be conversational, but a priest can’t just go up on the altar and celebrate the TLM; there is training involved.
 
There is training involved in any task the priest performs. Any priest who wants to learn the TLM can learn it. They have made it through a theology degree program. In some cases they have multiple advanced degrees. They can learn basic Latin and learn to say the TLM.

Let’s not forget that the TLM used to be the primary mass celebrated in the Latin Rite.
 
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This is true; however, if they have not had that training, they cannot offer the TLM and it hasn’t be taught in the seminaries in over 50 years.
 
Angel_Bradford said:
it hasn’t be taught in the seminaries in over 50 years.
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There are some seminaries in the US that offer an Optional EF practicum for those who are interested. Even if they didn’t have the opportunity to learn it at their seminary, they can study under another priest who knows the EF. There are ample opportunities for ANY priest who wants to learn to say the EF to learn it even if they will only ever get to say the EF for private masses, and even if they have to go learn it from another priest during their vacation time.
 
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