Rising down under

Oriens, the journal of the Ecclesia Dei Society of Australia, has a good website with a good selection of articles, reviews, and other materials connected to the restoration of the traditional Latin Mass and its bearing on the situation in the Church generally. Among the articles I particularly noticed The Papa Luigi syndrome and Think Catholic, Act Locally. Both are concerned with the need for spontaneous traditionalism locally and an end to hyperactive global reform from the top—a topic I’ve discussed here. (The “Papa Luigi” comes from combining the “L’etat c’est moi” of Louis XIV with the “La tradizione sono io” of Pio Nono.)

It seems to me the current Pope is more aware of such issues than his predecessors. On the other hand, the second article (from 2001) outlines the same situation regarding the Tridentine Mass that exists now: high-level discussions with the Society of St. Pius X, which insists on the universal availability of the TM. Rome has had no principled objection but many political concerns due to internal opposition. Let’s hear it for principle and a new start!

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