Following Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio of July 7 authorising parish priests and their clergy to celebrate Mass in the Tridentine rite if a "stable group of faithful" requests it, a section of the foreign press, and news agencies, have been jumping not only to conclusions, but at times also into confusion.

What has to be kept in mind with regard to the Holy Father's motu proprio is that he has made it very clear in his document that the new Mass (post-Vatican II) remains the "normal" form of Mass (missa ordinaria), whereas the Tridentine version (pre-Vatican II) remains an "extraordinary" form of Mass (missa extraordinaria), that "would probably only be sought by a few Catholics".

As the Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, said, "the motu proprio doesn't impose any return to the past, it doesn't mean any weakening of the authority of Vatican Council II nor the authority and responsibility of the bishops".

These past days some journalists circulated the unfounded news that Pope Benedict XVI celebrates daily Mass, in his private chapel, for the members of his personal staff in Latin and gives his back to his congregation.

Fr Lombardi promptly corrected this false news in very clear terms, saying that the Holy Father celebrates Mass daily, in his private chapel, in Italian and he regularly makes use of the liturgical rite, approved by Vatican II. The Vatican spokesman added the only reason why Pope Benedict gives his back to the congregation is purely architectural, as the altar is fixed to the wall. It is such a pity when reporters, who are always so inquisitive, and never take no for an answer, do not bother to put the right question to get the right answer.

Sowing doubts, and creating confusion in people's minds is to be regretted. Indeed, there are times when unprepared people in the media take themselves too seriously and are very selective in their reports, especially in Church matters and Church documents which have to be deeply studied with a formed and an informed conscience.

When it comes to sacred liturgy, the Pope, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has always been highly regarded as a great authority in this particular sector. His book The Spirit of the Liturgy, written in 1999, is considered a foundational work on the liturgy, possibly the most important by an eminent theologian who for years was also Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In this profound book, Cardinal Ratzinger gives us his unique insights on many areas of the liturgy to help all readers, and the faithful, rediscover the many hidden spiritual wealth and transcendent grandeur of the liturgy as the very centre of Christian life.

In his preface he writes: "I am simply offering an aid to the understanding of the faith and to the right way to give the faith its central form of expression in the Liturgy."

The holistic importance of the sacred liturgy in the Church can be seen from the fact that it was no accident that the first completed work of Vatican Council II proved to be the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

As Pope Paul VI said during Vatican II, "the liturgy was the first subject to be examined and the first too, in a sense, in intrinsic worth and in importance for the life of the Church.

Cardinal Ratzinger's The Spirit of the Liturgy sheds more light on Vatican II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

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