Q221 – What Is The Future Of The Roman Rite Liturgy?

 

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Interview Organization: Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima
Interviewer Name: Christopher P. Wendt
Date: September 13, 2023
Bishop Athanasius Schneider expresses confidence that the Roman Church will gradually return to the traditional form of the Holy Mass. He says the Church’s liturgical tradition cannot be abolished and believes the Novus Ordo will eventually develop toward the traditional Roman Rite over time.

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I am firmly convinced that the Holy Church will once again return to the traditional form of the Holy Mass. First, the traditional form of the Holy Mass, which we know, was unchanging for almost a millennium. We have texts and manuscripts of the order of the Mass, not just the order itself, but the entire Missal. It is important to distinguish between these. The order of the Mass, in the Latin or Roman rites, was almost unchanging for over a millennium.

For such a long time, with texts and proofs, the Mass sanctified by the Church cannot simply be abolished. These ancient prayers, such as the Apostolic Creed and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, cannot simply be changed or forbidden. I believe that the Roman Church is inherently traditional. It is only in this present time, during the crisis of Tradition, that we find this unfortunate infection within the Holy See. But I am confident that the Holy See will be healed from this anti-traditional virus that has affected it since the Council. This is the nature of the Holy See to preserve and maintain Tradition.

Given the reality that the Novus Ordo has already been practiced by two generations for more than 50 years, and may continue for some decades, we must acknowledge that this period has had its own influence. Therefore, I believe that, in the future, the Novus Ordo must gradually return to the traditional form of the Mass, step by step. In time, the ordinary Roman Rite will spread the traditional rite, perhaps with minor modifications or variants. The main difference may lie in the traditional form being restored and intact in Latin, while the newer form of the same Traditional Mass might incorporate more vernacular language or small changes in rubrics. But ultimately, it will be the same Holy Mass.

In the future, there can be no other way. The Church is traditional in her faith, its prayer, and her liturgy, and this will inevitably return.

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