FRANCE: France's Catholic Church has warned the Vatican not to rush into reviving the old Latin Mass to bring traditionalists back into the fold without considering the risks that readmitting the schismatics could bring.
Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois told a senior Vatican official the traditionalists expelled in 1988 could threaten the unity of the worldwide church and challenge landmark reforms of the second Vatican Council of the 1960s.
Another senior French prelate, Toulouse Archbishop Robert Le Gall, warned that readmitting the ultra-conservative Society of St Pius X (SSPX) could also turn mainstream Catholics loyal to the reforms against Pope Benedict's Vatican.
Church sources say Pope Benedict plans to revoke excommunications of SSPX bishops and give blanket permission for priests to say the 1570 Tridentine Latin Mass, strictly limited in use since the modern Mass in local languages was launched.
"The real issue is not which language is used," Archbishop Vingt-Trois told a Paris conference on Thursday attended by Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Vatican official for liturgical issues such as how the 1.1-billion-strong Church celebrates the Mass.
"Under the cover of a campaign to defend a certain type of liturgy, there is a radical critique of the Vatican Council, even outright rejection of some of its declarations," he said."This clearly poses questions about the unity of the Church [ and] the authority of the council."
Although reviving the Latin Mass is a highly charged issue in the church, demand for it is minimal. The vast majority of Catholics would continue to worship at modern Masses in their local languages.
The reforms of the second Vatican Council upset the ultra-conservatives by scrapping the old Latin Mass, allowing lay people a more active role in religious services, declaring respect for Judaism and agreeing to co-operate with other Christian denominations.
The 18-year dispute with the Swiss-based SSPX, which has about a million followers around the world, also has political overtones in France because some of its ranks are linked to royalist or far-right fringe political movements.
Archbishop Vingt-Trois recalled that SSPX clerics had openly insulted the late Pope John Paul II, occupied their main Paris church by force and tried in vain to grab control of a second church.
Pope John Paul was less inclined to deal with the SSPX than the present pontiff, who shares their love of Latin and the traditional liturgy and seems more intent on healing the schism. Archbishop Le Gall, the French church's top official for liturgical questions, said a quick deal with the SSPX could upset average Catholics who do not want to return to the old ways.
"We risk creating a front of sadness, discouragement and disappointment with the Holy See," he said. "The liturgy is just the tip of the iceberg."
He said Pope Benedict and Cardinal Arinze were more influenced by letters of complaint they received, many of them from traditionalists, than by the actual life of the church in France. - (Reuters)