Wednesday, October 10, 2007 3:00-4:00

The Tridentine Liturgy and Liturgical Reform: Critical Reflections on the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum
by Prof. Christian McConnell, PhD. (St. Michael’s College)


Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, promulgated July 7, 2007, gives new, wider provision for the celebration of the Roman liturgy according to the pre-Vatican-II (“Tridentine”) Missal of 1962 and other liturgical books. The liturgical reforms of 1970 remain the normative form of the Roman liturgy, but the side-by-side existence of the postconciliar liturgy and the “older use” raises more questions than answers about the nature of liturgical reform, legitimate liturgical diversity, liturgical accomodation of pastoral needs, and the operative ecclesiology expressed in the liturgy.