After the Council of Trent, Pope St. Pius V promulgated the document "Quo Primum Tempore," codifying for all eternity the manner in which Mass had been said for then nearly 1600 years. This was done to preserve the Mass from the influence of the new Protestant heresy and to weed out many of the various regional variations in the ancient Roman Mass which had developed by the Middle Ages. In this solemn Papal Bull, the august Pontiff (of blessed memory) Pius V states, "Furthermore, in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever Order or by whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than asenjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is to be forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force..." This this Papal Bull insures us that the Traditional Latin Mass may always be said freely by any priest of the Roman Rite, "in perpetuity." The document also delivers a solemn warning to any priest, prelate, or Pope who would violate the custom of organic development in radically altering this ancient Missal, or in attempting to prohibit its use: "Therefore, no one whosoever is permitted to alter this letter or heedlessly to venture to go contrary to this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult, declaration, will, decree and prohibition. Should anyone, however, presume to commit such an act, he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul." This is still valid today. In October, 1984, Pope John Paul II did give some recognition to this immemorial Mass of the Roman Rite in granting "permission" for its use (though this was not necessary - to avoid disagreements he placed it under the condition of the local bishop's "approval"). This is the traditional Latin Mass as was celebrated in Catholic churches around the world until after Vatican II.
In a more recent Apostolic Letter, Ecclesia Dei (July 2, 1988) His Holiness expanded these earlier directives, calling for their "wide and generous application." Pertinent excerpts include:
"To all those Catholic faithful who feel attached to ... the Latin tradition, [We] wish to manifest [Our] will to facilitate [this] by means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful aspirations. In this matter I ask support of the Bishops and of all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the Church.
"By virtue of [Our] Apostolic Authority [We] decree ... respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition, by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See, for the use of the Roman Missal ... of 1962."
While this "permission" or "indult" system has been implemented to avoid conflict between priests and bishops, the truth of the matter is that any priest can say the Traditional Mass at any time.
The Tridentine Mass takes its name from the Council of Trent (1545-63), which had called for a modest revision of the Roman Rite. It was seven years after the Council Fathers had disbanded that Pope St. Pius V authoritatively issued the missal that would reflect their concerns. Informally known as "Tridentine," the missal does not so much as initiate any new practices as codify a tradition of worship which had been developing organically in Rome and other parts of Europe since the 300's A.D. The "Tridentine Rite" is therefore more properly called the Ancient or Traditional Roman Rite. The last edition of its missal was published in 1962. It generally differs from the other historic apostolic rites of the Church -- e.g., the Eastern -- in its focus on mystery rather than mysticism and in its adherence to a different set of apostolic traditions. Christendom's second largest liturgical tradition, the Byzantine rite, for instance, celebrates a different calendar, follows a different order of the Mass (which it calls the "Divine Liturgy"), and reflects a different approach to understanding the mysteries of redemption and sanctification.
How the traditional Roman Rite differs from the new "Roman Rite" -- the 1969 Novus Ordo -- is somewhat more complicated. Contrary to "Quo Primum" and the principles of liturgical development, Paul VI authorized Archbishop Bugnini (later exiled to Iran) and six Protestant ministers to develop a totally new Mass. It lacks 70% of the traditional Mass prayers, and often conveys concepts that are not theologically accurate, or which even border on heresy. (See Cardinal Ottaviani's critical study of the New Mass on this page -- "the Ottaviani Intervention"). Unfortunately, nearly one-third of Catholics stopped attending Mass altogether within a few years after the forced introduction of this new rite. The use of the laity as Eucharistic ministers or of girls as acolytes, Communion in the hand, etc., are some exterior abuses of the New Rite.
Finally, to complicate matters even more, the changes that were made to the Roman liturgy tend to be worsened even more for English-speaking Catholics by the free and often inaccurate English translation of the Latin original. One fastidious Latinist has counted approximately four hundred discrepancies between the prescribed English translation made by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) and the Novus Ordo promulgated by Pope Paul VI. Fr. Stephen Somerville, an original member of ICEL, recently revealed in the National Catholic Register that these discrepancies were often made deliberately. "We found subtle ways of changing the words..." he stated. "We were literally changing the faith of the Catholic Church because we were changing the way it prays" (Brian McGuire, "Liturgical Translations Face Vatican Overhaul," Vol. 76, No. 4, 1/23-29/00, p. 1). Interestingly enough, Fr. Somerville also affirms the fact that the priests of the Society of St. Pius X are faithful Catholic priests who want nothing more than to serve and save souls, and encourages attending their Masses.
