Roman Priests’ Conference to Feature Classical Rite

Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, Secretery of the Congregation for Divine Worship, will celebrate the traditional rite at the Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians, located inside the Vatican walls, on January 6 (the Epiphany). Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke will celebrate the Mass on January 8 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

See Catholic News Service for further details.

One significant element of these events is that Archbishop Di Noia is Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW), whose competency is not over the “Extraordinary Form” (that’s the domain of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei), but over the “Ordinary Form.” In a sense, the CDW’s involvement shows that the Classical Rite is “mainstream” in the eyes of the Holy See. It could also show that the CDW, which is quietly working on “the reform of the reform,” is doing so along the lines spelled out in the Classical Rite, that is, along the lines of tradition.