Cardinal Cañizares Llovera: the Extraordinary Form Roman Mass and the Orthodox East

"Amidst the controversy, it is often forgotten that the criticisms made against the rite received from the Roman Tradition also apply to the other traditions, first of all to the Orthodox: almost all liturgical aspects that those who who have been opposed to the preservation of the ancient missal strongly attack are precisely the aspect that we had in common with the Eastern Tradition! A sign that confirms this, in contrast, are the enthusiastically positive expressions that arrived from the Orthodox world with the publication of the motu proprio."


So writes Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in a preface to the newly published doctoral thesis by his fellow Spaniard, Fr. Alberto Soria Jiménez, O.S.B., which is a canonical consideration of the juridical nature of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the forms and uses of the Roman Rite it provides for, and the history that led to it.

The 2013 thesis was published just days ago by Spanish publisher "Ediciones Cristiandad" under the title "The Principles of Interpretation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum" ("Los principios de interpretación del motu proprio Summorum Pontificum"), which is why the Cardinal's text has only now become available. 

The Rorate Caeli blog has translated the most important excerpts of the Spanish original: RORATE CÆLI: Supreme Liturgical Authority, in groundbreaking text, says: - Summorum Pontificum provides equal standing for both Forms - Conditions for participation at Traditional Mass same as in new Mass - and much more