TRIDENTINE LATIN MASS IS NOT ILLICIT
By Fr. Kevin Vaillancourt
Editor, The Catholic Voice

                              TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site   
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             Copyright 1997 CV.  Reproduction prohibited without authorization.


[Made available on the TRADITIO Internet Site with permission of The 
Catholic Voice, a publication of The Society of Traditional Roman 
Catholics.]

   The beginning of this year my parish moved from a small, converted 
office space to a beautiful church facility.  While the parish was 
tucked away, we were of little threat to anyone. My parishioners and I 
used our time to grow in our love for the Latin Mass and the truth of 
the Catholic Church.

   Now that we have moved, there are many effects that I hadn't planned 
on. Most of these are good.  However, some are not.  The chief among 
these latter concerns is an attack made by the priests of the modern 
church in my area who tell those interested in the Tridentine Latin Mass 
at our traditional church that the Mass is "illicit" and that they 
cannot attend.

   The power of the pulpit is an awesome one and not something that 
should be taken lightly. The structure of the Catholic Church is such 
that the faithful look to their priests for guidance, and most of that 
teaching and counsel is given from the pulpit. Priests are given the 
power to preach the Gospel at the Diaconate and spend years of study in 
perfecting that art. Their studies include dogmatic, moral and pastoral 
theology, and every effort on their part is made to preach only what the 
Church teaches. However, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, the 
pulpit has been used as an instrument of change.

   Modern preachers have brought the faithful like docile, yet blind, 
sheep to a form of worship that simply bears no resemblance to the 
ancient practices of the Catholic Church.  It has been an abuse of the 
preaching power that has secured these changes in the churches 
throughout the world. From these same pulpits  priests  lash out at the 
Tridentine Latin Mass. It is forbidden, it is wrong, they say.

   When these words don't stop the hundreds and thousands of people who 
frequent the Latin Mass, they start hammering at the "power words."  
They say the Tridentine Latin Mass is "illicit," and people start to  
question. These priests make the word "illicit" sound so powerful that 
it imparts fear in the hearts of those who would dare to attend a Latin 
Mass.

   What does it mean for a Mass (or any of the Sacraments for that 
matter) to be illicit? Simply put, if a Mass is declared to be illicit 
by legitimate authority, the faithful are warned that while the Mass is 
most probably valid, they cannot attend because the priest is either 
under suspension, excommunicated, or acting without faculties. Attending 
a Mass that is illicit does not fulfill one's Sunday obligation either. 
The case these modern preachers have against the Tridentine Latin Mass 
is to say that the faithful cannot attend because they would be sinning 
in doing so. They sin because they attend an unapproved, illicit Latin 
Mass. Let's examine their case.

   First of all, no one has the authority in the Church to make the 
Tridentine Mass illicit and to forbid the faithful from attending. This 
is just as true as pointing out that no one, not even the Church 
Herself, has the power to make changes in the Mass that affect its very 
substance.

   Secondly, in regards to priest's faculties, most priests who offer 
the Latin Mass today do not have the permission of their local bishops. 
If this is why their Masses are called "llicit,"then by their standards 
tradition-minded priests are guilty as charged. Yet, they are not under 
the local bishops not because they are renegades, but because these 
bishops steadfastly resist the celebration of the Tridentine Latin Mass.

   These bishops, themselves, are operating under questionable authority 
given their adherence to a heretical liturgical form and their open 
promotion of the practices of the Second Vatican Council that blatantly 
contradict traditional teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It is
their liturgies that are at best illicit and almost assuredly invalid. 
We cannot accept their judgment on the works of the Latin Mass parishes 
since that which is done in the modern parishes is illegitimate and in 
opposition to Jesus Christ and His Church.

   A question arises: If some tradition-minded priests are offering the 
Tridentine Latin Mass without the approval of the local bishop, then 
where do they get their faculties?  Their faculties exist from those 
given them after their ordination. They continue the use of them because 
no modern bishop can take them away in order to force adherence to the
Novus Ordo.

   Calling the Tridentine Latin Mass illicit is a weak form of answering 
the questions in the hearts and minds of the faithful. Labelling 
opposition is always a cowardly way to force compliance when solid 
answers to questions cannot be given. If these priests who are afraid of 
the Latin Mass would look seriously into the reasons why so many 
Catholics do not prefer the new liturgy, perhaps they could see why all
their pontificating is not slowing down the tide of people looking for 
Latin Masses.  The faithful will not be bullied into accepting a form of 
liturgy that is destructive of their Faith.