By Fr. Gerald E. Murray, The Catholic Thing, Aug. 19, 2021
The Rev. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D. is a canon lawyer and the pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City.
Cardinal Robert Sarah has published a moving essay in which he pleads with the bishops of the world to apply the provisions of Pope Francis’ motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, regulating the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass with a spirit of respect for the Church’s liturgical “sacred continuity.” Sarah writes: “[I]f the bishops, who are in charge of the cohabitation and mutual enrichment of the two liturgical forms, do not exercise their authority to this effect, they run the risk of no longer appearing as shepherds, guardians of the faith they have received and of the sheep entrusted to them, but as political leaders: commissars of the ideology of the moment rather than guardians of the perennial tradition. They risk losing the trust of men of good will.”
Sarah grounds his plea in the nature of the Church’s mission, witnessing before the whole world the faith received from Jesus Christ: “[T]he Church has no other sacred reality to offer than her faith in Jesus, God made man. Her sole goal is to make possible the encounter of men with the person of Jesus. Moral and dogmatic teaching, as well as mystical and liturgical patrimony, are the setting and the means of this fundamental and sacred encounter. Christian civilization is born of this encounter. Beauty and culture are its fruits.” …
