Summorum Pontificum - Contents of The Motu Proprio and Accompanying Letter - Conditions For Use of The 1962 Missal

Conditions For Use of The 1962 Missal

The conditions for the use of the 1962 Missal previously in force are replaced by the following:

• In Masses celebrated without the people, each Catholic priest of the Latin rite, whether secular or religious, may use the Roman Missal published by Bl. Pope John XXIII in 1962, or the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and may do so on any day with the exception of the Easter Triduum (when private Masses are not allowed). For such celebrations, with either one Missal or the other, the priest has no need for permission from the Apostolic See or from his Ordinary. Celebrations of Mass as mentioned above may—observing all the norms of law—also be attended by faithful who, of their own free will, ask to be admitted. (Articles 2 and 4)

• In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonises with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with canon 392, avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church. In churches that are not parish or conventual churches, it is the duty of the Rector of the church to grant this permission. (Article 5 §1 and §5)

Celebration in accordance with the Missal of Bl. John XXIII may take place on working days; while on Sundays and feast days one such celebration may also be held. (Article 5 §2)

For faithful and priests who request it, the pastor should also allow celebrations in this extraordinary form for special circumstances such as marriages, funerals or occasional celebrations, e.g. pilgrimages. (Article 5 §3)

The priest whom the pastor or the rector of a church admits to use the Missal of Bl. John XXIII must be qualified to do so and not juridically impeded (for instance by being suspended a divinis). (Article 5 §4)

• Communities of Institutes of consecrated life and of Societies of apostolic life of either pontifical or diocesan right, wishing to celebrate Mass in accordance with the edition of the Roman Missal promulgated in 1962, for conventual or "community" celebration in their oratories, may do so. For a community or an entire Institute or Society to do so permanently, the major superior must decide in accordance with canon law and statutes of the Institute or Society. (Article 3)

In an interview on Vatican Radio, the then Cardinal President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei Darío Castrillón Hoyos commented that "priests can decide, without permission from the Holy See or the bishop, to celebrate the Mass in the ancient rite. And this holds true for all priests. It is the parish priests who must open the doors to those priests that, having the faculty, go to celebrate. It is not therefore necessary to ask any other permission."

Article 2 of the motu proprio applies, without distinction, to priests of the Latin Rite, all of whom are therefore authorized to use, in Masses celebrated without the people, either the older (1962) or the newer (1970) form of the Roman Rite, even if they are also authorized to use another Latin liturgical rite, such as the Ambrosian Rite. It does not apply to priests of the Eastern Catholic Churches. It concerns only the Roman Rite and does not deal with use of older forms of other Latin liturgical rites, which is a matter for the authorities charged with regulating those rites.

With letter 13/2007 of 20 January 2010 the Pontifical Council Ecclesia Dei responded positively to a question whether a parish priest (pastor) or another priest may on his own initiative publicly celebrate the extraordinary form, along with the customary regular use of the new form, "so that the faithful, both young and old, can familiarize themselves with the old rites and benefit from their perceptible beauty and transcendence". Although the Council accompanied this response with the observation that a stable group of the faithful attached to the older form has a right to assist at Mass in the extraordinary form, a website that published the response interpreted it as not requiring the existence of such a stable group.