Nov 30, 2007 / 11:59 am
Only months after a document issued by Pope Benedict XVI provided universal permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, An Italian diocese has forbidden its priests to celebrate any Latin Masses in the old rite.
Monsignor Andrea Giusto, the Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Savona-Noli in the Liguria region of northwest Italy, issued the order. Currently, the see of Savona-Noli is vacant pending the appointment of a bishop.
In the absence of an appointed bishop, Monsignor Giusto said there is insufficient clarity about the licit celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
"I firmly ask the priests of the diocese not to give permission to groups that ask for the celebration and to ensure that in no church in the diocesan territory Masses according to the pre-Conciliar rite are celebrated," Monsignor Giusto said.
The monsignor said a stable group of worshippers and their active participation were conditions for the proper celebration of the old rite. He claimed a solid liturgical formation and knowledge of Latin were needed, and condemns Masses organized 'by invitation,' "almost as if they were a show or a private event."