The Pope Apologizes


In his Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae, published in 1980, Pope John Paul II made one of the most extraordinary statements ever to come from a successor of St. Peter. It was an apology, an apology to all of us, made in his own name and that of his brother bishops-----though I have yet to hear one of them endorse it in his personal capacity. Here are the Pope's words:

I would like to ask forgiveness-----in my own name and in the name of all of you, venerable and dear brothers in the Episcopate-----for everything which, for whatever reason, through whatever human weakness, impatience or negligence, and also through the at times partial, one-sided and erroneous application of the directives of the Second Vatican Council, may have caused scandal and disturbance concerning the interpretation of the doctrine and the veneration due to this great Sacrament.

I am sure that we are all grateful to the Holy Father for making this statement, we admire the courage and, humility which he has shown in doing so. But if I had the chance to speak to him, I would say: "Most Holy Father, I thank you for your compassion, I thank you for your apology, but, Holy Father, this is not enough. What the faithful need from you, what we beg from you upon our knees, is some action. Since you made your apology in 1980, then situation has worsened, and it continues to worsen almost daily."

And speaking on my own behalf, the action I would ask for would not be just the correction of abuses, not just a better translation of the New Mass, but the restoration of the complete and unabridged Tridentine Mass, "the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven," the greatest treasure of the Western Church.