Traditionis Custodes and the Permanent Revolution

We are almost two weeks into life after Pope Francis' motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which attempted to suppress the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. In the document I wish to briefly explain what it wanted to do, and why it wanted to do it, and, most importantly for our discussion, what was required to make it work.

As mentioned before, you will hear a lot of gaslighting from people who say that the motu proprio "restored control over the liturgy to the Bishop." Some of these people believe that the motu proprio actually did this, so they have to create an alternative reality where before the MP, it was liturgical anarchy. Others are people operating in bad faith. To help dispel the notion, let us remember what Summorum Pontificum said:

Art. 5. §1 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 harmonizes with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with Canon 392, avoiding discord and favoring the unity of the whole Church.

What does canon 392 say?

Can. 392 §1. Since he must protect the unity of the universal Church, a bishop is bound to promote the common discipline of the whole Church and therefore to urge the observance of all ecclesiastical laws.

§2. He is to exercise vigilance so that abuses do not creep into ecclesiastical discipline, especially regarding the ministry of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals, the worship of God and the veneration of the saints, and the administration of goods. 

The Bishop always had control over how the liturgy was celebrated in his diocese. Summorum Pontificum gave power to priests to respond to the wishes of the faithful to celebrate the Latin Mass, but it was still regulated by Bishops.  A priest could not simply abolish the Novus Ordo at his parish. As mentioned in the first article, Summorum was a peace treaty, an attempt for everyone to live in peace in a diocese, so liturgy was not setup against liturgy.  The Bishops primary goal was to use his power to regulate that harmony.

Traditionis Custodes is radically different.  The Bishop is no longer to be the guardian of that peace, so much as an agent of force in establishing liturgical conformity, as Francis lays out in his letter explaining why he felt the need to issue the decree

Responding to your requests, I take the firm decision to abrogate all the norms, instructions, permissions and customs that precede the present Motu proprio, and declare that the liturgical books promulgated by the saintly Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, constitute the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite. I take comfort in this decision from the fact that, after the Council of Trent, St. Pius V also abrogated all the rites that could not claim a proven antiquity, establishing for the whole Latin Church a single Missale Romanum. For four centuries this Missale Romanum, promulgated by St. Pius V was thus the principal expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite, and functioned to maintain the unity of the Church. Without denying the dignity and grandeur of this Rite, the Bishops gathered in ecumenical council asked that it be reformed; their intention was that “the faithful would not assist as strangers and silent spectators in the mystery of faith, but, with a full understanding of the rites and prayers, would participate in the sacred action consciously, piously, and actively”.  St. Paul VI, recalling that the work of adaptation of the Roman Missal had already been initiated by Pius XII, declared that the revision of the Roman Missal, carried out in the light of ancient liturgical sources, had the goal of permitting the Church to raise up, in the variety of languages, “a single and identical prayer,” that expressed her unity. This unity I intend to re-establish throughout the Church of the Roman Rite. 

All the talk about how bad traditionalists allegedly are is clearly a pretext.  "A single and identical prayer" is the goal he wants, and he feels that his predecessors ruptured that by allowing the Latin Mass.  This is an error he intends to correct.  In case anyone doubts this point:

While, in the exercise of my ministry in service of unity, I take the decision to suspend the faculty granted by my Predecessors, I ask you to share with me this burden as a form of participation in the solicitude for the whole Church proper to the Bishops. In the Motu proprio I have desired to affirm that it is up to the Bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the liturgical life of the Church of which he is the principle of unity, to regulate the liturgical celebrations. It is up to you to authorize in your Churches, as local Ordinaries, the use of the Missale Romanum of 1962, applying the norms of the present Motu proprio. It is up to you to proceed in such a way as to return to a unitary form of celebration, and to determine case by case the reality of the groups which celebrate with this Missale Romanum. 

He is asking the Bishops to "shoulder the burden" of forcing everyone in the Roman Rite to worship in the exact same way.  How are they to shoulder the burden?  According to the motu proprio, the Roman Pontiff:

1. Restricts the right of the diocesan bishop to decide how he should use his parishes.
2. Restricts the right of the diocesan bishop to decide who is fit to celebrate the Latin Mass if they are ordained after a certain date.
3. Restricts the right of the diocesan bishop to establish groups to meet the pastoral needs of the faithful.
4. Tells the Bishop that they are not competent or trustworthy enough to decide on these matters, therefore Rome must make the decision for them

This is a document where the pope attempts to make bishops enact a radical conformity throughout the Roman Rite, and there is no intention that it stops there.  The only reason Eastern liturgies and the Anglican usage is not included in this goal of conformity is not a doctrinal or theological principle:  it is a political concession.  The diocesan bishop is no longer a shepherd of his own diocese in communion with Rome, he is a middle manager who exists to carry out the directives of his boss. Or to use the French Revolutionary language, bishops are transformed into representatives on mission, whose goal is to enforce conformity, by any means necessary.  This is the truest act of Revolution by Francis:  an attempt to force the entire Roman Rite (and later the entire Catholic Church) to abandon unity in diversity, and instead bask in the revolutionary conformity of the Second Vatican Council.

It is easily the most expansive reading of papal authority since Quo Primum, and perhaps larger.  Yet something weird happened on the way of the Pope demanding Bishops embrace his revolutionary spirit:  most of them shrugged.

Certainly a few bishops have made the decision with gusto.  A Bishop in Puerto Rico went even further, using this motu proprio as a pretext to ban not just the Latin Mass, but several items involved in the celebration of the Novus Ordo.  Yet outside of this, most bishops simply ignored the Pope's motu proprio to the greatest extent possible:

1. Several bishops and bishops conferences wrote warm letters of support to traditionalists, informing them that their pastoral needs will still be served
2. The reaction of almost every bishop has been to extend faculties for saying the Latin Mass, in many dioceses indefinitely
3. Following the lead of Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, bishops began dispensing the faithful from having to observe the more revolutionary aspects of the decree:  regular parishes could still celebrate the Latin Mass, and it is almost certain you will see dispensations regarding newly ordained priests having to get clearance from Rome to celebrate it.  (Or the "consultation" will simply be he is celebrating it, deal with it.)

The Bishops didn't do this because they are crypto trads. Rather they deeply resented the Pope attempting to restrict their authority to be shepherds of their flock, and used all the tools canon law provides them to defend their privileges.  If the Pope wants to continue his personal vendetta, he will have to substantially change canon law to do so.

It remains up to Pope Francis to respond.  His clearly desired will that Bishops crush the Latin Mass and force every Catholic in the Roman Rite into uniformity was rejected by the individuals he expected to carry out the task.  I wish to repeat:  you will see some bishops restrict it.  Yet as we will explore next, the popes will has been thwarted.... for now.  What comes next is unknown, but we must plot a way forward in that world.