COURTALAIN (PerMariam) — Cardinal Gerhard Müller recently ordained priests for the Institute of the Good Shepherd – a traditional Mass-celebrating community of priests – at their headquarters in Courtalain, France.

During his homily he highlighted the attitude found in the Vatican’s liturgy office: an attitude of firm opposition and antagonism towards the Latin Mass.

By kind permission of His Eminence, Per Mariam is publishing an exclusive English translation of his homily for the June 29 ordinations for the Institute of the Good Shepherd. The full text is found below.

Cdl. Müller’s celebration of the traditional Mass, and his ordaining of new priests into the traditional rite, has become more regular in recent times. He has developed a close friendship with the Institute of the Good Shepherd, and performed a number of ordinations for them, while also celebrating Mass with them in Rome.

Indeed, most notably, he offered the concluding Mass in Chartres on Pentecost Monday, which saw more than 20,000 pilgrims from across the world gather in joint celebration of the traditional Mass. This fact His Eminence references below.

In his homily, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also makes reference to the rumored and anticipated fresh set of restrictions on the traditional Mass – rumors which have already been analyzed on Per Mariam and subsequently developed by Diane Montagna, a colleague in the Catholic press in Rome.

Cdl. Müller states that following his participation in the Chartres pilgrimage, he had a discussion with “a senior representative of the Roman Dicastery for Divine Worship.” The former CDF prefect notes:

I was still moved by the fidelity of the 20,000 young Catholics with whom I was able to celebrate Holy Mass in the marvellous Cathedral of Chartres on Whit Monday, when he objected that this was by no means a cause for joy, because Holy Mass was celebrated according to the old Extraordinary Latin rite. Indeed, some see the old rite of Holy Mass as a greater danger to the unity of the Church than the reinterpretation of the Creed, or even the absence of Holy Mass. They interpret the preference for the ancient rite as the expression of a sterile traditionalism, more interested in the theatricality of the liturgy than in the living communion with God that it conveys.

Should this be the prevailing mentality amongst those leading the Congregation (Dicastery) for Divine Worship – as it is known to be the case for Cdl. Roche and Abp. Viola – then it is not surprising that officials from that office seek to restrict the traditional liturgy.

Homily of Cdl. Gerhard Müller in Courtalain, June 29, 2024

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates with great joy the solemnity of the apostles Peter and Paul. The Lord himself builds His Church on the rock in the person of Saint Peter, who unites all Christians in the confession of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

This saving confession of the Word of God made flesh in Christ is only possible if the divine mission of the apostles continues after their death, and if their authority continues to be exercised in the name of Christ. The Roman Church’s letter to the Christians of Corinth, attributed to Clement, the third bishop on Peter’s chair in Rome, bears witness to the apostolic succession of the bishops.

Their authority as teachers and pastors is exercised by the heads of the Church, who have been ordained by God himself as servants of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands and prayer of the apostles and their successors (Acts 20:28). The new ministries of bishops and priests, already evoked in the early Church alongside the apostles (Acts 15:6, 22; Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:6-9), assisted by deacons (Acts 6:2-6; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1-13; 5:17-22), form the three degrees of a single sacrament, as clearly attested by the Apostolic Tradition of Hyppolytus of Rome at the turn of the 3rd century.

The holy bishop Ignatius of Antioch, where Peter and Paul worked (Galatians 2:11) and where the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26), had already testified, at the beginning of the 2nd century, to the irreversible development of the tripartite ordained ministry, as follows:

“Follow each one the bishop as Jesus Christ follows his Father, and the presbyterate as the apostles; as for the deacons, respect them as God commands…Where the bishop appears, there will be the community, just as where Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church.” (Letter to the Smyrniotes 8:1-2).

Like the apostles, bishops and their successors carry out Christ’s mission in the Church until his return, as teachers of the faith, dispensers of grace in the sacraments, and pastors according to the heart of Jesus (1 Letter of Clement 42-44; Lumen gentium 28).

Bishops, priests and deacons are interiorly filled with God’s grace through the Holy Spirit, “so that they may be good servants of Christ” (Council of Florence, Decree for the Armenians. DH 13 26). And this grace of ordination is transmitted by a visible and effective sign. St. Paul exhorts his disciple, collaborator and successor in the apostolic ministry (Timothy) in the following terms:

“Revive the grace of God which has been given to you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim 1:6; cf. 1 Tim 4:14). In order to eliminate all doubts about the matter and form of the sacrament of Holy Orders, Pope Pius XII, with “supreme apostolic authority,” determined the following: The only matter of the holy orders of diaconate, priesthood and episcopate consists in the imposition of hands, but the form is the prayer of consecration, which determines this matter, by which the sacramental effects are realized, namely the power of consecration and the grace of the Holy Spirit.” (Apostolic Constitution Sacramentum Ordinis: DH 3859).

The Pope specifically adds that this applies to all the rites of the universal Church, i.e., obviously, for the Western Latin rite in its stages of development both before and after the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council.

This brings me to my conversation with a senior representative of the Roman Dicastery for Divine Worship. I was still moved by the fidelity of the 20,000 young Catholics with whom I was able to celebrate Holy Mass in the marvellous Cathedral of Chartres on Whit Monday, when he objected that this was by no means a cause for joy, because Holy Mass was celebrated according to the old Extraordinary Latin rite. Indeed, some see the old rite of Holy Mass as a greater danger to the unity of the Church than the reinterpretation of the Creed, or even the absence of Holy Mass. They interpret the preference for the ancient rite as the expression of a sterile traditionalism, more interested in the theatricality of the liturgy than in the living communion with God that it conveys.

I replied that, as a former professor of dogmatics, the content of the sacraments, the res sacramenti, is more important to me than the ritual form, which is of secondary importance to it, or to put it more precisely: the ceremonies, which interpret the visible sign, which consists of form and matter.

For the revealed doctrine of the faith and the substance of the sacraments are given to the Church in an inalienable and immutable way, while there is a legitimate diversity of theological schools and liturgical rites. Those who like to invoke Vatican II to accuse others of pre-conciliar mentality should first heed the warnings of the Council, which says in the Decree on Ecumenism:

“Preserving unity in what is necessary, let all in the Church, each according to the office entrusted to him, keep the freedom due to them, whether in the various forms of spiritual life and discipline, in the variety of liturgical rites, and even in the theological elaboration of revealed truth; and let them in all practice charity. In this way, they will manifest ever more fully the true catholicity and apostolicity of the Church” (Unitatis redintegratio 4).

At this holy hour, when five young people are being ordained deacons and two deacons are being ordained priests, let’s reflect on the essentials.

Dear candidates for sacramental ordination! Let us look at Jesus Himself, the preacher of God’s kingdom coming to us, the high priest of the new covenant, the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Only the glorified Lord in heaven can make you His representatives in the power of His Holy Spirit, so that – according to your respective orders – you can serve the salvation and redemption of the faithful, with His authority, through the divine word and the sacraments of His grace.

Given the limited possibilities of human nature and the deficits in our character formation, anyone personally and specifically called by Christ to this high service might want to despair or run away in cowardice.

St. Paul, whom we commemorate together with St. Peter, struggled against his human weaknesses and asked his Lord again and again to remove this thorn from his flesh. The only answer he received was: “My grace is sufficient for you, for it shows its strength in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9) And that’s why we want to follow his apostolic example, praying daily with him: “That’s why I take pleasure in the weaknesses, outrages, distresses, persecutions and anguish I endure for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10).

Members of the Church, from lay people and religious to priests and bishops, can disappoint us while they’re still on the pilgrimage of their lives. And in turn, despite our best intentions, we too can disappoint others and become a source of irritation to them, because of our sins and neglect. The apparent predominance of evil in the world, the arrogant gesture of superiority of modern unbelief, the indifference of many to the humble love of Jesus, could rob us of the youthful enthusiasm that drove us to step forward to God’s altar and say our Adsum. If we don’t ask for the gift of perseverance, about which St. Augustine wrote an entire book against the Semi-Pelagians, our dedication and willingness to sacrifice can certainly turn into bitterness and cynicism.

In the midst of the Neronian persecution, of which the Roman historian Tacitus tells us in gruesome detail, Peter was writing from Rome to the persecuted churches in Asia. As their brother in the apostolic ministry, he addressed the priests in particular: “Tend the flock of God entrusted to you, not grudgingly, but willingly, according to the spirit of God; not for sordid gain, but wholeheartedly; not lording it over those you have inherited, but becoming models for the flock! Then, when the Sovereign Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades” (1 Peter 5:2-4).

And to all the faithful who have returned to Christ as the lost sheep, “the shepherd and guardian of their souls” (1 Peter 2:25), St. Peter, on whom the Lord continually builds his Church so that it will not be overcome by the gates of hell, says: “From all your anxiety, unburden yourselves to him, for he cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant. Your adversary, the Devil, like a roaring lion, prowls about, seeking whom to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that it’s the same kind of suffering that the community of brothers, spread throughout the world, endures. And when you have suffered a little, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore you, strengthen you and make you steadfast. To Him be power for ever and ever! Amen” (1 Peter 5:8-11).

Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Rome

Reprinted with permission from Per Mariam: Mater Dolorosa.