Questions and Answers
I am regularly asked what the current status of the Dominican Rite is. Here is my reply.
Since the promulgation of Traditionis Custodes by Pope Francis the exact canonical status of the Dominican Rite has been unclear because it is unclear how this document exactly affected Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae. I have consulted with canonists about this, and since they inform me that this papal document is unclear canonically, I make the following suggestions, which have no authoritative status. The canonists I consulted agree that whatever canonical effect Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae had, the 1969 Rescript of Pope Paul VI giving authority to the master for the whole Order and to priors provincial for those subject to them to allow celebration of the Dominican Rite would remain in force as such privileges must be explicitly named in any abrogation. This rescript was not so mentioned in Traditionis Custodes.
So, I recommend that any Dominican priest wishing to use the Dominican Rite Mass or Office consult with his provincial and follow his directives. He should also follow, in the case of public celebrations, any directives about the 1962 Roman Rite issued by the bishop who is the local ordinary. As for those members of the Dominican Laity (formerly called the "Third Order") or the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic, they should consult with the provincial promoters of those groups and follow their directions. Of course, such Dominicans should, in cases of public ceremonies, also follow the directives of the local ordinary. As I have said above, these recommendations have no binding force whatsoever on the provincials, provincial promoters, or the master of the Order. So, priests, cooperator brothers, members of the Dominican laity, and members of the Priestly Fraternities should not present them as such. All those who belong to those groups should follow the directions that they receive from those in authority over them.
If you are interested in what the status of the Dominican Rite was before Traditionis Custodes, you may consult the below original posting:
The following Question and Answer prepared by Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, O.P.,
with some minor revisions and additions by Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P.,
provides an overall summary of the Canonical Status of the Dominican
Rite after Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae.
This legislation has, in part, succeeded the provisions of the 1969
Rescript (Prot. no. 89/69) issued for the Order by the Sacred
Congregation of Rites, which gave provincials the authority to allow
those subject to them to use the Dominican Rite "till now in force."
I. Background
Q: What is Universae Ecclesiae?
A: Universae Ecclesiae is an Instruction issued by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesiae Dei, issued on May 13, 2011m concerning the application of the Apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum.
Q: What is Ecclesiae Dei?
A: Ecclesia Dei is a Pontifical Commission originally established by Bl. John Paul II in 1988. It was originally given the task of "collaborating with the bishops, with the Departments of the Roman Curia and with the circles concerned, for the purpose of facilitating full ecclesial communion of priests, seminarians, religious communities or individuals until now linked in various ways to the Fraternity founded by Archbishop Lefebvre, who may wish to remain united to the Successor Peter in the Catholic Church".
Q: But didn't the Pope lift these excommunications in 2009? Does Ecclesia Dei still have a role?
A: Yes and yes. In the 2007 Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, the Pope expanded the role of the Commission, affirming that "the same Commission, beyond the faculties which it already enjoys, with exercise the authority of the Holy See, supervising the observance and the application of these dispositions." The same Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father provided that the Commission "would have the form, the tasks and the norms which the Roman Pontiff should wish to grant it."
Q: What is Summorum Pontificum?
A: Summorum Pontificum is an Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio by the Holy Father on July 7, 2007. It affirmed the unity of the Roman Rite of the Church, and recognized the Missal originally promulgated by our brother Pope St. Pius V (and subsequently issued by Bl. John XXIII) as the extraordinary form of the one Roman Rite.
Q: What did Summorum Pontificum do?
A: Primarily, Summorum Pontificum granted to all priests the right to say the extraordinary form of the Mass in private (Mass celebrated without the people). It also gave stable groups of the lay faithful the right to request Mass said in the extraordinary form, and encouraged pastors and bishops to accept such requests.
Q: Why did the Pope issue Summorum Pontificum?
A: The Pope issued Summorum Pontificum for three reasons: (a) to offer to all the faithful the Roman Liturgy in the Usus Antiquior, considered as a precious treasure to be preserved; (b) effectively to guarantee and ensure the use of the forma extraordinaria for all who ask for it, given that the use of the 1962 Roman Liturgy is a faculty generously granted for the good of the faithful and therefore is to be interpreted in a sense favorable to the faithful who are its principal addressees; and (c) to promote reconciliation at the heart of the Church.
Q: Doesn't this detract from the authority of the Second Vatican Council by calling into question its liturgical reforms?
A: As Pope Benedict XVI indicated in the transmittal letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum: "This fear is unfounded. In this regard, it must first be said that the Missal published by Paul VI and then republished in two subsequent editions by John Paul II, obviously is and continues to be the normal Form - the forma ordinaria - of the Eucharistic Liturgy. The last version of the Missale Romanum prior to the Council, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a forma extraordinaria of the liturgical celebration. It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were ‘two Rites'. Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite."
II. Universae Ecclesiae
Q: So is Universae Ecclesiae another legislative document like Summorum Pontificum?
A: Not quite. Universae Ecclesiae is an "Instruction", not an Apostolic Letter.
Q: What is an "Instruction"?
A: Under the Code of Canon Law, "Instructions clarify the prescripts of laws and elaborate on and determine the methods to be observed in fulfilling them. They are given for the use of those whose duty it is to see that laws are executed and oblige them in the execution of the laws. Those who possess executive power legitimately issue such instructions within the limits of their competence." (CIC, Can. 34§1)
Q: Does this mean it has no legal effect?
A: The Instruction is not itself law, but clarifies and elaborates upon the law established by the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum. It is an authoritative interpretation of the law contained in the Apostolic Letter.
Q: Why did the Ecclesia Dei Commission issue this document?
A: When he issued Summorum Pontificum in 2007, the Pope asked for bishops to send an "account of their experiences" to him in three years. This Instruction is meant to respond to some of the difficulties and concerns raised by the original Apostolic Letter.
Q: So, what does this new Instruction say?
A: In an accompanying letter, the Commission briefly summarized the Instruction: After some introductory remarks and historical type (Part I, ch. 1-8), the Instruction first makes explicit the duties of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (Part II, nos. 9-11). Next, in accordance with Summorum Pontificum, it clarifies the rules and regulations (Part III, nn. 12-35), primarily those relating to the jurisdiction of their diocesan bishop (Nos. 13-14). Then, the Instruction discusses the rights and duties of the faithful who make up an coetus fidelium (Nos. 15-19), and how a priest may be considered qualified to celebrate the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite (sacerdos idoneus, nos. 20-23). The instruction also regulates some issues pertaining to liturgy and ecclesiastical discipline (Nos. 24-28), indicating in particular the rules governing the celebration of Confirmation and Holy Orders (Nos. 29-31), the use of Roman Breviary (n. 32), of the liturgical books of the religious orders (No. 34), the Pontificale Romanum and the Rituale Romanum (35) which were in force in 1962, and the celebration of the Sacred Triduum (33).
III. Universae Ecclesiae & the Order of Preachers
Q: Is there anything new in the document?
A: Yes. The instruction clarifies a number of issues, a few which affect the Dominican Order specifically.
Q: What does the document say that impacts Dominicans?
A: The primary impact on the Order is seen in this statement in the Instruction: "Members of Religious Orders are permitted to use their own liturgical books in force in the year 1962" (Sodalibus Ordinum Religiosorum licet uti propriis libris liturgicis anno 1962 vigentibus.)
Q: How does that affect the Dominican Order?
A: From its very beginning, the Dominican Order maintained its own liturgical customs, rooted in (but distinct from) the prevailing Roman Rite. In 1962, the Order still had its own Liturgical Books, including the Dominican Missal and Breviary.
Q: Does this mean that now any Dominican priest may say the Dominican Rite?
A: In the same way as priests of the Latin Church who desire to say Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII must be qualified (ideoneus) to say Mass in the extraordinary form, Dominican priests who wish to celebrate Mass according to the Dominican Rite must be qualified.
Q: What does it mean to be qualified?
A: The Instruction says that any priest not impeded from saying Mass under canon law is considered qualified. He should also have knowledge of the ars celebrandi of the form of the Rite he is celebrating.
Q: Doesn't a priest need to know Latin?
A: With regards to the Latin language, it is only necessary that a priest be able to pronounce the words correctly and understand their meaning. (necesse est ut sacerdos celebraturus scientia polleat ad verba recte proferenda eorumque intelligendam significationem).
Q: Does a priest need to prove he is qualified every time he says the Dominican Rite?
A: The priest is under the same obligation with regards to the extraordinary form as he is with the ordinary form. That is, in most places a visiting priest must show that he is not impeded, usually evidence by a celebret or letter of good standing.
Q: What about a priest's qualification regarding knowledge and execution of the rite, need he provide his qualification in these areas before he is permitted to say Mass?
A: With regards to knowledge and execution of the extraordinary form, a priest who presents himself to say Mass in the extraordinary form is presumed to be qualified if he has previously celebrated it. In a similar way, priests who present themselves to say the ordinary form (whether in English or Latin) are presumed qualified with regards to the execution of the rite, and need not evidence their qualification further.
Q: Don't Dominican priests need the permission of the local superior or the Provincial?
A: "The faculty to celebrate sine populo (or with the participation of only one minister) in the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite is given by the Motu Proprio to all priests, whether secular or religious (cf. Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, art. 2). For such celebrations therefore, priests, by provision of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, do not require any special permission from their Ordinaries or superiors."
Q: So what about a public Mass (Missa cum populo)?
A: A public Mass would be subject to the same regulations as any other public Mass said in a parish church or priory. Just as the pastor or prior has the right and obligation to oversee public Masses said under his jurisdiction, the same is true with regards to Mass said in the Dominican Rite.
Q: Does this mean that a Priory could decide on its own to use the Dominican Rite regularly as its conventual Mass?
A: No. Summorum Pontificum makes clear if a religious community wants to use the extraordinary form "often, habitually or permanently" as its conventual Mass, it must first receive the approval of the Major Superior (i.e., the Prior Provincial).
Q: What would prevent a group of friars from separating themselves from the conventual Mass in the ordinary form so that they could celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form instead?
A: Deliberately absenting oneself from the conventual Mass and choir is contrary to the laws and customs of the Order. Our own Constitutions make clear that the brethren are obligated to attend (and priests encouraged to concelebrate) the daily conventual Mass. "All brothers are bound to the celebration of conventual Mass and Liturgy of the Hours in choir. Everyone shall be mindful of this common obligation." (LCO 63)
Q: What about the other liturgical books of the Order, may a Dominican priest use those, too?
A: Yes. The Instruction makes clear that the permission extends to all of the liturgical books of the Order in force as of 1962.
Q: If Dominican priests are permitted to say the Dominican Rite, may they also celebrate Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII?
A: Yes. A Dominican priest may celebrate Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII, so long as he is qualified to do so.
IV. The Dominican Rite and the 1969 Rescript
Q: Didn't Dominicans already have the right to celebrate Mass in the Dominican Rite?
A: In 1969, the Dominican Rite ceased being the normal liturgical celebration of the Order, and the Order began using the Missal of Pope Paul VI (the ordinary form of the Roman Rite). In 1969, the Order received a Rescript from the Holy See granting permission for friars to continue to celebrate the Dominican Rite as it then existed.
Q: What is a Rescript?
A: According to the current Code of Canon Law (promulgated in 1983), a Rescript is: "an administrative act issued in writing by competent executive authority; of its very nature, a rescript grants a privilege, dispensation, or other favor at someone's request." (CIC can. 59 §1.)
Q: Does this mean all friars may also celebrate the Dominican Rite according to the 1965 Missal as well?
A: According to the terms of the Rescript, the permission to celebrate Mass was not given universally. It was given at the discretion of the Prior Provincial or the Master of the Order to those who requested the faculties.
Q: Did this permission extend to the liturgical books of the Order existing as of 1962?
A: No, at least not originally. In 1965, the Order issued a revised Dominican Missal. The Missal modified, mostly in minor ways, the Dominican Rite to bring it closer to the then existing version of the Roman Rite, following reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council. The Rescript gave permission for the use of the 1965 Dominican Missal as modified by particular legislation up to 1969, the year of the promulgation of the Rescript.
Q: Does that mean that after 1969 all priests with permission to celebrate the Dominican Rite under the provisions of the Rescript were bound to use the forms of 1969?
A: Yes, but circumstances changed on July 2, 1988, when Ecclesia Dei Adflicta was issued. That document specified that priests with permission to celebrate Mass according to the old Roman Missal were to follow the rubrics of 1962. In that year, friars of the Western Province, where the Dominican Rite was commonly celebrated with permission, asked Fr. Pierre-Marie Gy, O.P., of the Dominican Liturgical Commission what rubrics should be followed. He replied that since the Roman Rite is the "mother rite" of the Dominican Rite, friars should follow its discipline. So after that date, friars with permission to celebrate the Dominican Rite could use the rubrics of 1962. But as this response did not have force of law, it is possible that some friars with permission to use the rite continued to use the 1969 rubrics, and this should not be considered a violation of the law.
Q: Does the Apostolic Constitution Summorum Pontificum abrogate the provisions of the Rescript?
A: There is nothing in the terms of Summorum Pontificum or the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae that repeal the permissions given in the 1969 Rescript. According to the Code of Canon law: "Rescripts are not revoked by a contrary law unless the law itself provides otherwise." (CIC can. 73)
Q: Which Missal is meant to be used according to the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum and the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae?
A: Those documents indicate that the liturgical books in force as of 1962 are to be used. In the Roman Rite, this refers specifically to the Missal issued in 1962. The Dominican Order did not issue a new Missal in 1962. Rather, the version of the Missal in force that year was the Missal issued by the Master of the Order, Fr. Martin Stanislaus Gillet, O.P., in 1933 (the Missale Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum), with all the rubrical, textual, and calendar changes approved for the Order between 1933 and 1962.
Q: Under Summorum Pontificum what changes in the Dominican Rite as found in the 1933 Missal or the 1965 Missal should be made when using those books?
A: Briefly they are as follows. In 1955, Pope Pius XII issued a major revision to the celebration of Holy Week in the Roman Rite. Shortly after this change, the Dominican Order revised its own celebration of Holy Week and that should be followed, a Holy Week Dominican Missal was published in 1960, lacking that the priest should use and adapt the 1965 Missal. Also, in 1960, Bl. John XXIII revised the universal calendar, and greatly simplified the ranking of liturgical days. The Dominican Order followed suit in 1961. Certain other smaller changes were also implemented in 1961, these are found in that year's copy of the Analecta Fratrum Praedicatorum. Therefore, according to Summorum Pontificum, the Dominican Rite should be celebrated according to the 1933 Dominican Missal, with the changes implemented by the order through 1962. Or, conversely, the Missal of 1965 might be used, but with the rubrics in force as of 1962. As, textually, the two missals are virtually identical, the major differences are the rubrics, not the text. The only major textual difference is that the Last Gospel is lacking in the 1965 Missal and must be added.
Q: So what does all this mean, practically speaking, with respect to friars who received permission under the Rescript to celebrate using the 1965 Missal as it was in use in 1969?
A: Since Fr. Gy's response did not have force of law, friars who received permission to celebrate the Dominican Rite under the 1969 Rescript using the forms of 1969, who did not change to the 1962 rubrics in 1988, might continue to do so. But it likely that there are no priests in this situation today. All other qualified Dominican Friars, however, are to celebrate the Dominican Rite as it was 1962, no additional permission being necessary. If, for some reason, a priest wanted now to celebrate the form of the rite as it was in 1969, he would need to ask permission of his provincial under the rubric with the understanding that he wished to use those rubrics.
V. Training in the Dominican Rite
Q: Are priests required to learn to say Mass in the extraordinary form (either the Missal of Bl. John XXIII or the Dominican Rite)?
A: No. But the Pope has encouraged all pastors to make Mass in the extraordinary form available to stable groups of the faithful. In addition, one of the Pope's aims in issuing Summorum Pontificum is that the two forms of the one Roman Rite would influence each other, which would seem to require knowledge of both forms.
Q: Does the Instruction say anything about training in the extraordinary form?
A: Yes. In the new Instruction, Ordinaries are strongly requested (enixe rogantur) to offer their clergy the possibility of training in the ars celebrandi of the extraordinary form.
Q: What about seminarians?
A: The strong request for training to be offered applies especially (potissimum) to Seminarians, which would include our Dominican clerical Student Brothers.
Q: But this request only applies to Bishops, right?
A: No. This strong request is made to all "Ordinaries". In canon law, "Ordinaries" include "major superiors of clerical religious institutes of pontifical right . . . who at least possess ordinary executive power." Priors Provincial in the Dominican Order are "Ordinaries" under the law, and so this request applies to our Province as well.
Q: Shouldn't we wait for guidance from a Provincial Chapter first?
A: The Eastern Dominican Province 2010 Provincial Chapter has already addressed this issue. That Chapter stated in an ordination that the Province should provide: "optional education in the celebration of the Dominican Rite of the Mass, for use in private. This is to be done without prejudice to LCO 59, II and CIC can. 902." But there is no reason why training would need such an explicit authorization. For example, in the Western Province, a for-credit class in the Dominican Rite has been offered yearly to the Dominican Students of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, with no special permission from the provincial or the council. Permission from the faculty of the studium would however be needed when such a course is to be offered for credit, as it is in the Western Province.
Q: Are there any other resources available for learning to celebrate the Dominican Rite Mass?
A: Yes, there are many useful downloads on the left side bar of Dominican Liturgy, as well as a series of videos showing how to celebrate the Dominican Rite Low Mass here.
V. Use of the Dominican Rite by Non-Friars
Q: May priest members of the Dominican Laity (i.e., priest members who were enrolled before 1968) use the Dominican liturgical books of 1962?
A: There are very few of such priest members of the Dominican Laity today. Most priestly affiliates of the Order are members of the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic, which was created when the old "Third Order" become the Dominican Laity in 1968. The Dominican Laity no longer admit priest members. In 1962 priest members of the Third Order were permitted the use of the Dominican Breviary, Martyrology, and other Office books. According to a rescript of Pius VII of 6 July 1806, they could also use the Dominican Missal when celebrating privately, but, when celebrating publicly, they could use it ONLY in a Dominican Church (" vero in Ecclesiis nostris dumtaxat."). This was the norm in force in 1962.
So, it seems that those priests who are members of the Dominican Laity or the Priestly Confraternities of St. Dominic may use the Dominican Rite books as they were in 1962 in private recitation of Office and for Private Mass. They cannot celebrate the Dominican Mass publicly without the permission of the pastor or prior of the the Dominican church where they want to celebrate. And they may not celebrate public Mass in the Dominican Rite anywhere else. Note that any priest saying any form of the Catholic Mass in any church can do so only with permission of the pastor. And that permission need not be granted. As the only place where public celebration of the Dominican Rite Mass by a Fraternity member priest can happen is in a church of the Dominican friars, it would most likely be the church of the priest is a member of the local Fraternity. So the Fraternity member priest should request permission from the prior or pastor of that church, which permission that superior is not obliged to give.
Q. What about non-ordained members of the Dominican Laity, what books are they to use?
A: Here the question concerns only the Liturgy of the Hours (Breviary). There is no explicit legislation on this, but the texts of Summorum Pontificum and Ecclesiae Universae suggest that members of the Dominican Laity may use the Office that was used by the Third Order of Penance in 1962 when reciting in private. In 1962, that office was the Dominican Rite Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, which was then recited by them in English. Generously, that might also be construed to allow them to use the Dominican Breviary as it was in 1962, either in Latin or English. After all, the Little Office was merely a concession to those unable to celebrate the full Divine Office.
Q: What about Dominican Laity celebrating the liturgy in common?
A: When celebrating in common with other members of the laity, the books in use by the chapter, normally the most recent edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, must be used.
Q: Could a chapter of the Dominican Laity decide to use exclusively the 1962 version of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin (or the Dominican Breviary of that year) in common celebrations?
A: No. The current Rule of the Dominican Laity specifies that members are to use the Liturgy of the Hours. However, this situation might be considered analogous to a "stable group" wanting to use the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. So, if a chapter wished to use the older books in common celebration, they could consult with the Provincial Promoter, who is responsible for their spiritual life and overseer of their liturgical life, and then do as he decides.
