Bishop hopes decree heals rift
Daily Record/Sunday News
York Daily Record/Sunday News Article 07/26/2007
Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades is hopeful that Pope Benedict XVI's decision on the Latin Mass will bring back to the Catholic Church people who left and joined "schismatic" groups in order to celebrate the old liturgy.
In York, the 6-year-old Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission is a group of lay people who decry what they consider the near collapse of the Church since Vatican II.
Mission members were encouraged by the pope's decision to ease restrictions on the Latin Mass, calling Benedict's announcement a "major change in direction," mission chairman Dr. David Drew said by e-mail.
But the document didn't go far enough, he said.
For example, while Benedict explained the old Mass was never outlawed, he did not address whether it's a "right" of every Catholic - something Drew believes, he said.
The practical implications of the document will be determined by "the good will or the bad will" of Rhoades and any bishop who comes after him, Drew said.
"As long as the practice of Catholic tradition is not recognized as a right of Catholics, it will not be secure from its enemies," Drew said.
Rhoades said he does not know the intentions of those who joined the York group.
"I have regularly prayed for the people there to return to our parishes or to participate in the Latin Mass community at St. Lawrence (Chapel) in Harrisburg," he said.
"The pope's apostolic letter presumes that all will accept both forms of the liturgy (old and new) as valid and also that they accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. The problem of reconciliation will remain for those who have joined schismatic groups for deeper reasons."
Comprised of 26 families, Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Mission is affiliated with neither the Diocese of Harrisburg nor the Vatican, diocesan spokesman Joe Aponick said.
Saints Peter and Paul RCM Home Page
