ROME, SEPT. 18, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Italian bishops' conference called Benedict XVI's recent letter on the expanded use of the Latin Mass an invitation to unity.
Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco said this Monday when he opened the conference's Permanent Council meeting.
The papal document "Summorum Pontificum," issued "motu proprio" (on his own initiative), which eased restrictions on the use of the 1962 Roman Missal, is a "unitive measure that will serve to invigorate the Christian community," the archbishop said.
The prelate reiterated an "ever willing and unconditional collaboration" with Benedict XVI, "especially when critical voices and voices of discord emerge in public opinion."
Archbishop Bagnasco added that the objective of the document is "clearly entirely spiritual and pastoral."
He recalled the Pope's affirmation that "it is good for everyone to preserve the riches that have grown up in the Church's faith and prayer," and it is necessary "to make every effort, so that all those who truly desire unity will be able to remain united or to rediscover unity."
Full reconciliation
The prelate explained that "there will not be two rites" but "a double use of the one and the same rite," which "we all want more at the center of the ecclesial dynamic, an occasion for full reconciliation and for a loving unity in the Church itself."
According to the archbishop of Genoa, "The Pope is encouraging us to adopt an inclusive way of reading this, not an opposing one."
"In the history of the liturgy, as in the life of the Church, there is growth and progress, without breaking ties," he said. "The lever moving Benedict XVI is his solicitude for the unity of the Church 'in space and time,' an issue that fundamentally belongs to the Successor of Peter."
The president of the episcopal conference highlighted that "this passion for unity must move every Christian and every pastor standing before the possibilities stemming from the 'motu proprio.'"
Include oneself
Archbishop Bagnasco encouraged a "will to include oneself evermore in the mystery of the Church that prays and celebrates, without excluding anyone and without hindering other liturgical forms."
"Only in this way will we be able to avoid using a measure that is meant to unite and inspire the Christian community to hurt it and divide it," he added.
The prelate said he trusted in the fact that "some pessimistic concerns, which immediately emerged, will reveal themselves to be unfounded."
He concluded: "The sense of balance that has always characterized our clerics and therefore our pastoral work will help us to find, thanks to the moderating action of bishops, the right ways to grow the new shoot from the living plant of the ecclesial liturgy, or rather, in the last instance, to relaunch and increase this as a whole."
ZE07091808 - 2007-09-18