Pope Benedict XVI is getting some business taken care of before vacation…two motu proprio‘s in less than a month!
The Holy Father promulgated De Aliquibus Mutationibus In Normis De Electione Romani Pontificis on June 11, 2007, which overturns John Paul 
II’s decision in Universi Dominici Gregis to modify the papal elections by permitting a single majority to elect the Roman Pontiff if after three days the conclave has failed to do so by two-thirds majority. Pope Benedict’s motu proprio, which was published yesterday in L’Osservatore Romano, reinstates the traditional procedure of attaining the necessary two-thirds majority in order to elect a new Roman Pontiff.
CathNews, Zenit and CNS have very good write-ups on this motu proprio.
The lon
g awaited motu proprio on the Liturgy is to be published on July 7, 2007 according to Paul Badde, correspondant for the German newpaper Die Welt. Badde reported that a copy of this particular motu proprio was presented by the Vatican Secretary of State, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, at a meeting with roughly 30 bishops from various parts of the world. The motu proprio is reported to order a more liberal use of the Tridentine Mass as it was crystalized under Pope St. Pius V. However, the Tridentine Mass will be an “extraordinary” form of the Catholic Latin Rite while the Novus Ordo Mass will remain the “ordinary” form.
Obviously, this second motu proprio will have enormous cultural implications on which I plan to occasionally blog in the future. In the meantime, read the breaking reports from CNA and CWN.
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