Nine Cardinals Agree:

Every Roman Catholic Priest Can Now Legally Celebrate the

Tridentine Mass
by Coralie Graham, Editor

In one of the world's best kept secrets, 9 Cardinals, namely Cardinals Ratzinger,
Mayer, Oddi, Stickler, Casaroli, Gantin, Innocenti, Palazzini and Tomko appointed
by Pope John Paul II in 1986 to study the legal status of the Traditional Mass
commonly called the Tridentine Mass have indeed unanimously agreed.

Here are three of the nine Cardinals who met

in December 1986 at the request of Pope John
Paul II. The Pope wanted their advice about
the status of the Tridentine Mass. All nine
Cardinals unanimously agreed that no bishop
could legally forbid any Catholic priest from
celebrating the Tridentine Mass. Pictured
above from left to right are Cardinals Stickler,
Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) and Mayer.
They answered the following two questions:
1) Did Pope Paul VI authorize the bishops to forbid the celebration of the
Traditional Mass?
2) Does the priest have the right to celebrate the Traditional Mass in public and
in private without restriction even against the will of his bishop?
Considering that it is this question of the legal status of the Tridentine Mass that
is causing a grave crisis in so many souls, parishes and dioceses it is most
surprising that no Catholic newspaper (except The Fatima Crusader) has
unequivocally, clearly and widely published the truth about the matter.

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In the article by Father Paul Leonard 'Traditional Mass Never Suppressed!' In

Issue No. 28, published in June 1989, he reported that:

"The Commission (of 9 Cardinals) unanimously

determined that Pope Paul VI never gave the
bishops the authority to forbid priests from
celebrating the traditional rite of Mass.
"Regarding the second question: The Commission
stated that priests cannot be obligated to celebrate
the new rite of Mass; the bishops cannot forbid or
place restrictions on the celebration of the
traditional rite of Mass, whether in public or in
private."

A Vatican Official Confuses the Issue

Msgr. Perl of the "Ecclesia Dei" commission wrote a letter to another journal
objecting to our report. It must be noted for the record that: Msgr. Perl
acknowledges that the commission of 9 Cardinals did in fact meet over the
legality of the Tridentine Mass but nevertheless Msgr. Perl is not a member of
the above-named commission and as such is not an authority capable of
contradicting our report whose source is from within the commission itself.
It must be carefully noted that:
(l) Msgr. Perl while objecting to our report never anywhere denies the substance
of our report. Since our report is accurate and our source impeccable, he could
not deny that the Tridentine Mass is legal for any Roman Catholic priest and that
the nine Cardinals gave their unanimous, considered judgment upholding the
legality of any priest celebrating the Tridentine Mass.
(2) One small error was made in our report. Our report stated that the
commission met in 1988 to study the matter when in fact it was 1986 that the
nine Cardinals met.
(3) It is obvious that the muzzle on the Catholic press is almost total since no
other journal has clearly and unequivocally carried this report. We regret that a
small journal in St. Paul of under 10,000 circulation felt constrained to publish
excerpts of Msgr. Perl's letter under the title of "A clarification". His letter only
confused some Catholics about the truth of the matter.

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(4) Since no other Catholic journals will publish this most important report, we
can only ask any of our readers who wish to verify for themselves the truth of
the matter to contact directly any one of the 9 Cardinals who were
commissioned by the Pope to study the matter. We recommend that you phrase
your questions very carefully so as to get an accurate and complete answer.
The Cardinals are under a lot of pressure and unless your questions are properly
phrased, you may not get a clear answer as to what the 9 Cardinals agreed to.
We can affirm that this pressure exists because Msgr. Perl who was not a
member of the 1986 Commission writes "it is our recommendation" that you
and your contributor consult a reputable canon lawyer before offering
conclusions and misleading opinions to the public". Who is he to offer such
advice when he is the one offering a clearly misleading conclusion to the public
by his letter. The substance of our report is from within the Commission itself
and we challenge any honest journalists and all honest journalists to find out
the truth for themselves by contacting the 9 Cardinals. They can be reached at
the following telephone numbers in Rome, Italy:
From North America dial 011-39-6 (and the number listed below) for each
Cardinal, namely: Cardinal Mayer 698-4131, Cardinal Ratzinger 698-3292,
Cardinal Oddi 321-3329, Cardinal Stickler 698-3312, Cardinal Innocenti 6896789, Cardinal Palazzini 345-2555, Cardinal Tomko 687-0331.
We regret any inconvenience that this might cause the 9 Cardinals but since this
issue has divided parishes, families, dioceses and the Church, the truth must be
known.
Msgr. Perl objects to Cardinal Casaroli's reported attempt to suppress the
Tridentine Mass. Cardinal Casaroli is doing this despite the fact that he agreed
that legally it has never been suppressed, we refer you to a recent HEAVEN'S
PEACE PLAN Radio Program (ask for program No. 464) in which Father Paul
Leonard reports a conversation in September 1989 with Father Cloutier OMV a
member of the "Ecclesia Dei Commission" briefly stated Father Cloutier reported
that although the Ecclesia Dei Commission has the authority from Pope John
Paul II to issue "celebrets" or letters of permission to celebrate the Tridentine
Mass it is not currently doing so to many of those priests who have petitioned
for them because Cardinal Casaroli has asked the Ecclesia Dei Commission to
not issue these "celebrets". If someone wants to know if Cardinal Casaroli is
indeed obstructing the Tridentine Mass let him ask Father Cloutier "Have
most priests who have asked for a 'celebret' been issued them?" And if the
answer is no ask him why not.

Note From Father Paul Leonard:

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Regarding the decisions made by the Cardinals regarding the two questions in
my report 'Traditional Mass Never Suppressed!' In The Fatima Crusader Issue
No. 28 I stand by fully and I reverified the complete veracity of this report. The
meeting did take place in 1986 and not 1988 as mentioned in Crusader 28.
If it becomes necessary I will give a more complete response in another issue
of The Fatima Crusader to Msgr. Perl's ambiguous and misleading reports
regarding this subject.

Following is a Letter to the Editor on this subject from Father Paul

McDonald
October 27, 1989
Dear Editor:
I am writing about the recent clarification which appeared in the Remnant, with
respect to an article taken from The Fatima Crusader. The article in question
asserted the existence of a Commission of Cardinals which had studied the
question of the Traditional Mass. They concluded unanimously that the Old Rite
was never illegal, and that all the Faithful have the right to assist at it, and all
priests of the Roman Rite may celebrate it licitly in public and in private. From
this follows the fact that no priest may be punished by any bishop for doing
what is within his rights. All this occurs in the context of the present day when
priests and Faithful have been led to believe or have even been told by some of
those in authority that the Old Rite was illegal. It is of course a great shock for
many to find out that this was not the case. It was even scandalous.
It is in this context that Msgr. Perl of the Commission Ecclesia Dei has written to
the Remnant to complain about the publication of the said article. His desire for
a peaceful and non-polemic atmosphere seems to have motivated him. We must
agree that the facts in the above article are shocking. But we must also note
that Msgr. Perl has neither denied nor refuted the truth of the above article.
Unfortunately, some may have got the impression that he was denying that the
Old Mass has never been made illegal, or that he was denying that the
Commission of Cardinals had come to that same clear conclusion.
Let us state clearly: The Old Rite of the Mass was never illegal. All priests of the
Roman Rite may celebrate it in public and in private, and all Catholics may
assist at it at any time. This is clear from what Cardinal Silvio Oddi has said: "It
needs to be said that the Mass of St. Pius V has in fact never been officially
abrogated." (Valeurs Actuelles, August 1988). Since all priests have the right to

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the use of the Traditional Mass Rite both from custom and from Quo
Primum, and this right has not been taken away, it exists to this day.
From all the above we see that Mr. Matt need not apologize for "perchance"
having been misleading. He was not, and the article was not.
We wish Msgr. Perl all God's blessings to continue the work of making available
the Traditional Mass according to "just aspirations" of the Faithful, which also
accord with their just rights according to the law of the Church.
Sincerely,
Father Paul J. McDonald
Holy Rosary Church,
Thorold, Ontario, Canada

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