You answered what I was after, i.e. did the liturgy fall under faith and morals. I’m not a dunce and know that “whatever the Pope says” is not “infallible.”

Though I might have known the answer to this had I not been at a *Jesuit* University for the last three years. A little orthodoxy might have done me some good?

Ah, you misunderstand Catholicism. We do not believe that everything the Pope does is right or that the Pope can do no wrong, we merely believe that the Holy Spirit protects him from proclaiming truth as error when speaking ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals. Liturgy is a matter of form, not one of doctrine, though obviously the form ought to reinforce and reflect and display the teachings of the Church.

Interestingly, most of my Papists friends do confess they are jealous of the Anglican liturgy I experience every Sunday…though not much else.

And rightly so, when it is done properly, but then not rightly so when Catholic liturgy is done properly. I have attended an Anglican-use Catholic Mass at the High Altar of one of the grandest churches in Manhattan, and, glorious though it was, it still just isn’t as good as the Tridentine rite.

Eamon Duffy? Where is his name?

Yes, there are a lot of names I would expect to see there that aren’t. I wonder if they just weren’t contacted, which would be a shame.

Just curious,

Matt

That said (and I ask honestly for clarification), if the move to change the Mass went through the proper channels and such, and the Pope signed off on it, why would good Romanists who really believe in authority issue such a plea?

I’ll stick with the Book of Common Prayer, thank you very much. Though I do wonder how long that will last — since 1928, at the least, its been messed around with too much for my liking. Interestingly, most of my Papists friends do confess they are jealous of the Anglican liturgy I experience every Sunday…though not much else.