FIVE YEARS SINCE THE MOTO PROPRIO SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM

Vatican City, 6 November 2012 (VIS) - In a message sent in the name of Benedict XVI on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Apostolic Letter "Summorum Pontificum", Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. affirms that "by this Motu Proprio, the Holy Father wished to respond to the hopes of the faithful regarding the forms of liturgy", prior to Vatican Council II.

Benedict XVI's Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data", "Summorum Pontificum" on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970, was published on 7 July 2007, and came into effect on 14 September of the same year.

In his message the secretary of State notes that "it is good to conserve the richness that has developed in the faith and prayer of the Church and to accord it due space, at the same time fully recognising the value and sanctity of the ordinary form of the Roman rite”.

Cardinal Bertone adds that in the Year of Faith, which coincides with "the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican Council II, the Holy Father invites all the faithful to make a special demonstration of their unity in faith; in this way they will become effective agents of new evangelisation”.

The message, written in French, was read out on the the occasion of the international pilgrimage to Rome, "Una cum Papa nostro", organised by "Coetus internationalis Summorum Pontificum". The pilgrimage culminated in a Mass presided by Cardinal Antonio Canizares, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, celebrated according to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. Among those participating were faithful belonging to groups linked to the use of the 1962 Missal, which was approved by John XXIII and remained in force until the reforms of the Council.