Virginia diocese announces massive restrictions on traditional sacraments following Vatican crackdown
Source: LifesiteNewsBishop Burbidge of Arlington announced that he will now draw up a diocesan policy for implementing the Pope’s restrictions on the Latin Mass, and told priests not to do any Old Rite baptisms or confirmations that had not already been scheduled.
A bishop in a U.S. diocese recognized for its ample provision of the traditional liturgy (Latin Mass) has become one of the first prelates to announce a ban on certain sacraments in the Old Rite, following the Vatican’s latest restrictions on the Latin Mass.
Bishop Michael Burbidge, 64, of the Diocese of Arlington sent an email to priests of the diocese December 21, in which he outlined his implementation of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments’ (CDW) December 18 document.
The email read:
In light of the Responsa ad dubia released by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments last Saturday, some priests has asked about the status of their permission to celebrate already scheduled Sacraments in the Extraordinary Form. Please note that if you already received faculties to celebrate a Sacrament in a specific instance prior to last Saturday, you may celebrate as planned. In light of the Responsa, however, no further permissions will be granted for the celebrations of Baptisms, Confirmations, Weddings, etc.
The Responsa referenced by Burbidge was the recent note from the CDW, which further restricted the traditional Mass (Latin Mass) following the Pope’s July motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (TC). Under the latest provisions from the CDW, only “canonically erected personal parishes” are allowed to use the traditional rite for sacraments.
Even then, priests can only use the “Rituale Romanum (last editio typica 1952),” which does not contain the sacraments of Confirmation or Holy Orders.
A spokesperson for the Arlington diocese as well as several priests have confirmed to LifeSiteNews that the email is indeed authentic, and added that the current provision of Latin Masses would continue unchanged until the arrival of the document in the new year.
Plans for document detailing Latin Mass future
Burbidge had delayed his initial response to TC in July, anticipating some later “clarifications,” but now in a recent podcast (#84) he announced that following the CDW’s Responsa he would be forming a document on the future of the Latin Mass in the new year.
Burbidge spoke of an “implementation document draft to the pastors of our parishes that currently celebrate the Mass in the Extraordinary Form,” which would “allow for comments that may assist the implementation process, in adherence to what we received” from the CDW.
“Upon such consultation I will also meet with my advisers…then issue a document to all the faithful,” he added. Burbidge asked the faithful in the diocese to “pray” noting that the diocese is “known for our faithfulness and our unity.”
However, he confirmed that the Latin Mass provision in the diocese would be curtailed. “It will be limited, more restricted than it is right now,” he said. “But the Extraordinary Form of the Mass will be celebrated.”
Speaking to LifeSiteNews, Amber Roseboom, director of media relations for the diocese, echoed Bishop Burbidge’s words about the draft document on the future of the Latin Mass in the diocese, saying that the bishop “will consult” with pastors of churches where the Mass is offered “before a final version is issued.”
“His initial study of the Responsa issued last Saturday indicated that Traditionis Custodes allows a bishop to grant permission of the use of the Rituale Romanum only to a personal parish established for the celebration of the Missale Romanum of 1962,” added Roseboom.
“Nevertheless, he remains committed to further consultation with his advisors and pastors to discern other possibilities within the scope of the Holy Father’s motu proprio.”
Roseboom noted that “particular pastoral situations or sacramental questions will be discussed with pastors as they arise.”
There are no personal parishes in the Diocese of Arlington.
According to TC, the bishop is to set aside “one or more locations” where the Latin Mass is to be held, but not in a parish church, unless it is “not possible” to find such a place, in which case a parish church may be used.