Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles has caused a negative stir among supporters of the Latin Mass with this comment:

“The Tridentine Mass was meant for those who could not make the transition from Latin to English [or other languages] after the Council. But there is no participation by the people, and I don’t believe that instills the spirit of Christ among us.”

The comment was made during an online interview Cardinal Mahony conducted Feb. 27 during the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, Calif., in response to the question, “What are your thoughts on the Tridentine Mass?”

There’s really no way to characterize Cardinal Mahony’s comments as being sympathetic to the celebration of the Mass in Latin. So it’s not surprising they have generated hostile comment from those who support celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman liturgy, such as Father John Zuhlsdorf.

But Cardinal Mahony’s position on the use of the extraordinary form of the Mass also appears to contradict the intent of Pope Benedict XVI’s July 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (Of the Supreme Pontiffs).

The Pope published the document to encourage more liberal celebration of the Tridentine Mass. And the Holy Father said that while the post-Second Vatican Council form of the Mass celebrated based on the Council’s liturgical reforms is the “ordinary” form of the contemporary Roman liturgy, the older “extraordinary” form of the liturgy celebrated in Latin is not to be considered as inferior in terms of inspiring prayerful liturgical participation among the faithful.

Stated the Holy Father, “The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the ‘Lex orandi’ (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same ‘Lex orandi,’ and must be given due honor for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church’s Lex orandi will in no any way lead to a division in the Church’s ‘Lex credendi’ (Law of belief). They are, in fact two usages of the one Roman rite” (Art. 1).

After Summorum Pontificum was released and met with a hostile reaction from some bishops who dislike use of the Latin liturgy, a senior Vatican official publicly criticized this response in November 2007.

“The resistance of some bishops drew a strong rebuke from Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,” Register correspondent Edward Pentin reported in this article available here to Register subscribers.

“In a Nov. 5 interview with the Italian journal Petrus, he said that he found it difficult to understand the reaction ‘and even rebellion’ of clergy who have tried to limit access to the older Mass.

“‘On the part of some dioceses, there have been interpretive documents that inexplicably aim to limit the motu proprio of the Pope,’ said Archbishop Ranjith. Behind these attempts, he said, ‘there hide on the one hand ideological prejudices and, on the other hand, pride, which is one of the most serious sins.’”