ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE "ECCLESIA DEI INDULT" TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site E-mail: traditio@traditio.com, Web Page: http://www.traditio.com Copyright 1998 CSM. Reproduction prohibited without authorization. ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF "ECCLESIA DEI INDULT" Those who put their Faith in the Apostolic Letter "Ecclesia Dei" of 1988 as the "Final Solution" to the status of the Traditional Latin Mass have really been "spinning" the words of the pope and Cardinal Ratzinger on the occasion of the indult's ten-year anniversary, to give those words their most rosy-colored interpretation. The White House could take lessons from these spin-doctors! In fact, if one reads the complete transcriptions of their remarks, one finds that the pope basically told the "indult" parishes and societies to mainstream with the Novus Ordo, while Cardinal Ratzinger disparaged those Traditional Catholics -- our mothers and fathers, our grandmothers and grandfathers, venerable priests and nuns -- who used traditional handmissals to worship at Mass before the advent of the vernacularized Novus Ordo worship service of Pope Paul VI. Now let's look at the facts, to see how far the Traditional Latin Mass has really come under the banner of the indult. Remember: this is the result of ten years' activity, with the support of the pope and the support of the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. In the United States there are about 20,000 parishes and 10,000 chapels. Upon those altars there are celebrated about 300,000 Masses per week. According to published "Indult" Mass figures, 140 Sunday "Indult" Masses are being celebrated, amounting to only 0.046% (one twenty-fifth of one percent) of all Masses. Out of 175 dioceses in the United States, only 85 have even one Indult Mass each Sunday, amounting to only 0.48% (about one-half) Traditional Mass per diocese on Sundays. 35 more dioceses have one "Indult" Mass each month, amounting to only 0.20 (one-fifth) of a monthly Indult Mass per diocese. Daily Masses are offered in 20 of the 140 dioceses, amounting to only 0.143 (about one- seventh) of a daily Indult Mass per diocese. With figures like that, the chief executive officer of any organization would be canned! Now let's look at the non-"Indult" Mass side, that is, those Traditional Latin Masses offered independently of the diocesan structures, usually with hostility from such diocesan structures and without the large publicity and financia1 structures from which the "Indult" Masses benefit. According to the National Registry of Traditional Latin Masses, 170% more Traditional Latin Masses are being offered independently than "Indult" Masses (63% as opposed to 37% of the total). Such sites also freely offer traditional Nuptial and Requiem Masses and the traditional Sacraments, which most of the "Indult" sites are prevented from offering. These figures depict a reality that challenges the conventional wisdom about whence the Traditional Catholic Movement is really getting its thrust and where it is flourishing the most.