Your Excellency, what is in your opinion the deep significance of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum?

I see in this decision not only the solicitude of the Holy Father to open the road for the reentry into the full communion of the Church of the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre, but also a sign for all the Church on some theological-disciplinary principles [which must] be safeguarded for its deep renewal, so much desired by the Council.

It seems to me that there is a strong desire by the Pope to correct those temptations [which are] visible in some circles which see the Council as a moment of rupture with the past and of a new beginning. It is enough to recall his speech to the Roman Curia on December 22, 2005.

Nevertheless, not even the Council itself thought in such terms. Both in its doctrinal and in itsjuridical-pastoral choices, the Council was another moment of development and aggiornamento of the rich theological-spiritual heritage of the Church in its bimillenial history. The Pope intends to clearly affirm, with his motu proprio, that every temptation of disregard for these venerable traditions is out of place. The message is clear: yes to progress, but not at the expense of history or without it. Even liturgical reform must be faithful to all that has happened from the beginning up to now, without exclusions.

On the other hand, we must never forget that for the Catholic Church, Divine Revelation is not something which comes solely from Sacred Scripture, but also from the living Tradition of the Church. This faith is clearly distinct from other manifestations of the Christian faith. Truth for us is what emerges, as it were, from both these poles, that is Sacred Scripture and Tradition.

This position is to me quite richer than others because it respects the liberty of the Lord to guide us to a more adequate understanding of revealed truth, even through what may take place in the future. Naturally, the process of discernment of what may come will be effected through the Magisterium of the Church. But what we must grasp is the importance which is attributed to Tradition. The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum stated this truth clearly (DV 10).

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The Motu Proprio, in my opinion, also operates in this sense. This is a possible boost for a necessary course correction. In fact, in certain choices of the liturgical reform effected after the Council, orientations were adopted which have overshadowed some aspects of the liturgy, better reflected in the previous praxis, because, for some, liturgical renewal was understood as something to be made ex novo. But we know well that that was not the intent of Sacrosanctum Concilium, which underlines that "any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing." (SC, 23).

"It is felt that in some nations or dioceses rules have been handed by the Bishops which practically nullify or deform the intention of the Pope. This behavior is not appropriate to the dignity and nobility of the vocation of a Shepherd of the Church."