Due not only to his standing among faithful prelates, but also because of my great personal respect for His Eminence, I am happy to draw your attention to Cardinal Burke’s statement on the unjust attack on the Mass perpetrated by those running the Vatican. It is, not surprisingly, very good, and a comfort for the sheep now being ravened by the Bergoglian wolves. Lots of good stuff, and the whole thing merits careful reading.
Of course, His Eminence writes from the premise that Bergoglio is the reigning pope (though he does a bit of word play in ambiguity, speaking from my first read, in that he says he is in union with “the Roman Pontiff”, but does not name him. For my part, I have no doubt His Eminence is in communion with the Roman Pontiff). In any event, the money quote from the leading canonist in the hierarchy today is important for the consciences of those who may very well be forced to defend their right to the Mass in the face of threatened excommunication (should Bergoglio actually be pope). Cardinal Burke opines that a true pope’s supreme legislative authority would not allow him to abrogate the timeless Mass:
15. But can the Roman Pontiff juridically abrogate the UA? The fullness of power (plenitudo potestatis) of the Roman Pontiff is the power necessary to defend and promote the doctrine and discipline of the Church. It is not “absolute power” which would include the power to change doctrine or to eradicate a liturgical discipline which has been alive in the Church since the time of Pope Gregory the Great and even earlier. The correct interpretation of Article 1 cannot be the denial that the UA is an ever-vital expression of “the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.” Our Lord Who gave the wonderful gift of the UA will not permit it to be eradicated from the life of the Church.
16. It must be remembered that, from a theological point of view, every valid celebration of a sacrament, by the very fact that it is a sacrament, is also, beyond any ecclesiastical legislation, an act of worship and, therefore, also a profession of faith. In that sense, it is not possible to exclude the Roman Missal, according to the UA, as a valid expression of the lex orandi and, therefore, of the lex credendi of the Church. It is a question of an objective reality of divine grace which cannot be changed by a mere act of the will of even the highest ecclesiastical authority.
Saint Louis Catholic 