Rumblings from Rome indicate a follow-up document is coming — a sequel, if you will — that may clarify the motu proprio and perhaps clear up a few misunderstandings:

The Ecclesia Dei commission is preparing a new document on the application of the motu proprio allowing wider use of the traditional Latin Mass, according to a report on the Italian Petrus web site.

Msgr. Camille Perl, the secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission, told Petrus that the office is preparing a document on “the proper interpretation of Summorum Pontificum” The document will provide authoritative guidance on questions that have been raised frequently about the papal directive, such as how many parishioners would constitute a group sufficient to call for the use of the older liturgy.

The Vatican official acknowledged that the Ecclesia Dei commission is preparing the new document as a response to widespread limitations on the use of the 1962 Roman Missal. Msgr. Perl expressed some impatience with bishops who have set conditions that go beyond the framework of Summorum Pontificum, complaining that a “sense of obedience and respect for authority has been lost.” The Ecclesia Dei commission was created in 1988 to coordinate pastoral programs aimed at traditionalist Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) has given the commission jurisdiction over the implementation of his motu proprio.

This should be interesting. Fasten your seatbelts.