The U.S. bishops have started to comment on the motu proprio. Here’s a summary of some:

Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit said the apostolic letter “Summorum Pontificum” showed the pope’s “pastoral care for those members of the faithful who desire to worship God” with the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly known as the Tridentine rite.

But he said Pope Benedict’s decision to allow priests to celebrate the earlier form of the Mass without their bishop’s prior permission should not be seen “as calling into question the abiding significance of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council” but as a continuation of Pope John Paul II’s efforts to reach out “to those who felt alienated from the church because of the exclusive use of the postconciliar ritual.” [snip]

Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington said Pope Benedict “is trying to reach out pastorally to those who feel an attraction to this form of the liturgy, and he is asking the pastors to be aware of and support their interest.”

He noted that the Tridentine Mass already is celebrated weekly at three locations in the archdiocese, attended by about 500 people altogether. [snip]

Bishop Salvatore R. Matano of Burlington, Vt., said he would celebrate the Tridentine Mass Aug. 15 at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral to mark the feast of the Assumption and to ask “that all we do to celebrate her son’s presence among us will bring glory to his name and harmony and peace among his people.”

Because it has been 30 years since the Tridentine Mass was celebrated in the diocese, he said, local priests “must reacquaint themselves with its rubrics” and altar servers, choirs and cantors must be trained.

“At the same time, due to a severe shortage of priests, the first duty of the bishop and the pastors is to make the eucharistic sacrifice available to as many people as possible, using the rite that is understood by the majority of the faithful in attendance,” Bishop Matano added. “When this fundamental need is met, attention can be given to significant numbers of the faithful who seek the celebration of this extraordinary form of the eucharistic liturgy.”

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., expressed a similar concern about “the reality that there are many priests in our diocese serving two or three parishes and few priests who are trained to celebrate the 1962 Latin form.”

He said he would consult with various groups in the diocese to “assess how best to implement this new instruction in keeping with the intent of the document to bring about unity in the church.”

I’ll be curious to hear what some bishops close to home have to say — my own bishop, DiMarzio in Brooklyn, and Cardinal Egan in New York — as well as some of the more outspoken progressives, like Mahony in Los Angeles.