This week, many French bishops have made their displeasure at any impending "freeing" of the Tridentine Mass or rapprochement with the SSPX known – in the French press and in Rome, with the Pope himself.

(And remember, these are two separate issues. There is no necessary connection between the first and the second at all, nor does the implementation of the first resolve anything about the second issue.)

The Tablet covers the story before the present story – the establishment of the Institute of the Good Shepherd a few weeks ago, a group of priests, the leaders of whom were tossed from the SSPX, who have been given permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass and sacraments according to the pre-V2 books, as well as to raise critical questions, within bounds, about the Second Vatican Council.

"The very name the Good Shepherd is a disgrace, an insult for us," exclaims the archdiocesan priest Hugues Walser. And perhaps no one should feel this more keenly than the Archbishop of Bordeaux himself, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard.

The cardinal is head of the French Bishops’ Conference, and a member of Ecclesia Dei, the pontifical commission charged with reconciling recalcitrant traditionalist groups. Yet he has owned that, although aware that Fr Laguérie was – on his own advice – in negotiations with Rome, he was not informed by the Vatican of the imminent publication of the decree of institution. Many feel that the cardinal has been snubbed. He certainly never wanted a reconciliation with traditionalists without their making concessions on their convictions and practices. His vicar general, Fr Jean Rouet, denounced inaccuracies in the Vatican decree of institution concerning the presumed accord of the cardinal. Rueing the institute’s triumphalist rhetoric, he said, "Abbé Laguérie … has wounded my Church and, if he wishes forgiveness, he must ask for it." Given the institute’s direct dependence on the Holy See, there are fears that a sort of parallel Church in Bordeaux has been created.

Cardinal Ricard has expressed doubts over whether the new institute personnel will join him for Holy Week’s Chrism Mass (celebrated in the New Rite, of course) when all the priests of the diocese come together. In contrast to Fr Laguérie and his cohorts, cardinal, priests and people proclaim their love of the Second Vatican Council, which has given them "great joy". Fr Rouet has expressed astonishment that the new institute’s history of vitriolic attacks on members of the council were not picked up by Rome. Meanwhile in Bordeaux there have been demonstrations and a flurry of letters. In one, 200 lay members demand an extraordinary diocesan congress to discuss what is at stake.

Cardinal Ricard’s recent letter in Aquitaine reflects the deep anger and sense of betrayal of the people of Bordeaux. "In Bordeaux, the creation of this institute has provoked a strong reaction. We cannot forget the violence which has characterised over several years the relations between the occupants of St Eloi and the diocesan Church." 

And then some meetings this week:

The president of the French bishops’ conference is in Rome this week, meeting with Vatican officials to discuss relations with traditionalist Catholics and the prospects for a new document allowing broader use of the Latin Mass.

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux met with Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) in a private audience on October 26. Earlier in the month he had said, in an editorial published in his archdiocesan newspaper, that he planned to travel to Rome to ask for "completementary information" about the Vatican’s approval of a new traditionalist religious group, the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

The French hierarchy has reacted nervously to the reports that Pope Benedict will soon release a motu proprio giving permission for all priests to use the Tridentine liturgy. Several French bishops have indicated that they would see that initiative as an effort to appeal to members of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which is particularly active in France. The recognition of the Institue of the Good Shepherd– a group composed of priests who have left the SSPX– has evidently fueled the French bishops’ worries.

After his meeting with the Pontiff, Cardinal Ricard told the I Media news agency that he spoke about "the French situation." Informed sources reported that the French prelate had also spoken with officials of several Vatican dicateries.

Then this morning, Le Figaro reports on proceedings from a liturgical meeting in Paris. Translation of part of it here.

Cardinal Arinze did not try to directly discuss the question of the Tridentine rite, rather choosing to denounce "the banalization, the desacralization, and the secularization in the liturgy", thus illustrating the will of Rome to strengthen its hand at the international level.

The right hand of Benedict XVI regarding [liturgical] issues also denounced "this openly egocentric mannerism which our Sunday assemblies are often forced to endure", as well as "the false humility"…[of] a priest [who] "shares his role with the lay faithful". For the Cardinal, "sacred liturgy is not a domain where free research reigns".

[The Archbishop of Toulouse and chairman of the liturgical commitee of the French Episcopal Conference, Robert Le Gall, OSB, ]… defended himself by regretting that Rome "is often too attentive to the letters sent from France which refer to real anomalies or irregularities in the liturgical practices, but [which are] removed from their context

When you write the history of this, you have to put it in the context of centuries, and the long, strained relationship between the French Church and Rome on everything from selection of bishops to liturgy to theology. . I think it’s also important to understand the French political situation. It’s well and good to sneer at these bishops who apparently can’t get more than 5% of their people to Mass on any given Sunday and suggest gently that you reap what you sow, but there are other issues, related to the political positions of the Lefebvrite movement as the French have experienced it.  This is where it all came down, and is more than just an idea or a matter of a small chapel hunkered down on the edge of town. Oh, I have no sympathy for the bishops, but the discussion is actually fairly complex and because of that – more interesting.

Update: Good stuff in the comments, as usual. I’d especially draw your attention to that offered by the Roamin’ Roman. It gives us an excellent context, and adds something else to the mix. Some have wondered in the past and present about John Paul and, in his own quieter way, Benedict’s strong support for what we call "New Movements" – I’ve always assumed that part of the rationale lay in the recognition that regular parish life in some parts of Western Europe is all but dead, much of it disconnected from the breadth and depth of Catholic tradition – and that in the eyes of some, the New Movements represent the best hope for bridging the gaps and compensating for the deficiencies Roamin’ Roman describes in her comments.