Cardinal Burke: Council Fathers Might Not Have Approved the 1969 Novus Ordo
And: "The liturgy according to the usus antiquior of the Roman Rite is an inestimable treasure of the Church which must be preserved and cherished because it is intimately linked to the very identity of the Roman Catholic Church."
Cardinal Burke argued that the Roman rite has proven to be a powerful instrument of evangelization: “It is evident that this liturgy is missionary," he said. "This is seen by its fruits today as in centuries past, because it attracts through its sense of the sacred and transcendence."
He added that this is "particularly evident with the younger generation," which he said has "a profound hunger for the spiritual in an increasingly horizontal world."
Vatican II Sometimes at Odds with Today's Novus Ordo
Cardinal Burke rejected the claim that attachment to the Roman rite implies opposition to Vatican II. At the same time, he argued that the implementation of the Novus Ordo deserves renewed historical study.
He noted that the Council's Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium on the Sacred Liturgy "is sometimes in agreement with - but at other times even opposed to - the new Order of Mass as it is practiced today in parishes."
And: "Had the Fathers of the Council been required to vote... on the project of the 1969 Missal, it is by no means certain that a majority would have emerged."
Uniformity Never Existed in the Church
Cardinal Burke also emphasized that the Church's unity should not be confused with liturgical uniformity.
"One must distinguish unity from uniformity," he explained. "Uniformity has never existed in the Church."
Pointing to the coexistence of multiple liturgical rites throughout Christian history, he argued that diversity of rites has always been compatible with unity in faith and discipline.
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