Speaking to French bishops in Paris, Pope Benedict has warned of the dangers of a growing split over the use of the traditional Latin Mass and appealed for tolerance.
The International Herald Tribune reports that Pope Benedict told French bishops that faithful should be made to feel at home in their Church, whether they yearn for a return of the ancient tongue or want to stick to modern languages at religious ceremonies.
The controversy is a particularly sensitive one for the Church in France, where there is a strong following for the late French churchman Marcel Lefebvre, a renegade archbishop who rebelled against Vatican modernising reforms of the 1960s, including replacing Latin with local languages at Mass.
Last year, Benedict issued a document giving parish priests the option of allowing Mass to be celebrated in Latin with decades old rituals known as the Tridentine Rite if that choice is sought by a "stable group" of parishioners. Previously, only bishops had that discretion.
French bishops had expressed concern that the move could be seen as a rolling back of the liberalising spirit that was unleashed through the Church with the Second Vatican Council.
Benedict expressed concern over the split between pro-Latin and pro-vernacular Catholics as he met with bishops from throughout France during his pilgrimage to Lourdes. He expressed hope that "the necessary pacification of spirits is already taking place."
"I am aware of your difficulties," Benedict told the bishops, "but I do not doubt that, within a reasonable time, you can find solutions satisfactory for all, lest the seamless tunic of Christ be further torn."
The pope was referring to the unity of the Church cherished by pontiffs.
"Everybody has a place in the Church," Benedict said. "Every person, without exception, should be able to feel at home, and never rejected."
Benedict told his bishops: "God, who loves all men and women and wishes none to be lost, entrusts us with this mission by appointing us shepherds of his sheep."
The pope exhorted the French churchmen, ranging from the cardinal of Paris to bishops of rural dioceses, to be "servants of unity."
Benedict "doesn't want dissent to crystalize into an insurmountable schism," Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, who heads the French Bishops' Conference, later told a news conference.
Later, Pope Benedict celebrated an open air Mass in the French town of Lourdes on Sunday, leading more than 150,000 faithful in prayer at one of the most revered Roman Catholic shrines.
The mass marked the 150th anniversary of the Vatican recognised apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a French peasant girl in a grotto that now draws millions of pilgrims.
Under clear skies, the pontiff spoke from a white podium set up on a sprawling field near the grotto where Mary is said to have appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.
"There is a love in this world that is stronger than death, stronger than our weaknesses and sins. The power of love is stronger than the evil which threatens us," he said.
The 81 year old pontiff joined 230 bishops dressed in red flowing robes and mitres in the southwestern town, on the third day of his visit to France.
SOURCE
Pope celebrates Mass, tells Lourdes pilgrims Mary leads to Christ (Catholic News Service, 14/9/08)
Pope: End divisions over old Latin Mass (International Herald Tribune, 14/9/08)
Pope lauds 'power of love' at Lourdes mass (Sydney Morning Herald, 15/9/08)
Love stronger than evil, pope tells Lourdes crowd (Reuters, 14/9/08)
Benedict makes a case for 'healthy secularism' (NCR Online, 14/9/08)
Pope Benedict calls on France to make religion part of a new Europe (Catholic News Agency, 13/9/08)
LINKS
Pope Benedict Paris address