The New Mass Is a Valid Catholic Mass

I welcome my opponent to this debate. I wish him the best and expect to be pushed to learn from it. I concede that he is representing a position in which he firmly believes, and I would not diminish in the acts of anyone who defends what they believe. I seek to do the same and I believe the evidence will weigh in favor of Con. All biblical references used by Con, unless specifically stated otherwise, are taken from the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible with Challoner Notes. The English and Latin are availabe online at drbo.org . Con Position: The New Mass is not a valid Mass. Con will demonstrate in this debate that as Catholics, it is imperative that we show our allegiance to the truth, wherever that leads, and guided with the knowledge that the Catholic Church has the authority to establish rules for the actions of its ministers and followers, and more to the point of this topic, the general councils with the Pope and/or the Pope acting alone may establish rules governing on faith and morals for the entire Catholic faith are to be followed by all Catholics. The Primacy of Peter “Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.” (1) This is a focal point for Catholicism, as in this moment is understood the setting aside of Peter as the head of the Apostles. His given name was Simon Bar-Jona, but Christ declared him Peter, meaning Rock (petrus is the Latin for rock) “Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam....” (emphasis added to the Latin of “thou art Peter”) (2). It is also clear when reading in Latin, that the declaration of Simon Bar-Jona as Peter and a reference to the rock upon which Christ would build his Church are not 2 thoughts, but one-’tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram’, petrus and petram being 2 declensions of the same Latin noun. Christ also gives the reason for this primacy of Peter. It was not because he knew and declared Jesus to be the Christ. Peter was certainly not the only to know it, and not even the first to say it. Christ gives the reason: “because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee”, Peter gained this knowledge without human aid due to the preeminence of the office which he was to hold. The Apostles appointed successors as early as the replacement of Judas who hanged himself after his betrayal of Christ. “And praying, they said: Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, To take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas hath by transgression fallen, that he might go to his own place. And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (3) It is right then that the lawful successors to St. Peter’s Bishopric should possess the primacy which he held. Taking the authority given to the Apostles and Peter, the Church has recognized its teaching authority and put it into practice, “whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven” above. This is a core difference between Catholicism and those religions which broke from it, using personal interpretation of Scripture to establish their rule. This authority to expound upon and expand beyond the words in Holy Scripture belongs the the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. As Catholics there are certain beliefs which we must hold. They are ‘de fide definata’, defined of faith, or definition of faith. For the Catholic, this is the infallible, the highest degree of certainty of any teaching. It is truth defined. It is therefore infallible, immutable, and unchanging truth. Denial of any ‘de fide definata’ by a Catholic incurs automatically the loss of membership in the Catholic faith, whether that loss be known or secret. Catholicism has as its central point the Sacrifice of the Mass. This is considered the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross (4) This extremely brief synopsis of some teaching of relevant beliefs of Catholicism is presented in order to demonstrate the weightiness for Catholics of a papal decree, where the Pope exercises his office as the pastor of all Catholics to give instruction to the universal church in matters of faith and morals. Under these circumstances, and only under these is the papal infallibility applicable. “The Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra (de fide definata)” (5), where ex Cathedra refers to his position as pastor of the entire body of the faithful. Considering these, I argue the decree “Quo Primum” given ex Cathedra by Pope St. Pius V on July 14, 1570. (6) In it is announced that a universal rite of offering Mass has been developed, and it is to be used in all Churches throughout the world, with the rare exception of those already in existence at that time and using another form continuously from in beginning and for at least 200 years. They are permitted to continue in the right they were so using, or could use the form being then publish. Without exception, all others were to begin use of the form being promulgated in 1570 alone. Also, within this same Quo Primum, Pope St. Pius V makes it very clear, several times, that this rite of offering Mass would remain in force for all time without changes, deletions or additions. Hence, it is clearly prohibited for anyone to introduce any other Mass. This is not a preference; it is de fide definata. His papal decree specifying one single rite of Mass for all time did not cease to be a papal decree with his death. Things such as “in perpetuity” and “henceforth, now and forever” have a clear and distinct meaning. The new Mass is without question not the same Mass in use from the time of Pope St. Pius V in 1570 until the death of Pope Pius XII. For irrefutable proof that the Mass in the Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) of Pope St. Pius V was in use until the 1960’s one need only review the encyclical of Pope Paul VI, “Missale Romanum” published April 3, 1969. (7) In it, Pope Paul VI comments on the rite of Mass in use as ordered by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent, and proceeds to give reasons for the forthcoming revisions (remember, ‘without changes, deletions or additions’, ‘henceforth’, ‘in perpetuity’, ‘now and forever’?). So we have proof from Pope Paul VI himself in his own writing that his actions effect changes of that one true Mass which remains unchanged in perpetuity! Any one and all of these changes from the Mass as declared the one true Mass forever by Pope St. Pius V render the new Mass invalid. They are strictly forbidden, de fide definata, and any other Mass is thereby a non Catholic enterprise, and is not valid. These de fide definata decrees are not suggestions; they are not guides; they are completely binding upon Catholicism. When only one Mass is enumerated by the successor of St. Peter, for all time, for a Catholic this has meaning; that no other Mass is valid, for all time, but would be instead an offense in direct violation of Catholicism. The Mass cannot be both in violation of a definition of faith and also in accordance with it. Such a concept is convoluted and requires excellent mental gymnastics at best, and is deceitful and corrupt at worst. Matthew 16:16-19 Matthew 16:18 Acts of the Apostles 1:24-26 https://www.ewtn.com... “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma” Dr. Ludwig Ott, p. 286 http://www.papalencyclicals.net... http://www.papalencyclicals.net...