Dom Arnaldo Vidigal Xavier da Silveira ( now that's a name ) -- "What to Think of the Novus Ordo mass?"
Before we engage the specific question of the new "Ordo" Mass, we think it would be a good idea to brush up on the ideas we discussed heretofore and to refine the nature of our inquiry.
( 1 ) We have seen that, in general, the neo-scholastic texts treat the idea that the universal laws of the Church ( which include the liturgical laws ) are infallible as theologically certain.
( 2 ) We then showed that this idea has, or seems to have, a solid basis in tradition.
( 3 ) We went on to specify that, despite these proofs from tradition that some have posited, there are serious reasons, doctrinal as well as historical, that lead us to doubt that the universal laws ALWAYS AND NECESSARILY involve the infallibility of the Church.
( 4 ) We remarked that this doubt has support in tradition, because there are many docuмents where hesitations and mitigating expressions are used when discussing the infallibility of disciplinary and liturgical laws.
( 5 ) We finally discovered that in the last few decades of theological writings, it has become more and more apparent that liturgical procedures engage the authority of the Church in varying degrees only, according to the extent to which the Holy See or the sacred hierarchy invoke their proper authority.
( 6 ) All there is to do now is to ask, in the hopes of answering the question in the introduction, to what extent the docuмents that refer to the New Mass, uti iacent, reveal that Paul VI intended to engage his authority. This is what we'll find out as we continue.
More later...