Cupertino, my position would be that of Father Stepanich, I believe the CMRI is taking the safer course. I'm not saying that this is a huge scandal or that Father Cekada is bound for hell because of it.
When the theologians say that disciplinary laws are infallible, they mean that they cannot lead the faithful into error. I don't really even need the quotes from theologians, this is common sense, but here goes:
Van Noort:But the Church is infallible in issuing a doctrinal decree as intimated above — and to such an extent that it can never sanction a universal law which would be at odds with faith or morality or would be by its very nature conducive to the injury of souls.
Probatur: 1) Ex Ecclesic natura et fine. — Si Ecelesia enim, pro suprema sua auctoritate, omnibus fidelibus praeciperet aliquid contra fidem aut bonos mores, practice erraret, et eo ipso a vera fide deficeret; sancta esse cessaret et homines a salute averteret, viam falsam edocendo, nimirum vera Christi Ecciesia esse desineret et sub potestate diaboli constituta inveniretur.
Ergo.
2) Ex verbis Christi. — Nam, ex assistentia Christi perpetua et quotidiana << non minus infallibilis exhibetur Ecclesia in concreta et practica interpretatione revelationis, quam in ejus interpretatione dogmatica: <<docentes eos, aiebat Dominus, servare omnia quaecuмque mandavi vobis, et ecce ego vobiscuм sum...>> (Mt. xxviii. 20). Quod sane verum non esset, si per Ecclesiae leges possent aliquando amoveri fideles a rectitudine regulae evangelicae. >> (Billot, th. 22)
I am no Latin scholar -- yet -- but I can read enough to see that in the first paragraph, it suggests that if the Church errs in its disciplinary laws, it would be leading the faithful astray and into the grip of the devil.
Then it says "ergo" and explains why this can't happen, that the Church must protect its flock in its disciplinary laws.
It is a different use of "infallible," however, then the use of this word concerning dogmas. The Holy Week changes of Pius XII are certainly not dogmatic; disciplinary laws are changed frequently depending on what seems advisable at the time. What they all have in common is that they cannot cause impiety.
But the degree of their helpfulness can be debated.Cardinal Merry del Val was supposed to have said to Pius X, after the latter announced that the age of first communion was to be pushed forward, that "You are making a mistake on this one."
Certainly the reduction of the fast before Mass to three hours under Pius XII is going to have some kind of effect. There may be advantages, there may be disadvantages; there may be both. It may have been specifically geared to its time, while this is no longer the case.
Van Noort said: 2. “This law, considering all the circuмstances, is most opportune.” This is a decree of practical judgment.
Father Cekada could make the argument that ( a ) The circuмstances have now changed and that ( b ) The later scandals involving Bugnini make it advisable to reject his tinkering with the Mass under Pius XII. He doesn't help his own case by making it sound like Pius XII was old or coerced, what Hobbledehoy called a conspiracy theory, because for all we know Pius XII was a secret Satanist at heart and he didn't have to be coerced into anything. It's irrelevant. Also, Pius XII promoted Bugnini HIMSELF to the head of this new congregation for sacred liturgy; he didn't just say "Go ahead and play with the Mass," he raised this man himself to power and even gave him his own new congregation to lead. Who knew what, and when they knew it, is only known by God for now. However, Father Cekada can certainly draw on what we DO now at this point, which is that the name of Bugnini is associated with an immense scandal.
As long as he doesn't say the changes are incentives to impiety, then he is free to have that opinion. But, here again I agree with Father Martin, it's not the most prudent choice. This is for two reasons, both of which Hobbledehoy points out: We don't have a Pope, and such an action opens Pandora's Box when it comes to determining what is or is not acceptable.
I don't know what Father Cekada was saying about the new rites, or if he was insisting that to retain them was wrong in some way. If he did that, he is wrong. But if he says it is only his opinion to reject the 1955 changes, it doesn't strike me as the best course, but neither does it seem to me to be an apocalyptic fiasco that is going to send people fleeing from sede chapels. The people who want to flee can make any excuse to do so; they can even make the excuse that we are using Bugnini's Mass!
To me it just feels sloppy and inconsistent, slightly unconvincing. I won't say that his wayward opinion on Terri Schiavo means that he is necessarily wrong about this as well -- that is a logical fallacy -- but it does seem to indicate a mind that is somewhat "freer" than one would like.