Motu Proprio!

Brush up on your Latin! Pope Benedict XVI (B16) recently released a Motu Proprio (which means by the popes "own initiative") called 'Summorum Pontificum'

What it essentially does is allow older Tridentine mass to be said without a Bishops approval or upon the request of the faithful. The replacement of the Tridentine mass after Vatican II caused a bit of a stir because it was much beloved by many of the faithful and has caused a split within the church; some of whom have created schisms such as as the Setavacanists and the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX)

Now B16, wished to close this schism (esp with SSPX) as his predecessor Pope John Paul the Great did and I hope that this new loosening on the Tridentine mass helps accomplish that. However, as I look to the past I find that most schisms are not mended under any circumstances. This leads me to believe that those people who lead schisms tend to care less about the reasons for the schism in the first place and care more about their leadership position in the new movement. If they would reunite with the church their power would be lessened and therefore will always find a new excuse to maintain their schismatic attitude rather than to reunite with the Church. (NOTE: Just after writing this I found a press release regarding the Summorum Pontificum by SSPX here. It appears that my hunch was right after all)

While Society of St. Pius the X may never officially rejoin the church, I do believe this will help many of its members to come back home and eventually the groups leaders will either die off or become irrelevant. (That may sound flippant, but the movement is starting to be aged and everyone will die at some point, that's just the facts ma'am.)

In any case we are left with the gift of having more opportunities to celebrate the mass under it's more traditional Tridentine form, and although I have not had the opportunity to do so yet, I hope to attend a Tridentine mass in the near future as I hear they are quite lovely. I enjoy discovering how diverse our church is. I will never forget the first time I attended a Byzantine Rite Divine Liturgy. It was amazing.

One thing to take note: I already said you should brush up on your Latin, but the Motu Proprio also allows the Tridentine mass to be said in the vernacular I have been mistaken on this point. Upon a more careful reading of the document, It is only the Readings that may be said in the Vernacular (That's whatever language is spoken by the people) as long as the translation has been approved by the Apostolic see (i.e. The Vatican).

If you want a full analysis of the text you must read the Commentary on Summorum Pontificum by Jimmy Akin. he does a great job and in fact you should probably be reading his blog JimmyAkin.Org on a regular basis. I already do.