Cardinal Pell's sermon

Cardinal George Pell celebrated a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the traditional Roman Rite at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on 3 November, the first time that a Cardinal has celebrated the old Latin Mass at St Mary's Cathedral in over 40 years. His homily has been published on the website of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

The first part of the homily is a reflection on Catholic devotion to Our Lady. Towards the end, the Cardinal addresses the question of the traditional Roman rite:
With the frenetic pace of modern life and the somewhat dangerous times in which we live, we are fulfilling the explicit desire of the Church by coming together this morning for this Holy Mass in honour of the Mother of God.

Let me add that we are also fulfilling the desire of the Church, and the wish of the Holy Father as expressed in his recent Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum by offering the Sacrifice of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.

This rite nourished my own childhood and young adulthood, as it has nourished the lives of many here today. I was raised in a cathedral parish, and grew up with this rite. Countless saints gave worship to God by using the same words and singing the same melodies that echo in Our Lady’s Cathedral this morning.

Of course, the 1962 Missal was the result of centuries of liturgical evolution. It is a direct descendant of the Roman Missal of Pope St Pius V, published in 1570. That, in turn, was a revision and renewal of the liturgy found in the Sacramentary of Pope St Gregory the Great, which dates back to the 6th century. Those Mass texts, in turn, found their origin in a variety of liturgies and prayer forms that came from Syria and Egypt, Greece and Rome – particularly Rome -- and all points in between, and in all the languages of those peoples.

Today we find ourselves still on the journey of liturgical development and renewal. The dignity and beauty of today’s celebration, with its timeless Latin and uplifting music, remains a vital part of our Catholic tradition. It is celebrated with regularity in several places in the Archdiocese, and I am especially pleased to celebrate it here today.
(Looking at the picture (from CNA), I wonder why Cardinal Pell has the globe with England slap bang in the middle?)

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