Liturgical views of the man who is now our Pope

Three quotations from the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:

• "I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is, to a large extent, due to the disintegration of the liturgy." (Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977)
  
  
• "I am of the opinon ... that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It's impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent." (Salt of the Earth, 1997)
  
  
• I have been profoundly touched by the news of the death of Michael Davies. I had the good fortune to meet him several times and I found him to be a man of deep faith and ready to embrace suffering. Ever since the Council he put all his engergy into the service of the faith and left us important publications especially on the sacred liturgy. Even though he suffered from the Church in many ways in his time, he always truly remained a man of the Church. He knew that the Lord founded His Church on the rock of Peter and that the faith can find its fullness and maturity only in union with the successor of Saint Peter. Therefore we can be confident that the Lord opened wide for him the gates of heaven. We commend his soul to the Lord's mercy." (Letter of tribute among those sent by the Roman Curia to be read aloud at the Michael Davies' requiem)

[Hat tip to Thomas E. Woods, Jr., who noted these quotations in his article, "Ten Years with The Latin Mass," in the latest issue of Latin Mass magazine (Fall 2006), pp. 34-37.]