(LifeSiteNews) — Renowned exorcist and theologian Father Chad Ripperger clarified that the pope cannot change the Mass in contradiction to Divine Positive Law, such as by changing the consecration in a way “that would invalidate it.”
Amid concerns that the Vatican could promulgate or allow further changes to the Mass after the Synod on Synodality, Ripperger recently discussed his book The Limits of Papal Authority Over the Liturgy with Dr. Robert Moynihan and Matt Gaspers of Inside the Vatican.
The exorcist first made the important distinction between power and authority, with power being the “ability to effect change,” whereas authority gives a person the right to determine something or enact change. “The only one who has absolute authority is God,” he pointed out.
In his book, Ripperger shared a quote fromthen-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) that expresses the limits of the pope’s authority over the liturgy, read aloud by Gaspers during September’s interview:
“The pope is not an absolute monarch whose will is law; rather, he is the guardian of the authentic Tradition and, thereby, the premier guarantor of obedience. He cannot do as he likes … His rule is not that of arbitrary power, but that of obedience in faith. That is why with respect to the Liturgy, he has the task of a gardener, not that of a technician who builds new machines and throws the old ones on the junk pile.”
The pope’s role is bound more specifically by the Divine Positive Law — that which is expressly revealed by God — and the natural law, Ripperger explained.
A key example of how the pope cannot change the liturgy is by changing the “words of the consecration” in a way “that would invalidate it,” said Ripperger, because this would violate the Divine Positive Law commanded by God when Christ said during the Last Supper, “Do this in commemoration of me.”
Read the rest: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exorcist-fr-ripperger-the-pope-cant-change-the-mass-by-invalidating-the-consecration/
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