The Ottaviani Intervention: Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass

by Alfredo Ottaviani

It is evident that the Novus Ordo has no intention of presenting the faith as taught by the Council of Trent, to which, nonetheless, the Catholic conscience is bound forever. With the promulgation fo the Novus Ordo, the loyal Catholic is thus faced with a most tragic alternative. This statement, made with absolute and definitive clarity, from Section VI of the Ottaviani Intervention, was made in respnse to what might be considered one fo the most critical moments in the history of the Catholic Church since the original Pentecost Sunday, the traditional worship of the Roman Church was about to be replaced. The issue of the ongoing litugical revolution in the Catholic Church bacame critical on April 28, 1969, weh Paul VI announced the Novus Ordo Missae. It was the last chance for action within the traditional channels of ecclesiastical authority. Somehow the pope had to be dissuaded from implementing this substitute for the traditional Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite. This attempt, ultimately unsuccessful, was done in A Critical Study of the New Order of Mass...or what has become known as the "Ottaviani Intervention." 48 pp, Softcover

Genres: Catholic, Christianity, Religion, Church History, Nonfiction

63 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 1969

About the author

Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as Secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicastery was reorganised as the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, of which he was Pro-Prefect until 1968.
Ottaviani was a prominent figure in the Church during his time and was the leading conservative voice at the Second Vatican Council.

Reviews

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

"El Misal Romano, promulgado por mandato de San Pío V y venerado siempre religiosamente, fue muy querido para los corazones católicos tanto de los sacerdotes como de los laicos; de tal manera que nada parece haber en ese Misal que, previa una oportuna catequesis, pueda inhibir una más plena participación de los fieles y un conocimiento más profundo de la sagrada Liturgia."

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful comparison of the Mass of Paul VI to the Mass of St. Pius V (Tridentine). A few things in particular are noted by the authors as evidence of the inferior, rather Protestant and possibly damaging nature of the new Mass, principally:
1) omission of words and gestures intended to give reverence and attention to the Real Presence,
2) replacement of actions emphasizing the sacramental function of the priest with a verbal and visual emphasis on the sacramental participation of the laity,
3) elimination of elements of the Mass emphasizing its sacrificial nature,
4) overemphasis on a "memorial supper", resurrection and end times above the Real Presence and immanent sacrifice, and
5) destabilization of the unity of liturgical action through innumerable, interchangeable options during the Mass.
This edition also comes with an illuminating introduction that gives context to the proposal and ultimate failure of The Ottaviani Intervention.

[Kami S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hardly something that needs rating... Unless you don't agree with the authors I guess. I'm not sure I've ever read this famous little work...I think I was worried it would be difficult to understand. One the contrary, it was very easy to understand and quite a small little book. Recommended for anyone in Tradition or anyone trying to understand this crisis of Faith we're living in.. interesting to read it all these years after it was written and to see how clearly they knew what would happen!

[OSCAR · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un texto críptico, que difícilmente dirá algo al católico hodierno (mayormente modernista). Sus lamentos parecen insípidos, incoherentes e ininteligibles. Al menos dos generaciones de fieles católicos no saben ni cómo se celebraba la misa tridentina ni les importa. Y eso en el mejor de los casos: posiblemente algunos de ellos consideren como enemigos a los tradicionalistas, unos herejes peores que Lutero (Narcisismo de las pequeñas diferencias).

Después de décadas de represión y de lavado de cerebro, realmente para el católico hodierno, quien aplica la teoría del péndulo y la obediencia a la ignaciana, únicamente permanente como gran contraargumento la ocurrencia de Pío XII en "Mediator Dei" de condenar el arqueologismo. El Concilio Vaticano II pretendió un regreso a las fuentes del cristianismo primitivo; Eugenio Pacelli respondió a sus pretensiones anacrónicas con el argumento de que no por ser más antiguo algo era mejor y sobre todo en materia de liturgia.

Ottaviani resaltó en este opúsculo la deriva protestante y desacralizadora del novus ordo. El cuerpo y sangre de Cristo, a su juicio, se convirtió en una presencia aparente dentro de la misa, tan relativa como la Palabra de Dios, que requiere una mediación (la razón del hombre) para obrar su labor. Es claro que el cuerpo y sangre de Cristo están presentes independientemente de la voluntad o asentimiento de la comunidad.

El texto de Ottaviani es relevante porque abrió la discusión sobre la validez e idoneidad del novus ordo y ha sido el inicio para la labor de ariete del tradicionalismo católico, que no ha cesado hasta ahora.

[John Ray Catingub · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short book that contextualises its titular intervention before the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae. It's a valuable historical read for traditionalists and for those not yet in that camp it will help them to understand why the Novus Ordo is seen as such a shift from the Traditional Latin Mass. It is prophetic in that it predicts some of the losses in faith that have come about fifty years since the change in liturgy.

[Willy Hagi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The foundational document of post-Vatican II traditionalist catholicism?

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful little primer on the errors in the Novus Ordo