Panic at the assembly!

According to Cardinal Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, at Lourdes, where the French bishops are begun their semi-annual assembly, the Roman Pontiff has not yet signed any decree relating to the liberalisation of the celebration of the Holy Mass according to the Pian missal.  I think that we can accept that this is, unhappily, the truth.  His Eminence goes on (this is from the same page at Le Forum Catholique) to remark:

The draft decree isn't purposed to be a critique of the missal 'of Paul VI' nor to proceed toward 'a reform of the liturgical reform'.  The liturgical books prepared and promulgated following the Council are the ordinary and therefore usual form of the Roman rite.

We can hope that his Eminence is, here, more intent on quieting the 'panic' (cf infra Father Zuhlsdorf's site, and Off the Record) of some of the partisans of 'the spirit of Vatican II' amongst his fellow bishops than on making a stab at a treatise on needed liturgical reforms; he proceeds to squarely identify the Sovereign Pontiff's intent in this projet de loi as the reconciliation of the Lefebvrists--that, too, I think we can take, considering all that Joseph Ratzinger has written on the sacred liturgy, cum grano salis (however true it may be that in France specifically the Lefebvrists' relation to the 'episcopal' Church is the principal issue).

There is more on all of this, including translation of a longer excerpt of Cardinal  Ricard's very long address, at Rorate Coeli, and at Father John Zuhldorf's site.  Father Zuhlsdorf remarks:

In any event, I take this as Benedict’s and Ricard’s way of getting them ready for the bad news. So the M.P. isn’t signed yet. So it needs to be studied more. Okay…. fine. We have waited. However, I cannot fathom that Card. Ricard would make such an address if it was not going to happen, and fairly soon at that. He speech seemed all about getting them ready for the moment with the other chaussure drops.

'Diogenes' at Catholic World News's Off the Record counted the number of times 'fear' appears in his Eminence's address: 11.  "Why", he asks, "would the French bishops be inclined toward panic?"  Because of empty churches and seminaries? because public sins are omnipresent and worse is coming? because Islam now has more influence than the Church in 'la fille ainée de l'Eglise'?  "Because the Holy Father might sign a document allowing priests to celebrate Mass using the Tridentine rite? Yup, that's it."  One must read Diogenes himself.