The Grand Master of the Order of Malta has forbidden the Extraordinary Form: as of Monday, we chaplains of the Order may only offer the Mass and the sacraments in the Ordinary Form. I believe this is a mistake, and I will respectfully write to the Grand Master asking him to reconsider. This is not because I want to rehearse the old arguments about the "old Mass" and the "new Mass", but because this decision presents a serious danger to the order's charism.
Although relatively new to the Order, I have been a diocesan priest for six years, and have offered the sacraments to those who request them in either form. I often say to non-Catholic friends that a diocesan priest’s role is much like a GP: we have to be able to do everything! But the Grand Master's directive requires chaplains to refuse pastoral care to those the Order’s charism compels us to serve: the sick, the poor, and the dying. If they are attached to the Extraordinary Form, we will have to deny them the comfort, the consolation, and the grace they would receive through the more ancient rite.
