"An extraordinary form of the Roman Rite" is a phrase used in Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

's motu proprio

Motu proprio

A motu proprio is a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him....

 Summorum Pontificum

Summorum Pontificum

Summorum Pontificum is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued "motu proprio" . The document specified the rules, for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, for celebrating Mass according to the "Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962" , and for administering most of the sacraments in...

to describe the liturgy of the 1962 Roman Missal

Roman Missal

The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...

, widely referred to as the "Tridentine Mass

Tridentine Mass

The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...

". The phrase distinguishes the liturgy of the 1962 Missal from the normal present-day Mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

 liturgy of the Roman Rite (the "ordinary form"), which is that established in the revision of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

 in 1969.

Use of the phrase

In the first article of the motu proprio, Pope Benedict designated the 1962 form as "an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church" and as "an extraordinary expression of that same 'Lex orandi'", and in his accompanying letter to the bishops he said that the 1962 Missal "will now be able to be used as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgical celebration".

The full text of Article 1 of the motu proprio is:

Art 1. The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the "Lex orandi" (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same 'Lex orandi,' and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church's Lex orandi will in no any way lead to a division in the Church's "Lex credendi" (Law of belief). They are, in fact two usages of the one Roman rite.


It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church. The conditions for the use of this Missal as laid down by earlier documents "Quattuor abhinc annos" and "Ecclesia Dei", are substituted as follows

The context of the expression in the accompanying letter is as follows:

The last version of the Missale Romanum prior to the Council, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgical celebration. It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were "two Rites". Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite.


As for the use of the 1962 Missal as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted. At the time of the introduction of the new Missal, it did not seem necessary to issue specific norms for the possible use of the earlier Missal.

The term "extraordinary" in other documents on liturgy

Another example of the Holy See's use of the technical term "extraordinary" in liturgical contexts is the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, which insisted on the expression "extraordinary minister of Holy Communion", to the exclusion of terms such as "special minister of Holy Communion".

This 2004 instruction thus repeated the terminology used in canons 910 §2 and 943 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which, in the case of other sacraments also, insists on the distinction between the "ordinary" minister of the sacrament and those who in certain circumstances are allowed, by exception, to administer the sacrament.