Indult Catholic - The Indult

The Indult

When the Mass of Paul VI replaced the Tridentine Mass in 1969-1970, some priests continued to be granted permission by the Holy See to celebrate the old liturgy. For example, elderly priests were not required to adopt the new form when it was introduced, and in 1971 Pope Paul VI granted the "Agatha Christie indult" that allowed occasional celebrations of the older form in England and Wales.

Under Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in 1984, sent the circular letter Quattuor abhinc annos to the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, granting diocesan bishops an "indult" (permission) to authorize, under certain conditions, celebrations of the Tridentine Mass as contained in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal by priests and laypeople who requested it.

Following the canonically illegal consecration of four bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Pope John Paul II issued on 2 July 1988 a motu proprio entitled Ecclesia Dei recommending a "wide and generous application of the directives of the 1984 indult.