"Pius XII was the begetter of the Novus Ordo. "

 Amici,

Ol' Fr. Hunwicke is, as he so often is, once again on the mark regarding Church history and intrigue, as here where he writes: "Pius XII was the (albeit unconscious) begetter of the Novus Ordo."

Those interested in the TLM should read the whole of it. Here's an excerpt:

The period from 1955 until 1967 is a single, coherent, period of slashing and ripping which became ever wilder and ever less respectful of the liturgical inheritance of the Latin Church. People say that it is the first act of embezzlement or adultery that can be difficult; then one soon gets comfortably into the culture of it. Something very similar is true of liturgical 'reform'. The 1955 Decree already includes those sinister words generalis instauratio liturgica. That Decree, and the Missal of 1962, and the Conciliar document Sacrosanctum Concilium, and the Novus Ordo, are all simply episodes in a roller-coaster ride that very quickly got completely out of control and clearly would have done so if no Council had ever been summoned. Even Mgr Lefebvre failed to recognise this until he was already almost in the water at the bottom of the big slope. 

Pius XII was the (albeit unconscious) begetter of the Novus Ordo.

One commentator wrote:

Here we are reminded of the ancient Greek historian, Thucydides, who commented disapprovingly on the conflict between Athens and the inhabitants of Melos (Melians) that “the strong do what they have the power to do, and the weak suffer what they must”. How ironic that we can find a parallel with these words, written in the 5th century B.C., in the 20th century liturgical reforms.

Thucydides was describing a situation in which both reason and justice were left out of account in the formulation of policy decisions and their practical application; where no attempt was made to be fair and impartial; where customary law was violated and ethical standards disregarded; where the rights of the weaker party were trampled underfoot. It was in vain that the Melians (like the 20th-century Catholic traditionalists) appealed to a sense of honour and decency in support of their cause. Having trusted in the presumed loyalty of Sparta, they were deserted by those who should have protected them. And yet his description, transported 2,500 years into the future, shows some points of similarity with the way in which Pius XII’s Liturgical Commission conducted its tyrannical campaign against the traditional Holy Week liturgy.

An Préachán