Catholic World News: The Pope's direct challenge; the French bishops' tepid response

Catholic World News has an incredibly insightful article on the message conveyed by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, to the French Hierarchy. This is an excellent story and a MUST read. Reading between the lines, the full story emerges. Here is a snippet:

Reading between the lines, it seems clear that the Pope was sending a message to French bishops, and others who have resisted implementation of the motu proprio. Even by their own standards, he was saying, they should "tolerate" the liturgical form that many faithful Catholics embrace. "There is no opposition between the liturgy renewed by Vatican II and this liturgy," the Pontiff assured his in-flight press conference. Thus there is no reason for hostility toward the extraordinary form.

If that message was conveyed subtly during the Pope's trip toward Paris, it was delivered quite explicitly on Sunday when the Holy Father addressed the members of the French hierarchy in a meeting at Lourdes. Noting that a year had passed since Summorum Pontificum was issued, the Pope told the bishops that he recognized the tensions within the French Church-- and expected them to address the problem.

Have a look!