Agatha Christie indult

Part of a series on the
Catholic Church
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Overview
Pope: Francis Hierarchy History (timeline) Theology Liturgy Sacraments Mary
Background Jesus Christ Crucifixion Resurrection Ascension Early Christianity Peter Paul Fathers History of the Catholic Church History of the papacy Ecumenical councils Magisterium Four Marks of the Church One true church Apostolic succession
Organisation Holy See Roman Curia College of Cardinals Ecumenical councils Episcopal polity Latin Church Eastern Churches Canon law
Theologies Doctrine God Trinity Father Son Holy Ghost Consubstantialitas Filioque Divinum illud munus Divine law Decalogus Ex Cathedra Deificatio Realms beyond the States of the Church Heaven Purgatory Limbo Hell Paschal mystery Passion of Jesus Crucifixion of Jesus Harrowing of Hell Resurrection of Jesus Ascension of Jesus Blessed Virgin Mary Mariology Veneration Immaculate Conception Mater Dei Perpetual virginity Assumption Dormition Titles Queen Apparition Mediatrix Salvation Baptism of desire Baptism of blood Divine grace Outside the Church there is no salvation Infused righteousness Invincible ignorance Justification Means of grace Merit Mortal sin Satisfaction Moral influence Sanctification Synergism Venial sin Ecclesiology College of Bishops Deposit of faith Infallibility of the Church Mystical Body of Christ Papal primacy People of God Perfect community Subsistit in Other teachings Josephology Morality Body Lectures Sexuality Apologetics Amillennialism Original sin Hypostatic union Predestination Seven deadly sins Beatific vision Saints Dogma
Texts Bible Old Testament New Testament Official Bible Vulgate Sixtine Vulgate Sixto-Clementine Vulgate Nova Vulgata Peshitta Apostles' Creed Nicene Creed Athanasian Creed Catechism of the Catholic Church Papal bull Apostolic exhortation Epistula Encyclica
Philosophy Cardinal Virtues Just war Natural law Catholic ethics Personalism Probabilism Social teaching Philosophy of canon law Philosophers Virtue ethics Schools Augustinianism Scholasticism Thomism Scotism Occamism Christian humanism Molinism Neo-scholasticism
Worship Liturgy Eastern Catholic liturgy Mass Divine Liturgy Holy Qurbana Holy Qurbono Liturgy of the Hours Liturgical year Sacraments Baptism Penance Eucharist Confirmation Anointing of the Sick Matrimony Holy orders Prayer Devotions Bible Biblical canon
Rites Latin liturgy: Roman Post-Vatican II Tridentine Use of Sarum Anglican Use Zaire Use Gallican Ambrosian Braga Mozarabic Eastern Catholic liturgy: Alexandrian Antiochene West Syriac Malankara East Syriac Armenian Byzantine
Miscellaneous Antipopes Anti-Catholicism Criticism Deism/Pandeism Ecumenism Monasticism Relations with: Islam Judaism Orthodoxy Protestantism
Societal issues Art Evolution Health care HIV/AIDS Homosexuality Sexual abuse Music Nazi Germany Politics (in the United States) Role in civilization Science Sex and gender roles Slavery the Age of Discovery
Links and resources Index Outline Glossary Category Media Templates WikiProject Vatican City portal
Catholic Church portal
v t e

The Agatha Christie indult is a nickname applied to the permission granted in 1971 by Pope Paul VI for the use of the Tridentine Mass in England and Wales. Indult is a term from Catholic canon law referring to a permission to do something that would otherwise be forbidden, while Agatha Christie was an English writer who was one of the many famous signatories of the petition for the canon law.

Following the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI to replace the Tridentine Mass in 1969–1970, a petition was sent to the Pope asking that the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite be permitted to continue for those who wished in England and Wales. Some English Catholics had an attachment to the Tridentine Mass, as it was the form celebrated by the English Martyrs of the Reformation, and by priests in periods when Catholicism was subjected to sometimes severe persecution. Moreover, the petition noted the exceptional artistic and cultural heritage of the Tridentine Mass, and was signed by many prominent non-Catholic figures in British society, including Agatha Christie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kenneth Clark, Robert Graves, F. R. Leavis, Cecil Day-Lewis, Nancy Mitford, Iris Murdoch, Yehudi Menuhin, Joan Sutherland, as well as two Anglican bishops, those of Exeter and of Ripon.^[1]

John Cardinal Heenan approached Pope Paul VI with the petition and asked that use of the Tridentine Mass be permitted, and the Pope approved the request on 5 November 1971. Supposedly, Pope Paul had read the letter and exclaimed in excitement, “Ah! Agatha Christie!”, and so decided to grant it, thus giving the indult its nickname.^[2] Between then and Pope John Paul II’s worldwide indult in 1984, the Bishops of England and Wales were allowed to grant permission for occasional celebrations of Mass in the Old Rite, with the modifications introduced in 1965 and 1967.^[3]

The following were signatories of the original petition to Pope Paul VI:

• Preconciliar rites after the Second Vatican Council
• Quattuor abhinc annos

• The "Heenan" Indult - The Latin Mass Society website
• Text of the original appeal - Institute of Christ the King website