Jan. 2, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A group of prominent Polish intellectuals has released a statement of support for the much-anticipated papal document allowing broader use of the Latin Mass.
 
 “We are with you, Holy Father,” read the headline of a statement signed by 30 Polish opinion leaders. Their statement-- which came in the wake of similar statements by groups in France and in Italy-- was signed by the speaker of the Polish parliament, Marek Jurek; two members of the country’s delegation to the European parliament, Marcin Libicki and Konrad Szymanski; the editor of the quarterly "Christianitas", Pawel Milcarek; and composer Wojciech Kilar, whose works include the scores for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and Roman Polanski's "The Pianist.”
 
 In Italy, meanwhile, a statement circulated by Catholics opposing the wider use of the 1962 Missal collected 1,052 signatures-- a number well short of the organizers’ original plan to find 10,000 signatures. “We ask you not to publish the indult,” the new Italian statement said in a direct appeal to Pope Benedict XVI, arguing that the Pontiff does not have the authority “to contradict a council.”
 
 The petition drive against the traditional Mass was led in Italy by Father Paolo Farinella, a prominent liberal cleric. The ‘indult’ to which his statement referred is the “universal indult” which Pope Benedict is expected to release shortly, stating that all Catholic priests have the right to celebrate Mass using the 1962 Missal.