It seems very important to me that the Catechism, in mentioning the limits of the power of the supreme authority of the Church with regard to reform, should call back to mind what is the essence of primacy, as it is emphasized by Vatican Councils I and II: The pope is not an absolute monarch whose will is law, but rather the guardian of the ancient Tradition (and the Sacred Scriptures), and the first guarantor of obedience.
He cannot do whatever he wants, and precisely because of this he can oppose those who intend to do whatever they want. The law to which he must adhere is not that of acting "ad libitum," but obedience to the faith. Because of this, with regard to the liturgy, he has the task of a gardener and not that of an engineer who builds new machines and throws out the old ones.
The "rite," meaning the form of celebration and prayer that matures in the faith and life of the Church, is a condensed form of the living Tradition, in which the sphere of the rite expresses the whole of its faith and prayer, making it possible at the same time to experience the communion among the generations, the communion among those who pray before us and after us. Thus the rite is like a gift that is given to the Church, a living form of "paradosis."
[Joseph Ratzinger, preface to the book by Alcuin Reid “Lo sviluppo organico della liturgia,” Cantagalli, Siena, 2013]
