Pope Benedict XVI Blog

A Return to the Latin Mass

Clashes with congregants may erupt as a growing number of young priests push for a revival of pre-Vatican II customs

U.S. News & World Report
By Eric Ferkenhoff
Posted 6/17/07

Nearly two generations of Catholics now have grown up in a post-Vatican II world, worshipping in a church that celebrates mass in their local languages and, at least to some extent, embraces modern customs as much as it once rejected them.

So it seemed anathema when the Vatican confirmed recently that Pope Benedict XVI would relax restrictions on celebrating the 16th-century Tridentine Mass, citing "a new and renewed" interest in the ancient Latin liturgy, especially among younger Catholics.

Given the fierce fight that preceded Vatican II—the liturgical and doctrinal reforms of the mid-1960s that sought to make the church more accessible—a similar war would seem needed to overturn them. But a movement is building at seminaries nationwide to do just that: In addition to restoring the Latin mass, young priests are calling for greater devotion to the Virgin Mary, more frequent praying of the rosary, and priests turning away from the congregation as they once did. Perhaps most controversially, they also advocate a dimished role for women, who since Vatican II have been allowed to participate in the mass as lay altar servers and readers.

Such changes would seem to aggravate the church's growing attendance problems (in 2003, 40 percent of Roman Catholics said they had attended church in the past week, down from 74 percent in 1958) as well as enhance its air of exclusivity—the notion of Catholicism as the only true faith. Yet proponents of the movement argue that just the opposite holds: More people will attend mass if the traditions are richer and the doctrine stricter. The Latin mass, they say, would restore a sense of community they believe was diluted when the church allowed local culture to override tradition. In Chicago alone, mass is now said in some 50 languages.

"The traditional Latin mass simply excels at conveying the majesty and mystery of God," says Michael Dunnigan, a canon lawyer and chairman of the pro-Latin mass group, Una Voce America. Rejecting comparisons to fundamentalism, he denies that proponents are simply seeking more structure and discipline. "At the heart of the movement is a longing for beauty and an attitude of profound reverence," he says. Andrew Vogel, a seminarian from Rochester, Minn., notes that before Vatican II, mass attendance was at its highest and seminaries were full. "People just think we must have been doing something right," he says.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 8:57 AM