Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Pope Calls for Old Latin Mass


According to the Washington Post, the Pope is poised to revive the traditional Latin Mass. The Tridentine Mass, as it's called, was replaced in the 1960s under the ecumenical Pope John XXIII.

It was replaced by a mass in the language in which the mass was said. At the time masses utilizing guitars and secular songs became popular.

"To some Catholics, the return of the old Latin Mass is symbolic of a conservative turn away from what they view as the "excesses" that followed the Second Vatican Council, said the Rev. Thomas J. Scirghi, who teaches liturgical theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif."

Bishop Luca Brandolini, a member of the liturgy commission of the Italian bishops' conference, mourns the Latin decree and believes it undermines all the positive changes brought about in the Church since the Council.

Some Jewish leaders sharply criticize the decree, which revives a passage from the old Latin prayer book for Good Friday calling for Jews to be converted. Others, however, are taking a more measured tone and calling for clarification. (Washington Post)

French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, who warned last year against meeting traditionalists' demands for the Latin mass, said on Saturday the prayer could be changed if it caused difficulties with Jews.
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The return to the Latin Mass is giving in to a very small group of traditionalists who have been lobbying the Pope for a long time. This move to the right is appalling...

theteach

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm not a Catholic, but my dad is and he always talks to me about how beautiful and solemn the latin mass used to be. The problem is, people aren't used to it anymore.

maryt/theteach said...

Yes, jm, but there are a bunch of people who think the pomp and awe of the Latin mass is "better" than the regular mass in English or Spanish or whatever local language. Reinsituting the Latin Mass is symbolic of turning the Church backwards toward conservatism...unfortunately.