Reflection by Fr. Kelly
There has been some confusion in recent days as commentators speculate that the Pope is about to re-establish the Mass of the Council of Trent, commonly called the Latin Mass, as the normal Mass for parishes. Since the end of the Second Vatican Council, the celebration of Mass in the vernacular language has been the norm for most Catholics. I think that I need to clarify the situation for our people.
How the present vernacular text came to be used.
Paul VI, the former Cardinal Montini, had inherited the papal office from Pope John XXIII in 1963 –right in the middle of the Vatican Council. This great Pope gave direction as to how the Mass is to be celebrated and, therefore, the Mass we celebrate today is called the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI, - the new rite of Pope Paul the Sixth. That text is different from the text of the Council of Trent. There is more difference between the two rites- it is not simply a matter of Latin versus English. The Mass of Pope Paul VI reflects a desire to return to the simplicity of the Church of the Apostles and Fathers, laying aside many customs and additions that were part of medieval European culture. The Mass of Pope Paul VI allows for the use of several Eucharistic prayers, many of which are very ancient, while the Mass of the Council of Trent forbids any Eucharistic prayer except the Roman Canon.
In 1560, at the time of the Council of Trent, the dominant style in art and music was baroque, and this style influenced the way that the Mass of Trent was celebrated then and since. There is certainly nothing wrong with baroque style, and the style of churches, altars, chalices and vestments of that time is a part of our Catholic culture. But culture is not faith and Catholicism is greater than any style or culture. I often hear people hanker for “old fashioned churches”, but I wonder if they realize that these styles belonged to another country and another time.
We here at Saint Mary Magdalene are Catholics of the Latin Rite i.e. the Mass we celebrate is the English translation of the Latin Mass of Pope Paul VI. We occasionally use the Latin responses and we use many of the Latin hymns that are part of our tradition. So we are celebrating the official Mass of the Church in the English language, even though the official text is in Latin. We could easily celebrate the Mass in Latin, if there was a demand for it, just as we would celebrate the Mass in Spanish, if there was a demand for it. But that Mass would be the official mass of the Church, the Mass called the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI.
There are some Catholics who have remained within the Church and whose celebration of the so-called Latin Mass – properly called the Tridentine Mass - is celebrated with the permission of the local bishops. There is a small group of such Catholics here in Tyler at St. Joseph the Worker parish. They celebrate the Mass, in Latin of course, according to the rite of the Council of Trent. These people are fully in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
What about the ‘traditionalists’ who have left the Church?
Some who disagreed with the decisions of the Council and of Pope Paul VI broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and formed their own Church which protests against the decisions of the Council. While they claim that it is the vernacular Mass which offends them, a short conversation with these people reveals that their opposition to the theology of Vatican Two is deeper and sharper. As Cardinal O’ Malley of Boston says, these are a small group and their concerns are far removed from the religious concerns of most Catholics. In that recent statement, the cardinal tells us about his recent visit to see the Pope about this matter. “They (papal officials) shared with us the Motu Proprio and the Holy Father’s letter explaining it. We also had an opportunity to read the Latin document. We each commented on that, and then the Holy Father came in and shared some of his thoughts with us. The Holy Father is obviously most concerned about trying to bring about reconciliation in the Church. There are about 600,000 Catholics who are participating in the liturgies of the Society of St. Pius X, along with about 400 priest. The Holy Father was very clear that the ordinary form of celebrating the Mass will be the new rite, the Norvus Ordo. But by making the Latin Mass more available, the Holy Father is hoping to convince those disaffected Catholics that it is time for them to return to full union with the Catholic Church.”
Their opposition to official church teaching usually centers on ecumenism and the Church’s new relationship with the Jews. They often resist the modern ecclesiology of the Catholic Church, insisting instead on an older and more sectarian theology of Church. Some of them who followed Archbishop Lefebre have styled themselves as the Society of St. Pius X. Archbishop Lefebre and his followers were excommunicated by Pope John Paul II. These people are schismatics. They often call themselves Catholics and attempt to accuse the Church of having betrayed them. The reality, though, is that the new arrangements for the celebration of the rite of Trent will not satisfy their demands, since the Pope is asserting that, in order to return to the Catholic Church, they must firstly affirm their agreement with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. Robert Michens, who writes from Rome as the correspondent of the Tablet magazine, writes recently, “First of all, it is not the ‘Latin Mass’ but the Tridentine Mass. Latin is the language of the Mass of Paul VI currently in use. But Latin is not the distinguishing factor of the Tridentine Mass, … but its outdated and non-ecumenical ecclesiology.”
What does the term ‘Traditionalists’ mean?
I am always offended when some people try to call themselves “traditional” so that they can claim to be better than the rest of us. This is true in politics as it is in religion. By covering themselves with ‘tradition’ they attempt to cover their opinions with glory. As a historian, I am appalled at the lack of real historical knowledge that many such people possess. Very often, their traditionalism is no more than a sentimental attachment to what they saw as children, or what they think their grandparents saw as children. I have often tried to explain that just because Grandma said something, it does not mean she was right. The reality is that the ‘Tradition’ of the Tridentine Mass is only 400 years old and was a novelty in its day. It replaced many older forms of celebration which were suppressed at the council. It was an attempt to have a single form of celebration throughout the Western Catholic Latin Church. Michael Mickens writes, “ …supporters of the Tridentine mass are not all ‘traditionalists. The Catholic tradition began long before the sixteenth century – and long before Christians began to use the Latin language in worship. The Pope’s own Latinist – Carmelite Fr. Reginald Foster- said ‘You can quote me on that.’ ”
I am old enough to remember the “Latin Mass” by which I mean the Mass of the Council of Trent. I can recall how different it seemed when the words of consecration were finally said in English. There had been a slow adaptation to the English text over several years. But I have no romantic emotional attachment to that rite. It was often badly celebrated and poorly explained. Music was a rarity. When I read those hymns now, I cringe at how soppy and sentimental they were. They were products of their time, just as modern hymns are products of ours. I believe that the rite of Trent emphasized an unhealthy difference between the priest and the Holy People of God, a distinction which was more to do with medieval class distinction than with Christian teaching. I sometimes hear complains that modern Catholics don’t recognize the need for any distinction between priest and people, or recognize the sacredness of the sanctuary. I accept that I am sometimes annoyed when people wander around the altar area, not recognizing sacred space. The space is sacred, but not because it is exclusive to the priest. We priests must not use that sacredness to puff up our own sinful pride. I remember how our priest muttered the words of consecration in such a way that we had to strain to get them, as if we somehow were not fit to share in the celebration. I recall how the priest would take off his chasuble when he preached, as if the sermon was not really part of the Mass at all. The chalice was exclusive to the priest alone, a way of emphasizing yet again the closeness of the priest to the Lord, which also conveniently emphasized the unworthiness of those who were not ordained. When I came here to the US twelve years ago, I was scandalized that lay people drank from the chalice. In the intervening years, I have come to appreciate how sanctifying and grace-giving that reception from the Cup of Salvation is for us all.
It has become a cant among certain people to criticize the “seventies’ as if that word contains all the terrible things that are wrong with our society. This is a simplistic and ignorant way of rejecting what we don’t understand. I have to smile when I hear young seminarians and others who should know better, complain about the way Mass was celebrated in the “Seventies” What these people forget is that the same people who said the New Mass of Paul VI well in the seventies had been good liturgists in the sixties. The same priests who celebrated the Tridentine Mass sloppily, probably later celebrated the vernacular Mass badly. If there were excesses, it may have resulted from opposite excesses in a previous generation. Bad liturgists don’t improve by making them say the words in Latin.
The new instruction, called a Moto Proprio, allows for greater discretion on the pastor’s part in making the decision about the rite he wishes to celebrate in his parish. The decision of the Holy Father has no practical effect in the vast majority of parishes, since most priests will opt to retain the Mass of Paul VI in the vernacular. In a recent meeting with Cardinals, Pope Benedict suggested in his nearly one-hour meeting with participants that if five or six Sunday Masses are offered in a diocesan cathedral, the bishop could designate one of them for celebration in the Latin language according to the Tridentine rite, if a sizable number of people ask for it.
That is certainly what will happen here at Saint Mary Magdalene. Cardinal O’Malley expressed my opinion and that of many priests when he said, “In my comments at the meeting I told my brother bishops that in the United States the number of people who participate in the Latin Mass even with permission is very low. Additionally, according to the research that I did, there are only 18 priories of the Society of St. Pius X in the entire country. Therefore this document will not result in a great deal of change for the Catholics in the U.S. Indeed, interest in the Latin Mass is particularly low here in New England. This issue of the Latin Mass is not urgent for our country.”