By Joseph A. Crisp II
This ties in with the issue of divisiveness because the Latin mass has become such a political football by radicals on both sides of the Church. Liberals attacked the Latin mass (often subtly or indirectly) as something out-of-date, archaic, reactionary and symbolic of a different (see that!) Church whose policies and beliefs they did not particularly like. At the same time, schismatic so-called "traditionalists" used the Latin mass as a flag and the often unavailable nature of it to justify their own rebellion and put a "holier than thou" Catholic face on some very incorrect and hateful beliefs and goals. Will the orders given now by the Holy Father cause division? I seriously doubt it for the simple reason that most who are the real cause of division will not be swayed by it. The liberals will stay inside the Church spreading their venom regardless of what the Pope says (and condemning themselves in the process) and on the other side the schismatic "traditonalists" will remain in schism because the Latin mass was never *really* the issue with them and history has proven that once a group grants itself authority to judge their own superior they tend not to give it up (does anything think the Prime Minister of England is going to suddenly decide to let the Queen run things? I don't think so). To paraphrase what the Bible says about freedom, these schismatics have simply used the Latin mass as a cloak for wickedness and this will not change them.
As far as the accusation of being backward or seeming anti-Semitic, these really infuriate me, especially when coming from Catholics. In the first place, that implies that the old mass was somehow bad, which it was not and which the Holy Father takes pains to point out. In the second place, the "hot" phrase of the old Latin mass, which referred to praying for the conversion of the "Perfidious Jews" had already been taken out of the mass by Pope Pius XII, it was not part of the 1962 Roman missal and will not be included in any valid Catholic mass today. What annoys me more though is those Catholics who know these facts and yet voice opposition to the Latin mass because despite the FACTS it might mistakenly be *seen* as anti-Semitic. That is absurd and anti-Christian as far as I'm concerned because it is basing a decision on the worship of Christ, Truth itself, on the ignorance of others and is making provision for failure. Christianity should never be about "dumbing down" to the lowest common denominator. This continued revitalization of the Latin mass is something I welcome especially because of what the Holy Father says he hopes it will do to the Paul VI mass: rub some reverence off on it.
Pope Benedict XVI mentions in the motu proprio that there have been major abuses of the liturgy going on since Vatican II and the introduction of the Novus Ordo mass. Contrary to what some nutjobs say, that does not mean that the new mass is inherently bad. As a convert it impressed me, even with the few things I did not really like about it, and I have been to Novus Ordo masses (particularly two in Front, Royal Virginia) that were extremely reverent, traditional and I think more in line with what the bishops of Vatican II actually intended. However, there are problems in many parishes today and I would hope, as the Holy Father seems to, that when people become more aware of the Latin mass, as it becomes more familiar, that it will make the vernacular mass more generally reverent and traditional. Nothing is going to change overnight because many priests are not trained in the Latin mass, not many people are interested in having it and simply because things happen slowly in a Church that is 2,000 years old. However, I see this as a positive step, I think it's a great thing and, I believe, part of a general trend that Pope Benedict XVI has been putting into effect since he ascended the Throne of Peter. I think those who (even one I admire greatly) thought he would simply be an interim pontiff of little consequence will be proven wrong. I think the world is going to feel the effect of Benedict XVI in many great ways for a long time to come.
May God love us, and long live the Pope!
July 9, 2006