He argued that, among other things, it appealed to young people and that the two forms, old and new, “would enrich one another.”īut Francis argued that things had shaken out differently. But Francis said some traditionalists exploited that decision to effectively create a parallel liturgical universe.īenedict clearly put his weight, and that of the whole church, on the side of the old rite in 2007 when he increased access to the traditional Latin Mass. In 1983, Pope John Paul II sought to heal a rift with a schismatic, traditionalist movement by asking bishops to grant the request of the faithful who wished to use the old Latin Mass. Nevertheless, some traditionalists insisted on celebrating it and rejected the new version as a corruption. The 16th-century Tridentine Mass was replaced after the Second Vatican Council with a new standard version approved in 1970. It was a move seen as reflective of a shift toward traditionalism.įrancis cited those measures in explaining his law, called “Traditionis Custodes.” Many analysts see Francis’ pontificate as the restoration of engagement with the modern world after three decades of leadership by conservative popes.ĭoubting the council, Francis wrote in a document explaining his motivations for the new law, is “to doubt the Holy Spirit himself who guides the Church,” and associating only the old rite with what traditionalists often call the “true Church” led only to division.įrancis argued that those traditionalists had essentially taken advantage of the kindness of his predecessors. In subsequent decades, traditionalists recoiled and conservative pontiffs let the Latin Mass come back, which included priests facing the altar and not the congregation, saying older prayers and, most importantly, using solely the Latin language.įrancis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, had relaxed restrictions on the old Latin Mass, also called the Tridentine Mass, in 2007. In the 1960s, the church sought to make the faith more accessible with liturgy in living languages that made use of modern idioms in its prayer books. He wrote that he believed champions of the old Latin Mass were exploiting it to oppose more recent church reforms and to divide the faithful. In recent days, influential prelates in Rome have also argued that Francis had not followed through on his promises to modernize the church.īut Francis’ action on Friday was bold and concrete. His latest salvo in the church’s so-called liturgy wars came weeks after conservative American bishops, many of whom are attached to the old Latin Mass, essentially shrugged off the Vatican’s strong guidance to slow down a potential confrontation with President Biden over his support for abortion rights.
0 kommentar(er)
