Only 26 out of 52,000 practising Catholics in Scotland’s largest diocese choose to take part in traditional Latin mass, as championed by Pope Benedict in a series of Vatican reforms. The figures have been compiled by the Archdiocese of Glasgow ahead of the planned papal visit to Scotland this year.
Several Scottish bishops are said to be unenthusiastic about the Pope’s arrival in Scotland, on the basis that modern religious practices appear to be at odds with the Vatican, which is keen to “reform the reforms” of the 1960s.
But the Archdiocese of Glasgow says there is little appetite for traditional Tridentine mass in Latin among worshippers, with only 0.05% in favour.
In a letter in today’s Herald, Monsignor Peter Smith, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, writes: “Not one of my parishioners has ever expressed a desire to re-introduce the Tridentine Mass, and many have stated that they have no desire to do so.
“The overwhelming ‘sensus fidelium” [sense of the faithful] which emerged from our most recent analysis suggests that the Catholic people of the Archdiocese are content with the liturgy offered in a prayerful and dignified way in the vernacular.”
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI lifted a restriction on the public use of Latin mass and allowed priests to celebrate it if they so wished.
James MacMillan CBE, the composer and leading Scottish Catholic, told The Herald yesterday: “The low numbers mentioned by the Archdiocese would indicate that they don’t know what the issues are.
“They don’t know what they are missing or what the higher standards of liturgy can be. It would be a shame if Scottish Catholics were denied it through a basic disobedience of The Vatican.”
He said Latin mass had the ability to reduce the “slovenliness and banality” found in some services, stressing the issue was not a division between Latin or new mass, but the need to “make liturgy better”.
But Catholic figures in Scotland yesterday echoed the findings of the Archdiocese of Glasgow.
Father Tom Boyle, treasurer of the Archdiocese of Paisley, said: “There has never been a great demand for it as far as I am aware.
“Unlike other parts of the world, the church in Scotland has never been polarised on this.”
Canon Donald MacKay, of St Columba’s Cathedral in Oban, said there was more support for a Gaelic mass than a Latin mass among parishioners.
Canon Edward Glackin, of the Diocese of Motherwell, said he conducted one weekday Latin mass, which had an attendance of 25 to 30, compared to the 1000 who attend mass on Sunday.
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