A
new Vatican document instructs bishops around the world to reintroduce
the old Latin mass abandoned in the late 1960s if traditionalist
Catholics in their areas request it.
Pope Benedict first issued a
decree to that effect three years ago but the so-called Tridentine mass
is still quite rare in Catholic churches, where a modern mass in the
local language is the norm and will continue to be the standard liturgy.
Here are some details on how Latin has been used in the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict's efforts to support it.
*
FROM GREEK TO LATIN
Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic, a language
close to Hebrew, and the evangelists wrote the Gospels in Greek, lingua
franca of the Mediterranean area at the time. Christians in Rome adopted
Latin and it became the Church's language in the fourth century. Saint
Jerome's Bible translation into Latin is called the Vulgate because it
used common (or "vulgar") Latin.
With
Scripture in Latin, the Church adopted the Roman tongue for its mass
everywhere. This continued even as the use of everyday spoken Latin
slowly declined over the centuries and successor languages such as
Italian, Spanish and French emerged.
*
THE TRIDENTINE MASS
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) codified the
Latin mass from earlier liturgies and approved the Roman Missal used
from 1570 until the mid-1960s. The priest celebrated mass with his back
to the congregation, which prayed silently or followed the Latin prayers
in books called missals. This is the "Tridentine mass" which is often
referred to as the "old Latin mass."
*
REFORMS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
The Council (1962- 1965) allowed
the use of vernacular languages at mass. Latin was not meant to be
fully scrapped, but it was quickly abandoned by local churches. The
pontifical universities in Rome, where many future Church leaders are
educated, stopped teaching in Latin in 1967. This decision eventually
all but dried up the small pool of priests who could actually speak the
dead language.
* THE "MASS OF POPE
PAUL VI" UPDATE
In 1969, Pope Paul VI issued an updated version of the
mass that made significant changes such as turning the priest toward the
people, simplifying the rituals and using more Scriptural readings. The
pope says this modern mass in Latin at the Vatican and it is celebrated
in vernacular languages around the world. Traditionalist Catholics
reject this mass as less spiritual and aesthetic than the Tridentine
mass.
* SYMBOLISM OF LATIN
Restoring Latin became a rallying point for traditionalists. It was one
of several differences that the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) group of
priests had with the Vatican that led to the excommunication of their
four bishops in 1988. Pope John Paul tried to head off that split with a
declaration in 1984 authorizing bishops to allow the Latin mass to be
celebrated occasionally. Traditionalists complained that few bishops
agreed to allow this.
* POPE BENEDICT AND LATIN
Unlike
almost all other Catholic leaders, Pope Benedict is fluent in Latin and
has long supported greater use of it. In 2007, he issued a decree
allowing wider use of the Latin mass.
Traditionalists cheered but many
bishops were still reluctant or opposed and many priests no longer knew
how to celebrate it.
Benedict's
determination to bring back some traditional elements in the Church led
to a major row in 2009 when he lifted the excommunication ban on the
four SSPX bishops, including one -- Richard Williamson -- who is a known
Holocaust denier. This caused an uproar among many Catholics and Jews
as well as some politicians in his native Germany.
The pope later said he would not have lifted Williamson's ban if he had known his views.
The
Vatican and the SSPX have been holding doctrinal discussions to
reintegrate the ultra-traditionalists into the Church, but they have
reportedly made little progress because the SSPX rejects several other
Vatican Council reforms.
*CURRENT SITUATION
The
number of Latin masses celebrated around the world has been rising
since 2007, but only slowly and from a tiny base. A recent report by Una
Voce, an international pro-Latin group, said most growth was in the
United States, Britain and France
with bishops in developing countries -- where a growing majority of
Catholics lives -- showing little or no interest. It sent the Vatican a
confidential list of bishops it said were not complying with the decree
to allow the Latin mass more often.
On
May 13, 2011, the Vatican issued a directive reminding bishops they
must allow celebration of the Latin mass and giving the Vatican the
power to decide any disputes if traditionalists claim their bishop is
blocking the use of the old liturgy.