The World of Religions, September-October 2007 —
I was a little surprised by the avalanche of criticism, including within the Church, that the Pope's decision to reinstate the Latin Mass has provoked. I have pointed out Benedict XVI's ultra-reactionary policy in all areas enough over the past two years to resist the pleasure of rushing to his aid here! The Pope thus wants to bring
Archbishop Lefebvre's lost sheep back to the fold, of course. But there is no opportunism on his part because Cardinal Ratzinger has constantly recalled for more than thirty years his unease at the implementation of the liturgical reform of Vatican II and his desire to give the faithful back the choice between the new and the old rite inherited from Pope Pius V (who promulgated it in 1570). This will be done as of September 14. Why complain about a measure that offers, a very rare occurrence, genuine freedom of choice to the faithful? Once the ancient ritual has been stripped of its anti-Jewish phrases which testified to the old Christian anti-Judaism which lasted until the Second Vatican Council, I do not really see how the Mass of Pius V, said with the back to the faithful and in Latin, would constitute a terrible step backwards for the Church.
Three personal experiences, on the contrary, convince me of the correctness of the Pope's decision. I was struck when I went to Taizé to discover that these thousands of young people from all over the world were singing in Latin! Brother Roger explained to me the reason: given the diversity of languages spoken, Latin had established itself as the liturgical language that could be practiced by all. A similar experience in Calcutta, in a chapel of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, during the Mass celebrated for the many volunteers who came from all countries: almost everyone could participate in the liturgy, because it was said in Latin and, visibly, the childhood memories of the participants were still vivid. Latin, the universal liturgical language of the Catholic Church alongside masses in vernacular languages, why not? The last experience, from the sociological survey I conducted about ten years ago among dozens of French followers of Tibetan Buddhism: I was very surprised to hear from several of them that they appreciated Tibetan rites because they were performed in a language that was not their native tongue! They told me that they found Sunday Mass in French poor and lacking in mystery, while they felt the sacred in Tibetan practices. Tibetan served as Latin. Who knows: Benedict XVI may not only bring fundamentalists back into the fold of the Church. (1).
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(1) See the debate p. 17.