The Past = The Future?
Recently Pope Benedict issued a decree to allow Roman Catholic priests to say Latin Mass more frequently. Will this move bring back those who are seeking a return to the old ways or will it alienate a large portion of church going people?
With mass attendance in some countries as little as 5%, can we expect this change to be for the better or will those that stay away simply roll their eyes and think that the church needs to be brought into the modern age?
I am not a regular mass goer. However I still believe that religion can exist outside the church and that the place where you decide to pray, worship and serve God is wherever you want it to be.
I do not believe that the recent decisions and comments of Pope Benedict have given much cause for those who have strayed to return to the flock. Much like Politics, it seems like the general public do not take a great interest in the workings of the church. Whereas in generations gone by the church was paramount, now it seems it falls into the category of things to do if we have the time to.
So will a return to a Latin mass bring about the change needed to restore faith in those that have previously shunned the church?
The traditional mass is a true gem of the church’s heritage and the Holy Father has taken the most important step toward making it available to many more of the faithful.
Michael Dunnigan, (Chairman of Una Voce America)
I can see the older generation returning to their roots as such with this decision, mainly because they can possibly reflect and reuse the teachings they were given when growing up.
However the current generation does not seem to be the type to go to their nearest church for 10 o’clock mass every Sunday. Most Teenagers and young Adults would spend Sundays recovering from what Pope Benedict has previously, in describing rock music, called “the expression of elemental passions…a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship.”
A move back to the Latin Mass … is not something that will bring people into the church or keep people in the church, particularly people under the age of 60.
Mary Fox (Head Of Voice of the Faithful, United States)
According to a 2006 survey, by the Roman Catholic Church of Great Britain, attendances have fallen by 40% over the last three decades. Is there just simply too much pressure on us in work and family life to give enough time to religious debate, belief and worship?
Perhaps there will be a resurgence of young people looking to embrace Latin and its teachings in order to fully understand the benefits of the traditional reading. If that is the case then the Church can only benefit from this and new theories and debates will be stirred by a new generation with more passion, energy and determination.
There are however, in all forms of society, those that are stuck in their ways and will not change for anyone. In some cases that could be what has driven people away from religious teachings.
At the end of the day do we still need to look to the past to deal with the future or is it a case that we need some fresh thinking to work alongside the wise and experienced?
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 and is filed under The Church.
You can leave a comment.
Michael G Says:
I’m sorry to have just found this post now. I was born in 1956 and was only a child when the first changes began. I grew up with the New Mass, abandoned the Church at 16 and came back to it at 35 and attended the New Mass faithfully.
But for the last 10 years it least, attendance has been an increasingly disagreeable duty. I am no doubt lacking in wisdom and charity, but a liturgy in which an awkward priest has to act like the compere at a cabaret, the readings are done incompetently, the words of Consecration are spoken as if they were the same as any of the other words of the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Eucharist is just handed out — the whole thing is deeply painful.
So I have gone Latin. Not SSPX, because I think they are in a cultish cul-de-sac; just Latin. When I go to Mass now, we are all focused on God and on the Sacrifice; both we and the priest are anonymous except to God.
Perhaps the Angels and some of the better Saints could make sense of the Novus Ordo, but I have given up on it.
December 11th, 2007 at 1:22 am