Coming to a church near you

Well, it didn't take long to find some Catholic news. The new secretary for the Vatican's Congregation for Worship, which since about 1990 has been systematically gutting the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, a man by the name of Archbishop Albert Patabendige Don, has said that the current liturgy is "not in the spirit of Vatican II," according to the Tablet:

"'The Vatican II decree Sacrosanctum Concilium ... was about making the liturgy the entry point to the faith, and liturgical changes were expected to emerge organically, by taking account of tradition, and not precipitately. The direction of liturgical prayer in the post-conciliar reform has not always reflected the texts of Vatican II, and in this sense, we can speak of a necessary correction, of a reform of the reform. We must regain the liturgy in the spirit of the Council.'

"Today, the problems concerning the liturgy turned upon language (vernacular or Latin), and the position of the priest (facing the congregation or God), said the Archbishop in an interview with La Croix, a French Catholic daily newspaper, on 25 June. 'Nowhere, in the conciliar decree, is it laid down that the priest must henceforth face the congregation, nor that the use of Latin is forbidden. If the use of modern languages is accepted, notably for the Liturgy of the Word, the decree clearly specifies that the use of Latin will be maintained in the Latin rite. On these subjects, we await the Pope's instructions,' he added.

"The archbishop noted how much young priests in Rome liked celebrating the Tridentine rite. 'I must make clear that this rite, that of the Missal of St Pius V [the Tridentine liturgical book], is not "outlawed." Should we encourage it more? The Pope will decide. But it is certain that a new generation is demanding a greater emphasis upon mystery.' "

That's right, kids, "facing God"--which means facing away from the people of God evidently--and Mass back in Latin.

I saw this coming; Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie has been warning people privately that worse things than new English translations were coming, and I figured this is what he meant.

But if the liturgy wars before were restricted to the Congregation for Worship, Vox Clara, ICEL, and the bishops’ conferences, the new one will be far worse, because if the permission is broad enough it will be up to either the local bishop or even to the presiding priest to decide which liturgy to celebrate. Imagine Fr. Junior, the oil still wet on his hands, showing up at St. Cunegunda refusing to preside facing the people, or even in English.

All of this is especially funny because the “reform the reformers” have been working hard to squeeze out any freedom for presiders, so we’ll have “uniformity”—which is after all what makes us Catholic, right? Yet at the same time, the same folks are pushing for wider use of the “ancient” [sic, they’re late medieval] liturgies. Doesn't sound like uniformity to me.

To use the current administration’s favorite expression, make no mistake: The “reform the reformers” want the Latin Mass, and everybody else be damned. Now, will anyone lift a figure or open their mouths? Any bishops?