Friday, October 3, 2008

Jesuit Told "No" To The Traditional Latin Mass In Great Britian

Mass and Invariance

The Catholic Church has often enforced unity with ferocity. Yet in the present culture war (officially denied, of course) real unity seems far away. As the Pope's intentions become clear (Cardinal Castrillon said that the Pope wants to make the old rite available "in all the parishes" of England and Wales) the English bishops have fallen into a curious silence.

The parish priest of a famous Jesuit church, politely asked whether he would make some traditional masses available, responded with unconcealed rage. (This church advertises a children's liturgy, Japanese masses, services for Brazilians and Filipinos, but apparently drew the line at the ancient Roman liturgy).
The dispute about liturgy is part of a wider battle. Those who want to align the Church with modernity, which inevitably means drawing on current liberal values, became influential following Vatican II. But if they hoped that the Church would change its stance on liberation theology, divorce, homosexuality, the ordination of women, they found their nemesis in John Paul II . Woytila's reassertion of tradition in all these areas was less flamboyant than Pio Nono's famous denial that "the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to come to terms with progress, liberalism and the modern world," but it came to much the same thing.

Link to a wonderful and lengthy piece entitled, Rediscovering traditionalism by John Casey

A different Jesuit from the one cited, but with similar circumstances was California Jesuit Fr. Philip L. Bourret. Hit the link below for a detailed account.

Jesuit Who Was Ordered To Stop Saying Latin Mass Dies

Damian Thompson does a nice over view of Mass difficulties, his piece is entitled,

Spinning the return of Latin Mass.

Photo is of Cardinal Castrillon, If anyone knows the name or can cite another reference to "the Jesuit" please let us know in combox.

No comments: