Dear Father,
My question is, why are priests going against Vatican II? Specifically, a number of priests are having Latin Masses again. They are going against the pope who said that the Latin Mass is not valid anymore. People do not speak or understand Latin, so it makes no sense to use it. Are these priests deliberately trying to drive people away?
-Fed Up
Dear Fed Up,
I hear your frustration, especially since Latin was not always the language of the Mass, at least in the earliest centuries of the Church. But no pope has ever said that the Latin Mass is invalid.
In fact, the largest part of the Catholic Church is known as the Latin Church, also referred to as the Roman Catholic Church. In the Latin (or Roman) Church, we are united with our brothers and sisters of the Eastern Catholic Churches, whose Sacred Liturgies are often in various languages of their particular cultures and lands.
Latin continues to be the basic language of the Roman Catholic Church. All the primary texts of the Mass and sacraments are first issued by the Vatican in Latin and then translated into the vernacular of various countries. Our Code of Canon Law is also officially in Latin, again with vernacular translations. Most official documents of the Church are promulgated in Latin.
Although Latin is not a common language spoken on the street, a great number of people still understand and use Latin outside of the examples I have just given. Much of the history of the Western world is written in Latin, not to mention important literary texts from the ancient world.
While scholars need to be trained in Latin, all priests are supposed to be “well versed in Latin…” (Canon Law 249). Canon 928 says that the Mass is to be celebrated “either in the Latin language or in another language, provided that the liturgical texts have been lawfully approved.”
Not a small number of priests pray the Liturgy of the Hours in Latin. There are entire religious communities that pray Mass and the Divine Office in Latin.
Your questions lead me to believe that you are not actually referring to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), which, except for the homily, is celebrated entirely in the Latin language. I know of no place in the United States where the TLM is the predominant Mass throughout the diocese. Even so, the pope has not said that the TLM is not valid. Pope Francis did ask that the TLM be restricted to certain parishes in a diocese, but he never invalidated the celebration of the TLM.
It’s usually the English-only speakers who are frustrated by Latin used in the Mass. Many Catholics in our country are native Spanish speakers and find the use of Latin non-problematic, even welcome. It is also the case that the use of Latin is accepted at Mass in many other countries of the world. In an age of frequent worldwide travel, Latin becomes the lingua franca at Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.
Interestingly, your complaint is about Latin, per se. Surely, we can’t be upset that the entire world does not use English as the universal language! Or that our own predominantly English-speaking country embraces the use of many languages throughout our land. We are, after all, a country formed by immigrants.
To this end, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal insists: “Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings” (no. 41).
Pope St. Paul VI, the pope of Vatican II, was dismayed by the lack of use of Latin for Catholic prayer. Several years after he promulgated his reformed Mass (1974), he issued a short booklet called “Jubilate Deo.” In it he lists a collection of very simple Latin chants that he said all Catholics should know. It may be these very chants that are causing you consternation.
Speaking of Vatican II, consider this from the 1963 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium): “the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites” (no. 36). “Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them” (no. 54). “In accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Latin rite, the Latin language is to be retained by clerics in the divine office” (no. 101).
One reason that so many Catholic Americans don’t know this perhaps stems from our fear of foreign languages. Also, some Catholics fear the traditions of the Church. They equate tradition with going backwards. Of course, this makes no sense. The family tradition of using special ornaments on the Christmas tree is not going backwards; it is bringing the past to bear on the present moment.
We need Latin in our celebrations of Mass for the reasons I’ve given. At the very least, we owe obedience to our bishops and popes, including our Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV, who frequently uses Latin at Mass and in his meetings with the Faithful from around the world.
We also need Latin because it is a source of unity. Our unified prayer expresses what we profess at the Sunday Mass: that the Church is one. We are universal, that is, catholic. Insisting on vernacular-only Masses is prideful. Latin can help us to be more charitable to our brothers and sisters who don’t understand our language.
Let’s start having simple classes once in a while to teach our people the basics of Latin. So little is needed; so much is to be gained!
Questions about the sacraments should be sent to sacraments101@columbuscatholic.org.
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