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The Catholic Church is turning back the clock by allowing congregations to demand Mass be said in a no-longer-spoken language, but papal observers say they saw the warning signs.
In an effort to heal the rift created when the followers of French Archbishop Lefebvre insisted on continuing to use the Mass introduced at the Council of Trent in the 16th century, Pope Benedict XVI is to permit the use of the so-called Tridentine Mass, celebrated only in Latin, by whoever wishes to use it, regardless of the views of their bishop.
The Pope has confirmed that the existing form of the Mass, dating from the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, will continue to be the standard one, said in the language of the local congregation. But many liberal Catholics see the return of a Mass which, in the form in which it was used until 1962, stigmatised "heretics", "schismatics" and Jews and which presented the Catholic church as the only true version of the faith, as a reckless step backwards.
The say they see a pattern when they review other changes Benedict has brought, including to the papal wardrobe. Ever since his installation in April 2005, the German Pope has been speeding back to the future.
The magnificent papal wardrobe has been steadily modified since Vatican II. Pope Paul VI symbolically laid his splendid tiara on the altar of St Peter's at the end of the Council; it was sold and the proceeds donated to charity. Benedict has yet to buy it back, but he has repeatedly stunned Vaticanologists with the variety of archaic hats, capes and other adornments he chooses to sport.
In his first winter as pope he donned the snug, Santa Claus-like "camauro" hat, red velvet with a border of white ermine, which had not been worn since John XXIII. He also affected the "galero", a cowboy-like number in red, and the "greca", the ankle-length cashmire overcoat last worn by Pope Pius XII. He has also moved to restore some of the dignity of the pope sacrificed by his predecessors in the interests of humility and conciliation. During his 33-day papacy, John Paul I rejected the "gestatorial chair" in which popes up until then had been carried around. Benedict has yet to revive it, but has been photographed seated in the little-used golden throne in the Vatican's Sala Paolina, where Pius XII used to receive important visitors on their knees.
So for some, the return of the Latin Mass was not unexpected. It was not, however, seen as a positive step. One bishop interviewed by La Repubblica said the the publication of the Pope's letter confirming the reform was "the saddest day of my life".
- INDEPENDENT
