Restored Latin Mass may translate well
Every Sunday and on holy days of obligation, Larry Koenig makes a 75-mile round trip from Westmoreland County to the North Side to attend a Latin Mass at St. Boniface Catholic Church.
He'd welcome a Latin Mass closer to his home in Greensburg.
Now, he may get that chance.
In a move viewed as a concession to Catholic ultraconservatives to bring them back into the fold, Pope Benedict XVI has loosened restrictions banning the Mass in Latin, which can now be celebrated only with permission from the local bishop, a Vatican official told The Associated Press.
The reforms of Vatican II in the 1960s that ended the Latin ritual in favor of the local language led some Catholics to form their own congregations to keep the tradition alive. In addition to the use of Latin, the priest stands with his back to the congregation in the 16th Century Tridentine Mass, as the old Latin Mass is called, and there are no lay readers.
The pope reportedly has signed the order, and it could be made public in the next few weeks.
Spokesmen for the Catholic diocese in Greensburg and Pittsburgh said they could not comment on what the changes would mean to local parishioners until they see the pope's order.
The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said the only sanctioned Latin Mass in the Pittsburgh diocese is celebrated at St. Boniface, which is part of Holy Wisdom parish.
Jerry Zufelt, of the Diocese of Greensburg, said whenever the bishop receives an inquiry about a Latin Mass, he refers the person to St. Boniface.
"If I can get the same thing driving two miles instead of 75 miles, I'd go," said Koenig, an assistant district attorney in Westmoreland County. "But it would be hard, because I've become so attached to the community there."
Koenig was among a group of Catholics from the Greensburg Diocese that approached Bishop Lawrence Brandt for permission for Masses in Latin. That request was rejected.
Growing up in a traditional Catholic household, Koenig said he loved the Latin text, the rituals and the spiritual exercise of having to kneel while praying and receiving Holy Communion.
Jeannine McDevitt, of Jeannette, recalls the Latin liturgy from grade school.
"I think it would be great," she said. "I don't see anything wrong with it at all. I don't see any harm in allowing people to experience the Latin liturgy as long as it's approved by the church."
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge John Driscoll, a member of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensburg, said he feels some people would enjoy the chance to attend the Latin Mass.
"I think it will be an occasional expression," Driscoll said. "I would be surprised if there is a return to Latin across the board. I don't think there's a huge demand for it, but I'm sure some people would get a religious experience out of the traditional Latin Mass.
"The call is always to focus on the reality of the sacrament of the Eucharist and the essence of the Mass, not necessarily on the language and the traditions."
The move is seen as a normalization of relations with the breakaway St. Pius X Society, which was founded by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvere and celebrates the Mass in Latin. The Swiss-based group claims about 1 million followers. Last month, the pope allowed a group of Pius X priests to celebrate the Latin ceremony in exchange for their recognition of the pope's authority.
In 1970, the society started a parish, Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, in Collier. About 250 people attend Mass there each week, according to the society's Web site.
There are several other splinter groups in the area that celebrate Mass in Latin.
One is led by Hutton Gibson, the father of actor Mel Gibson, who recently bought the former Charter Oak United Methodist Church in Unity Township, Westmoreland County, to establish St. Michael the Archangel Parish. Gibson's faction opposes Vatican II reforms and refuses to recognize the legitimacy of any pope elevated since Vatican II.
Another group holds services in Hempfield, Westmoreland County. Known as St. Joseph Victory Chapel, the parish has a handful of members.
The issue of the Mass will only be one of the points in the papal document that will reach out to the ultraconservatives, the Vatican official said.
Benedict already took a concrete step in that direction when in September he approved an institute for French priests who left the movement. The small group based in Bordeaux, made up of five priests and some seminarians, is allowed to celebrate the old-style Latin Mass in exchange for their recognition of the pope's authority.
