Capsule summary: The Latin Mass is at the heart of a civil war between traditional Catholics and the liberals.
The Mass was changed in 1970. Actually, “gutted” would be a better word for it...and since then the libs have been adamant about drawing a clear bright line between the Church before and the Church after. They demonized most things that were traditional, replaced the chant and polphony with jangly guitar music, got rid of Latin and even “thee and thou” English prayers everyone was used to, and just basically tried to remake the Church in their own image.
They succeeded at it, really. Except one thing happened they didn’t quite count on. Pope John Paul II started allowing the Latin Mass, and the libs didn’t like it but begrudgingly agreed to offer it for old folks for nostalgia purposes in tucked away churches at horrible times of day. Meanwhile, young people started going to it and loving it. Liberal parishes are aging and near collapse, and you go to Latin Mass parishes and you find tons of kids, big families, really lots of vitality. Traditional religious orders are on the rise (you know, nuns who actually look like nuns). Pope Benedict really gave it all a shot in the arm as well.
Well the libs are starting to panic, realizing that the demographics are going against them. They see us as returning the Church to the Dark Ages and they don’t want that.
Germany and some other Northern European nations are among the strongholds of liberalism in the Catholic Church. So that’s what you’re seeing here....they are trying to put a lid on traditionalism as much as they can because they think it is “turning back the clock” on their idiotic view of the Church.
Ahh, ok, that makes sense now.
Thanks for the explanation.
I was born and raised Roman Catholic. When I was stationed in Germany in the mid sixties, some of us went to a little German church for Midnight Mass for Christmas 1965. The scene was beautiful as it was snowing just a bit and people pouring into the church. But the best part was the Mass was of course in Latin—just like all of the Nuns and Priests had told us in 12 years of Catholic schooling. You can go anyplace in the world and understand the Mass.