Over the next four years, Ranjith became something of a bête noire for liturgical progressives. He criticized communion in the hand, saying it was not envisioned by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and became widespread only after its “illegitimate introduction” in some countries. When Benedict authorized wider celebration of the old Latin Mass in 2007, Ranjith openly blasted bishops who didn’t move quickly to implement it, accusing them of “disobedience … and even rebellion against the pope.”
First, he may be a little too traditionalist for some of the moderates in the College of Cardinals – “more Ratzingerian than Ratzinger himself,” as some put it. In 2006, he said of the Lefebvrists that he wasn’t a fan, but that “what they sometimes say about the liturgy, they say for good reason.”