[Wonder Warthog]

"Watch and see. Watch how he has offered every public Mass thus far."

Not being Roman Catholic, can someone please explain to me this fixation on the "Latin Mass"?? As long as the Latin is accurately translated, what difference does using the local language make???

[blu]

The Latin mass is more dignified, majestic, and a heck of a lot quieter! It also has not been watered down (I'm talkin' a real Latin mass, not a Novis Ordo(sp) mass) to the point of being a Protestant prayer service. It puts the focus on God, not the people.

[Mershon]

Jews worship in ancient Hebrew. Muslims worship in ancient Arabic. Catholics worship in Latin.

It is a sacred language. The translations are NOT accurate. In fact, there were intentionally misinterpreted.

Latin is the language of the Church. It is fixed. It keeps the theological words certain and unchanging through history. Chant does not sound good in English or other languages. The music of Gregorian chant was specifically made to correspond with the syllables and the meter of the Latin words.

There are thousands of other reasons. God understands Latin. At a Catholic Mass, what is being primarily offered is a sacrifice to God through the Priest. It is not a "face-to-face" chatter discussion like at a non-Catholic worship service.

There are some articles that go more in depth, but I'm sure you didn't want a doctoral dissertation.

[sinkspur]

As long as the Latin is accurately translated, what difference does using the local language make???

New translations are in the works. In addition, as a cardinal, Ratzinger said that to reimpose Latin on the Church at this point would be well-nigh impossible.