[Antoninus]

The fact which trads cannot accept is that most Catholics are tranquilly happy with the Novus Ordo.

I agree with you here. And why are we happy? Because most of us are just happy to follow where the Vatican leads. If they say it's ok to say the mass in English, French, Italian, etc., then it's fine with most of us. However, the Vatican also says that the old forms should be retained. The use of Latin should be allowed and used frequently. Many of our bishops disagree with this, but you don't see too many members of the laity expressing an abhorrence for the Latin mass. My guess is that if the Bishops made it available, say one mass per Sunday at every parish, that mass would attract a large audience. I know I would prefer it over the vernacular mass.

My own mother, age 72, never "liked" the Tridentine Mass, but finds the new Mass more meaningful. Trads who insist on this make up less than 1% of Catholics in the world.

So does my mother, age 63. However, myself -- age 31, my wife -- age 33, my brother-in-law -- age 38, my sister-in-law -- age 37, my other brother-in-law -- age 41, my business partner -- age 31, and his fiancee -- age 26 all prefer the Latin mass. If you look at the attendence at our local Latin mass parish, it's about 60/40 young families vs. older folks. Does that tell you something?

To blame all the ills of the Church on a rite of Mass is naive at best.

I don't believe so. I think what has happened to the Mass is part and parcel of the attempts to deconstruct the Catholic Church by certain liberal/dissenter groups. Removing nearly all sense of the sacred, the mysterious, the profound from the mass and turning it into a party-like celebration does spiritual damage to the congregants, in my opinion.