NEW HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

A Cycle of Rejuvenation

In the last 25 years few would claim that the liturgical reforms have had their hoped- for effect in promoting intelligibility and participation particularly among young people. And yet a remarkable feature of the post-Vatican II era is the spontaneous emergence and blossoming of traditional movements, both clerical and lay, throughout the universal Church, which no one had planned or could even have dreamed possible thirty years ago. An even more remarkable feature is the adherence to tradition shown by increasing numbers of young people with no experience of pre-Conciliar times, who are attracted by the numinous quality of their liturgical heritage.

Where Have all the Young Priests Gone?

Clerical orders throughout the world which enjoin a rigorous traditional discipline on their members and endow them with a distinctive sense of priestly identity have no shortage of vocations, and sometimes even long waiting lists.

The Holy Father has authorised a number of traditional orders, all of which are now full to overflowing, whose priests, most of them born after Vatican II, celebrate exclusively the Sacrifice of the Mass and other Sacraments according to the 1962 Missal. All these traditional seminaries are rapidly expanding and opening new centres in Europe, America, Canada and Africa. Some have attracted candidates from the United Kingdom whose hope is to be welcomed back after ordination to their own country where their numbers could be a valuable pastoral resource.

Traditional Clerical Orders

Among the growing number of Vatican approved clerical congregations dedicated to the provision of the former sacramental rites are:-

The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, a society of pontifical right, established in 1988 with the encouragement of Pope John Paul II who approved its Constitutions with a view to its particular mission of ministering to all Catholics who desire free access to the Sacraments according to the previous discipline of the Roman Rite. The priests of the Fraternity work in a diocese at the invitation of the local bishop. Its international headquarters and seminary are at Wigratzbad, Germany and it has many centres in France, Switzerland, Austria, Canada and the United States. The Fraternity runs schools which provide a sound traditional catechesis and has established an order of nuns in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Oblates of Mary Queen of the Apostles who follow the old regime of discipline including the use of traditional habits.

The clerical order Servi Jesu et Mariae, based in Augsburg with a centre in Austria, which is also a society of pontifical right, being chartered directly by the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Its apostolate is aimed primarily towards Catholic youth.

The Institute of Christ the King, headquartered near Florence is expanding its apostolate in the United States and in the Gabon where its missionary zeal has been well rewarded with conversions and vocations.

Benedictine monasteries in France, the Abbey of Ste Madeleine at Le Barroux, the Abbey of Notre Dame at Fontgombault, and the abbeys at Randol and Triors.

The Society of St Vincent Ferrer, the smallest of the traditionalist orders but nonetheless facing a barrage of young enthusiastic applicants eager to join its ranks.

Traditional Youth Movements

The annual pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres is eloquent testimony of the attraction of the traditional Latin Mass to young people. At Pentecost each year Chartres Cathedral is host to more than 15,000 pilgrims from 20 countries, the vast majority of whom are under 25 years of age, who endure the arduous three-day, 70-mile walk from Notre Dame, Paris, to Chartres, sleeping under canvas with only the barest necessities to sustain them. The climax is the Pontifical High Mass sung in Gregorian chant, in which the whole congregation participates. Each year a message is read to them from the Pope conveying his blessing and encouragement.

It was young people, too, who were the inspiration behind the foundation of the International Centre of Liturgical Studies (C.I.E.L.), an organisation which promotes the traditional Latin liturgy. In 1994 six young French students, drawn to the traditional Latin Mass and disillusioned with modern liturgical reforms, took the initiative of setting up an organisation under the patronage of Cardinals Alfons Stickler and Silvio Oddi.

Despite the ambitious scale of the project, the youthful committee succeeded in gaining the consent of academics of the highest repute who are experts in liturgy, canon law and theology to argue the case for the traditional Latin Mass at their annual colloquia held in France. The proceedings are translated, published and distributed among bishops and religious houses all over the world.

C.I.E.L. has been hailed as the third most important liturgical development since the English Indult and 'Ecclesia Dei', being a predominantly clerical forum of scholarly defence of the traditional Mass at the highest level of erudition and objectivity.

The Republication of the 1962 Missal

In response to the world-wide groundswell of demand for the traditional Latin Mass, the 1962 Missale Romanum was republished in 1996 with the permission of Cardinal John O'Connor of New York. This concrete example of the revival of sacred tradition in union with the Holy See is a prophetic sign to the Church that the former liturgy was never meant to be consigned to history. The traditional Latin Mass has a treasured place in the hearts and minds of many Catholics who are living witnesses of its vitality and continued presence among us.

Copyright © 1997 The Latin Mass Society