The Power of the Latin Mass

In July, Pope Francisissued a decree permitting local bishops to ban the Latin Mass in their dioceses and instructing them to do so in parish churches, where the vast majority of Catholics worship. It was the latest development in a liturgical debate that has divided Catholics since the 1960s, when the Second Vatican Council ushered in a host of modernizing changes, including a new version of the Mass meant to foster more active participation by the congregation.

The Novus Ordo, as the new Mass is called, is usually celebrated in the language spoken by the congregation and involves prominent roles for laypeople in reading scripture and distributing Communion. It gives more emphasis than the early liturgy to the Mass as a communal meal held in memory of Jesus’ Last Supper with his Apostles.