THERE it sits in large print before me: “Latin Mass appeals to young Catholics, Pope Benedict says” (Catholic Leader, July 22).
May I be permitted to ask one question in response?
Really?
I’m yet to meet one young person for whom Latin is anything but a dead language that they might come across in English classes, and for whom the Tridentine Rites are anything but long-forgotten historical oddities.
Forgive me if as a celebrating priest I prefer to speak in my own native language (English), a first language I share with the majority of the congregation.
Excuse me if I actually enjoy facing those with whom I converse, as they celebrate along with me.
And perhaps you could remind me why the Bishops meeting at the Second Vatican Council decided to reform the liturgy and sacramental rites, and to return to the use of the vernacular.
Wasn’t it something to do with “opening wide the windows” to clear out the stale air and get rid of the cobwebs?
Perhaps people would pay more attention if the teaching Church started addressing the real issues affecting the lives of people around the world, and moved on from complaining about the always unsubstantiated “deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear”.
Give me a break!
FR JOHN KILINKO, PP
St Flannan’s Parish,
Zillmere, Qld
