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Catholic News Service has distributed an article by a priest very hostile to the older form of Mass, derestricted by the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Catholic News Service is operated by the American Bishops’ Conference, the USCCB.  The author, Fr. Peter J. Daly (ordained in 1986), is a columnist for the Catholic News Service.

Here is the article. It was picked up from The Tidings of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

My emphases and comments.

Published: Friday, August 17, 2007

Will anyone come?

By Rev. Peter J. Daly

The parish just to the west of mine has been celebrating the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass for more than 15 years. The pastor has special permission granted years ago by the former Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal James Hickey. He is also one of the few priests around who remembers the pre-1962 ritual.

Almost nobody comes.

He gets about 30 people per Sunday, [I wonder if this is true.] even though his is the only Latin Mass for at least 40 miles around in an area that encompasses more than 20 parishes.

Most of the people who come are elderly. [I’ll bet that isn’t true!  Everywhere I have been the majority are young people.] They like this Mass because it is quiet and short. It reminds them of the olds [sic] days. A few young people come once in a while out of curiosity. They do not come back often. 

My neighboring pastor is a bit exasperated with the whole thing. It means a lot of work for him. Under the old liturgy the priest did just about everything. The people who come to the Latin Mass like that part of the tradition just fine. They don’t think they should have to do anything but show up. After all, it is the priest who says Mass. They are just spectators. [This is a vile characterization, beneath the dignity of a priest.]

Before Vatican II’s reforms, there were no lectors or eucharistic ministers. The servers said most of the responses. A lot of the prayers were said "sotto voce," i.e., inaudibly.

For my neighbor, the extra liturgy means that he has had to move the altar used for the Mass facing the people. (He has recently stopped doing this because nobody showed up to help him.) Then he has to set out different books and change into different vestments.

Most inconvenient of all, he has to prepare and preach a different homily.

Why a different homily? Because there are different readings. In the pre-1962 liturgy there was a one-year cycle of readings. We read only an Epistle and a Gospel. There were no readings from the Old Testament. [That’s odd… I read one from the Old Testament today.] We didn’t hear much of the Bible and it was heard in Latin.

Since the reforms of Vatican II our book of readings for Sundays (Lectionary) has a three-year cycle, which includes readings from the Hebrew Scriptures. So my neighbor can’t even preach the same homily for the Latin and English Masses on most Sundays.

A few folks from my parish go over to my neighbor’s parish for the Latin Mass. Mostly they are quite elderly. They don’t like all the singing at my parish. They don’t like shaking hands. They don’t like Communion in both forms. They don’t like having three readings.  [And I guess that’s wrong of them.]

They tell me what they like most about the Latin Mass is that they can get in and get out in less than 45 minutes. They put a high premium on speed. A good liturgy is a short liturgy.  [Again, this vile characterization of these people is beneath the dignity of a priest.]

For them a good liturgy also is one where they don’t have to speak to anyone or do anything. Their whole attitude says "I want no commitment and I want no communication." Hardly the "full and active participation" that Vatican II called for.

So now that Pope Benedict XVI has issued his "motu proprio" permitting the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, will there be big crowds at the Latin Mass? Will more parishes start to offer it? I doubt it.

Apart from the schismatic followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and a few young people who are nostalgic for a church they never knew, almost nobody is pressing for it. Nobody under the age of 55 even remembers the old Latin ritual.

I think my neighbor’s experience will be the experience of the church. We can offer it. But almost nobody will come.

This article is as mendacious as it is rude. 

By e-mail I received a note from a reader who knows the people referenced in that article.  Here is what he wrote (slightly edited):

Fr. Peter J. Daly of the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. (who is a Catholic News Service contributor) wrote a very negative and uncharitable article that portrayed the Indult situation at his neighboring parish as an irreverent venue in which lazy old fogeys and an overburdened pastor are specifically why the return of the Latin Mass is going to be a bust.  He doubts that anyone will come.  My beef and why I intend to hold Fr. Daly accountable is that he could have presented his viewpoint without falsely exemplifying the neighboring parish.  I am more disturbed about it today than I was yesterday because he told Fr. Vitturino that he would put out a retraction.  Now he and possibly CNS are playing games with Fr. Vitturino.  Not on my Watch!

There is more on this mess over at Ten Reasons, including:

I just spoke to the Pastor at St. Francis deSales regarding Father Daly’s Tridentine Mass column, and he is very upset. He says the article is full of lies, and he has spoken to the Auxiliary Bishop about it. First of all, as he told the Bishop, he is NOT exasperated and that this Mass is NOT a burden; he told the Bishop that if it were a burden, he would have let him know. He does not prepare two different homilies, and yes they no longer move the altar, but only because the microphone wires kept getting damaged during the process. He said that attendance is on the increase, and that it is not all elderly people and they do not attend because they want a short liturgy, because his Tridentine Mass is at least an hour long, longer than his other Masses. This priest is truly upset, and I hope Fr. Daly is called to task on this.

And this was added in a comment:

Thanks for putting this on your blog so that the whole world could see. I was the person who first alerted the pastor about this irresponsible piece written by Fr. ... Daly. His actions toward the Faithful of the parish (whether deliberate or not) and those that attend St. Francis de Sales were completely uncharitable. He could have easily presented his view without misrepresenting falsely his fellow priest and the congregation. Either he outright lied to proliferate an anti-Tridentine Mass agenda and was arrogant enough to think that he wouldn’t get caught doing it, or he is an irresponsible journalist who doesn’t check out his facts before writing an article. I don’t know for sure what his motives are, but the pastor called me back and told me that:

1. Fr. ... Daly apologized to him and told him that he should have checked with him first.

2. Catholic News Service has put his viewpoint article on this subject on hold so that it will no longer be circulated.

3. Fr. Daly told the pastor that he would put out a retraction.

I also got this by e-mail:

I just got off the phone with Fr. Vitturino this morning.  Fr. Peter Daly is attempting to put out a slightly polished but still uncharitable article that continues to take a dump on the Faithful and the pastor of St. Vincent de Sales Parish.  Read the attachment and compare it to the original. According to the pastor, this is unacceptable and not what he expected after talking to Father Daly and the editor (Ed Brosnan) of Catholic News Service.  I attempted to contact Mr. Brosnan this morning to tell him that this needs to get resolved "the right way."  Tomorrow, Fr. Vitturino is going to meet with his parishioners to talk to them about this blasphemous attack on their integrity and what he intends to do.  He told me that he intends to talk to his Auxiliary Bishop about this again on Monday in an effort to force Father Daly’s hand.  The Auxiliary is Bishop Francisco Gonzalez.  It is Fr. Vitturino’s desire for Fr. Daly to print a "full retraction."  It is my desire that Catholic News Service no longer retains him.  It appears right now that CNS and Fr. Daly are attempting to save face, but their not going to be able to as long as this kind of stuff makes it onto my radar. 

What about that retraction Fr. Daly was supposed to write?  I was sent a copy of what was called a "retraction".   The only different I saw in the text I was sent:

Profound dfference, no?  I hope there is a real retraction out there, somewhere.  If Fr. Daly wants to make sure lots of people see his real retraction, he can send it to me and I will post it for him. 

What concerns me the most about this is the lack of regard from that author, but also from CNS, for the people at that parish and for the priest there.  The attitude is one I have encountered quite often.  People are entitled to like or not like the older Mass.  That is not my problem.  What disturbs me is that this was distributed at all by the news service operated by the American Bishops.

I am testing for the next three months a couple Skype virtual phone numbers, in both the UK and the USA.  The skype id is: wdtprs

You can leave me voice mail.

You know that from time to time I post items from parish bulletins.  I usually try to find good items, edifying pieces.  Parish bulletins are not always known for their edifying clerical commentary.

Sadly, it falls to me today to parse an unfortunate piece in the 5 August parish bulletin, Pastor’s Comments, of St. Peter’s Church in Mount Clemens, MI.

I really don’t like beating up on people, especially some hard working brother priest, doing his best to make things work. However, this requires some attention.  I suspect that some of you will read comments like like in your parish bulletins.

I preface what follows with citation of His Holiness’ Summorum Pontificum:

Art. 5, § 1.  In parishes, where there is continuously present a group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition, let the pastor willingly receive their petitions that Mass be celebrated according to the Rite of the Missale Romanum issued in 1962.  Let him see to it that the good of these faithful be harmoniously brought into accord with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the governance of the Bishop according to canon 392, by avoiding discord and by fostering the unity of the whole Church.

Kindly keep this in mind and note that in what follows you will see my emphases and comments. This is from the Pastor, Reverend Fr. Michael N. Cooney.

My dear friends,

    Over the past two weeks a few people have asked me about having the Tridentine Mass celebrated here. I must admit that I reacted. For that I apologize. [I guess his reaction was not very nice.] These are great, holy people. I know they were taken back by my response. However, since the question has been raised, I will give you my answer. No. You do have a right to my reasoning for this decision. [Okay… Father is saying "No, there will be no ‘Tridentine’ Mass here."]

    When Pope Benedict gave permission to the bishops and priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, he did so thinking that he was reaching out to a group of people who had formally broken away from the Church because of many things.  [Dear Father… he thought a lot more than that.  He was not aiming only at people of questionable unity.  He was aiming also at you, dear Father, and your parishioners.] In Canon Law this group would be called schismatic. [I won’t get into the quesiton of schism here.  Suffice to say that Father is off base here.] Heretics basically deny a teaching of the Church. Schismatics refuse to acknowledge or reinterpret the teachings and/or discipline of the Church to fit their own purposes. The perfect example are those who followed Archbishop LeFevre [sic] after the Vatican Council. These are all good people. For various reasons, they choose not to follow the direction the Vatican Council Fathers. The pope was trying to reach out to these people by allowing the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.  [Among others, yes.]

    This is the ritual we celebrated Mass by before the ritual of the Vatican Council. [And during… and after…] The Mass was celebrated facing the wall. [Cliche] It was celebrated in Latin. It had many other properties, such as women could not take a meaningful role in the liturgy. [ARGH!  Poor Father has a very limited notion of what "active participation" is.]  Communion could only be received on the tong, [sic… or would that be a "forked tong" ... sorry, that’s clearly just a typo.] etc. My reasons for refusing to allow this ritual to be celebrated here are many.

    There is the practical reason. I do not believe that most of our Parish Family have any idea of the priest shortage. Fr. Cyr, Fr Zeeb, the other retired priests who help out, and myself try to keep everything as normal as we can. Baptisms are celebrated twice a month. Reconciliation is scheduled weekly. Marriages, anniversaries and funerals are scheduled regularly. We have not cancelled any Masses for the lack of a priest. Sometimes this means celebrating four to five Masses on a given Saturday, by way of example.

    If I were to allow the Tridentine Mass I would have to schedule it on Sunday afternoon. Please note that most of those who want the Tridentine Mass want it on the weekend so that they can fulfill their Mass obligation. I cannot physically schedule another Mass on Sunday because most likely I would have to be the one to say it. [Okay… there is a a point here.  Priests do need to have some time.  However, I know not a few priests who simply don’t want to do too much.] In addition, we would have to bring in our Minister of Music, altar boys, ushers, lectors, sacristans and etc. [Then work with the people to fill those roles themselves!  They’ll do it, Father!  They will!]  Please remember that only men or boys could serve at the altar for these Masses. If I moved the Mass to one of our scheduled Masses, I would be serving perhaps 100 people, [A guess.] and not serving 1000 people who normally attend those Masses and do not want the Tridentine Mass. [I think you might be surprised, Father.]

    It has been suggested that I get Msgr. Browne to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. The same problems occur as far as getting the musicians, lectors, ushers and etc. In addition, while Msgr. Browne does celebrate the Tridentine Mass occasionally at St. Josaphat Parish in Detroit, most of the time he and the other priests who do celebrate that Mass at the request of the Cardinal are helping out at three or four other parishes each weekend. How much can you ask of a retired priest who is serving the Archdiocese as best they can so graciously?  [A legitimate point.]

    I have other problems with the issue of allowing the Tridentine Mass. Celebrating Mass in Latin is not the problem. The Tridentine Mass, however, reflects an ecclesiology, a view of the Church, that is no longer the official ecclesiology of the Church. [Oh boy… here’s some real trouble.  What this immediately suggests is that there was a serious break between the pre-Conciliar and the post-Conciliar Church.  This is clearly FALSE.  "Official" ecclesiology, if there is such a thing, cannot have such a discontinuity.]  For example, those who left the Church of their own free will [This has nothing to do with ecclesiology.  And what about the poor people who thought the Church was leaving them?] do not accept the teachings of the Vatican Council on the role of the laity in the Church. They do not accept the role of women in the Church. They do not believe in a viable ecumenical outreach to those of other religions. They certainly do not believe or accept the interpretations of Scripture or the magisterium of the Church as they have been shared with us. [What "official" interpretations of Scripture are those?  What pronouncements of the Magisterium?] They believe that the Church is the pope, the bishops, the priests and then the people.  [Yah… well… so?  Lumen genitum did not say there is no more hierarchy, did it?] The Vatican Council taught that the Church is the People of God.  [Right… and that same "ecclesiology" was the specialty of Joseph Ratzinger, the Pope now asking YOU, dear Father, to open your heart to these folks.  I don’t think that the Pope is going to promulgate something as disruptive as you are suggesting it is] There is a lot more to the reality of the Church reflected by the Tridentine Mass than most people are aware of. [Or, dear Father, than you are aware of, I think.]

    Those of us who are old enough remember the Tridentine Mass very well. We have a great respect for its tradition and the role it played in history. We are also aware that people went to Church to "hear" Mass. [And what are they doing today?]  They really did not participate in the Mass as much as we do today. [B as in B.  S as in S.  This is simply condescending.] This was really the reason why people said the rosary or prayed their novenas during Mass. They were somewhat barred from entering into the Mass prayers because they were in Latin and were mostly said by the priest. This does not denigrate the beauty or history of that ritual.  It just says that for reasons that have been tested for over 40 years the "ordinary" ritual of the Church is the Mass as we have been celebrating it. [Which has been so successful.]  The Tridentine Mass, by the will of the pope, has become the "extraordinary" ritual for celebrating the Mass.

    I realize that this new permission could become a flash point here at St. Peter’s. [It could if you, dear Father, keep going like this!] Our church building was never renovated. The old altar facing the wall is still in place. The communion rail is still in place. It would be a natural place to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. As long as I am pastor, the answer remains "no" for the reasons I have given you plus a few more that I choose not to share with you. ["choose not to share"??]

    All of us are somewhat nostalgic. [Grrrrrrrrr] We remember with warmth the memories of our youths. There is nothing wrong with this. It is human and good. However, all of us once rode bicycles when we were young. I do not see anyone trading in their cars for bicycles now that we are older. The Tridentine Mass is celebrated at St. Josaphat Parish in Detroit. I suspect that it will be celebrated at a few other parishes. How many, where and when I do not know. For those who wish to attend those Masses there are opportunities.

    On another parish issue, all of you will be receiving a mailing at the end of August. In this mailing you will find a number of things. There will be a letter from regarding some parish business such as the purchase of the house on the corner or Market and Gratiot streets and the future of that property. There will also be a financial report for the fiscal year. I promised you that on a regular basis you would see the finances of the parish. There will be some literature regarding stewardship and possibilities for volunteering during this coming year. There will also be a form for those who wish to join those who have their parish contributions automatically deducted on a regular basis from their bank/checking accounts. [I love this.  After all that, he is effectively reminding people that they have to give moeny to the parish.] This seems to have been well received by those who have used it. There will also be an outline of the first few months of the upcoming St. Peter Adult Institute for Continuing Education. The program has grown so much that we now need to divide the program into two parts. I am sure that there are a number of programs and presentations that will fill needs of many of our Parish Family.

    As you can see, even in the summer our Parish Family is very much alive and active [except for the nutty aunt locked in the attic… (those of you who have followed my writing, understand that image…]. Have a great week.

God Bless.
Love, Peace, Joy,

Frankly, I understand the practical issues.  A priest has to say the Mass.  He is unwilling, and probably not able.  He also doesn’t want to sacrifice any free time, and he may actually need to protect it.  If this initiative would be for only a few people (though I don’t think 100 is a few and I bet there would be more), I can see why Father wouldn’t want to make changes.

That said, his other reasons, at least those he did not disdain to share, especially the "ecclesiologial" reason and the issue of "active participation" are simply ridiculous.  

And isn’t it ironinc that someone making an appeal to an post-Conciliar ecclesiology of "people of God" and calling this a "family", and invoking participation of the laity and women, blah blah blah would be so dictatorial about this matter.

Finally, after reading this through I couple times, though he is trying to use a "nice" approach, and explain things in simple terms at least he understands, you get the sense that this fellow really detests that older form of Mass.  His dislike pops out here and there.