Most area Catholics to celebrate Mass in the vernacular

Despite Pope Benedict XVI’s decree last month easing the restrictions on the centuries-old Tridentine rite, Mass in the vernacular will continue to be the norm for the vast majority of Catholics in the Inland Northwest.

Most parishioners in the Dioceses of Spokane and Boise have no experience with the Tridentine Mass, also known as the “Traditional Latin Mass” or the “Missal of Blessed John XXIII.”

Also, few pastors are familiar with the ritual, according to the Rev. Steve Dublinski and Monsignor John Steiner, who both serve as vicar general for the Diocese of Spokane.

“Those who wish to celebrate the older ritual will need to seek training so that they can competently preside at the rite,” they wrote in an e-mail.

In recent decades, priests could only celebrate the Tridentine Mass with permission from their bishop. Last month, the pope issued a motu propio, or decree, that will allow priests beginning in September to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass if they receive requests from parishioners and deem it appropriate.

Benedict XVI’s four-page apostolic letter was viewed as a move toward reconciliation with Catholic traditionalists – members of the Society of St. Pius X and others who never gave up the ritual despite changes enacted during the Second Vatican council.

“What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful,” Benedict wrote in Latin in a letter that accompanied the decree.

For 1,500 years, Catholics worldwide celebrated only the Tridentine rite. That changed in the 1960s, after Vatican II authorized the Novus Ordo Mass, which uses local vernacular.

Ultra-conservative Catholics, however, dismissed the changes and continued to attend only the Latin Mass.

“The pope’s intention is to help heal the division caused by the fact that some groups have never accepted the liturgical changes after Vatican II,” Steiner and Dublinski wrote.

The Diocese of Boise, which serves Catholics throughout the state of Idaho, offers the traditional Latin Mass at two sites: Holy Rosary in Idaho Falls, and in Rathdrum at the Golden Spike Clubhouse.

About 270 Catholics attend the 8 and 10:30 a.m. Latin Mass each Sunday at the clubhouse, said the Rev. Michael Irwin. This fall, they hope to move their services to a small church that they will name “Corpus Christi Catholic Chapel.”

“People like the traditional spirituality,” Irwin said. “We’ve been here seven years and have had constant growth.”

Now that the pope has approved the Tridentine rite, Irwin thinks more Catholics will explore opportunities to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass. Pastors, however, likely will stick to the Novus Ordo.

“I just don’t think most priests are going to run and say the old Mass,” said Irwin. “They’re too busy.”

Even with the pope’s motu propio, priests in the Diocese of Boise haven’t received many requests for the Tridentine Rite, said Michael Brown, director of the diocese’s department of communications.

“Anyone who has said a Latin Mass in the old rite has to be of retirement age,” he said. “Even the priests who are retired – they would probably need a refresher course.”

A regular celebration of the Mass in Latin hasn’t taken place in the Diocese of Spokane since the mid-1970s, after a brief experiment at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes.

According to Steiner and Dublinski, Bishop William Skylstad also has never received a serious request to approve the Tridentine Rite.

For seminarians preparing for the priesthood, Latin hasn’t been a major formation issue for the last 40 years, said the vicar generals. While Latin is still used for study and resource purposes, learning the language has nothing to do with the ritual use, they said.

“What is important is that the celebration of the Mass is intended to be a deeply participative celebration,” wrote the vicar generals. “No matter what ritual is used, people are expected to be full, active and conscious participants.”

Reach reporter Virginia de Leon at (509) 459-5312 or virginiad@spokesman.com.