Old Rites, New Fights in the Catholic Church

The altar of St Joseph Cathedral in Groningen

Smoke floats above the head of the congregants in Groningen’s St Joseph Cathedral as church bells ring out, calling the faithful to prayer. The smell of incense perfumes the thick summer air. Altar servers in bright white robes lead in a priest wearing vestments of gold and scarlet. Over the sound of the organ, a choir of men chant in Latin. Attendees of the weekly Latin Mass are reverent but uncertain. Trying to find the correct movements and responses by following the order of service in bright yellow booklets. A few follow along by smartphone, determining the correct times to stand, kneel or mutter a “Deo Gratias”, “Thank God.” It is the only concession to modernity in a ceremony which has roots in the earliest church, over 1000 years ago. In the 21st century however, the Latin mass represents an issue around which modern political sensibilities converge with millennia old traditions, posing a question for the new Pope Leo XIV. What is the place of the Latin mass in the church? And by extension, what is the place of the church in the world? 

St. Joseph Cathedral, Groningen

The Catholic church currently sanctions two basic masses. The “new rite”, which has been the standard in the church since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, was a move to modernize the faith. It allowed for mass to be said in the local language as well as Latin and simplified the ceremony The “old rite”, or traditional Latin mass, by contrast, is steeped in the traditions of the earliest church. The priest, his back turned to the congregation, carries out complex and elaborate movements, chants and genuflections. The movements and words choreographed through centuries. 

The question of the place of the traditional Latin mass serves as a window into deeper debates within the church. On the one hand are the traditionalists. Passionate supporters of the Latin mass who believe that the church, as the teacher of timeless truths, should not be adapting itself to the world around it. On the other, the progressives, who see the church as being in danger of losing relevance if it fails to move with the times. 

A Church Torn

In Pope Francis, the progressives found themselves a champion of their cause. Reforms to the Vatican’s bureaucracy, the church’s attitudes on divorce, homosexuality and the Latin mass all angered traditionalists within the church. The traditional Latin mass, Francis argued, had become a vehicle for secular-influenced right-wing politics to enter the church. Such extreme ideas, progressives argue, serve to alienate the church both from society, and from the teachings of Christ. “The traditional form of the Mass can be a vehicle of a certain extreme view of the world,” says Father Victor Maagd, a parish priest in Groningen who offers the new Mass in Dutch, Latin and English, “the traditional form needed adjustment.” In Pope Leo, progressives are hoping for a continuation of these reforms. 

For his parishioners, the Latin mass, in both its new and traditional forms, still holds an important place in the church. “The idea that the mass sows division is absurd,” says Mark van Dijk, a convert to Catholicism, “The people who argue for those kinds of things don't really understand what is happening in the hearts of people who want to celebrate the Catholic faith.” For others, the traditional mass provides continuity with the earliest history of the church. “The old rite is gaining popularity,” says Ivor, a student from Croatia, “people want to hear the original. They have a feeling that things have been adapted to the audience rather than the audience to the church.” 

“The Latin mass is not dangerous, but drinking coffee after mass could be”

For many, the need for greater regulation of the traditional Latin mass comes not from the ceremony itself, but from the growing influence of right-wing politics on the community around the mass. “The Latin mass itself is not dangerous,” says Father Maagd, “ But drinking coffee after mass could be dangerous because you are taking part in a community that has more dangerous ideas.” Conservative Catholic commentators, particularly in the United States, have increasingly woven together extreme political ideas with their faith. Keeping these secular political influences out of the liturgical debate is seen as key to ensuring the survival of the Latin mass. “In the English-speaking world, the liturgy is part of a cultural clash,” says Father Martin Knudsen, a parish priest in Amsterdam who performs the traditional Latin mass, “but we should not use the liturgy and the faith in a politicalized way. We have to be sure that the liturgy is not celebrated as a political statement.”

However, critics see the accusations as misguided. “I'm not sure how you would use a liturgy for a political ideology,” says Dr Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society, a Catholic organization promoting the use of the traditional Mass, “the idea that this is a breeding ground for extreme far-right ideas is ridiculous.” For traditionalists, the church has overreacted to fears about the influence of fringe, online groups. “There are a lot of misconceptions about the people that celebrate the mass,” says Mark van Dijk, “but it is a response to certain elements, especially online traditionalists, but not people who embrace tradition.”

However, there is an acknowledgement of an increasing sense of disaffection amongst traditional Catholics. “There certainly is a problem of radicalization,” says Shaw “and it derives from marginalization. If you marginalize a group, they will radicalize. Pope Francis wanted to marginalize us. He really denigrated us.”

Father Victor Maagd hands out communion in the St Joseph Cathedral

An Open Question

The beginning of the pontificate of Leo XIV provides all sides of the debate with renewed hope for the future of the mass and the church more widely. For Pope Leo, balancing the interests and demands of traditionalists and progressives against the backdrop of increasing political disaffection will be a delicate operation, but one that is central to the hopes of all Catholics. “We hope for the Pope that he succeeds in bringing the church together,” says Father Knudsen, “and that we can coexist with each other, but with some different expressions of liturgy.”